Twelve Apostles, Convertibles, and Horrible Australia Drivers

This past weekend I went for what will likely be my last "fun" event before I leave Australia. There is a famous scenic highway here named the Great Ocean Road, which runs along the southern coastline for roughly 250 miles. The coast itself is sandstone, and consequently very much a victim of wind and wave erosion. However, this does lead to some impressive sights.

Primarily, the road hugs the coast, and is consequently very twisty and curvy. It's a whole lotta fun to drive, especially when it's nearly deserted and one is behind the wheel of a convertible sports car. I was initially disappointed at the outset of the weekend, because I had hoped to rent a BMW Z4 convertible, and also have a friend join me for the trip. Sadly, the BMW was not available, and the friend had a last minute issue arise, so I found alone, behind the wheel of a Holden Astra, a local car manufacturer, owned by GM. It was pretty spirited, and I was really pushing it on the road.

I left Melbourne around 9am Saturday morning, and drove to the start of the Great Ocean Road, which is about 60 miles away, then drove down the Road until I reached the formation known as The Twelve Apostles. This is a group of free standing rock towers, sepearated from the rest of the coast by erosion. Sadly, only 9 now remain of the original twelve, and soon they will all be gone, but it is an impressive sight. Nearby is a set of steps carved into the cliff face, which lets one clamber down to the beach itself, next to these mighty sentinels. Being a child of my mother, I had to stick my fingers in the water. The waves were some of the largest I've seen, probably pushing 25ft curlers, on a relatively calm day.

Sadly, the day was a bit tarnished because the night before i left, my friend Rowdy, a native of Western Australia, was hit on his motorcycle, and wrecked his ankle. He's currently in the hospital in good spirits, but has already had two rounds of surgery on his ankle, and is scheduled for more to come. The driver that hit him was drunk, turned without looking or signalling, and ran over Rowdy, who was in the adjacent lane at the time. Fortunately, Rowdy is a sturdy fellow. So many of my nights now feature visits to a local hospital, to keep his spirits up. It's hard for a guy who is naturally very active to suddenly be laid up in bed. We're waiting to see how he handles not being able to walk for 12 weeks.