Melbourne Reunion&The Great Ocean Road

Hi there and greetings from the cloudy Victoria. My first official trip inside Australia is now completed and what a weekend it was...

After finally getting the rest of my stuff from the motel to my apartment, it was time to catch a cab and head to the airport. My flight was supposed to depart at 5 o'clock but was 3,5 hours late and nothing really seemed to work with Jetstar, a local low-price airline owned by the mighty Qantas. Luckily, the airport in Sydney is actually a good place to kill time at.

The flight from Sydney to Melbourne takes around 1,5 hours and on the way you can also see Canberra, the Australian capital, if it's clear day. Jetstar uses the Avalon airport in Melbourne, which is approximately 65 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. This was luckily not an issue for me as my German friend Alex came to pick me up from the airport. I studied with this guy in Lyon back in the days and it was actually quite weird to meet him here, on the other side of the world.

Alex had already lived and worked in Melbourne for about a month or so, and knew the area quite well. Therefore he suggested a little day trip to the coast, The Great Ocean Road to be more precise. This scenic route goes along the southwestern coastline of the state of Victoria, and is one of the major attractions in the whole Australia. Its length is about 250 km, but due to the curviness and abundance of magnificent lookouts (photo op), it takes a whole day to complete it.

We started our journey early in the morning and made our way through the picturesque villages of Lorne and Apollo Bay. The weather was not as hot and sunny as one could imagine it being in Melbourne, but this was actually a positive thing for us as it made the driving and walking far more enjoyable. The drive itself is very touristic, but on the way you can easily spot empty beaches calling for surfers and swimmers.

The highlights of the road were plenty. On the way to an old lighthouse located at Cape Otway, we saw lots of koalas in the Eucalyptus trees, which was my first encounter with this strange animal that doesn't really do anything. They just sit there and stay still. After the amazing views to the south Pacific from the lighthouse, we continued to the "Twelve Apostles", a landmark near the Port Campbell national park. The names refers to the numerous limestone stacks emerging from the shoreline. These were formed by erosion over millions of years and are certainly an impressive sight.

From the Apostles we headed back to Melbourne through the "outback". Actually I don't know if you could call it that over there but that's how it seemed to me. Rest assured, I will have a "real" outback experience shortly in case this was not official. After the trip, we went out and had some nice kangaroo meat for dinner. The Aussies are actually the only people in the world (supposedly) that eat the animals in their coat of arms. Emus and kangaroos, that is. It wasn't the best meat I've had in my life but nonetheless tasted all right. We went on to have some drinks with another friend, Brigid, from the Lyon time, and I guess you could call it a small reunion. Was also nice to walk along the ACDC road...

Back in Sydney...surprisingly my flight back was also delayed by 2,5 hours. I am seeing a pattern here. The airport in Avalon is not quite as entertaining as the Sydney airport, so this time the wait was a bit more painful. The fact that I hadn't really slept much during the weekend didn't help either. Remind me to opt for Virgin Blue next time. I'd be happy to pay a bit more...

The classes start tomorrow and I am expecting to see a Chinese invasion once again...I will get back to this after I have re-energized. "No worries, mate", as they all say around here. Remember to check out the new pics from Victoria and I will also add some more to the Sydney folder. Hope all is well in Finland/whereever you guys are.

Cheers.