So THE number one thing to do when visiting Melbourne, is to drive the 4+hours along the picturesque coastline known as the Great Ocean Road. A trip that most people rent a car for and spend about 5 days to take their time to do. It is a MUST-do. So when you have been in Melbourne for a month and a half, still haven't done it, and all of your friends have already been, you start to wonder if you will ever get the chance...
While in St Kilda, one of my other tight knit families was referred to by everyone as "the French guys." Of which I became an honorary member of. The group actually consisted of 2 French guys, 1 French girl, a German guy and myself... but who's picky about the details... But after spending a significant time with this group, I was surprised and thoroughly excited when it came about that they too hadn't driven the GOR yet. So discussions began... most of which I kept myself out of, because although they often start out speaking in English, it usually ended in French. Not to mention, they can be pretty terrible at planning and organizing... which is apparent in how this trip came about.
With the weekend available, discussions about the trip started on Friday evening... and went nowhere. Discussions commenced again Saturday morning, and noting that we now only had 2 full days, it wasn't realistic to try and see it all, so again, nothing was decided. Assuming that was it, I removed myself from the conversation, and went off to my horrible waste-of-time job interview. A situation that I was saved from by the frantic calls from Sophiane to come back to the hostel RIGHT THEN, because we were going to the GOR!! (at now 3pm... haha). By the time I got back, I threw my backpack in the back of the car, along with the 4 pizzas the boys had bought, the BUCKET of pasta they had made, and the other bits and pieces they had gathered together. With five of us squished into a tiny car, we were off to conquer the GOR!... In 1 day and a few hours haha.
Sophiane, me, Jimy, Lynn, and Jan (Yan)
Making it to the start of the Great Ocean Road, we managed to stop at a few places before the sun went down.
With the sun now set, we had a few more hours to drive to get to our planned destination of the 12 Apostles (the most famous part of the GOR), where we decided we would sleep in the car and wake up to for sunrise. We stopped in a few towns along the way, and stopped on the side of the road multiple times just to gaze at the stars, and to have a little dance (really though). One of our stops had a dirt road just off the main road, and we kept daring each other to walk down it a ways because it was THAT dark and THAT creepy. The stars were definitely the highlight though.
Once we got to the 12 Apostles at about 11pm (which arguably is more beautiful in the dark under the moon and starlight, than it is in the daytime), we second-guessed our decision to stay there for sunrise, and instead decided to drive another 3.5hours to the Grampians National Park, and see the sunrise from the top of the mountains.
With the backseat fast asleep, it was my job as copilot to keep the driver awake, navigate us in the dark, and be the kangaroo spotter (because they were EVERYWHERE and they are HUGE!).
About 4am, we had made it to the base of where we wanted to be, without hitting any kangaroos, and it was finally time to park the car and sleep for 2 hours. Yes, sleeping in the car.... 5 of us. And it was freezing!
6am tired as hell, still cold, we raced to the top of the mountain to catch the sunrise.
Totally worth it.
After seeing the amazing sunrise from Boroka lookout, we also went to Mckenzie falls, the balconies, and Reid's point.
Driving back to the GOR, we decided to stop at the two most famous places, the 12 Apostles, and London Bridge.
As beautiful as everything was, I quite liked the discussion I had with Sophiane about sightseeing as we walked back to the car after seeing the 12 apostles with the other hundreds of tourists.... you can take photos of all the amazing places you go, the same photos that everyone else takes, but the real memories are from the people you are with, and the small, seemingly insignificant little happenings. Dancing on the side of the road, singing to the songs that have replayed 20 times, off-roading in the middle of the night to chase kangaroos, being SO unbearably tired but determined to make it to your destination, and the funny little conversations along the way.... Those are the things that you remember with a smile.
And then you go and sit in the middle of the parking lot shamelessly passing around the 2 forks that you have, eating a portion of the pasta that you got from the bucket in the trunk haha.
I have NEVER in my life been so painfully tired as I was from this adventure... but oh the memories :)
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