Road Trippin' Part II: The Great Ocean Road

It's arguably Australia's most famous road. Stretching from Warrnamboll to Torquay it winds around the edge of limestone cliffs. Below are golden sandy beaches and massive waves barreling into shore. We went from the Grampians though to Warrnamboll which is a old whaling post, standing here on the old sea defenses, looking out at the deep blue up to the horizon it is weird to think that sailing from here would eventually land you in Antarctica. Listening to the booms of the big waves break it was perplexing to see the total lack of surfers, but I soon discovered the variety of reasons for this; 1. This coast has very strong rip currents, 2. getting caught against the countless rocks and cliffs wouldn't end well, 3. the water is fairly cold and home to a very healthy White Shark population, in fact because these waters are rich in nutrients carried from the Antarctic there is lots of plankton, lots of fish, thus plenty of whales, seals and sharks. I read a recent news article from the area where a roo was swimming along the coast and was taken by a shark, the seagulls flocking around the crimson water where only things remaining to mark the assault.

The Great Ocean Road is home to landmark rock formations like The 12 Apostles, London Bridge and The Loch Ard Gorge. The latter is named after the clipper ship that ran aground during a storm and only two of the crew survived (there are quite a few ship wrecks on this coast). Here the waves stealthily build strength in the depths, charge into the reefs gaining in height and detonate against the colossal rocks. It is impressive and defiantly worth seeing but for me the ocean road didn't hold a candle to the Grampians, In the Grampians you were in the wilderness whereas here, there were little look out points, railings, stairs, helicopter tours and lots of tourists. Whilst camping the weather took a turn for the worse and powerful winds came close to blowing the tent away and ripped apart other unluckier campers shelters. I should also take a moment to mention Australian radio, we listened to it throughout our car journeys and it's kinda different from our own. The adverts are really informal along the lines of "need new tyres, call up and ask for Bill or come in store, we're right next to Tacco Bell" the presenters don't beat about the bush either, ripping into every callers no matter how sensitive the subject and talking about one night stands and boobs throughout the day, we liked the radio, in particular Triple J.

Driving towards Cape Otway we came to a gum tree forest and lounging about above us were Koala, the trees that lined the road were peppered with them, they looked like hunched grumpy old men that had just woken from their slumber. Our final stop was Torquay, the spiritual home of Australian surfing and where Rip Curl originated. This is where we intended to surf on the world famous Bell's Beach and i'd love to say we caught some gnarly waves but we'd stuck out and the sea was quiet. Instead we visited the surf museum home of some pretty oldskool boards like the hollow 16" toothpick boards and some crazy guys who tackling monsters on the very beach that was now calm and tranquil. I think one thing you can say about Australia is it's a pretty unforgiving country;  if you swim in the wrong waters your swept out to sea or dashed against rocks, if you don't watch your footing you step on creatures armed with some of the most potent venom in the world. Back in England you might get pretty cold and maybe stung by a wasp.

Bell's Beach Easter Saturday 1965