Melbourne, Australia: Great Ocean Road (October 2013)

We were greeted in Melbourne with similar weather to Cairns, hot and humid. The city could be plopped on the east coast of the US and blend right in. We stayed at The Nunnery which is an old nunnery converted into a hostel and guesthouse accommodations. The building is quaint decorated with religious pictures and themes with a heavy hipster irony. The rooms were small, but I’m glad we stayed at a place with a bit of character, plus it was great being in the Fitzroy district. This little area outside of the downtown reminds me a lot of Brooklyn. Streets lined with cafes and bars. The large green trees and predominant brick buildings added to the east coast decor, making the city very homey.

We mapped out the city and looked into various activities around town, and decided to do a day trip along the Great Ocean Road and then another day around the city. We booked out tour through the hostel, and then picked up bright and early the next morning. 7am start time, we were welcomed by Ben, who turned out to be a great guide for the very long today. It took about 1.5 hours to get to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. Once there, we starting cruising along the coast through small beach and fishing towns.

Ben informed us that the road was first constructed after a group of wealthy Australians spent time in California, driving along the Pacific Coast Highway (heyo!). They wanted a road as well along their favorite beaches and cliff lined coast, so in 1919, the Great Ocean Road provided a scenic trail from town to town along famous surfing beaches and fishing villages.

In addition to the towns, there are various natural attractions such as koalas!! We haven’t seen a lot of wildlife on land (plenty under the sea and huge bats at night in the sky), so it was exciting to see these adorable cuddly animals chillaxin in the trees.

The Great Ocean Road is known for its limestone structures. The two most famous are 12 Apostles and London Bridge. The 12 Apostles (there are actually only 8) are large limestone columns that stand in a cluster. Unfortunately our luck with the weather had changed and it was cold and rainy for our day out on the Road, but it oddly made for a dramatic filter over the crashing waves against the ginormous cliffs.

London Bridge actually has fallen down. The two arched bridge protruded into the ocean creating a distinct viewing platform. In 1980, the first arch came to an end when the weight was more than the bridge could handle, collapsing and leaving the “bridge” detached from the land. It is still a stunning mass and makes for a beautiful now arch.

A third attraction along the Great Ocean Road is Port Campbell National Park where after a large ship wreck only two passengers survived. They managed to find themselves in a small gorge with a beach and caves that protected them until they were able to find help. The survivors were a man and a woman and although one might hope this story has a romantic ending… it doesn’t. The man was pressured by the romantics in town to ask the woman to marry him, she said no after finding out he was already engaged and went back to live out her life in Ireland. He decided it was a great idea to work on a boat again and ended up surviving THREE more shipwrecks, and then died in the fourth. I guess we’ll leave the fairytale endings to Disney.

The Great Ocean Road is quite grand, but there will always be a special place my heart for the original PCH. I would love to travel the road again when it’s hot and the beaches and town are filled with Aussies on holiday enjoying the music festivals and summer sun.