My day started early for a Saturday (6:30am) so that I could pick up the car just as the rental shop opened up. The guy at the desk was really nice (not always something you find when renting cars) and I didn't feel like they tried to pressure me into a whole bunch of extra things that I didn't want (again, not always the case with these sorts of businesses).
My destination for the day was the Victoria coastline that is located west of Melbourne. More commonly known as 'The Great Ocean Road', this stretch of coastline (and the road that travels along it) is regarded as one of the most scenic areas in the world to drive and visit. The whole idea is very similar to 'The Road to Hana' (for those who are familiar with Maui). However, having done at least parts of both, I can definitely say that the Great Ocean Road has much better signage and the road and parking areas here in Australia seemed to be a bit more user friendly compared to the situation on Maui.
In any case, I had to drive pretty far just to get to the start of the Great Ocean Road. So, I set off from Melbourne with a general idea of where I was going (and a GPS unit to fill in the rest). The weather was a little iffy in the morning, but by the time I reached the start of the road, the skies had cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day! I made my way along the road stopping regularly to take a lot of scenic photos. As is the case with the Road to Hana on Maui, you can choose to stop where you want to and you can stay for as long or as little as you would like. Since I was by myself (and trying to get as much done as I could in the day) I opted to make most of the stops pretty quick (as opposed to stopping and swimming at a beach for example).
The scenery and the drive were great. There weren't many cars on the road, so it was very straightforward to get around and I didn't have trouble parking in the pull-off areas. The views were amazing and I took far more photos than I could ever post here.I will try to list a few highlights here. My first stop was Bells Beach (just outside of Torquay). I walked around the beach for a while and climbed up on some rocks near where the surf was crashing. I caught a few good photos of birds (they always make me think of the birds from 'Finding Nemo' - mine!). This was a good start to the trip as there weren't many people there and the parking was very easy.
Afterward, I went to visit a lighthouse that had been visible from the beach outside of Torquay. Here there were a few paths to walk around and I started to get the feeling of how awesome the scenery was going to be on this trip. I must say though, I didn't feel completely safe at the lighthouse because there were 'No-Superman' signs posted everywhere around the site - hahaha (seriously, I felt perfectly safe - these signs are really 'No-Standing' street signs that are found all throughout Australia, but I think it's more fun to call them 'No-Superman' signs) Afterward, I proceeded along the coast (stopping off at various points as I went). I passed through the towns of Angelsea and Lorne. While it might have been nice to have stopped, I figured that it would be best to press on.
As I moved further along the road, I came across signs reminding folks to drive on the left-hand side of the road. These continued for the rest of the Great Ocean Road. The thing that puzzled me was that they didn't start them until well along the road. So, you would assume that, if someone made it that far without dying, he or she had figured out the whole left-hand side of the road by that time. Honestly, it isn't that difficult to get used to... Any person with a moderate level of intelligence and a willingness to be diligent will have no problem driving in Australia (or New Zealand and England for that matter).The roads were setup nicely with a lot of opportunities to pull over. This not only helped for taking photos, but it also allowed slower drivers to pull over and let faster drivers go by. I think this really made a big difference in terms of how smoothly the road seemed to flow.
I decided to stop in Apollo Bay for lunch (and was lucky to find a parking space). Apollo Bay is known as a fishing town, so I found a place to eat lunch where I could get a sampling of various seafood. I had the 'fisherman's basket' with shrimp, white fish, scallops, and calamari (served on pasta salad, a garden salad, and fries). It was really good!
After Apollo Bay, the road moves inland for a bit and runs through Otway National Park. The park is largely made up of eucalyptus trees. These make for great scenery while driving. Eucalyptus trees are somewhat like palm trees in that the branches and leaves grow from the top - creating an upper canopy. This makes for a cool 'tunnel-like' experience when you are driving through a eucalyptus forest. It can be hard to focus on the road though, because it is easy for your eyes to drift upwards to look for wild koalas. :) In fact, I saw a couple wild koalas up sleeping in their eucalyptus canopy. The southern koalas (such as those in Victoria) are easier to spot in the trees than the northern koalas (such as those in Queensland) - even though they are technically the same species. The southern koalas have a darker and thicker coat to protect them from the winters in Victoria. However, the northern koalas are lighter in color and they tend to blend in with the trees and the sky a bit more. In any case, it was cool to see them in the wild!
After the park, the road comes to the rock formations known as 'The 12 Apostles'. These rock formations are world famous and widely recognized. I stopped off to visit and immediately could see how much more of a tourist attraction this was. This was the only stop along the road that had its own visitor's center. It was actually kind of unfortunate in how it was setup because it felt much more like a tourist attraction as opposed to being out to see a spectacular natural phenomenon. Nonetheless, the scenery was great and I managed to get some good photos. Unfortunately, by this time in the afternoon, clouds had rolled in and it actually poured rain while I was at the 12 Apostles. I took shelter with pretty much everyone else who was there in the tunnel that connected the viewing 
platform to the visitor's center. I decided to stick around hoping that the sun would come out after the heavy rain and produce an awesome rainbow. While the sun did come out after the rain, no rainbow ended up appearing. While the weather wasn't great (i.e. bright blue skies and sunny), I think the cloudiness and particularly the time right after the rain produced some really unique views of the scenery. I guess most of the photos show the formations on 'perfect' weather days. However, with the different weather conditions, it was almost like the place had a different and more mysterious appeal to it. I don't think that the photos do the scenery justice at all. The lighting was very difficult and my tiny point and shoot camera can only do so much... In any case though, it was a pretty awesome thing to see. I just wish we didn't have to be restricted to a viewing platform.Afterward, I drove to Port Campbell to walk around the town for a bit to stretch my legs. I punched the Graduate House into the GPS unit to see what my estimated return time was (from that point) to decide whether I should press on or turn back. I decided that it was probably time to head back to Melbourne, since I was also starting to feel a bit tired. I did not retrace my path back along the coast to get back to Melbourne. Rather, I took a far more direct inland route. I really was in the middle of nowhere though, I was glad I had the GPS because all I could see were farms and open fields for most of the trip home. From Port Campbell, it took me about 4 hours to get back to Melbourne (it certainly took much longer to get there following the Great Ocean Road). So, I did a lot of driving today. It's funny since I wouldn't often consider somewhere that is 4 hours away to be a great day trip. But it's amazing what opportunity and time constraints do to you! I would have ideally liked to make it the whole way to Adelaide and then make the ~12 hour direct trip back to Melbourne. However, it became apparent to me in planning the trip that this would be a bit too ambitious given the time that I have left here in Australia. I am amazed when I think about all of the things I have seen and done in the past 9 weeks. I have had several people here tell me that I have seen far more of Australia in 9 weeks than they have in their whole lives...
The drive back to Melbourne was pretty dull. It was a lot of straight and flat roads through farmland. As I got closer to Melbourne and started picking up the Melbourne radio stations, it became apparent that Melbourne had been hit by a rather significant storm. The radio broadcasters were referring to it as possibly the worst storm to ever hit Melbourne. Apparently, an intense storm of an enormous amount of rain, high winds, and golf-ball size hail hit the city during the later afternoon. They were saying on the radio that many streets were still shut down and that the city was a mess. By the time I got back to Melbourne, I would assume things were better, but they were still not good. I came in near the Docklands and the Southern Cross Train Station (2 areas that were hit pretty hard by hail and flash flooding). Apparently, the roof of the Southern Cross Train Station collapsed during the storm and there is a crazy photograph of this happening and the water pouring into the station on a local newspaper website... I was glad that I had the GPS because I had to be very creative with the route I took to get home. Many streets were still blocked with trees or car accidents and flooding blocked other roads. Finally, I made it back to the Graduate House and it felt good to park the car and just relax knowing I had made it back (I still have the car for tomorrow and I am planning to do more touring). I have read online that there were many injuries from people at festivals since this storm came out of nowhere apparently. This weekend is Labour (their way of spelling it) Day here in Australia. So there were several festivals and outdoor events going on when the storm hit. All in all, it was a sad day for Melbourne. Initial reports indicate significant damages to some buildings and houses downtown and in the suburbs, but I'm sure the extent of the damage won't be fully known for at least a few days. In any case, I'm glad I wasn't in the city with the rented car when it hit... I've had my fill of driving in golf-ball sized hail! So, altogether I am fine and the city will be fine too, but it sure made for an interesting end to the day.
Altogether, I had a great day touring the coastline and it was a lot of fun to get the chance to drive around. Driving on the left-hand side of the road has become so second nature for me that I am worried I will have trouble when I get back to Austin. :) I had also forgotten how much I miss listening to the radio regularly. I have had my iPod here with me, but listening to the radio today, I realized how far behind I am on pop culture! There were so many songs that I had not heard before! Combine that with all the TV shows that I haven't seen in the last 9 weeks and I'm going to have some catching up to do when I get home - hahaha!
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