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Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road
I woke up in Wodonga to find a gloomy, rainy day, quite a change from the
clear skies I had seen over the past few days. I drove out of town and found
myself on a freeway that headed straight south across Victoria to Melbourne.
The green valleys and distant mountains were shrouded in mist as I sped down
the freeway at 120 kph, passing through the heart of Australia's bushranger country.
I was still 30 kilometres north of Melbourne when the massive skyline of the
city came into view, rising above the rolling ranch lands of southern
Victoria. I came into the city and the freeway ended, bringing me onto the
city streets, through neighborhoods with a rich cultural diversity of
Greeks, Turks, Arabs, Chinese, and Vietnamese. I made my way through heavy
traffic to the center of the city and found a place to park, relieved to get
out of the car and navigate the city on foot.
A light drizzle continued to come down, and I found that my heart was just
not into being in a city. I knew the Outback was waiting for me and didn't
think I wanted to spend near as much time in Melbourne as I did in Sydney. I
wandered around the central city for awhile, through the canyons of
highrises and across the Yarra River to a large park where I sat and watched
the rowing teams in the river. The rain dampened my spirits and I decided to
head out, the lure of the Great Ocean Road beckoning me.
I found my way to the freeway and headed south over the Westgate Bridge, through a
vast industrial district whose greyness seemed to match the weather. The
freeway ended just before Torquay, and I began the spectacular winding drive of the
Great Ocean Road. This is probably one of the most beautiful stretches of
coastal highway in the world, with high cliffs, small resort towns, and
awesome rock formations rising amid the huge crashing waves. I drove for 150
kilometres along this highway, stopping at turnouts to take in the views of
the southern ocean.
I arrived at the Twelve Apostles, the most well-known feature of the Great
Ocean Road. I parked the car and walked out a short trail to the edge of the
cliff, where I joined dozens of other tourists clicking their cameras away
at the amazing sight. The Twelve Apostles are rock formations that stand
like pillars in the surf, the remains of cliffs that have been eroded away
by the crashing waves. Rays of sunlight broke through the clouds and created
beautiful effects on the ochre-colored rock. A truly inspiring place,
although unfortunately there were no significant trails to walk along and
escape the crowds.
At Warnambool, I turned inland onto a small highway and began to zigzag my
way toward the Grampians National Park. I made a few wrong turns and got
lost a little bit, so ended up taking a very circuitous route through the
Victorian sheep country, going north to Mortlake, then west to Penshurst.
It had just gotten dark as I drove into Penshurst, a
tiny little town with just one pub hotel, that was already booked solid for
the night, so I had to drive on to the next town. Another 34 kilometres and
I pulled into Dunkeld, where I stayed at a very nice, but unfortunately
expensive, hotel resort. The good part about it was that I was immediately
outside the entrance to the National Park, so I could see the park at
sunrise, the best time of day to see wildlife.
Next up: The tour continues to the Grampians National Park.
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