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The Great Ocen Road
Sep. 7th, 2003 05:19 pm...was fantastic! Again! I mean, you'd think 'hey, you've already seen it, what's there to do?' but man, you ain't seen the G.O.R. till you've driven it. And man, I looooved driving on the wrong side of the road here. It was fun fun fun! You have to be super careful to make sure that you follow all the regulations and such, but being a crappy driver at home means I can actually be a passable driver where things are backwards.
Soooo many neat beaches on the GOR. Bell's Beach! I made it! You might remember Bell's Beach from such films as Point Break and possibly that other surfing movie (but that doesn't really matter, as whatever other surfing movie wouldn't have Keanu Reeves in it). Bell's Beach is sweet--huge waves, lots of cute surfers running into and out of and falling under said waves, shells galore (packed away lots!), and rocks to climb all over, which Carrie and I did--with impunity! Stops made after that point revolved around getting the most beach for our buck. I kid you not. We did beaches, next most notably the one in Airey's Inlet, Split Point, by a lighthouse. That was mucho fun, too, as Carrie and I just blissed out to be beach-bound and free in the car.
We actually made it to a non-beach stop at a short hike up to Carisbrook falls. People coming down said there was a koala, which we found, and (accidentally) chased a bit. Poor thing, didn't mean to spook it so badly--you could see it huffing through that big nose. It was really cute when it ran, though, bounding as it did. After that, it was back to the beach, this one in Apollo Bay where we had a "who's stupider?" contest, seeing how long we could tolerate the chilly water running over our ankles. Got soaked, of course.
Skipping the touristy things, we hostel-ed the night in Port Campbell before making a u-turn to hit the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, et al. The surprising thing is how much better than the famous sites many places were. One stop, the Grotto, had a really neat water-carved inlet and, well, grotto, with a wall that you weren't supposed to go over--naturally we did, and had a faboo time with it. Better than 12 Apostles or Loch Ard, I'd say, though at Loch Ard, I did get to see the Blowhole and Thunder Cave, two things we didn't have time for on the tour bus tour. That's another thing--being that far out, we started closer to the touristy stuff so by the time the buses got there, we were long gone. We avoided most of the tourists, which made even a rainy 12 Apostles more pleasurable. Except for this one group that was at our hostel--was afraid we wouldn't shake them, but they weren't as easily distracted as we were, and they went in the opposite direction. Whew.
However, was utterly thwarted in attempts to ride horses. First place we stopped didn't even have horses on hand to ride--you were supposed to call ahead (Ahem, thanks for not mentioning that stupid guide), and we would have had to just waited out 2 beautiful sunny hours. Damn. Called two more places with no much more success--one was like "Uh, my husband isn't here and he arranges things" and the other was too far away for us to make their last ride out. So thwarted, we went for the beaches again. Apollo Bay wasn't going to get me this time, so I really really rolled up my pants. The second I opened my mouth to say "HAH! YOU MISSED!" to the ocean, the tide got me. Shit.
After that, we wanted a nature walk, did one at Mait's Rest, a temperate rainforest walk. Then there was not much to do save head back, but I wanted one more beach. Seeing as we'd failed to find Anglesea Beach, the only one between us and home I knew how to find was Bell's. So, back we went, sitting on rocks to observe surfers again (it's a national pasttime, I'm sure), watch the sun go down, enjoy the ocean at night. Lots of stars, bright moon, much discussion about the Southern Cross, about Carrie and I being eerily in tune with what each other thought (like SCARY stuff, knowing when to take the pineapple off her burger, that it was too hot for her in the car, asking if she'd ever wanted to have sex on the beach at the exact same time she was thinking about it---it got eeeeerie).
So, how does one end a weekend like that? By scraping the hubcap on your rental car and being charged $126 for it. RIGHT OUTSIDE THE MOTHER-FUCKING RENTAL PLACE. If I'd just gone in and returned it, I wouldn't have had to, but I pulled up because I thought we had to go just give them the keys. Carrie suspects they called downstairs to the garage because the lady who inspected the car for damage made a bee-line for that fucking hubcap. *RANTS AND CURSES OFF SELF* SOOO mad. We'd gone and filled the goddamned tank, buffed out some marks from a tree (not scratches, just dirt). I felt like murdering the lot of Europcar because, in addition to charging for ONE hubcap that only got scraped in effort to GIVE THEM BACK THEIR CAR WHICH WAS OTHERWISE IN PRISTINE CONDITION, they had to have like an audience present as they filled out the paperwork. Seriously, the lady checking the car couldn't figure out how to make the billing work (should have left, should have run), so she called the manager (who'd been in the lobby--prolly the narc), then two car-movers hung around. It was HUMILIATING.
Thanks to that, I couldn't go back to sleep (did I mention we had to turn the car in by 8:30 am? Had to FIND gas station, pay for gas, then get it in before then this morning). So, did laundry, called home to warn mother about charges (she seemed okay, though I am most definitely going to have to pay for it in the end), talked to my grandmother (who may be dragged out here with my grandfather! yay!), then did laundry. Oh, boy, was Unilodge going to PAY. I was in an ugly enough mood that I was dangerous, thanks to Europcar's policies screwing over the fun I'd had this weekend. Not only did I already have to pay $9 for laundry, but the dryer on our floor--THE ONE DRYER PER MORE THAN 40 PEOPLE ON THIS FLOOR--was broken and ate a $1 of mine before I noticed.
Good idea not to go yell at them till I was calmed down. The lady at the desk knew about the problem and is going to get me a reimbursement. Damn straight she is. Alicyn also apologized for her friends calling EVERY FIVE SECONDS on Thursday night/Friday morning right before we left. Seriously, her boyfriend called 4 times in the space of maybe 8 hours. He'd called twice Thursday night while Carrie and I were at the movies. His sister called us twice at about 5 am. When the phone isn't answered the first time, and the answering machine picks up, do you REALLY NEED TO CALL BACK RIGHT AWAY? I got up the second time to be like "WHAT!?" Obviously, she didn't know about the time zone thing, but seriously, I hadn't gotten any sleep (or wasn't going to even without the call because I couldn't sleep), and I was CRANKY. Boyfriend called AGAIN, TWICE, later that morning before we left for the GOR. Sheisse. By the time Alicyn finally got to her messages, she had 10 of them. Yipes.
Oh, and, productive Vic trip, got new wallet. Shouldn't have, really. I mean, I could have just waited and got a replacement at the Columbia or hell, even the Melbourne bookstore (probably) and it would have been cheaper. This one was small, which is a bonus, and it may encourage me not to carry all of my cards on me at once. Oh well, going to go get kangaroo with Carrie, gonna enjoy fun while it lasts--'cause once Carrie's gone, I've got to go back to working hard. Shit! Work! What's that?
Soooo many neat beaches on the GOR. Bell's Beach! I made it! You might remember Bell's Beach from such films as Point Break and possibly that other surfing movie (but that doesn't really matter, as whatever other surfing movie wouldn't have Keanu Reeves in it). Bell's Beach is sweet--huge waves, lots of cute surfers running into and out of and falling under said waves, shells galore (packed away lots!), and rocks to climb all over, which Carrie and I did--with impunity! Stops made after that point revolved around getting the most beach for our buck. I kid you not. We did beaches, next most notably the one in Airey's Inlet, Split Point, by a lighthouse. That was mucho fun, too, as Carrie and I just blissed out to be beach-bound and free in the car.
We actually made it to a non-beach stop at a short hike up to Carisbrook falls. People coming down said there was a koala, which we found, and (accidentally) chased a bit. Poor thing, didn't mean to spook it so badly--you could see it huffing through that big nose. It was really cute when it ran, though, bounding as it did. After that, it was back to the beach, this one in Apollo Bay where we had a "who's stupider?" contest, seeing how long we could tolerate the chilly water running over our ankles. Got soaked, of course.
Skipping the touristy things, we hostel-ed the night in Port Campbell before making a u-turn to hit the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, et al. The surprising thing is how much better than the famous sites many places were. One stop, the Grotto, had a really neat water-carved inlet and, well, grotto, with a wall that you weren't supposed to go over--naturally we did, and had a faboo time with it. Better than 12 Apostles or Loch Ard, I'd say, though at Loch Ard, I did get to see the Blowhole and Thunder Cave, two things we didn't have time for on the tour bus tour. That's another thing--being that far out, we started closer to the touristy stuff so by the time the buses got there, we were long gone. We avoided most of the tourists, which made even a rainy 12 Apostles more pleasurable. Except for this one group that was at our hostel--was afraid we wouldn't shake them, but they weren't as easily distracted as we were, and they went in the opposite direction. Whew.
However, was utterly thwarted in attempts to ride horses. First place we stopped didn't even have horses on hand to ride--you were supposed to call ahead (Ahem, thanks for not mentioning that stupid guide), and we would have had to just waited out 2 beautiful sunny hours. Damn. Called two more places with no much more success--one was like "Uh, my husband isn't here and he arranges things" and the other was too far away for us to make their last ride out. So thwarted, we went for the beaches again. Apollo Bay wasn't going to get me this time, so I really really rolled up my pants. The second I opened my mouth to say "HAH! YOU MISSED!" to the ocean, the tide got me. Shit.
After that, we wanted a nature walk, did one at Mait's Rest, a temperate rainforest walk. Then there was not much to do save head back, but I wanted one more beach. Seeing as we'd failed to find Anglesea Beach, the only one between us and home I knew how to find was Bell's. So, back we went, sitting on rocks to observe surfers again (it's a national pasttime, I'm sure), watch the sun go down, enjoy the ocean at night. Lots of stars, bright moon, much discussion about the Southern Cross, about Carrie and I being eerily in tune with what each other thought (like SCARY stuff, knowing when to take the pineapple off her burger, that it was too hot for her in the car, asking if she'd ever wanted to have sex on the beach at the exact same time she was thinking about it---it got eeeeerie).
So, how does one end a weekend like that? By scraping the hubcap on your rental car and being charged $126 for it. RIGHT OUTSIDE THE MOTHER-FUCKING RENTAL PLACE. If I'd just gone in and returned it, I wouldn't have had to, but I pulled up because I thought we had to go just give them the keys. Carrie suspects they called downstairs to the garage because the lady who inspected the car for damage made a bee-line for that fucking hubcap. *RANTS AND CURSES OFF SELF* SOOO mad. We'd gone and filled the goddamned tank, buffed out some marks from a tree (not scratches, just dirt). I felt like murdering the lot of Europcar because, in addition to charging for ONE hubcap that only got scraped in effort to GIVE THEM BACK THEIR CAR WHICH WAS OTHERWISE IN PRISTINE CONDITION, they had to have like an audience present as they filled out the paperwork. Seriously, the lady checking the car couldn't figure out how to make the billing work (should have left, should have run), so she called the manager (who'd been in the lobby--prolly the narc), then two car-movers hung around. It was HUMILIATING.
Thanks to that, I couldn't go back to sleep (did I mention we had to turn the car in by 8:30 am? Had to FIND gas station, pay for gas, then get it in before then this morning). So, did laundry, called home to warn mother about charges (she seemed okay, though I am most definitely going to have to pay for it in the end), talked to my grandmother (who may be dragged out here with my grandfather! yay!), then did laundry. Oh, boy, was Unilodge going to PAY. I was in an ugly enough mood that I was dangerous, thanks to Europcar's policies screwing over the fun I'd had this weekend. Not only did I already have to pay $9 for laundry, but the dryer on our floor--THE ONE DRYER PER MORE THAN 40 PEOPLE ON THIS FLOOR--was broken and ate a $1 of mine before I noticed.
Good idea not to go yell at them till I was calmed down. The lady at the desk knew about the problem and is going to get me a reimbursement. Damn straight she is. Alicyn also apologized for her friends calling EVERY FIVE SECONDS on Thursday night/Friday morning right before we left. Seriously, her boyfriend called 4 times in the space of maybe 8 hours. He'd called twice Thursday night while Carrie and I were at the movies. His sister called us twice at about 5 am. When the phone isn't answered the first time, and the answering machine picks up, do you REALLY NEED TO CALL BACK RIGHT AWAY? I got up the second time to be like "WHAT!?" Obviously, she didn't know about the time zone thing, but seriously, I hadn't gotten any sleep (or wasn't going to even without the call because I couldn't sleep), and I was CRANKY. Boyfriend called AGAIN, TWICE, later that morning before we left for the GOR. Sheisse. By the time Alicyn finally got to her messages, she had 10 of them. Yipes.
Oh, and, productive Vic trip, got new wallet. Shouldn't have, really. I mean, I could have just waited and got a replacement at the Columbia or hell, even the Melbourne bookstore (probably) and it would have been cheaper. This one was small, which is a bonus, and it may encourage me not to carry all of my cards on me at once. Oh well, going to go get kangaroo with Carrie, gonna enjoy fun while it lasts--'cause once Carrie's gone, I've got to go back to working hard. Shit! Work! What's that?
