Ozzy Adventure, The Great Ocean Road

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Wed May 20, 2009 4:07 pm

We are finally going to see our friends today. We are both really excited. Up early to pack up & be ready. Tom, our friend told us he would be here at 8:00 AM. We have talked to him every day & he said he feels like a kid waiting for Christmas morning.

All packed, with our Cork Hats ready to greet them at the door, they arrive at 7:30Am.

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We are doing the drive along the Great Ocean Road today. It is a beautiful drive along the west coast of Victoria & making our way to Bendigo which I where are friends live.

First stop was the beautiful coastal town of Aires’s. We get our first glimpse of a Beach. The beach reminds me of East Coast of the states. Check out the little shops, take a stroll to the Light House & enjoy the beautiful view.

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Next stop is Apollo Bay another very pretty little coastal town with the usual little shops, lots of fish shops, & Beach. After a beautiful walk on the beach it was time lunch. With today being Good Friday & we are travelling with Catholic’s it was fish for lunch. Ordered up a few pieces of fish & fries, enjoyed while people watching talking about how beautiful the drive had been to this point.

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Next stop was the 12 Apostles, it a cluster of rocks in the water, that have been carved out from natures erosion, they are absolutely stunning. We had arrived just before the sun was starting to set & the view took your breath away.

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Our plan was to stop for dinner on our way back to Bendigo, but our friends kids had been texting Mum all day wanting to know when we would be home & could they stay up, so we opted to pass on dinner & eat with the kids once we go home. The youngest of the kids is sweet Ondrea. Prior to our trip she would email us Ozzie lessons each week, so that we wouldn’t look or sound dumb or like tourist when we got there with the usual saying in OZ & what certain words or phrases meant. Ondrea had sent us a letter that we would get when we arrived at her sisters home. In the letter she said how happy & excited she was that we were coming & just want to give us a few more instructions of which was that we had to be sure we had Cork Hats & Kangaroo repellent…… We had managed to find the crazy cork hats while shopping in Melbourne so we were set with those, but couldn’t find the Kangaroo repellent.

When we arrived at the house Larry & I quickly put on our crazy cork hats, well the look on the girl’s faces was priceless, they didn’t know what to say….. It was fun to see them laugh. Rest of the night was a spent eating pizza & talking.

Up early Sat grabbed a coffee and sat on the porch taking in our first daylight glimpse of the sights and sounds of Bendigo. The sound of the birds is so different than at home, it was very soothing. While enjoying the morning sights I spotted this cool looking bird with a bright red head & a smoky grey body. I ran into get the camera to capture him.
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Today was a day of seeing the sights of Bendigo. Well with 3 teenagers to get going in the morning it takes a while…… All the girls are finally ready & we are off in two cars. Emily the oldest of the three has to work so we drop her off. Walked around the main street, went to the museum, went to the church where our friends had been married 25 years ago, stopped & walked up in a poppet (this is the structure that was above the ground that was used when they mined the gold. The views were amazing; you could see the whole of Bendigo & beyond.

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On Easter Saturday night there is a Fireman’s Parade, to honour them. I have never seen so many different fire trucks, a nice parade with fireworks after.

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After the kids went to bed it was time to make up some Easter treat bags. I had managed to bring some Easter treat all the way from Canada with me… OPS totally forgot about that when I cleared customs.

.

Cid · Post by **Cid** » Wed May 20, 2009 10:39 pm

Nice pics...I always like seeing different places from real folks perspective.

I didn't see Ozzy in any of the pics though....Heheheeeee!

linne · Post by **linne** » Fri May 22, 2009 2:37 am

Thank you for your report. What an adventure,

I love to read about other places in the world, but I'm a little confused. I cannot remember your previous reports and I cannot find them, when I do a search. Only the one where you tell that you have to do 11 flights. Can you help?

Linne

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:48 pm

Those cork hats are something else...would they work for mosquito control, I wonder.
Friends have raved about the Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles; from your pictures I can see why...sunset there had to be amazing.
Still enjoying following along.

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Sat May 23, 2009 12:28 pm

I'm with linne, girlfriend. Is there more about Raro somewhere?

Loving your report, nonetheless! Bendigo looks like a really neat place. I'm following your adventures on Google Maps.

brenda · Post by **brenda** » Sun May 24, 2009 2:20 am

I've been looking forward to your report. Thanks for posting. What is a cork hat??

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Sun May 24, 2009 2:20 pm

Brenda, I wondered the same thing so I googled it.

According to the retailer they are used to keep the flies away. Ewwww.

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Tue May 26, 2009 12:01 pm

Iprof,
They may work for the mossies, will have to check them out this summer.
The Great Ocean Rd, was a beautiful drive & the 12 Appostales was so surreal.

California Girl, Yup, that is the lovely Cork Hat.

Hey maybe we can bring them to STJ on our next trip & try them out

Do you think we would look out of place

The Shopper

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:08 pm

Ruth, I can't wait to see y'all with those Aussie hats on at your reserve table at Woody's!

Cheers, RickG

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Tue May 26, 2009 2:10 pm

So Rick you would sit with us wearing them

Will packem just for you in Oct....

The Shopper

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Ozzy Adventure, The Great Ocean Road

Ozzy Adventure, The Great Ocean Road