The Great Ocean Roadtrip

The last time I was in Australia, we flew up the East Coast all the way to Cairns to enjoy some relaxing time on the beach and scuba dive with the colorful fish of the Great Barrier Reef. This time, I decided to head down the East Coast to Melbourne, Sydney's artsy rival city, to reconnect with a few friends and explore the Great Ocean Road – a you-don't-wanna-miss-it! Australian natural attraction.

I found a temporary work for accommodation job in St. Kilda, a cute and slightly quieter part of Melbourne whose main street was lined with cafes, pubs, and decadent cake shops. Hot chai, cold beer, and pastry puffs...honestly, what more could a backpacker ask for?

The best part about big cities is that there's always so much happening that the hardest decision you have to make during the day is whether you want to go sing along to the latest musical, laugh at that new, up-and-coming comedian, or go out for a relaxing glass of bubbles with the ladies. As for me, I was more than certain that spending my Friday night watching buff Aussie men dash around a field, tackling, tripping, and chasing each other, would be a greatly superior choice to any other weekend event.

This is how my friend Lorna and I found ourselves bundled up in our autumn evening best following the throngs of people heading towards the St. Kilda vs Richmond Footy match. As far as I could tell, Australian Footy League (or Footy for short) was a thorough mix of soccer, rugby, and football. And, despite our lack of Footy knowledge, it didn't take a Footy enthusiast to appreciate a good, man-to-man brawl out on the field! The energy in the stadium sizzled as the spectators cheered and yelled at the players, refs, and one another. From the way people were rocketing out of their seats, you would have thought that someone had lit a fire under their bums. By the fourth quarter, the two teams were neck and neck! The points crept higher on both sides until the buzzer finally sounded with the teams tied 95-95. And, unlike most sports, Footy doesn't actually have an overtime. It's pretty cool when all 47,000+ spectators and players can go home winners!

With a awesome start to the weekend, Lorna and I continued our adventures with a road trip along the Great Ocean Road. This highly acclaimed route follows the southeast coast of Australia with incredible views of the turquoise ocean, sandy beaches, and the blue horizon. The weather had a difficult time making up its mind, going from patchy blue sky with glimpses of sun to thick cloud cover and drizzling rain. But, during the dry spells, we visited a lighthouse capped with a bright red top, drove inland to photograph a pretty waterfall, and window shopped at one of the small towns along the way. A highlight of the weekend was walking through the forest, eyes squinting against the setting sun, in order to peer into the tree tops in search of a camouflaged gray lump of sleeping fluff hidden amongst the leaves. It was worth the crick in the neck to see nearly two dozen koalas nestled in the branches of their natural habitat. We even spotted few of these adorable animals munching leaves, eyes wide and watchful, fully aware yet outwardly unconcerned about the paparazzi that had set up camp beneath their tree house.

The next day, we took a hike down a steep staircase to Wreck Beach where we located the anchor of the “Marie Gabrielle,” a boat that was shipwrecked long ago in the late eighteen hundreds. I wriggled my bare toes into the sand and watched the waves break and drift upon the sandy shore. I love moments like this :-)

Our final stop along the Great Ocean Road was to visit the Twelve Apostles, a group of gigantic standing stones that tower majestically out of the sea. Discarded giant chess pieces left to be claimed by the god's of the earthly elements. Carved from wind, rain, and the crashing waves, the Twelve Apostles have now been reduced to only seven – the elements of creation later becoming elements of mass destruction. Though their numbers have been greatly reduced, the remaining Twelve Apostles stand tall and proud against a backdrop of swirling gold clouds – an impressive and truly humbling sight to see.