Trip - Australia D2 - Great Ocean Way

Good morning Blog,

Today we went on a road trip to the Great Ocean Road! Anyone who knows I am going to Melbourne has highly recommended it.

You may be wondering if my title is incorrectly named. It should be 'Road' rather than 'Way', correct? There is a reason, which I will explain last.

Why did I wake up so early, like 6:30 a.m.? Aside from the need to get the vehicle out early due to the long distance, there was another reason...

I was on my way for a swim!

I will not want to pass up the opportunity to go for a free swim.

There was no one around, which was ideal!

Except for the jacuzzi (warm water), the water was cold, but I decided to swim anyway.

I am ready to go!

Oh gosh! The morning was extremely cold for me! Oh my! I saw a few people jogging in shorts and tees, but I guess that is only for demigods.

I was waiting in the Avis Car & Truck Rental vehicle collection centre, where I could keep this fat-me warm.

This would be our transportation for two days!

Thanks, Sf, for this.

Sf suggested we should go directly to the Twelve Apostles because they should be the main focus among the other small beach spots along the Great Ocean Road.

That would be a 2-hour-plus road trip.

Great Ocean Road – where is the ocean?

The Great Ocean Road to the Twelve Apostles is nothing more than a road and a cloudless sky.

I wanted to capture a photo of a straight road like this icon 🛣️

We had arrived, and a curious bird greeted us at the 12 Apostles.

I looked at my watch; it was noontime. My friends and Sf explained why we needed to get to the 12 Apostles first because tourists would begin to flood the area. I had already noticed a large number of visitors in the car park.

Welcome to the Twelve Apostles.

Hmm... Many visitors were moving in one direction.

A picture of my short shadow.

Awesome Scene!

The venue began to fill with visitors.

Hoping it will sit upon my palm.

The area was teeming with people, which is understandable. We acquired our vehicle around 8 a.m., and the journey took over two hours, nearly three, bringing us close to noon. This coincides with the time many tourists are likely to arrive, explaining the afternoon crowds at the Twelve Apostles.

I won't say much; just enjoy the breathtaking views. :)

(Credit Sf) When will there be a world in which we can travel around and see the world as a job?

I would love to take up that job just to travel around and photograph their beauty.

Oooo, there is a platform in the distance.

I love the colour of the ocean, but we could not go down there.

The scene of roiling waves is a sign that our planet is alive.

Actually, to think back, there are jobs where people travel around taking pictures of places, and I can simply Google for images... But what I really want is the ability to travel to new places and experience things that are out of the ordinary.

To be reminded of how small we are and how incredible nature is. Praise Heaven.

I wanted to fly my drone, but my mini drone cannot fly in strong winds, so we will admire it from afar.

I want to go to that beach 🫠

Okay, it was time to leave this place and go elsewhere.

Whenever they or I mention the Twelve Apostles, they will say, "No more twelve." I understand why, and anyone visiting Melbourne should cover this area for the Apostles.

Everything seemed fine until my friend, Sf, gave me another disapproving expression and told me to stop using my phone while crossing the road when a vehicle was waiting for me... Despite my efforts to explain to him that I was looking at my phone for our next destination when I noticed the waiting vehicle, so I paused and sped up to cross the road before continuing where I had stopped on my phone, he insisted that I was not paying attention to my surroundings. I felt frustrated, as if I did not deserve an explanation for myself and should just accept the truth and stop denying it... Simply suffocating! A 10-minute drive seemed like an eternity at the time. I do not want to elaborate further and simply accept that I am shxtty.

We had arrived at Loch Ard Gorge because I wanted to get to the beach area, and I wished we could just return to the city and end the trip.

But the scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

The Razorback resembles a giant layer cake.

I am attempting to capture the web here; do you see it?

Anyway, I tried to calm down and accept the reality of being shxtty so that it would not ruin my mood for the rest of the trip.

We attempted to locate a path down to the beach, but it was nowhere to be found.

Wow, we were really close until we saw this sign!

Wow, it’s so empty here! What’s going on? 

Ooo, this was the reason...

The beach had closed... I want to go down there. But given the potential crowd density, I doubt I will be able to undress to my trunks and enter the water...

Then simply snap the photo for the day here.

Sf recommended another location nearby.

There did not seem to be many people around because tourists only bring their guests to popular spots.

Sf recommend, "London Bridge". If you look back at some photos on Google Maps, you can see that this formation will not last long, so we should appreciate it for what it is.

Just look at the clean beach. Sometimes I wonder why they closed access to the beaches to prevent human littering.

Just look at the strong wave. Nice shot!

London Bridge is falling down! Hope you get to see it before it totally goes down.

(Credit Sf) Less crowd means more time for pictures.

On our way to another location that I insisted on visiting.

Not many people around, which is nice!

That was "The Grotto".

No one was around!

Ooo! Getting excited!

Even the plants were cheering for us! 😂 In fact, we were not alone; we met a German tourist riding a motorbike from state to state. It takes courage to ride alone.

And here we were! There were no tourist floodgates!

The combination of sinkhole, cave, archway, and pool is simply breathtaking!

(Credit Sf) Yippee! Managed to get some nice photos! Also assisted Sf, a German tourist, and a random couple in taking photographs.

Some of the photos I asked for help with can perplex people, as if they do not understand what I am looking for; even the photos here can appear strange and unusual.

(Credit Sf) I simply adore the unusual and distinctive shape of the branches. I am just a weirdo.

Anyway, the Great Ocean Road will come to an end here, as we were on our way elsewhere.

So I titled it Great Ocean Way rather than Road because we drove directly to the Twelve Apostles and did not drive along the beach road of the Great Ocean Road; if Sf did, I doubt we would have arrived by noon or earlier, and we were also going to the next location, Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. I hope to have enough time and energy to visit the beaches along the Great Ocean Road.

Jeff