Sunday, November 05, 2006
The Grampians and the Great Ocean Road
Saddled with four bottles of wine from Barossa and McLaren Vale, I set off on a 3 day tour of Grampians National Park and the Great Ocean Road. This was my way of getting from Adelaide to Melbourne and being able to take in some more of Australia's amazing scenery.
Grampians National Park is in the process of recovering from a major forest fire in January 2006. From what I saw, very little of the forest was unscathed. Despite the damage done, the forest is making its comeback and it was amazing to see life emerging from the massive amount of damage done. Its... like... a phoenix, dude.
ANYWAY, midway through the second day we hit the Great Ocean Road, Australia's answer to Highway 1 in Cali. It is no wonder that this is some of the most heavily photographed area in Oz. The views are stunning. The most popular sight on the G.O.R is the Twelve Apostles which is now down to eleven as of last year when one of the pillars finally gave in to erosion. Erosion is chewing up a good amount of the coast, and has also claimed the bridge portion of London Bridge, reducing it to London Arch. There is a good story about a couple of lovers that was saved off London Bridge when the connection to the mainland went:
The couple was having a picnic, and their rescue was captured on national television. This was a problem for the man however. First, he had called in sick to work that day and second, his wife watched the news. Too much.
