Down Under - The Tales of my Australian Adventure: Day 18

January 14, 2012

At 7 am, we walked outside to board our bus. I had a mini bus in mind, but this was a glorified Toyota mini-van. I didn't even think they existed and probably wouldn't pass crash test ratings in the US. The van stated it was rated for 21 passengers, but more like 21 4ft kids or 10 adults. We all piled into the van still in zombie mode as it was so early in the morning. After about an hour of sleep, we all awoke to a BP petrol station (they don't call it gas) where we grabbed some breakfast and snacks. We continued the 3 hour journey by brainstorming about inventions and other "next best things" to make money. Clearly, none of our ideas were of any substance, just a way to pass the time.

We arrived at the first lookout spot. At that point, I realized the southeast coast looks much like the west coast of the US. Very rocky, harsh waters, steep cliffs. None of which condone good beach area. We quickly took some pictures and climbed back into the van to the next point. Our trip had a total of 5 stops with the 4th at the lookout of the 12 Apostles, which was the highlight of the trip. As the van continued down the winding coastal roads, I headache and slight nauseation settled in. I have never been so happy to stop to eat as I was during this trip. Our driver stopped and allowed us 45 mins to get some lunch. Surprisingly, this small coastal town was packed with tourists who were doing the same things as us. A group of us found a restaurant that was not full and ordered. This restaurant specialized in fried seafood, but I was feeling the chicken sandwich a little more. Thank goodness I did not get the fried seafood because I think everyone else felt worse than I did beforehand.

We packed back into the van and made it to the 12 Apostles. Surprisingly, there is a fairly nice national park with neat lookouts at the formations. Who knew this would exist in such a remote area. Personally, I don't think the 12 Apostles are that spectacular. They 12 are not even completely separated. Technically, one freestanding formation counts as 2 of the Apostles because of its 2 separate tips. I think that's cheating. Anyhow, the location still made for great pictures. I didn't realize how high up we were until we went back down on the beach. I have never seen waves as big as we saw there. I can understand how the ocean has managed to carved out these formations from the sandstone. The sand is extremely hard to walk on. Even when wet, your feet sink down 4 or 5 inches. Chris and Emily decided to spell out "War Eagle" from washed up seaweed and debris, which made for a cool picture.

After spending around an hour and half by the 12 Apostles and surrounding beach, we loaded up for one last stop. In my opinion, our last stop was the prettiest. The 12 Apostles was very interesting but was not my idea of beauty. The coast was harsh and everything was dead and orange. At our last location, there was vegetation on the little islands and small lagoons. I think this was actually the most beautiful spot and I fear my pictures did not do it justice. While we were here, Jason lead the group to take pictures on a roped off area.. not surprising. The pictures here did make for cool shots. Thank goodness none of us died.

On the way home we took a straight and easier route to Melbourne. Thank goodness we did not go back down the winding coast line roads or I may have yacked on everyone and everything in the van. We got back to Melbourne around 7:00 and grabbed some Subway. I got a footlong and saved half because I plan on not leaving the dorms tomorrow. Thankfully, we have a day of nothing to do and no one to see. I can't wait.