In retrospect I should have known better than to give my mom the driving map on our last day in the Grampians. She has a far better head for directions than I do, however, and so when she is with us she is our official map reader. Normally, this suits me just fine, but on this particular day what I had assumed would be a three-and-one-half hour trip back to Melbourne turned into a twelve hour journey along the Great Ocean Road. This happened because 1) My mom looked at the map and realized that Grampians were fairly close to the far end of the Great Ocean Road; 2) For some reason I had told my mother that we did not need to rush home; 3) The weather was perfect in every way; and 4) Ross loves the Great Ocean Road.
This is how James felt about the decision:
That's right. He was not consulted, much to his annoyance. Therefore he decided to sabotage every photo that I attempted to take with him in it. This particular shot I had set up with great care, setting the timer, placing everyone carefully, and then dashing to get in it myself. He was very smug afterward, and I should have guessed the reason right off the bat. The only other pictures you will see of James in this post will be of his back.
This is what we had been looking at from the viewing platform pictured above. I have never seen more brilliant colors anywhere in the world than we saw along the Great Ocean Road on this day.
Our first stop was the picturesque fishing village of Port Fairy. After purchasing yet one more hat for James, and eating lunch in one of the cafes on the main street, we decided to hike around Griffith Island. We spotted a wallaby at the very start.
Just after I took this photo, the wallaby took off down the path, passing a surfer that was the spitting image of what I thought an Australian looked like before we moved here: long hair in a loose ponytail, surf board under his arm, barefoot---the type that is very friendly and says G'day mate to everyone that he meets. He was in fact very friendly, and he wanted to make sure we saw the wallaby before he resumed his walk. I whipped out my camera again as the wallaby bounced behind him, but unfortunately it was on the wrong setting and ended up overexposed.
We spent some time resting and admiring the lighthouse. Ross claims the entire day was worth the effort because he snapped a good photo of this scene for the background on his blackberry.
James perked up a bit when he realized there was a sand dune to climb. Tired legs that simply could not walk another step back by the lighthouse now ran up and down the hill several times as a wallaby looked on.
From Port Fairy we drove through Warnambool and then on to Port Campbell, stopping at nearly every scenic overlook to admire the unique coastline and limestone structures carved out by thousands of years of rough seas and winds.
One bonus of this unplanned trip on the Great Ocean Road is that we finally got to see London Bridge. Originally the two structures in the photo below were connected, but the bridge part collapsed in 1990, stranding two people for hours until they could be rescued by helicoptor. Fortunately no one was injured.
We consumed a simple supper of fish and chips while overlooking the scenic harbor in Port Campbell, and then as the sun was setting, put the car on autopilot and headed toward home along the hairpin curves. James grew increasingly distraught, and we eventually allowed a long-suffering Sophie to escape from the backseat she was sharing with her brother to sit in the middle seat of the car. With no one to torment, he settled down and mercifully fell asleep. We all survived to live another day, and I am truly glad that my mom got to enjoy one more trip on what just might be her favorite road.
Looks beautiful! Glad you made the extra trip, James will not remember his suffering (well maybe not) but you'll remember the times with your parents. The photos give you plenty of fuel for fire when he's dating- or has kids of his own!
Posted by: Suzanne | 01/05/2013 at 01:36 AM