Great Ocean Road

Victoria State Australia

So there I was, in Melbourne. All of my commitments had been met and I have a whole day to myself. Melbourne is a large city and as cities go, it is quite nice - but a city is a city and that's not how to remember Australia!
	The general concensus from all whom I met over the week seemed to be "The Great Ocean Road". It is a stretch of road not unlike the California coastal highway, winding it's way along the south coast southwest of Melbourne.
It took about an hour and a half to get from the the Melbourne city center to the town of Torquay, which is start of the road. Immediately, I was presented with some spectacular views and vistas.		It was a particularly windy day and there was agood surf running. As I crested the first hill past
Torquay there was a roadside turn-out with a great view. Just a little further along, the road dropped back down to sea level and there was a place to pull off and access the magnificent beach. It not being an especially warm day, I as not at all disappointed that I did not have a bathing suit with me. The view however, was great and any time near the ocean is always refreshing!
	On the landward side of the highway are all forms of houses. Some are quite typical ocean front homes, some may be vacation properties. At one point, I came over a hill and looked up at a large square house poised atop a large
concrete pedestal, with a bridge back to the hill behind. Suddenly I realized that I had seen that house before, on some television program about unusual homes or great ocean properties and also realized that while now I was seeing the outside live and in person, I did know what that house, high up its perch, looked like on the inside. The road continued to meander along the coast, at times dropping into a lush area around the mouth of a creek and other times cresting hills on curves with sheer rocky cliffs on the land side.
But mostly, it was about beautiful beaches with lots of sand and a pounding surf. Intermittently, I passed through rain squalls. They would last for a couple of		minutes and then I would be into light overcast or even, on occasion, sunshine. Still it was not all that warm, probably about 10 degrees C.
	But oh the views!!	A perfect way to spend the day in Australia!
There is one part of the story that I have left out, however. As many of you will no-doubt be aware, in Australia they drive on the left side. So you should probably be thinking something like: "Weren't you worried about trying to get around in the city driving from and on the wrong side?" "What in the world would possess you to make your first left-hand driving experience (Suncor mine in the 80's not withstanding) in a busy metropolis?" Well, great questions. However, I had it cased!
Click here to see how.