GREAT OCEAN ROAD

Aliyah menumpang kasih...Look at that view.

A quote from a website state "If you’ve ever wanted to hire a Porsche Boxster convertible and drive like a movie star along ocean clifftops, this is the place to do it." Hu..hu..hu exactly, it looks like a James Dean @ Grace Kelly starring movies, except for the fact that kalau aku buat camtu, gerenti terbang semua tudungku, passportku, spek mataku & the list goes on. Anginnya Masya Allah! Tu tak termasuk rega sewa Porsche tu lg kan...

So last2 nya kami sekelurga p naik bas. Join trip LUPA (LTU PostGrad Assoc) At least terbang AUD100 je. And the best part malam boleh tidur kat rumah sendiri, sbb pergi balik hari. Although, if you have more than 2 children, it's advisable to spend a night or two, or else it's rather tiring, especially if you drove all the way yourselves.

Ok... So how was it? Alright, to avoid being bias, I have to declare that I am not a big fan of the ocean, I am more of a river, creek, waterfalls kinda person. So my review might sound kind of unenthusiatic, but please don't take my words for it. You have to take the trip yourself. You might fall head over heel in love with the view. The Great Ocean Road is breathtakingly beautiful. If you had the chance to be there at sunset, I bet it would even be much more worth it.

But at the same time the particular Great Ocean Road itself is a 270++ km stretch of dangerously narrow, winding & windy bay road. (Warning: Utk mereka2 yg mudah mabuk kepayang, this must not be taken lightly...babah Aliyah & Uwais was one of them...he..he..kelakar & kesian jugak tgk) Hence, some can never enjoy the view, because you might feel a combination of vertigo, motion sickness and a little overwhelmed by the view. Tu tak termasuk mencuba mengambil gambar dr dlm bas yg bergerak. Well, the bus did stop once and awhile, but most people snapped away from inside the bus, whilst it's moving.

Our first stop was a beach nearby a lighthouse. In fact, that's the only beach we saw the whole day. I am sure there's a whole lot of beaches, because there's a whole lot of surfers, but from the seat of the bus, most of the beaches I saw were rather dangerously filled with rocks. Furthermore, a surfers' paradise meant the waves would make it unsafe for children.

After winding the road for an hour, we make our next stop at the Kenneth River Koala Park. It's a caravan park with koalas living amongst the trees. Beautiful park, but we must admit we spent most our time there queing for the toilets. Anyway, sementara menunggu babah diaorg recover from his motion sickness, sempat jugaklah bwk the children jenguk koalas kat atas pokok. To tell you the truth, to me the park lebih menarik drpd tgk laut..well that's just me.

Look at them chubby koalas!

Lunch @ Apollo Bay. Apollo bay ni ala2 mcm Pulau Pangkor sikit, tp versi sejuk, berangin and non-fishy. Rumah2 beach kat situ, fuh..chantek bangat! Some are actually open for tourist accomodation. Kami siap picnic lg kat tgh2 pekan Apollo Bay, along with Dayang & Aisyah who also joined the trip. The girls cooked a mean buffet lunch, siap ngan dessert lagi. Apollo bay was the highlight of the day for the children. They loved it! The small park was beautiful, siap ngan playground with lots of birds to chase.

Kakak tolong selamatkan makanan & adik drpd diterbangkan angin.

Of course, for most tourist the highlight of the day is the 12 Apostle. Apa tu? "Ala, batu" kata Aliyah. Well, partly true. Batu kapur yg terbentuk disebabkan hakisan laut & macam2 alasan lainlah. Sepatutnya ada 12 bentuk batu, tp sekarang dah tinggal 9 jer, disebabkan hakisan ombak. Ye ker, well I don't actually know how to count them, sbb yg bersepai2 pun ada. Iakan jelah. I don't feel anything fancy about it, sbb aku percaya kepada kebesaran Allah. Apapun, Aliyah suka kena tiup2 angin, tapi Uwais hated it. Habis merah2 hidung dia, macam hidung rusa2 Santa Claus, because of the gushing wind. (Sampai rumah, lepas mandi, immediately bagi paracetamol to both of them, just in case)

Anyway, before we took the path to the viewing deck, kita org melencong p tgk helikopter sat. Sikit lagi nak naik...hu..hu... Mahal ker? AUD95 per person for 10 minutes. Ok kut, but takut pulak tgk helikopter melayang2 kena tiup dek monstrous angin. So last2 we settle tangkap gambo jelah.

Aliyah kesejukkan tgk batu-batan.

This clip was taken from the highest viewing deck, lesser wind but still very windy. The weather was not so clear because it's about to rain. So what do you think of the "not-so-12 Apostle"?

Hala balik, Alhamdulillah, there's another shorter route, through the prairies of Warnambool. Sebahagian besar jalannya lurus shj. Dptlah tgk kambing biri2, lembu2 kat farm2 along the route. Some scenic view too of the mountains, which makes us reconsider our plan to visit New Zealand. Macam bosan jer...Canne ye? Pi Gold Coast jelah camni.

Which brought us to the next question, are we going again? I think perhaps yes, dgn beberapa proviso tambahan, of course.

1. Now that we know how it's like, we'll know what to plan for, but maybe not for another year. We'll wait for Atuk & Tuk Mamalah.
2. We are not going to use the bay route the next time. We'd rather avoid Torquay and head straight to Port Campbell through Warnambool. The less winding road, the better.
3. We definitely have to spend the night in one of those fancy cottages and try to locate some beach and more koalas.
4. We'll have to plan our stops at other spots for non-ocean lovers like me...he..he..he. Rupa-rupanya there's a whole lot more going on there. But of course, bus tours could only take you to the major tourist attractions. We'll have to look it up ourselves, then. Till next time...