Alarm goes off at 8:15am. Head. Hurting. Damn those drinking games. Hit snooze a billion times. Finally decide to ask Julie whether we are going or staying. She talks some sense into my hangover and coaxes me into the shower. Miraculously we get our shit together in time to check out at 10am and join Duncan and Guy in the kitchen for breakfast.
While waiting for Eliot’s bus to arrive, we head out to “Teddy’s Lookout” and are greeted by the first spectacular view of the day. The day is a gorgeous one and we decide to head straight to 12 Apostles and circle back for the forest walk the next day. I try to contain my excitement at this – am so excited to see what Julie and I have come to call “the fucking rocks.”
Guy, me, Julie, Duncan at Teddy's Lookout. We are staring directly into the sun dying for the picture to be over already.
After getting Eliot, we begin our journey along the Great Ocean Road and around every bend is a view that demands a picture. We had hoped to make good time there, but it’s impossible. We stop seemingly every 10 feet while we’re along the coast because it’s so gorgeous you just have to take it all in and capture it for posterity. In addition to the view, I’m also happy to see that Duncan and Guy have excellent taste in music – Travis, Coldplay, Ben Harper, etc. I’m glad I won’t have to suffer through some awful pop or heavy metal or something unbearable for hours upon hours in a station wagon.
I really can’t say much more about this day – I’m just going to let the pictures speak for themselves. With scenery like that, it’s difficult to have a bad time. The pinnacle of happiness for me, though, was finally viewing the 12 Apostles in person – they looked just like the pictures, only more magnificent. I might also note here that one of the “apostles” fell down last year so these guys aren’t going to be around much longer. This made the experience all the more awe-inspiring.
A few of the Apostles - the rocks in front are the remnants of the one that crumbled in July 2005.
Several hours later we arrived at Port Campbell where we would stay the night. Duncan and Guy fished off the pier while Julie, Eliot, and I explored the town. This meant I finally had a chance to just sit and appreciate where I was without worrying about taking a picture – just relaxing in the beauty of where we were. I read for a little while, but it was pretty windy so I went to town and bought the cheapest non-ugly hat I could find.
View from the rocks where I sat reading for a bit.
Later that night we went to the pub where Eliot, Julie, and I embarrassed ourselves playing pool. One would think I’d be a halfway decent pool player by now, but it seems that if one doesn’t practice the skill disappears. It took us forever to play two games and by the end there was what appeared to be an angry mob waiting for the table.
Apart from the party of 29-year-old married girls* celebrating a birthday, the pub was basically a bummer and filled with smoke that was making us nauseous. Also, beer is damn expensive in Australia and we had wine at home in the refrigerator. Of course, you can imagine where the evening led after that…ok, you’re right, we did play more drinking games, but not before Duncan and Sebastian (German guy met fishing) treated us to a concert of guitar and harmonica. See, we can have fun without boozing it up!
*I only mention the married girls not because they weren't fun or because married girls can't have a good time but because the boys were totally bummed to find Port Campbell so devoid of hook-up opportunities. Julie and I, on the other hand, were perfectly content dancing to Baby Got Back with the drunk and marrieds.
1 comment:
I loved the photos of the Apostles. They're amazing. It is still so awesome to me how very different other parts of the world look - I mean, I live close to the ocean, but it's nothing like this.
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