Melbourne Here I Come!

     It was early in the morning and FREEZING in Melbourne.  (Well, freezing to us Sydney people!)  We were waking up early to go on the Great Ocean Road tour, which is the largest war memorial in Australia.  The Great Ocean road is west of Melbourne and it is absolutely gorgeous- and even pretty on the days when it is raining!  The bus picked us up at the hostel, and I don't really remember much of this part because I was so distracted by a guy sitting in front of me who had the WORST B.O. ever!!!  I mean, I could not breathe.  Maybe he had just run a marathon, or gone biking or swimming (or some hard-core exercise) or maybe it was too early and he did not feel like taking a shower.  I personally think it is the latter reason, but anywho, it sure stank in that small bus.

     I endured the smell for 4.5 minutes and then moved to the front seat of the bus, right beside the driver and my friends moved from our original spot to sit behind me.  Truth is, I made a good life decision because the bus driver (and tour-guide) said that it was the best seat in the house!. . .or bus I guess.  So, it worked out for the best- I had the best view of everything- all the pretty beaches, beautiful scenery, and cute towns- all because Mr. Stinky Man caused me to move.  I would take this trade any day!

     The first beach that we passed was Bells Beach.  There was a movie filmed where one scene was on "Bells Beach," but it was a FAKE Bells Beach.  I can't remember the movie's name, but the one scene is on a beach in California that is disguised as Bells Beach.  Don't believe the movie- it is lying to you! :)

     Next we passed a town that totally burned down in a bushfire.  Only 3 buildings remained.  After, we came to the town of Lorne.  All of the houses in Lorne are over $1,000,000!  It seemed like a prime spot to be for the beach! The next town, Apollo Bay was the lunch stop and I ate the most delicious gyro EVER!

     It would take me forrreeevvvver to tell about every beach and town that we went to on the tour, so I have decided to tell you about something way more exciting: A Hairy Tree Fern.  Yes, a hairy tree fern.  My tour group and I went on a short hike through the rainforest and saw a variety of trees and plants, but the hairy tree fern is the most memorable.  This plant was 1,000 years old and what is even cooler than its old age is the fact that the tree does not use the in-ground roots as the main water supply- it has "roots" surrounding the trunk of the tree.  How. Cool. Is. This???

     Further along the way, we came to stunning rocks in the middle of the ocean.  The main attraction, the Twelve Apostles, were HUGE (even bigger than the pictures!)  Here is the thing though: each "apostle" is a rock and one of the rocks fell in a large wave two years ago so now there are 8 rock structures.  This confused me a bit because that would mean that there used to be 9 rock structures. . .which does not equal 12!  But the "Eight Apostles" were amazing, and many tourists travel the Great Ocean Road to see the Twelve Apostles- which oddly enough used to be called Sow and Piglets! 

     Our last destination was London Bridge!  The formation used to have two arches, but one fell a couple of years ago.  People used to be able to walk across the rock structure to the very end and have a beautiful view, until of course, it fell.  On the day that "London Bridge Fell Down," (corny, I know!) a couple was walking across the bridge and made it to the very end.  Then, they heard a loud noise and realized that it might be a little difficult to get back.  Once they were finally rescued, the story about them was all over the news.  Unfortunately, the bridge broke on a week day and the couple was "Taking a Sickie" (aka taking a sick day) from work.  So, as you can imagine, their bosses were not that thrilled about them taking a vacation day and calling in sick.

     I could keep on going about this amazing day, we saw so much during the 14 hours that we were traveling down the Great Ocean Road, and it was all so different than anything I have seen before.  So, the lessons of the day are this: 1. Don't take a sick day if you are going to be on National Television. 2. Naming landmarks really does matter, even if you name it the wrong number- I do not think many travellers would want to go to "Sow and Piglets."  And #3: If someone near you smells SUPER bad, move to the front row seat where the vision is perfect- and you can always open the windows :)