The Great Ocean Road

At 7:30am we were on our merry way to experience the famous Great Ocean Road. It is one of the world's most beautiful and naturally maintained secrets. Every twist and turn exposes you to stretches of broad, uninterrupted beaches, dramatic coastlines and the lush rainforests of the Otway Ranges.

Ok so we copied that bit of the website but it is very true. It was a lovely, if busy day!

We stopped off at Bells Beach,one of Australia's famous surfing beaches, where we had coffee and biscuits and watched the surfers do what they do best. We also learnt that Torquay (where it is based) was where Rip Curl and Quicksilver were first established and where the Rip Curl Surfing Pro takes place. On a side note, even though the last scene in 'Point Break' claims to take place here it DID NOT! It is somewhere in the States...

We then went to Lissie favourite stop - 'The Split Point Lighthouse'. Poor little thing was most disappointed when we couldn't go inside but we had lots of fun around it and even found some penguins on the nearby rocks. For those of you who know 'Around the Twist!', this was where it was filmed, and a scene in Mad Max1... apparently.

We went through Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell. We saw our first wild Koalas at Lorne! It was amazing. Amy got very good at taking sexy shots of them from below, however Maz captured a raunchy video of one of them eating... look forward to those when we get back.

We then got to the Otway Ranges where we did a bit of a Rainforest Walk and saw our first carnivorous snail! The only one in the world and we got to see it. We did not see it eating any worms which was a shame. We also enjoyed a picturesque walk among some of the tallest eucalyptus trees in Australia!

At Port Campbell we saw the 'Twelve' Apostles. Not aptly named as there are in fact only 8. Unless we can't count. Which we can. They were cool rock stacks though.

Apart from the Koalas our favourite spot was Loch Ard Gorge. So romantic! This is along the Shipwreck Coast, named due to its perilous and very jagged edges which have caused many a shipping catastrophe. At this particular Gorge Tom and Eve had quite an encounter. After their ship sunk into the abyss Tom having been washed up on shore, heard distant cries. He swam out and found Eve clinging on to her final breaths. He took her to safety and then after three days on the beach with the remaining Brandy from the ship he found some help... Whether they stayed together or not we are not sure but we sure had fun reinacting it and imaging ourselves being saved by our knights in shining armour.

Our final stop was London Bridge. Some more rocks shaped like the Bridge. Funny story... a couple where out on the rock at a time when it was connected to the land. They were by themselves trying to take some romantic pictures when the rocks around them crumbled into the Ocean leaving them stranded on a fragment left still standing. Helicopters were called and the media soon got hold of the story which made the evening News. As if it couldn't get worse for the men in question... it did. After calling in sick his boss was not best please when he saw him on the news that night... neither was his WIFE.

A long 3 hour journey home followed, where we made the most of it and had a little nap. On arrival back into Melbourne we scoffed a quick pizza and then tucked ourselves in for the night.

A busy but informative and fun day.