Getting Our Feet Wet

We all like Saturdays. In fact, most of us love Saturdays. How could you not? It’s the first time in 5 days that you can sleep in, slurp your coffee over a slowly handcrafted breakfast, and decide what you want to do with your free-ass self for the next 48 hours. The only people who don’t like Saturdays are those high school or university students that basically keep the service industry running, and have to roll their fermented sleep-leeched bodies into the places that you have decided to spend your weekend. My Saturday started off much like a student, and ended up more like an adventurer.

I woke up early to head down to my part-time retail job (which, I’m too hesitant to name, blurbing on the internet, since I signed a legally binding document regarding public slander) and spent the day greeting lazy passersby and discussing the many different kinds of cotton combinations that make the perfect T-Shirt. It could have been torture – but it wasn’t. I had a secret. I had a little seed of joy inside of me that was sprouting by the minute, knowing full well that by 4 o ‘clock I would be on the open road with my fiancé and two good friends finally exploring Australia beyond the borders of Melbourne! Hark!

Steve, Johnny and Rebecca picked me up in a peanut sized rental car that had “BUDGET RENTALS, RENT BY THE HOUR” spammed across every surface – but it was perfect. It was going to be the ‘Little Engine that Could’ that swept us out to Apollo Bay, Great Ocean Road (GOR), and beyond!  The game plan: drive to Apollo Bay and stay overnight in a backpackers, continue on Sunday down GOR to sightsee, and then backtrack it to Melby early enough to make the St. Kilda Festival.

Driving down the winding roads edged on the sides of cliffs, hugging the ocean instantly brought back remnants of New Zealand memories. We stopped a couple times; once, to frolic on a beautiful beach as the sun started to sink, and again – impromptu, but imperative since we spotted wild kangaroos munching away in a farmer’s field. We made it to Apollo Bay after dark, had a quick feed of fish n’ chips and headed to our pre-affirmed late check in at the backpackers.

Uh Oh – only John, the caretaker, seemed to have forgotten about the late-check in, and was in a perpetually grumpy state upon our arrival. When we asked where the nearest bottle shop was, he grunted “There’s no booze where you’re going,” and walked ahead to show us our room. Sideways glances and suppressed giggles turned ominous as it started to drizzle and John stopped outside the outdated room to read us the riot act – it felt like we were in trouble already. Trying to lighten the mood, Steve cheerily joked about the booze-rule, “That’s the silliest rule I’ve ever heard!” John bristled like a pitbull and barked “Them’s the rules boy, and if you don’t like ‘em, you can leave!”

We decided then, that it would be a good idea to conceal the 4L box of wine we brought as we transferred it from the car to the room.

Drinking a litre of cheap wine each on a mattress fort really took off the edge from the creepy vibes we got upon arrival. We stayed up eating leftover chips and laughing until the goon was dry.

Sunday rolled in and we got a good crack on the day, blazing a trail up GOR. Everyone was keeping their eyes peeled, since it’s a well-known fact that wild koalas can be seen up in the trees lining the road. Steve had just finished saying, “Apparently, once you find one koala, you’re an expert and you can spot them all the time!” when, ironically, he spotted one! We pulled over and backtracked to see the little guy.  We all felt like David Attenborough should have been narrating as we approached the tree and stared dreamily up at the fuzzy bundle that was latched onto the branches.  It was a rather quiet, distinctive moment that we all soaked in – our first koala.

Pressing on, we visited the spectacular 12 Apostles – pillars of rock and land that remain apart from the coastline, projecting from the sea.  It reminded me a lot of the Punakaiki/Pancake Rocks in NZ – quite a tourist attraction, but well worth it.  I started thinking – what is it about bits of rock, land and ocean that people get passionate about? The swelling force of the waves, the sheer sizes of the formations, the layers of the earth, flaking off the edge of a country like a piecrust. The beauty and the unimaginable forces that make us marvel and remind us how small and powerless we really are. Humbling.

12 Apostoles

It turns out that the 12 Apostoles weren’t even the most impressive part of the exploring. The Loch Ard George was a bit of a descent, but at the bottom, the silky golden sand spanned to a tumultuous turquoise ocean, which was kept at bay by two massive cliff faces, creating a small entrance to the gorge. (Elora Gorge doesn’t hold a freekin’ candle to this place!) It was every bit of the cliché ‘breathtaking’ that you could imagine. 

Loch Ard Gorge

That feeling continued at Thunder cave – a roaring, surging in-and-out of sea to land.  After a few more stops, each equally as remarkable as the other, we hopped back into the Budget to head towards home.

Thunder Cave

We had one last mission: drive down Cape Otway and play “I Spy” with wild koalas. It turned out that Steve’s previous advice was true – he spotted nearly 10 koalas! One of which was a Mum and baby cradled way up high. It was such fun spotting the languid fuzz-balls and peering into their relaxed lives for a moment in the late afternoon sunshine.

Can you spot the koala?

 My favourite encounter was with a large, grumpy guy that we found in a crooked old gum tree quite near to the ground.  We all took turns tentatively climbing a few feet into the tree (while still keeping a safe distance) to share a breath with the koala. He even ended up putting on a bit of a show for us and posing in what I thought, was a rather Lady Gaga like manner. It was simply fascinating.  

See the resemblance?

 

In fact, the whole 24 hours had been so amazing that we didn’t even make it back into the city in time for the St. Kilda Festival, but we didn’t mind one bit. I did my penance by helping with the drive back, taking ease on the meandering corners and settling back into a Southern Hemisphere state of mind. Steve and I had been a little concerned that maybe Australia wouldn’t hold as much wonder for us that NZ had – but in just one day, we learned that there is a whole lot to uncover.

We slept well Sunday night.