A Truly Great Ocean Road Trip "100% Pure Adrenaline"-Day 1

Ok all you roadies, if you are like me and love a good road trip, then you've taken in every breathtaking cliffside vista point and lost yourself in the magnificence of the redwoods along US 1/PCH, you've gotten your kicks on just pieces of the once Route 66, you've driven through the sweet little coastal towns of Maine in the fall when the highway was lined with leaves of every color, you've taken on Alligator Alley in the everglades, you've rolled along the green hills while exploring every loch in Scotland (no monster yet), and you've held on for dear life on the Autobahn, just to name a few. Well, no roadtrippers checklist would be complete without thoughtfully winding your way through the Great Ocean Road in Australia.

The Great Ocean Road is a 243 km/151 mile stretch along the south-eastern coast of Australia, within Victoria. Back in November Jaime and I took my sister-in-law Caitlin on a week-long holiday road trip! We left Melbourne early saturday am and planned to drive the Great Ocean Road (which can be done comfortably in two days) and continue on along the coast to South Australia, ferry over to Kangaroo Island, and drive home on the inland Dukes Highway for a night at the farm.

The road begins almost an hour south of Melbourne in a popular little surf town called Torquay, where Jaime found one of two new loves of his life...the Rip Curl Headquarters! 

Now, being married to a surfer, I have been in just about every Rip Curl from east to west USA and am now working my way across Australia. But here was the mother of all Rip Curls. It was Saturday, so it was closed, but as the Aussies say, we ticked another box of our list! Rip Curl Headquarters-"Tick". We all did a little shopping and found out too late that there was a HUGE Rip Curl outlet on the street just behind the main road. Next time. 

We proceeded just outside Torquay to Jaime's second new love, the famous Bells Beach.  Famous for a few reasons, 1-it is the site of the Rip Curl Pro, held every Easter and known internationally as one of the top surfing competitions. Only the best at this competition and often only the best surfers are out practicing at Bells due to its strong rips and rocky sides.  And 2- Bells Beach was the final scene in Point Break where Patrick Swayze goes to surf the 30 year storm. Patrick pleads to be set free to surf the monstrous waves, his life spent waiting for this moment, and as he paddles out to sea, the ever-so talented Keanu Reeves gives his famous line, expertly quoted by my husband, "He's not coming back." The rest of the trip I just kept repeating the famous quote, "100% Pure Adrenaline!" just as my eldest brother did throughout my entire childhood. 

The next few hours of the drive took us through several little coastal towns as we winded along the cliffs with vast blue ocean on one side while next thing you know you are in a forest and pulling over to take a picture of our first wild koala snoozing in a eucalyptus tree! He was super cute. 

As we drove on we became a little further from the coast and that was when you can appreciate the beautiful contrast of bright blue sea leading into bright green rolling hills. It was pretty amazing. 

As you drive through the bush, always watching for kangaroos, you approach a well-known highlight of the Great Ocean Road. The Twelve Apostles are randomly huge rock formations, formed by erosion along the limestone coast, sitting in none other but the Southern Ocean (the 5th ocean no one ever remembers).  We arrived as the sun was beginning to set and it really seemed to be the perfect time of day for viewing these oddly magnificent rocks that used to be 12 but are actually now, only 6! I can't even begin to tell you how often I am reminded of the amazing powers of mother nature during my travels here in Australia. Whether exploring natural sites or learning about the discovery and settlement of this vast continent just over a hundred years ago, mother nature is constantly making her statements. 

We were on the road for about 8 hours on our first day, the drive is not that long, but we took our time and stopped often to enjoy the sights and check out each town, but we were very glad to roll into our first hotel in Port Fairy. Port Fairy is a must-stop according to all the travel tips due to its location and charm. Well, we arrived into this sleepy town at the "late hour" of 8:00 pm and were told by the hotel owner (who was locking up for the night) that finding dinner was going to be a long shot. Some places were closing up, but the three restaurants that were open were pretty full, I think the entire Port Fairy population was in those restaurants, and we luckily found a table at a bustling Thai restaurant. We popped open our first bottle of wine (happily BYOB most places in Oz) and celebrated the first stop on our trip. We finished dinner around 9 pm and as we wandered outside it was so dark and so quiet. As we walked down the street toward our hotel, we began to hear what sounded like music faintly in the distance. We kept walking and soon enough found the only little bar in the sleepy town of Port Fairy. The music came from a cover band called Rose and Paul who were playing none other than beloved American tunes while a small group of locals danced in the small space in front of the mic.  We immediately joined in on the fun, singing and dancing to a little bit of home! I tried to make a few requests, but they had a set playlist and were still in the process of learning Bon Jovi. 

That first night on the road...you always sleep well. :) 

Check out more Great Ocean Road Trip pics.

 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2085722&id=1608184181&l=9b0faac830

And, trying out my flip videos! Koala and Port Fairy's famous Rose and Paul.