After spending weeks in the centre of Australia, with huge distances between small towns, it was such a relief to be travelling along the coast, with towns reasonable distances apart. The only downside was that I had gone a long way south, and the weather deteriorated rapidly. I didn’t think so much of the cold and rain, after months in tropical climates. But the Great Ocean Road did make up for it with spectacular scenery.
The last state crossing. This marked a survey line laid out at great expense, with people barely surviving the harsh conditions, drinking the blood of their horses to survive, etc…only to find out a few years later that they were a a few hundred metres out. Woops. But they ended up sticking with that border.
I saw this sort of thing a lot – signs, fences and bus shelters that had been shot at. It’s a bit disturbing that there is a culture of driving around shooting at things. Luckily I never had any experiences like the one at the end of Easy Rider.
Random shots from near the start of the Great Ocean Road.
My brother is living in Melbourne, and he came out to see me on the road, along with Andre and Jen. This was the best Andre could do for shooting things – just a video game.
The Great Ocean Road is a pretty spectacular ride, hugging the coast of southern Australia, at times barely clinging to the cliffside. It could just be a little bit wider for cyclists though…but usually it was OK.
This plaque marked the site where a ship was wrecked, with no loss of life. All well and good. But then, on three separate occasions, salvage missions resulted in a loss of life, mostly of men who couldn’t swim. You would think that after the second time, they would have worked out that they should either a) give up or b) at least learn to swim before rowing a little boat out into the surf.
Was this a clear sign that I was getting very close to New Zealand? It wasn’t even in a big city either, just a smallish seaside town supermarket that I found it.
The last day in Australia, riding from Geelong to Melbourne, proved to be rather a nice ride, first along country lanes, then along bike paths into town. I really should have stopped for a finishing photo on the Yarra, but it was just too busy, so I had to make do with one at the war memorial.
Jackson plays rugby for Melbourne Rugby Club, and I got a chance to watch him play, for the first time in years. Here he is claiming a lineout take.
