Tommy in the Land of Oz

One year on a traineeship in Melbourne. Pictures and Stories of my adventures Down Under.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

The Great Ocean Road

A couple of weeks ago I went on a road trip, in the lovely company of two fantastic girls; AIESEC exchange students Courtney from Canada, and Fernanda from Brazil! Our destination: Well, actually nowhere! We didn't really aim for a particular location since the road itself was the main attraction, being known as one of the most scenic drives in the world...

The Great Ocean Road is 300km of sweeping asphalt starting about 100 kilometers south-west from Melbourne. It stretches between Victorian cities Geelong and Warnambool and was built after The Great War (Worldwar I) in 16 years, by returning soldiers, as part of a government-funded job creation scheme.

In the Ford Falcon of Courtney's work, we past along breath-taking lookouts, waterfalls, rainforests, striking cliffs and dramatic rock formations, including the world-famous Twelve Apostles (which also can be seen in the header of this website!). We kind of felt like in a TV car commercial, the ones in which you see a nice car smoothly driving over a beautiful road separating a clear blue ocean from spectacular green mountains!

We spent two nights in hostels in some of the small resort villages on the way, allowing plenty of time to take it easy, to enjoy the amazing landscape and nature in a very relaxed way, stopping for example for a picnick and a swim on the beach, a delicious dinner in a restaurant with outstanding ocean view, or a walk trough the forest to look for Koala's (and we saw them!!).

It was an amazing and unforgettable long-weekend, during which I've surely seen some of the most - if not the most - beautiful landscapes and natural beauty of my life!

More pictures can be seen in my photo album here. And come back soon if you'd like to read about the Rip Curl Pro surf competition at Bells Beach and the Common Wealth Games!

Happy Easter everyone!!