hittin' the frog and toad

Roadtrip to Lorne!

Friday morning we hit the road or "hit the frog and toad", as the Aussie's say, in a comfy tour bus filled with VU international students with our destination being a small surftown called Lorne! 

Along the way we stopped off at Bell's Beach, home of the Rip Curl Pro surfing competition. We only spent enough time there to eat lunch and watch the waves crash.

Once we arrived in Lorne we were greeted by some chatting cockatoos and climbed into what they described as our "penthouse" accommodation.. maybe not a typical penthouse but probably the sweetest tree-house type dorm imaginable. Then it was our turn to surf! ...Maybe one of the most difficult things I have ever done failed at in my life. The area between the beach flags may have been congested from all of us being out there at once, but our sinuses sure weren't! Who needs a Neti-pot when you have the Pacific Ocean smacking you in the face! Aside from the crowding, bruises, and burning eyes and nose it was a blast and a half!! Then to top off the awesome day we were served a delicious all-you-can-eat buffet meal at Lorne's classiest, fanciest beachside restaurant!

That night was a party for most, but sadly I stayed home with a tummy ache that had been lingering since Thursday... and lingered through the next day as well. BUT that didn't stop me from our bushwalk/hike through a low temperate rainforest on Saturday morning!! We saw some beautiful ocean views (obviously), some echidna poop, some thousand year old ironbark eucalyptus trees, and a family of kangaroos!

After the hike we had a chance to work on some of our AFL (Australian Football) skills and play on an open field in the blazing sun and heat... another quick and less than thorough lesson (which we've come to notice is the typical Aussie teaching style ie. scuba diving, surfing etc.), short and sweet.

aaaaand my tummy ache subsided so we partied that night and hit up the Lorne bar scene, obviously.

Sunday we toured the Great Ocean Road! This country has yet to disappoint in the mind-blowing category... I feel like I can't even think properly anymore because my mind is consistently and constantly being blown. Just... wow.

Our first stop was a camping/trailer park so we could see...

After that we continued along the Great winding, climbing, and twisting Ocean Road on the edge of a cliff with the ocean beneath us... until the bus just couldn't take the heat (please note the smoke coming out the back). Thankfully we were only inconvenienced with a minor delay and no extreme emergency so we just had to wait a few minutes while the bus cooled down...

Then, it was time for the real show. There were only ever nine of them... but two crumbled and now there are only seven. I present to you:

The Twelve Apostles

This next place was probably my favourite. Loch Ard Gorge.

And last but certainly not least we got to see London Bridge. Here we learned never to stand on ancient eroding limestone and to never cheat in a relationship because in both cases there will be crashing down involved. So the story goes... not too long back London Bridge did fall down. It just so happened that when it fell there was a couple who ended up stranded on the other side. It was a big scene that required a helicopter to air-lift them back to safety which attracted cameras and news crews that became the source of truth to each of their spouse's back home whom they had told they were going on business trips. Exposed.

We saw amazing sights, did amazing activities, stayed in an amazing place, ate amazing food, and made "heaps" of new friends... overall I'd say it was a pretty amazing trip.

A great weekend, and a great way to end our Christmas/summer break... back to school tomorrow.

Sincerely,
AUS