Day Trippin'

Have you ever just jumped in the car and driven? Not really sure where you would end up though just went anyway? That is what we did today... We set the alarm at 8am so that we could be out the door by 9am. Our only real thought was to get to a place called Split Point at the bottom of Victoria, on the Great Ocean Road.. Anyway.. when we got there, we decided that we had not driven long enough and that we were sure that at the early-ish hour that it still was that we could see so much more... so on we drove... Apollo Bay in our sights. We have once before, about a month ago visited here and fell in love with the beach side town.. it had a home-y-ness that we were used too... an atmosphere that we find ourselves so often craving, since we have all grown up living only minutes from the beach. We stopped, wandered through the most trendy little market.. (which is on every Saturday morning) which we will be going back too.. then, headed to get some fish and chips for lunch. Sitting by the beach, under the shade of a gorgeous tree surrounded by grass filled with wildly growing seaside daisies, we wondered what ever in the world the "poor" people were doing. It was over those fish and chips that we decided that since it was only midday and there were still so many hours in the day since its day light saving, that it was the twelve Apostles or bust!!!!
Anyone that truly knows us would know that we have this crazy tendency just to get in the car sometimes and just drive.. one day, literally going interstate just for ice-cream. (about an 7-8 hour round trip)...
So.. back in the car we climbed and on down the great ocean road we drove.
Lyn... i was thinking of you all of the day. You would have been in your glory... the sea, the sights.. it was fantastic. The great Ocean road by the way, for the most travels right along the edge of the ocean between Torquay in Victoria and ends in South Australia. (though i don't know where). We will tell you one day, im sure... hmmm.. wonder if they have any good ice-creameries!!! ~L~
Anyway... about 40 mins down the road we saw a sign for Cape Otway Lighthouse, and since that is where we were meant to go and made the mistake of telling Miranda .. she by this stage was really starting to get on our nerves with
Miranda: "are we nearly at the lighthouse?"....
Us: "no, we passed it hours ago."
Miranda: "When are we getting to the lighthouse?"
Us: We aren't. perhaps on our way back if its not dark. We want to show you something way better."
Miranda: "is it a light house?"

Alright already, whats with this lighthouse thing? She was like a broken record.. You'd think she liked them or something..huh? Anyway... in an effort to try and satisfy her, not to mention shut her up, we made the turn off.. a detour... Who was the wise guy that didn't put a distance on the sign to the lighthouse? 20 mins of driving we get to the gate of the light house only to find that it was $35 for a family entry. What the!? I didn't pack the cash, Matt didn't pack the cash.. a day trip should not cost anything but time, fuel and camera battery charge!!
Of course, you guessed it.. we didn't see the lighthouse and Miranda's questions started again... by this stage we saw signs indicating that there were Koalas, Kangaroos, Echidnas and COWS (WTF?) for the next 15 km.. (spot the odd one out! ~L~)...in a last ditch effort to try and distract the light house obsessed kid in the back we decided we would koala spot... only seconds after i suggested it I'm screaming at the top of my lungs in an excited retards attempt to get the words "stop.. KOALA" out... There was a mama koala (new only by the size) sitting in the long grass at the side of the road... Matt stopped JUST in time to have it give us the evil eye as to say "pfft, I'm trying to walk here!!!" and it started to walk directly down the middle of the road... planning a quiet stroll.. (with Matt quickly in toe taking photos).. It was TOTALLY amazing.. by now.. others had stopped and everyone wanted to have a look.. she sat and just watched all these weird humans until one got stupid and got too close and scared her off.
Funnily enough, Miranda forgot all about the stupid lighthouses as we drove on.. spotting one koala after another lazing in the trees. For the non Aussies, koalas are not a plentiful everyday occurrence and after 33 years, this is the FIRST time i have seen one in the wild.

So.. finally... about 6 hours after we left home, there it was... what we waited all day to see... the Twelve Apostles... Aren't they just amazing?
These are limestone rock stacks which over stacks of years have been eroded from the mainland heads. Leaving these magnificent TALL towers in the water. Over time, a few have fallen, so there are no longer Twelve.. though what we discovered yesterday, that one of the platforms we were standing on, had a apostle, in the making, beneath.. and one day in the future, it would become another stack.. standing freely in the ocean.. Isnt Mother Nature amazing?

On a high still.. though ofcourse, photos already looked at and some edited, we are home... totally exhausted from the day, the winding roads and the excitement of the sights... though.. totally thrilled that we decided to deviate from our initial plans..

PS: We stopped about 3 hours from home at Wye River/beach to let the kids out and stretch their legs and splash in the water for a while.. of course, Matt had the camera out again... This picture of Jamie i think is just gorgeous... he could be anywhere in the world... on any postcard perfect beach in paradise.. though instead, he was almost on our back door step..

Life is great! I wonder where we will end up next weekend!!! Goodness only knows.. though... where ever it is.. it will have big shoes to fill in being better than today!!!