Today was pretty much all about me having fun behind the wheel. Today we went on The Great Ocean Road. It takes about four hours to get from one end to the area known as the 12 apostles. This was originally my goal until I realized just how far it was. My equipment for the day was a 2005 (I think) Toyota Camry Sportivo. This was one of the few times I have been behind a V6. I think the front two seats hold your shoulders and legs in place pretty well.
The drive to the ocean road was pretty uneventful. It was mostly divided highway, but bicycles were allowed to ride in the breakdown lane. I also saw a billboard for the 2010 UCI World Cycling Championships. Upon getting home I found out that I had driven most of the road course. It is from Melbourne to Geelong. The route was pancake flat, and the ending circuit for the race has the only real climb. From what I could see around Geelong the hill can’t be that intense.
We eventually made it to Torquay, the start of the road. It is also the birthplace of two of the following, Quicksilver, Billabong, or Rip Curl. The information center gave us the times to each location. I decided we would go to Apollo Bay and decide to press on or not from there. Aside from a ton of beaches there was not much to see along the road.
Driving was pretty fun, I managed not to make Ina nauseous. The speed limit is something like 80-100kph, but every turn has a suggested speed ranging from 30kph to 60kph. I thought I was going pretty fast the entire time but I pulled off three times to allow cars to pass me. I wish I had a lower slung car that I had experience with, but it was the most fun I have ever had driving. I couldn’t actually take in much scenery as the turns kept coming along.
One stop we made at the suggestion of the information person was a golf course with Kangaroos hanging out on it.
We also made a stop at a pretty spectacular look out.
We continued to drive until we finally made it to Apollo Bay. I did not have 6 more hours of driving in me, 2 to the apostles and four home from there, so I decided to head home, but not before a stroll along the beach. Ina realized she could not write Chinese in the sand, and tried to get my feet wet by pushing me towards the ocean.
To get back at a reasonable hour we headed inland to a road that paralleled the Ocean Road. I kept thinking for the first few miles how awesome it would be to have my bike. The road had tons of twists and turns and steadily climbed away from the ocean. Check it out (max of 15% gradient, look at the turns, 1800 feet in 6 miles anyone?) http://www.mapmyride.com/route/detail/18806448/ . As an added bonus you hit rain forest about a quarter of the way up. Some of the turns are blind and with the water kept me following the suggested speeds, and again I pulled over to let a car by. At the top of the climb there was a big national park, perfect for Mountain Biking, http://www.rideforrest.com.au/ . If only I had my bikes and time.
Ina and I were greeted to a beautiful sunset once we reached the farmland on the flat area.
We made it home safely as I think I have figured out the drive on the left side thing.
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