Great Ocean Road - a dream comes true...

The Great Ocean Road - one of the purposes of our trip to Down Under...one of Pasci's dreams...to cruise this stretch of road (ideally with a Harley). Australia's most famous road winds its way almost 250km from Warrnambool to Torquay and Pasci was savouring every single kilometre of it!

The road got its name obviously because most of the time you are driving right at the edge of the ocean - it is truly an amazing view!

It all begins with this signboard - the pulse went up... / Es fängt alles mit diesem Strassenschild an - der Puls war erhöht...

The first half of the Great Ocean Road (Warrnambool to Apollo Bay) / Die erste Hälfte der Great Ocean Road (Warrnambool nach Apollo Bay)



After brekkie (that's the shortform of breakfast the Australians are using) in our overnight camp in Warrnambool, Pasci got visibly more impatient and eager to leave as usual. Since first sitting on a motorbike (or actually even earlier) it was one of his dreams to drive this piece of sacred asphalt - and this finally came true on this sunny morning.. :)

A side info: Camping parks do have (like normal hotels) a check out time. Which is in most cases around 10.00am. But since it is low season and most of the caravan parks are half empty anyway, nobody seems to really care. At least so far.

Then it was not until this morning...that some grumpy woman came tramping towards our spaceship to remind us that it is 10.22 by now and that we should have left the park already....*Sorry*

But even this incident could not ruin the day since we were now heading of towards the Great Ocean Road. To give you a bit of a taste what all the hype is about:

The 'holy asphalt' / Der 'heilige Apshalt'


At this sign..Pascal nearly had tears (of joy) in his eyes / Bei dieser Tafel hatte Pascal fast Freudentränen in seinen Augen


At every of these signs one could hear a small "bring it on!" whispering from the driver seat / Bei jeder dieser Tafeln konnte man ein "Noch MEHR!" flüstern hören vom Fahrersitz


Like a perfect symbiosis the road finds its way along the costal line of the ocean / Wie eine perfekte Symbiose findet die Strasse den Weg entlang der Küste des Ozeans

AND this....would be the ideal machine to do it all...but our Spaceship did quite a good job too / UND dies...wäre die ideale Maschine um es zu tun...aber unser Spaceship hat auch einen guten Jobe geleistet

I hope by now that your mouth got watery and your right hand (if you are a biker) has a slight tingly feeling in it (for non bikers: that's the hand for the acceleration pedal). If not (you should go to the doctor) the following might change this... :)

The Great Ocean Road is not 'just' famous for its turns and twists....noooo...that would be too easy! It is as well blessed with loads of sights all along the way. One of the first sights we encountered that day was the 'London Bridge'. Unfortunately, some of the London Bridge collapsed a while ago (in 1990 - it was once a double arched bridge), so it's now more Bridge than London...but have a look! :)

Announcing the 'London Bridge' - will we see a London Bus? / Die berühmnte 'London Bridge' - werden wir einen London Bus sehen?

The left overs...still very beautiful / Was übrig geblieben ist...immernoch sehr schön

London couple @ the London bridge / Ein Londoner Paar @ der London Bridge

Just a short drive further on, we were confronted with one of the most amazing and breathtaking sights so far on our journey: The Twelve Apostles. These lonely rocky stacks have been abandoned to the ocean by the eroding headland. Today their number has been whittled down to six apostles, but nevertheless they still have a huge *WOW* factor when you first see them!!!

An amazing picture...but it doesn't transport the mysterious feel that you get when you stand there..it's just WOW!/ Ein wunderschönes Bild...aber es kann leider nicht das mysteriöse Gefühl übertragen das man hat, wenn man da steht..einfach WOW!

Two apostles looking to the south / Zwei Apostel im Süden

Two new apostles from Switzerland arrived / Zwei neue Apostel aus der Schweiz sind angekommen

Stunned by the beauty of the apostles (or the sunshine?) / Fassungslos von der Schönheit der Apostel (oder der Sonne?)

Another bit further down the road we had a closer look at Loch Ard Gorge where one can see a numerous rock formations just in wallking distance. We thought we should go and check out the water temperature...which was *freeeeeeeezing* cold!

"I am the king of the world" or sth along thos lines... / "Ich bin der König der Welt" oder so ähnlich...

...and my princess / ....und meine Prinzessin

Stunned with all the beautiful sights of the day and with the adrenalin still flowing through our bodies (from the thrilling drive of the Great Ocean Road), we were on the outlook for a sweet spot to spend the night. We found a cool caravan park (that even provided free wireless) in Port Campbell.

Still equipped with delicious red wine / Immernoch gut ausgerüstet mit köstlichem Rotwein

Aaaahhhh....dinner (Steak & Potatoes & Veg) was *yummy* / Aaaaahhh....Abendessen (Steak & Kartoffeln & Gemüse) war super!

The next day we were still so fascinated by the picture of the apostles in our minds that we decided to pay them another visit! And it was well worth it! Like seeing them for the first time a simple "WOW" expressed the chill that you feel when one sees them!

"Good morning apostles" / "Guten Morgen Apostel"

Same Same but different / Das Gleiche aber verschieden

Mishell the photographer / Mishell die Photographin

Can you spot the mistake? All grown-up camper vans and our *Spaceship* / Entdeckst Du den Fehler? Alles grosse Camper Van und unser *Spaceship*

One of the many beaches along the way...but the ocean is just so bloody cold! Einer der vielen Strände auf dem Weg...aber der Ozean ist soooo sau kalt!

After Princetown, the Great Ocean Road leaves the ocean for a bit and one cruises overland in direction to Apollo Bay. This hilly stretch is has its own with the long drawn-out turns and the narrow U-turns..BEAUTIFUL!

And there is yet another sight that we did not want to miss out! The Cape Otway Lighthouse. Even the drive down there is fantastic - because we never got to see as many Koala Bears as here. They are literally hanging in the branches over the street and according to the women at the Lighthouse there are so many, that there is the danger that they eat their homes, i.e. the trees empty!

Back to the Lighthouse: It is Australia's oldest lighthouse, dating back to 1848. Unfortunately our camera ran out of battery after this shot was take. So no pictures from the view from up the top. The lighthouse itself was interesting as it was completely built without cement or any material to bind the architecture. It is purely from fitting the stones together (think Lego). The lens of the lighthouse is also made of very high-spec glass (very technical) and the entire lens-structure is suspended on a ton of mercury. Very fascinating.

The picturesque Cape Otway Lighthouse / Das malerische Cape Otway Lighthouse

Since we felt guilty that we spend most of the last two days in the car driving around and having not enough exercising (although Pasci is leaning in the direction of the turn like he is sitting on the motorbike) we decided to go for a short hike in the Otway National Park. Our bible (the Lonely Planet book) recommended us the Sheok Falls. And since we are good apostles, we followed the recommendation and started hiking...

Unfortunately it was a bad time of the year to watch a waterfal! :-/ What was left over was a trickle. *Bummer*

Zoom-in: Gigantic Killer Ant / In das Bild reinzoomen: Gigantische Killer Ameise

The impressive Sheok Falls / Der beeindruckende Sheok Wasserfall

and what it really should look like / und wie er wirklich aussehen sollte

To delay the end of the Great Ocean Road for another day we decided to stay overnight at Kennet River, which left us another 60km until the end of the Great Ocean Road. This camping site was fully in the nature and poorly equipped (i.e. no camp kitchen AND a paying barbecue - shocking!).

Therefore we got to try our "built-in" Spaceship kitchen! But Mishell mastered as well this challenge perfectly and with a bit of her magic she prepared a wonderful dinner!

The spaceship kitchen / Die Spaceship Küche

Our dinner: fresh corn, salad and juicy pork chops / Unser Abendessen: Frischer Mais, Salat und saftiges Schweinscotelette

*OUCH* - what a night....Pasci got literally gang-raped by mosquitos! He woke up with mosquito bites all over him (even one in his eye-lid).

Our preferred brekkie: Cereals with fresh fruits / Unser Frühstück: Cornflakes mit firschen Früchten

Grumpy Pasci (because of a terrible night) at the beach of Kennet River / Schlecht gelaunter Pasci (wegen der schlimmen Nacht) am Beach von Kennet River

The mosquito bites were soon forgotten when we got back on the road. On todays programme: Lorne, Anglesea and Torquay (End of Great Ocean Road). Not so much to see in these villages. Some beaches, surers, Fish&Chips and coffee places....that's about it.

The main street of Lorne / Die Hauptstrasse in Lorne

Coffee and fresh juices are good in Australia / Kaffee und frische Säfte sind gut in Australien

Pasci enjoying the last kilometers of the Great Ocean Road / Pasci geniesst die letzen Kilometer der Great Ocean Road

And then...you can guess it...the end came: Torquay! What a sad moment...but one of joy too: It was a great adventure and the Great Ocean Road definitely lives up to its hype! It is fantastic and the most amazing road we have been driving on so far! The turns, the sights, the air from the ocean, the sound of the waves...you have to see and feel this!

Take this advice! And Pasci already said that he will be back here one day on a Harley...everybody who wants to join in, please subscribe! :)

One thing I want to say to Mishell: It was wonderful to share this dream with you Mishell. Thank you!

After these exciting days on the road, loads of new experiences as campers we were now definitely ready for more civilization, a proper bed and NO mosquitos in Melbourne!