The Great Ocean Road and Millicent

21 Mar 2007 06:35 - Australië

Hello there,

This is a short update on what I've been up to.

After exploring the centre of Melbourne on Saturday (03-10-2007) I drove to Geelong. I had to do this very carefully because my car is not running well at the moment. In Geelong I did my shopping and walked along the waterfront before heading of towards the Great Ocean Road.

This road was constructed along the South coast of Victoria by soldiers that had come back from the war. The road winds its way along a spectacular coastline on one side, and a beautiful forest on the other side. Because of the spectacular views it can be difficult to keep your eyes on the road. Fortunately, no one got hurt...

In total I spent 4 days touring the Great Ocean Road. I went to see the sunset at the "Twelve Apostles" (a famous group of limestone formations) because it is supposed to be a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, I only got cold wind and rain. Although the Twelve Apostles are by far the most famous bit of the Limestone Coast, they are by no means the only part that's worth having a look at. Especially the last section of the GOR is littered with beautiful caves, arches, gorges and islands. The funny thing is that you running in to the same people at all the different lookouts. While I was touring the GOR I tried to find a mechanic who could fix my car but because of Labour Day (this Monday) all the mechanics were having a long weekend.

On Tuesday I drove to Warnambool (at the end of the GOR) where I leisurely walked trough the town centre and along the beach.

From Warnambool I drove to Millicent where I finally met Margo (Paula's sister) and her husband Allan. I called Margo and Allan on Monday to let them know when I should be arriving and when I got to their house they had even prepared a room for me :) It really is great to meet all my (distant) relatives here in Australia, even though I didn't know any of them before, and I am spoiled where ever I go. :D

Because I had informed Margo and Allan about my car troubles they took me to a (Dutch) mechanic called Herman to make an appointment. Herman got in my car and instead of making an appointment, fixed my car in about 15 minutes. The problem turned out to be a faulty lead, which was quite a relief for me...

Margo and Allan introduced me to their daughters in Millicent and their families. Kerryn runs a funeral service with her husband Mark and gave me a tour of the mortuary (something I don't get to see every day). I also went swimming with their kids, Michael, Bethany and Peyten. Thursday we had a real Aussie barbecue at Lyndelle and Brenton's place. Brenton has a V8 racing truck and I got to sit in it (not while it was moving unfortunately). Sunday Allan took me, along with James and Clare (Lyndelle and Brenton's kids) to the shooting club where Lyndelle was shooting clay pigeons.

Margo and Allan took me to see Millicent and surrounds. We even took the 4x4 for a drive and went to the beach where I saw my first Midden (basically an Aboriginal garbage pile). We also went to Beachport were Margo introduced me to the great Aussie meat pie, and life will never be the same again... Saturday Allan and Margo took me to the Field Days, this is basically a gathering of everything that has something to do with agriculture. There were working dogs, sheep, tools and a lot of really big toys like tractors and combines.

Today Kerryn will take me to Mount Gambier where we will visit the crematorium and the Blue Lake, two more things you don't often see :)

By the end of this week I will say good-bye to all the rellies in Millicent and start my (long) trip to Western Australia, but before that time I will probably post a short message in the guestbook.

That's all for now,

Greetz

Bart