The Ocean Road to Melbourne.

Day 29: Wednesday, July 15th
Steps taken: 6,544

The last day with my fellow G-Adventurers started off with breakfast in the lobby.  I made myself a nutella and jelly sandwich.  Is there anything that can't go with nutella or that nutella can't make better? (Don't answer that!)

Our first stop after loading up the trailer was Loch Ard.  At Loch Ard, there were formations such as the Razorbacks, and the Two Survivors.  The coastline is changing due to the tides constantly crashing into the rocks.  We walked down to an alcove at the beach, and hung out there for ten minutes.  I tried getting a picture of my name in the sand, but the tide wasn't having it.  A really spectacular spot though.

From there, it was a short drive to The Twelve Apostles.  There isn't actually twelve large rocks jutting out of the water, but they government renamed the Pig & Sow formations to be more touristy. The formations were awesome from all angles, but they were especially cool from the air.  Sydney, Alex, Martin, Danielle, and myself took a fifteen minute helicopter ride over the Apostles.  It was raining, but that created a nice effect.  Definitely a must do at this site.

After the Apostles, we drove to the Great Otway National Park rain forest, and hiked there for about 45 minutes.  There was a tree there that if you walked through that you were to be married soon after.  I only walked through the notch to walk through a tree.  The rain forest itself was a good break between sections of ocean road.

The rain forest walk was followed up by lunch at Apollo Bay since they are well known for fish & chips.  it was really good.  Best I've had was in Camden, London, but this was close.  From there I picked up some souvenirs, and then we were on our way to Melbourne.

We made a few stops along the way to coastal lookout spots and memorials, but the most exciting place was the open air bird sanctuary.  We all bought some seeds, and the flocks flocked to us.  I had no less than two brightly colored birds on me at a time either eating out of my hand or seed bag.  Thankfully none of them defecated on me.  More than a few times two bird would fight on my arm, head or back of who gets to feed next.  It was fun feeding all these birds and watching how everyone else reacted to them.  Some ecstatic, some terrified, and some annoyed at having their hair pulled or being scratched by them.  I walked away with a few scratches, but it's okay because they weren't out to harm.

After our wild encounter, the bus went into party mode since we only had another hour or two together.  A goon of wine was passed around.  Goonies never say drink...wait.  Yes, they do.  Everyone was joking about different highlights of the tour.  Once we saw less ocean and more buildings, things became somber.  Our first stop in Melbourne was the train station.  Those of us staying said goodbye to those who had accommodations by train or needed to get to the airport.  Many tears were shed.  I was crying on the inside.  Then the remainder of us were dropped off at Nomads where only Kodak, Sydney, and I were staying.  We said our goodbyes to those who left us there (and Giles), and the tour was over.  I may have had a different idea than many of you of what YOLO should be, but thank you for making my final continent so memorable G-Adventurers, and safe travels to you all.

I checked into my room, got a map of the area, and tried to get settled.  The key card to my room was terrible and I had to swipe it several times to get in.  I saw that I had a 6 person room all to myself.  JACKPOT! I took the only double bed, dropped off my stuff, and went to a currency exchange.  I got a sense of Melbourne, which was decent.  It was similar in design to Adelaide except it was much less scummy.  I wasn't annoyed at anyone here.

On the way back to the hostel I picked up some prawn & chicken dumplings from I Love Dumplings because I love dumplings.  I ate them in my room, and relaxed for the rest of the night.  One journey was over, but an all new one just beginning.