Last Friday I rented a car with 4 of my English friends from the hostel Sean & Adam (who are friends traveling together), and James & Dan (same), prepared to take the Great Ocean Road by storm (hereafter "gor"). Our mission: to see the supposedly infamous 12 Apostles. This was my first time driving on the right (hereafter "wrong") side of the car and the left side of the road, and I was pretty nervous, especially because in Melbourne there are these things called "hook turns" where, because of the trams that occupy the middle lanes, you can only turn right from the left hand lane. Which is just confusing on so many levels. The car itself is really nice, it's a statesman or something, 6 cd player and So we make it out of town, and our first stop was this lighthouse that is in some show in England that they wanted to see, and at first I didnt want to stop, but I'm so glad I did. It was beautiful. I'll have to link to the facebook picture once Adam puts them up.
So for the most part, the day went without incident... well at one point I turned right across traffic and went to the right side of the divider, subsequently casing a chourus of screeches I didnt think possible from the male population. We also stopped in Apollo bay for some pretty rockin' fish n chips, english style... delicious fresh caught from the bay. We spent all of about 30 minutes at the 12 Apostles, snapped some photos and ran back to the car.. it was freakishly cold at that point and none of us were prepared. We went back home, but not before we tested the size of the boot (trunk) by putting Sean inside. Again, photos to come.
Saturday I had to wake up early to tear myself away from warm covers and cuddle, to pack all my shit and checkout of the hostel. I didn't leave 'til about 2pm, and I drove straight through to Malcoota... a sweet little town on the coast. The drive between was amazing, straight up Rain Forrest and National Parks. It was beautiful, until it got dark and I was exhausted from driving all day and low on gas... yea wasn't as fun then. Next day, the drive was much more relaxed. I stopped in Eden, which is aptly named. My first stop on the Sapphire Coast, also a proper name as the water is brilliantly clear, blue and just plain pretty. Clean sand and deserted beaches, small town and yummy fish n chips! Bermie was more of a disappointment, So I passed through Quickly. Milton had a good lollie shop, and then I stopped in Jervis Bay. All the acomodation was *conveniently* booked solid, so this was the night I was to sleep in the car. Lucky for me I rented a statesman (cheapest car in Hertz! surprisingly) so I had plenty of room. I found a pub and parked in the corner, went in and had a pint and pretended to be interested in the footie match (mel v per) (10 minutes for me to piece together that it was Melbourne v Perth). These 3 fogies were playing pool, and were pissed as hell, and invited me to play doubles. OF COURSE, says I. I'll wipe the floor with you. Wipe the floor we did, but not thanks to me, and anyone who has ever played any bar games with me knows how much bigger my bark is compared to my bite :)
After long discussions of Obama, world politics, views of Americans and Americas role in the world (also one dude's non-pc rant about how the aboriginals should be wiped completely from Australia... not the group consensus but we democratically allowed him to have his say), I called it a night. They insisted on coming the next morning to pick me up for breakfast on their boat, since I refused housing for the night, and to my surprise they came for me around 10am then next morning. A few beers and some baked beans later, I heard their 'night before' stories... the racist fell through the floor trampoline when he stumbled on the boat, and fell into the water, while the couple parked their dingy too close to the boat so when the tide came up the engine sunk. HA! Hilarity.
Left Jervis after some address exchanges, on my way to Woolongong. Boring. Was supposed to meet up with Alexis' friend who as it turns out wasn't in town that day, so I planned the rest of my trip up to Brisbane. Most of it ended up getting cut once I looked at a whole map of Australia... you guys I've only nicked the bottom half! I need to get a move on. Instead of going to Sydney right away, I took a trip to the Blue Mountains, which were gorgeous. Came to Sydenty last night, and have been enjoying it so far! MUch cleaner than expected, and prettier. Except for Bondi. Skip Bondi if you have the chance.
Well running out of time so I hope this wasnt too much of a rant. Miss you all and hope to be better about updating.
xxx
After long discussions of Obama, world politics, views of Americans and Americas role in the world (also one dude's non-pc rant about how the aboriginals should be wiped completely from Australia... not the group consensus but we democratically allowed him to have his say), I called it a night. They insisted on coming the next morning to pick me up for breakfast on their boat, since I refused housing for the night, and to my surprise they came for me around 10am then next morning. A few beers and some baked beans later, I heard their 'night before' stories... the racist fell through the floor trampoline when he stumbled on the boat, and fell into the water, while the couple parked their dingy too close to the boat so when the tide came up the engine sunk. HA! Hilarity.
Left Jervis after some address exchanges, on my way to Woolongong. Boring. Was supposed to meet up with Alexis' friend who as it turns out wasn't in town that day, so I planned the rest of my trip up to Brisbane. Most of it ended up getting cut once I looked at a whole map of Australia... you guys I've only nicked the bottom half! I need to get a move on. Instead of going to Sydney right away, I took a trip to the Blue Mountains, which were gorgeous. Came to Sydenty last night, and have been enjoying it so far! MUch cleaner than expected, and prettier. Except for Bondi. Skip Bondi if you have the chance.
Well running out of time so I hope this wasnt too much of a rant. Miss you all and hope to be better about updating.
xxx
