June 24 2008: Great Ocean Road, June 2008
Filed under Travel
Back from the country! And, when I say country, I do quite literally mean country. As a born and bred city girl, I tend to have heart palpitations every time I drive out of a city and find myself surrounded by nature, with cows (and other cattle) in paddocks alongside the state highway. All…that…fresh…air! It’s overwhelming to be able to step outside at night and realise that you can actually see the stars without smog and pollution shielding your view.
Needless to say then, I found myself intensely overwhelmed for the majority of the weekend. We were staying a little way out of Cobden, a tiny country town of less than 2000 residents (approximately in the middle of this map). We were half an hour from the Twelve Apostles, an hour from Warrnambool, and approximately three and a half hours from Melbourne. The area we were in is commonly known as the Great Ocean Road, a popular tourist route which winds its way through beautiful coastlines, startling cliff drops, amazingly canopied rainforests, and fertile farmland. It’s perfect for a weekend away, as it’s secluded, surrounded by beautiful scenery, and tourist attractions.
My stay with my girl friends was designed largely as a little pick-me-up post-examination period, with the additional benefit of being able to visit a part of my own state which I’d hadn’t had a chance to see before. That’s half the problem with living in a country like Australia - it’s so large and sparsely populated that one rarely gets the chance to see much outside of one’s immediate area.
Torquay
So, we drove down on the Friday, leaving my house at about noon with the intention of arriving between three and four in the afternoon, dependent on the traffic conditions. The drive down should have been fast and uneventful, and if not for certain human forces at play, most definitely would have been. However, the offhand comment by a girl friend: “Hey, Torquay (a surf town on the road to Cobden) had a few surf wear factory outlets. Last time I was there, I got like, thongs for two dollars, bags for three dollars, etc.”.
With that said, what else could a carload of girls do, but to jump ship and search for these outlets? We did well actually. I got a cute white cotton caftan for $3.50AUD and a pair of silver sandals for $7AUD…my friends got similar bargains. An excellent start to the getaway!
The prediction then, after an hour or two spent at these outlets was that we would arrive at our destination at about five to six in the evening. Again, these plans were to be thwarted as we attempted to take a few shortcuts, a terrible idea in the country. “Shortcuts” is a bit of a misnomer, as though it may have been a shortcut in that the distance was shorter, it was actually more of a “longcut” as the condition of the roads meant that one had to drive at the snail pace of 30km/hr in order to not skid off the winding dirt/gravel path and down the cliff on the other side of the road, and thus ended up taking twice as long as one would have done on the paved concreted path.
I also may or may not have endangered our lives by losing control of the car at one point, skidding on loose gravel. One life down, eight to go!
Cobden Crest Cottages
Our eventual arrival at our destination was ill-timed. The beautiful thing about the cottage we were staying at, is the view that it affords over the deep gully from the balcony. However, arriving in the middle of the night meant that we missed such views. With that said, the cottage itself was rather endearing, in a retro seventies Formica kind of way. The hostess Robyn was lovely, she had provided us with a home-baked loaf of multigrain bread, with eggs and bacon, with freshly-squeezed orange juice for our breakfast the next day. The cottage was equipped with everything we could have possibly needed - toiletries, bed linen and towels, board games, novels, DVD movies, CDs, and a multitude of other entertainment items.
The crowning glory however, was most definitely the pool table. I am admittedly, terribly clumsy with no sense of hand-eye coordination which is why I had avoided playing pool up to this past weekend. Aided by the copious amounts of alcohol we had taken with us to the cottage however, I managed to become one with the pool cue. By the end of the weekend, I had done as well as to get three balls in in a row. Admittedly, these three balls were an opponent’s ball, the black ball, and the white ball, but nonetheless! Three balls in a row!
Summary: Cobden Crest Cottage. Go there!
Cheeseworld, Warrnambool, Port Fairy
No visit to rurality is complete without a visit to a cheesy (pun intended!) attraction set up around the local industry. Cobden and its surrounds is the centre of a large dairy industry, and as such, the locals have decided that to set up a small centre dedicated to the display of cheeses and the history of dairy farming and rural life in Australia. To be fair though, they do have an amazing collection of cow figurines and soft toys in their gift shop, as well as providing the best homemade icecream around.
No visit to a themed attraction is ever complete without at least one cheesy photo of the Japanese tourist pose.
The rest of Saturday was spent driving further west, to the regional centre of Warrnambool and then further onto Port Fairy, which is famed for its annual folk music festival. We indulged in some infantilism, and monopolised the adventure playground near the historic village in Warrnambool. Kids want to play on the swings, the sand digger or the flying fox (best harness-less flying fox ever!)? Too bad! Four twenty-something girls are monopolising the play equipment, like the bullies they are at heart!
Twelve Apostles, Otway Fly
Sunday was spent largely exploring two attractions of the area. The first is a natural phenomenon which is thousands of years old, the second a man-made structure which is no less breath-taking.
The Twelve Apostles should sadly be retitled as “The Nine Apostles”. Due to the constant buffering of wind and water against the limestone structures, three have crumbled into the ocean over time. Nonetheless, it’s still quite a breathtaking natural phenomenon, well deserving of the constant stream of visitors and tourists it receives. I think I counted about ten different languages spoken at the viewing deck (some may have doubled up because I find it difficult to tell Romanian apart from Russian), it’s a “must see” for anyone who visits Melbourne and its rural surrounds!
The Otway Fly by contrast, is a man-made steel contraption weighing 120 tonnes. Suspended 25 metres above the rainforest floor, you’re literally up among the treetops, able to see the natural flora of the Australian bush. The only pity is, with an adult ticket into the attraction costing about $20AUD, it’s not very good value for money. But hey…they’ve got to pay for all that steel somehow right?
Summary
Overall, I had a most relaxing weekend. For the most part, sleep may have eluded me, but as my spirits are most revitalised by travel and new experiences and adventures rather than sleep, the weekend served to act well as an elixir to soothe my nerves! I really should do these weekends away more often, each time in a different part of the state.
what an awesome way to spend a weekend! surrounded by beautiful, natural scenery, getting some clarity on life issues with friends. it’s awesome that you feel revitalized even though you didn’t sleep that much. that’s how you know a vacation was gooood.
prach on June 25 2008 #
The Otway Fly sounds really nice. Walking around the tree tops!
I’m jealous of you and your vacations, missy! But also, really glad that you had such a good time. ;)
Erin on June 25 2008 #
Wow….great way to spend a weekend!
Yeah, its a sad thing about the Twelve Opostles. =[ At least WE didn’t ruin that natural phenomenon!
Glad you had a good weekend!
April on June 25 2008 #
wow, that seems like such a great getaway for the weekend. I’m particularly attracted to the cottages…I love those cozy little country places - they’re so charming!
marilyn on June 25 2008 #
[...] that said though, I can’t honestly say that it’s affected me all that much, what with having been away for four days over the weekend. Also, in addition to the four plus days I’m at work during my month-long holidays from [...]
Jingwen » Blog Archive » The Internet Hates Me on June 26 2008 #
Ahhh yes, the countryside. X_X;; I’ve been to my grandma’s house plenty of time and that’s where she lives. However, I associate countryside as a negative thing.
. . . For one, my grandma’s toilet, well lack thereof, is an outhouse with a hole in the ground. The shower is in some room with unfinished cement walls. Her television only has five channels. Everything is 220v at her place, so my 110v stuff wouldn’t work without a transformer . . . plus I know no one there, and the closest city is at least 20 minutes away by car . . . oh and no internet or computer. Dun dun dun.
Yeah. But I do agree that fresh air and all that is pretty refreshing. :3
Tara on June 27 2008 #