Great Ocean Road

Link to its web-site

High on our list of places to visit was the Great Ocean Road. This was my first big outing as pilot of a right-hand drive car on the left side of the road. At first it was a bit unnerving. I kept glancing up and to the right to see in the rear view mirror what was behind me and kept seeing blue sky. A similarly motivated glance down and to the left for the left side mirror presented me with the gear shift. Although I finally adapted, looking to the rear was never a really smooth operation. Built between 1919 and 1932, the Great Ocean Road extends 243 kilometers along the south coast. One of the famous sights is The Twelve Apostles, limestone stacks along the beach which recently have dwindled to eight. The creation and erosion of these stacks happen rather quickly in a geologic time-frame. For PR reasons at the hands of some unknown, self-righteous bureaucrat, they were renamed from the Sow and Piglets, which is not nearly as much fun. Concerning the construction, Wikipedia notes: "In 1924 the steamboat Casino became stranded near Cape Patton after hitting a reef, forcing it to jettison 500 barrels of beer and 120 cases of spirits. The workers obtained the cargo, resulting in an unscheduled two-week-long drinking break."

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