The Great Ocean Road

SO ... to continue with the tale of our ambitious weekend, on Sunday January 14 we travelled the Great Ocean Road. We began our journey in Port Campbell, spending an entire day driving through the man-made highway that traverses what is known as the "Shipwreck Coast." It's called this for good reason - it is dreadfully curvy on the road, and even nuttier off the the road and on the sandy coast itself.

It was so breathtaking, the beauty of the open ocean on your right (as it were in the direction we were driving), and on the left, looking at wide open expanses or lush greenery. It was one of the most memorable days of my life.

First stop was London Bridge - this is a famous rock formation that formerly resembled a bridge - but in 1990 the arch that connected the two rocks 'fell down' - ironic, yes, I know. Here's a picture before takin 1959 (obviously not taken by me) and one after (can't remember if El or I took this one.

After hitting a few smaller sites, we headed to the 12 Apostles. For those of you who don't know the story behind these Rock Formations - you have probably seen photos of them and not realized it. They are world renowned - and most certainly the centerpiece attraction of the Great Ocean Road. The limestone that forms the cliff that sits behind the Apostles began forming these rock stacks approximately 20 million years ago - as water and nature formed a separation. There were originally 12 - and as of July 2005, then there were 8... Check out this page for more info. Anyway, forget the less, just look... (you can see the Apostle that most recently crumbled in the foreground of the first shot).

The rest of the day was sprinkled with stopping at different beaches (Lorne, and Apollo Beach) as well as swerving the car off the road at any sighting of Koalas or Kangaroos - heck, any pretty lookout there was to see.

After I thought the beauty couldn't get any better, we began the last stretch and heading to Lorne or Bells Beach - (Point Break!). I can't remember exactly which path we were on, but that was the longest stretch we spent inside the car - and its hard to explain how that was my favorite part of the day - given all that I had already done. We moved through what I felt like was the most scenic part of the road - it was twisting and turning, and you never knew what would confront you around each turn. Forget about when you looked back to see what you had traveled through from a new perspective. I got a little teary thinking that Sunil should have been doing this with me too ... it was hard not to when I was staring at the beauty and thinking how lucky I was to be exactly where I was ... let alone to be doing it with my sweetie...

I've tried to group my favorite pics from the day - so here is a truncated set - and here is a set of all 332 - you choose!