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Mon 15 Jan
Headed off on a Great Ocean Road tour, starting off with a stopoff at Torquay (the home of Ripcurl & Quiksilver surf shops) then up to Bells Beach which is famous for the surfing competitions held there. We saw our first echidna, a strange looking animal a bit like a hedgehog with a long nose. We also drove off the main road and were amazed to find lots of koala bears just hanging around in the trees..... quite literally! They sleep for 20 hours a day in the most precarious positions, amazing that they all don't fall out of the trees. Fabulous to see koalas in the wild so close up (although we were told not to get too close as they have really long fingernails/claws and also carry sexually transmitted diseases!). Stopped off for lunch at a place called Lorne - nice fish and chips. Had a short walk up to Mariner's Lookout for fantastic views over Apollo Bay. We then checked into the hostel in Apollo Bay - our room was a sort of static caravan/portacabin sleeping seven people including a three tier bunkbed. We then had a walk on the beach and around the harbour. Later had dinner with the rest of the group in a local pub.
Tues 16 Jan
We drove to Mait's Rest for a walk around the rainforest area there, huges trees and ferns. Had a quick stopoff for coffee at Laver's Hill then headed off to the Port Campbell National Park. The highlight was the Twelve Apostles, some giant limestone stacks just off the coast. We were told that they can't all be seen from the lookout so we decided to go up in a helicopter for a proper view! We were only up there for ten minutes but the views were stunning even though it was a bit hazy. The helicopter ride itself was also fabulous and luckily we managed to avoid the 'speed bumps' that sometimes occur. We also saw 'London Bridge', another formation which originally had two 'bridges' until one collapsed in 1990 leaving two tourists stranded on the remaining 'bridge'! Our last stop was Gibson's Steps - 87 steps down to the beach where we were able to properly appreciate the sheer size of the Apostles (up tp 45 metres high). Sadly then we had to start heading back to Melbourne. On the way back we heard on the radio news that bush fires had caused a massive power cut in Melbourne. Just outside the city we stopped for petrol only to find that all the petrol stations were closed due to the power cut. A couple of minutes after setting back off we ran out of petrol!! This sent Ian (tourleader) into a panic and after about 30 minutes of ringing round trying to find a petrol station that was open he gave up and paid for us all to get taxis into the city...... an interesting end to the journey! Got back to Kirsty's, showered and went out for cocktails (except Ed who stuck to beer) to celebrate our last night in Melbourne.
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