So I woke up yesterday and nearly had a heart attack as I rubbed my foggy eyes to the realization that Brittany wasn't in the room. Every possible explanation instantly surged through my mind, and abduction by aliens raced to the top of the list. Where else could she possibly be? I paced the room from front to back again and again, carefully deciding which authorities to call (police or SETI), before she finally walked through the door with a highly suspect answer to my barrage of "where were you's": she had gotten up early to go running at the gym. Somehow alien abduction still seems more plausible and I'm not totally convinced she wasn't covered in prop-sweat by a bug-eyed ET to disguise the event but...kudos Brittany! When my incredulity finally subsided we mournfully packed up the Punto and began our journey to Torquay, a gateway city to the Great Ocean Road. It was hard to say goodbye to that room in the vineyards (we hardly knew thee!) but this country is undeniably massive and we still have so much more to see. Luxuriant blooms gave us countless sweetly-scented kisses goodbye while another searing blue sky welcomed us to the road. It didn't take long for the rolling hills of vibrant vines to give way to shimmering ocean, and a sudden plethora of surf shops made it clear that we'd arrived in Torquay. Lunch right on the water seemed like the natural thing to do, and a big bowl of paella really hit the spot. Make sure you read that with a hard L like the Australians do. Say paella with a Y (i.e. correctly) and they'll look at you like you with confused indignation before cheerfully correcting your mistake with comically bad pronunciation. At the start of the Great Ocean Road there is a memorial arch that explains how the road came to be. Many thousands of soldiers came back to the country after fighting in World War I and there was little work to be had, so the government ponied up to have them build a road where no sane person would ever put one. "See those tall, jagged mountains being perpetually pounded by ten-foot surf? Go put a road on it. " You got it boss! We hugged the narrow, twisting shoreline for mile after...oh wait, I mean...for kilometer after kilometer and never got tired of pulling over to admire the sun-drenched coast from one of the dozens of lookout points. Even just a few hundred feet could drastically change the view, and I had to force myself to stay on the road without getting out for a looksy every five minutes. We passed through half a dozen tiny towns and marveled at some technological throwbacks still in use by our Aussie friends. Pay phones and VHS rental stores (I'm dead serious) are making a comeback! I guess when WiFi is spotty Netflix can't rule with its iron fist, so these humble people are safe from binge-watching tyranny for the time being. But still, VHS?!? Our eyes started to droop a couple of hours in, so we made a quick stop at a local brewery for a pick-me-up beer tasting. Forget Starbucks, nothing smacks you upside the face like a legit ginger beer! Brittany tracked down a little cottage for us to rent right near the 12 Apostles National Park, and we grabbed an hour's rest before driving to the park for a particularly spectacular sunset. There must be some kind of major burn going on because the entire sky was filled with a thick white smoke in every direction. I was disappointed by that at first, but some of that smoke settled around the rock formations (apostles) piercing up from the ocean floor and gave them an eerie, mysterious look. Just before the sun finally disappeared under the horizon, the white haze turned from a burning orange to a bubblegum pink. All in all, it was probably even more beautiful with the smoke than it would have been otherwise. The crowds were unusually light and I was surprised by the lack of dreaded bus groups clamoring around with selfie sticks. A couple of drones noisily hovered above us and took a little magic out of the moment, but I'll bet they got some really great pictures. Back at the cabin we discovered a hairy roommate had arrived in the form of a giant spider. Of course, what's giant for us is fun-sized for an Australian, but Brittany still wasn't thrilled about stepping over him to get to the bathroom. Fortunately neither of us woke up with an arachnid attached to our faces, even though we found a second, larger spider in the kitchen this morning. Personally, I prefer the big ones. At least I know it's coming, and it's a whole lot easier to punch in a duel. We made the short drive back to the 12 Apostles and took in the same view with no smoke, full sunshine, and no drones, which pretty much meant we saw something totally different from last night. I'm still not sure which view I preferred, but I'm glad we made two trips. It can be easy to get into a travel mode where you're just snapping a picture and checking something off a list. Going back for the second visit gave me a chance to put my camera away for a while and just enjoy the moment (of course I eventually took the camera back out and have 300 nearly identical pictures to prove it). Just down the road was Loch Ard Gorge, a small beach surround by sandstone cliffs and named after a ship (Loch Ard) that sank near it in the 1800's. Out of the 40+ people on board only two survived, and they had both washed up in this gorge. It was a beautiful spot even without the interesting backstory, and Brittany tottered down dozens of steps to plunge her feet in the water as it lapped up on the course golden sand. There were no jellyfish of death this time, so the experience was much less stressful for me :) The rest of the afternoon was spent on the road to Melbourne, one of Australia's largest cities. With a looming 3pm deadline to return the rental car we made a pit-stop at McDonald's for lunch and enjoyed a Cadbury Cream Egg flavored McFlurry with a joy normally reserved for, you know, real food. It was gooooood and I only felt slightly disgusting afterwards, which is practically unprecedented at a McDonald's. Checking the car back in was a piece of cake, and I gave the grime-covered hood of our valiant steed a good rub for a job well done. We put over 1,200 miles on that baby in five days and she hummed all the way, even as rows of semi trucks roared past her with frustrated glares. As much as I loved the drive and the freedom that came with having a car, I'm definitely looking forward to staying in one place for a bit and walking a real city again. One gratifyingly convenient uber ride to our hotel and we were (yet again) standing in the lobby of a building we don't really have any business being in, all thanks to racking up loyalty points and cashing them in on big-boy properties. The Intercontinental Rialto is jaw-droppingly beautiful from the outside, and everything you could want from a 5-star hotel on the inside. And no giant spiders! Like I said, super classy. Old, old buildings were renovated to become the hotel but it's obvious that they went through great lengths to preserve as many architectural charms as they could. Brittany was ready to walk the town and I finally capitulated after playing with the dozen different light switches and k*** in the room, which could have been pulled from a space shuttle cockpit. I didn't have any expectations for Melbourne, but there's no doubt I like it. I'm still trying to get over the shock of starting the day in a place where Blockbuster has a successful business model and ending it in a metropolis on par with New York, but I'm sure by this time tomorrow I'll have been won over completely. It's a decidedly youth-oriented town, with more nose rings and face tattoos walking past in five minutes then I've seen in the last year, and there's an undeniable energy to the crowded streets. Modern museums and storefronts blend with centuries old buildings stylishly and seamlessly; I'm actually at a loss to describe it. Somehow the vibe just works, and no one building ever seems out of place. Melbourne is famous as a foodie destination, and first appearances indicate that the fame is well deserved. We were passing a "must-try" restaurant every twelve feet, and I was peeking my head around entryways in a desperate attempt to identify each intoxicating aroma that spilled from their doors and into the streets. I wasn't in a rush to blow a bunch of money on food though (kind of just did that in the Yarra Valley...the sting hasn't worn off) so we skipped the headliners for some homestyle Italian fare. Our walk through Chinatown, which should really be named "Every Asian Country You've Ever Heard of Town", put me in the mood for some Korean BBQ so I think we've got tomorrow's lunch all planned out. In a city full of museums, the Melbourne Museum stands out from the pack (at least on Google). We'll mosey on over there at some point tomorrow and blow past all those pesky science exhibits to get to the dinosaurs. I'm just one month shy of turning 30, but I still can't think of anything cooler than standing next to the skeleton of a big ol' T-Rex!