Every Day is Sunday

The Great Ocean Road is considered a rite of passage for Aussie travelers.  We rented a car, popped in some tunes, and hit the open road – slightly hungover but ready for adventure.

It only takes 4 hours to drive direct from Melbourne to Port Campbell but it took us a little over 9.  We made several stops along the way to marvel at the vistas unfolding around each twist and turn of the road. 

We hung out for a while at Bells Beach, perhaps the most famous of all surfer destinations in Australia.  Many of the surfing scenes in the surfing classic “Point Break” were filmed there. 

We didn’t have a surf board, but that didn’t stop Sam from riding the waves and freezing his boys off.

After a quick stop for some oysters, we made our way to the Cape Otway Lightstation. One of the oldest in Australia, the lighthouse sits on top of a towering cliff overseeing the mingling of the Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean.  The big, beautiful, manually-operated lighthouse was taken out of commission in 1994, and replaced by a 3ft solar-powered automatic lighthouse. We’re all for modernization, but it’s sad to think that the days of the majestic lighthouse are behind us. 

But the real show was Sam showing off his flexibility to a bunch of old ladies…

On our way to the lighthouse we saw all the beautiful green trees lining the road.  It wasn’t until our return trip out that we realized these trees were full Koala bears.

They were shy and stayed pretty high up in the trees.  Koala bears look cute and cuddly, which is why we were so surprised every time they let out a growling bark like a cantankerous old man waiting for his tapioca.  Their scary outbursts didn’t stop Erin from taking 300 pictures in about 20 minutes.

Every pilgrimage has a culminating point.  Our journey down the Great Ocean Road reached its zenith when we reached the Twelve Apostles.

Rising majestically from the Ocean, these limestone stacks are a truly beautiful sight against the crystal blue water of the Antarctic Ocean.  They were created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs on the mainland that began 10-20 million years ago.  Rough ocean waves and crushing winds gradually eroded the soft limestone rock, forming caves in the cliffs.  These caves became arches, and then eventually the arches collapsed leaving these 150-foot high rock stacks isolated from the shore.  They were originally named the “Sow and Piglets” until some enterprising young Australian with a missionary zeal wisely renamed them.

Not long after we arrived an electrical storm broke out.  Sam got a fantastic shot of lightening over the apostles – earning him the admiration of the other tourists on the scenic lookout as well as 35 bonus points.  Erin had already earned 10 pts for spotting the first Koala bear, Jeff had five points for coming up with the game.  Sam’s incredible shot basically made him untouchable for the rest of the trip.

After a long day on the road we went out for dinner in Port Campbell and found a pizza place with an eclectic menu.  Sam was so shocked that this pizza joint in the middle of nowhere Australia had “Persian Pizza” on the menu (walnuts, feta, cheese, pears and tomato topped with cumin, coriander, sesame seeds and herbs) that he immediately texted his mom and insisted we order it.

Just before dinner we ran into these two German girls who we had seen throughout the day at all the famous stops along the Great Ocean Road.  They were so much fun we invited them to join us for dinner.  Ilka wanted to know why Americans always say “How are you?” and “See you later!” when they don’t really care how she is doing and will almost certainly not see her later.

After our regular pizza we ordered the specialty dessert: a chocolate pizza.  There were six pieces of chocolate pizza and only five of us, which meant that only one person would get a second slice.  The German girls suggested we play schnick, schnack, schnook for the last piece. 

We put together a double-elimination tournament of schnick, schnack, schnook (aka rock, paper, scissors).  The final round was captured in this dramatic footage:

The next day we did a little more sightseeing – descending the Gibson steps and checking out the London Bridge – but the weather wasn’t ideal.  It only rained when we were in our car traveling form one site to the next, but the wind kept up pretty much the entire time. 

We didn’t mind cutting our sightseeing day short because we needed to get to Port Fairy in time for the big race.

For a week, every Australian asked us if we were excited for the Melbourne Cup, also known as the “Race that Stops a Nation.”  The Melbourne Cup is like the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby and the 4th of July all wrapped up into one event.  The government got tired of everybody skipping work on the day of the race, so they made it a national holiday.  For three days leading up to the event every newspaper led with a race story, and every bar offered 2-for-1 race specials.

We made sure that we were in Port Fairy in time to catch the big race and, of course, put a few bets down.

Erin: We didn’t have much time to research the horses and so I asked some local guys for some advice.  They weren’t much help so I had to chose my horses based on their funny names.  I bet on “Crime Scene” and “Shocking” to “place” thinking that I would win as long as these horses came in either first, second or third.  It wasn’t until the race started that I found out that betting that a horse will “place” means that they have to come in second.  I was kicking myself until long-shot Crime Scene made a late push to finish second.  I won $100!!  Champagne for the house!!!

Jeff:  I managed to pick the winning horse, but my paltry $30 winnings were overshadowed by my screaming wife with a $100 in hand.   

Sam:  Whatever, at least you bitches both won something.