Day 38: 7/2/13
This morning was a sleep in- we didn't have to leave until 8!!
We drove for an hour first so we could sleep even more! We stopped at a Rainforest to do a little walk- only about 15 minutes. We saw some big trees. Apparently Australia used to have trees way bigger than the sequoia and redwood in America but they were chopped down. The trees we saw were obly about 30/40m but they looked impressive. The older trees that they cut down were 157m tall!! There's a tree in Tasmania which they think is over 70,000 years old and may be the oldest living thing. We also saw beech myrtle which grow on all dead trees an when the dead trees rot away they are left with cool holes around the roots. We saw lots of ferns and the guide gave us part of an unfurled fern to taste which actually tasted like walnuts!
We heard a story about a guy called Buckley. He was sent as a convict to Australia. He escaped and went to this rainforest we were in. He was a really good hunter and the aboriginals welcomed him. They offered him a wife. In their culture, if you can prove that you can care for a wife, you can have another one. He ended up with seven wives and loads of children! After 30 years he decide to head back to the white people and was arrested straight away. When they realised he could speak 7 aboriginal languages the king pardoned him and hired him as a translator, one of the better paying jobs! So they use the phrase Buckley's chance to describe a one in a million chance!
We were back on the great ocean road afterwards. This section was the original great ocean road, built by soldiers that returned from war. They were promised work if they fought in WW1 so this is what they got!
We stopped in Apollo then which was one of the first towns on the great ocean road. We just went to a cafe for tea and coffee.
The drive to the next stop was lovely- mountains covered in trees on one side and glistening ocean on the other with bleachers and sandstone yellow rocks. We stopped at a place called koala cove cafe and there we could see koalas- surprise surprise!! We saw 4 in the trees, only one was awake. They are so cute though and it was nice to see them in a natural environment! We watched the one that was awake climbing to different branches. The sleeping ones were up really high, it's a wonder they don't fall off the tree!!
We drove again through really windy roads, along the rocky coastline and got to Lorne which was the first town on the Great Ocean Road. The Grand pacific hotel there was the first tourist accommodation on the great ocean road, built in 1871. There was a lovely beach there which I went for a walk on. We had lunch there then. Our guide spoiled us with veg, cheese, ham, crackers and dips. The Aussies are big on dips! We had a good bit of time there sitting in the shade chatting.
We drove on further and stopped at a sign welcoming us to the Great Ocean road and took pictures there. We then stopped at the lighthouses where the Round the Twist children's programme was filmed. We walked up to it an walked to a few viewing points near there. It was really pretty- sand, sea, rocks, lighthouse!!
The last stop of the day was in Torquay which is the home of Ripcurl and Quiksilver. The people that started Ripcurl were two guys that just invented wet suits for themselves and then their friends wanted them too so they could surf for longer. Eventually they formed a business which is now huge! They are supposedly in their 70's and have surfed every day of their lives!
After another hour of driving, we Eventually got to Melbourne. The guide dropped me off within walking distance of the train station and I met Laura there. It was only a few minutes in the train to her house. We dropped the bags off and shortly after went down the town for some dinner. She has a street full of bars and pubs right beside her house which is very handy! We had food and went for a drink in another bar afterwards. We just chatted about work, travelling, life in Australia, etc for ages!