Kavita and I booked a tour to explore the Great Ocean Road, which was somewhat inspired by our beloved PCH. Not the one in
New Zealand, but the one in
California. The top attraction is/are the 12 Apostles, though supposedly there never were 12 to begin with, and every few hundred years, one of the Apostles tumble into the water, so the true number of Apostles remains a mystery.
The tour picked us up from the hotel, and first stop was
Bells Beach, setting for the final scene of
Point Break. Had some coffee and cookies provided by the tour, watched a couple early morning surfers, then continued on our journey. Oh, and we might've seen our first wild kangaroo, except that it was sleeping in the grass a good distance from the bus, and could've been just a pile of mud... who knows...
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| Surfers at Bells Beach |
Along the way, we played "Two Truths and a Lie". I said that I was 31 years old, donated over 100 pints of blood, and was 25 years old. I forget what Kavita's truths were, but her lie was that she really really had to go to the bathroom. Apparently, the driver mistook that for the truth, and nearly pulled over. We eventually did stop, at a small park, where did get in touch with some wildlife. We spied a koala hanging out in a tree. While technically in the wild, I get the feeling this koala is specifically placed in this tree to please tour buses passing by. We also met some cool parrots... I even let one land on my arm and eat seeds out of my hand.
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| Our first wild koala |
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| Our second |
Before getting to the main attraction, the 12 Apostles, we made one more stop to do a quick nature walk. The walk was more interesting than I expected, and the guide was extremely knowledgeable about all sorts of things nature, including some crazy tree ferns, which act as nature's composters, catching dead leaves and bugs in it's dish-like arrangement of branches, and absorbing their nutrients. How carnivorous!
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| Cool tree fern |
Finally, we made it to the 12 Apostles. These structures are caused by centuries of ocean waves crashing against soft rock carving... well
you get the point. The Apostles are truly a magnificent sight, something unique and fleeting. In 2005 and then again in 2009, major portions of the Apostles have crumbled into the sea, so who knows how much longer they'll be around... but over time, the oceans will eat into the shoreline and form a new set of Apostles, and the cycle of life continues.
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| 12 Apostles |
