September 28, 29, and 30th I went on a Great Ocean Road and Grampians tour. The two days were spent on the Great Ocean Road. The GOR runs along the southern part of Australia from Geelong to Adelaide. A lot of car commercials are filmed here because the landscape is just so beautiful. The roads are really wind-y and surrounded by beautiful scenery. I would also like to note that I saw 7 rainbows on this 3 day trip, and 2 double rainbows which was a first for me.
On September 28th, I woke up early and was picked up by a very cheerful tour guide. He picked up a few other people and took us the tour’s main office to pick up the rest of the group and we were off. We left Melbourne and headed to Geelong to pick up three older people. All in all there were 7 people in my group: me, a boy and a girl studying abroad from Germany, three South Africans (a husband and wife and the husband’s sister), and a guy that was in Australia on business from England. Finally, we headed to our first stop…technically the beginning of the Great Ocean Road-Torquay.
This town is a well known surf town. The GOR is divided into two parts-the Surf Coast and the Shipwreck Coast. The first day we spent driving down Surf Coast. We stopped and got groceries and checked out some surf shops. Everything there was expensive-SHOCKER! Everything ANYWHERE here is expensive. I checked out a Billabong and Roxy and then got back on the bus. We periodically stopped and checked out the beaches.
The first beach we stopped at had surfers surfing! Which I thought was a little crazy because although it was beautiful, it was quite chilly. There were a ton of stairs leading down to the beach, and the water was so blue and pretty and the waves were gorgeous! Apparently the whole Surf Coast is a protected area because there are so many beaches and they cater to all level of surfing. If you don’t know how to surf-there is a beach for you, if you are an expert surfer-there is a beach for you, too. I am the first…and I’m thinking I plan to stay that way. Wayyy too many surfers get mistaken for lame sea turtles by Great Whites for my liking…and the water is cold. I hate swimming in cold water. 
They also had some great signs randomly. I guess they have to be very visual because of all of the tourists who come to check out the GOR. So everything is in picture form. Even though they are telling you you could die by doing something, it still looks funny. 
The next stop was a lighthouse! It was called the Split Point Lighthouse I think? It was really pretty, but unfortunately the second we got there it started pouring. We have a saying in Victoria, “If you don’t like the weather…wait five minutes.” In one day on this trip, it went from sunny, to rainy, to hailing, back to raining, then back to sunny in a half hour period. It was nuts, but HEY! That’s Victoria.
Next we went to the official start of the Great Ocean Road sign and took some pictures. I also noticed here that there are signs along this road that remind you to drive on the left because we are in Australia. I guess that is because of all of the dumb tourists again. BUT I do have to mention that in the library at my school we have a sign on some stairs that says to walk on the right hand side.
Also in this area we were told about the Black Saturday fires from a couple of years back. Apparently a lot of people died. Some people were actually prosecuted for starting them because of lit camp fires that were not put out. We saw a house that was propped up off the ground and made of cement. Some guy built it a long time ago after his first house burnt down in a bush fire, so that the next time there was a fire it would remain standing. And IT WORKED! Of course the glass melted and the stuff inside burned, but the house stayed. All he had to do was hose it down and remodel.
The next cool thing we saw was Erskine Falls. They were pretty neat, but I had to climb up and down A TON of stairs to be able to see them. So now when I think about them all I really remember is how I couldn’t breathe, I had a massive pain in my side, and my calves were cramping up painfully.
After that, we headed to our first night’s accommodation. On the road leading in, there were tons of Eucalyptus trees with koalas in them! I stayed in a room with the German girl. It was a super small, and freezing cold. Our heater didn’t work AT ALL. We got there and got settled and cooked dinner. This really annoying kid was bothering the South Africans because they had carbonated lemonade for their liquor. God, where in the hell were his parents? He was quite possibly the most annoying kid I have ever met. Great contraception.
The next morning we woke up, packed and headed out to the first beach of the day. It had a ton of stairs and I saw two of the Twelve Apostles, a dead bird, and a wooden box that washed up that had tons of clams on it. Then we went farther down the road to see all of the Twelve Apostles. Oddly, there are only 8. They were so pretty though. They are formed by the water; it wears away at certain point of the sandstone and eventually it will collapse leaving a pillar in the water.
Then, we saw a wild echidna!! It was so cute! For those of you who don’t know, an echidna is one of very few mammals that lay eggs. It is in the order Monotremata and it lives only in Australia.
Next, we started the second part of our trip-Shipwreck Coast. We went to Loch Ard Gorge. There is a very romantic story behind it, but I’ll only give you the abridged version to save space. Way back in the day a boat was sailing from Scotland to Australia and it crashed on a piece of rock sticking out from one of the cliffs. The ship went down and only 8 bodies were found, and only 4 of those people survived. Two were a male and a female. The male made it into Loch Ard Gorge and was sitting on the beach looking for a way up the cliffs when he heard a lady screaming from the water. He swam out to save her and they were stranded on the beach together. Eventually the guy climbed out and found some help and came back for her. He fell in love with her, but she didn’t love him. All of her family expect for her brother who was estranged at the time died. She immediately hopped back on a ship and went back to Scotland to live with her brother. Also, the girl couldn’t swim, she was holding onto a life preserver with two other men. They could swim so they decided to leave her and were later found washed up dead on the beach. She survived because she couldn’t swim.
Anyways! I saw a dead puffer fish on this beach and a raven eating a Galah. Yum.
Then we stopped in Port Campbell which is basically one street, but a popular vacation spot none the less. Then we left a went to the London Bridge. There is story behind this as well. Two guys got stranded on the London Bridge when the bridge portion collapsed into the water. Some tourists didn’t know what to do, so they drove back to Port Campbell and told the police that the London Bridge had fallen down and two men were stuck on it. The police obviously laughed and refused to believe it. So the tourists called channel 7 news and told them the whole story and they sent a helicopter out to see. The two men were eventually rescued and the Port Campbell police department looked like asses.
We saw some more beaches and rocks. There were a lot of beaches and rocks. Then we headed to see a volcano that had imploded! It was basically a huge valley with lots of hills. The hills were the lava tunnels that didn’t collapse when it blew up. There was a group of emus at the bottom! 
Finally, we headed for our accommodation. I really liked this place. It was out in the country. At this point we were headed inland to see the Grampians. That night we watched the sun set and went and searched for kangaroos. We also met two Australian Shepherds. They were so beautiful; it was a father and a daughter. The girl’s name was Dusty and she followed me around and loved to be petted. I want an Australian Shepherd. Anyways, we ate, and then the two Germans, the Englishman, and I played a game of Jenga and then pool. Then we went to bed. Unfortunately, this night everyone slept in the same cabin except the tour guide. It wasn’t too bad and I got to see the hot German guy in his underwear so it was worth it in my opinion. I’m glad the tour guy wasn’t in there with us because he was really annoying. I get that it is his job to tell us stuff, but JEEZ he never shut up. Not once. And he knew everything.
The next morning we got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to the Grampians. Our first stop was Mackenzie Falls. Once again, a ton of stairs down and then a ton of stairs back up. Once we got to the bottom, we took some pictures and explored a bit. On the way back up I saw a stick person someone had made on a bench. I collapsed at the bench in pain to rest for a few minutes before continuing back up the mountain to the car park.
We stopped at a few look out points on the way up into the Grampians, but I started to feel sick, so I sat at a couple of them instead of walking around. BUT I sat on a cliff face overlooking a huge valley filled with trees, so at least I had a view while I was contemplating barfing.
After that we stopped at a field to see a ton of kangaroos. The first kangaroos we saw earlier in the trip were boxing! But we couldn’t get close because they were wild and would run away. But these guys were really used to people and were just hanging out. We saw a few moms with their joeys in their pouches. I always wondered how big joeys got back into their moms pouches and now I know. They just dive in head first. I wish I had a video it was hysterical. I also saw the main male trying to get with one of the ladies. She was such a tease! Haha.
Next we went to the aboriginal culture center and saw a video and ate lunch and I bought some awesome pencils, stationary, and a note book.
THEN we went to the Grand Canyon. Here the guy South African realized he left his wallet at the cabin the night before and our tour guide dropped us off and went to get it. I also learned on the way here that the Grand Canyon in the U.S. is not actually a canyon…it’s a gorge. A gorge is carved out by water and a canyon in created by the movement of the tectonic plates; so, technically a Grand Gorge. But here I went to the Grand Canyon. We climbed around and took some awesome pictures, and an hour later the tour guide got back and picked us up. This tour was so amazing because of all of the fantastic views.
On our way back to Melbourne, we stopped at a winery and sampled some wines. I think I have decided that I prefer white wine. On that note, it is going to be so weird to come back to the states and not be able to order a drink at the bar for another five months. At the winery, I saw some emus in the fields looking for grapes!
Then we got back in the van and headed a ways down the road. We stopped at a canola field and got out and took pictures. It was so pretty and bright yellow, but it smelled terrible! After that, we headed back to Melbourne. I was dropped off in time for dinner!
I am slowly working on getting these blogs up! I have a few written, I just need to post them! Love you! Be home in 9-10 days depending on whether the people here let me take my test early!
