The Great Ocean Road was built in the 1930's as a memorial to World War I servicemen, and is about 400 kilometers long along the south west coast of Victoria. It seemed to me like Australias version of Highway 1 down the on the west coast of the U.S. Very nice coastline though, lots of sandstone cliffs, and pinnacles that stand after the rest of the sandstone has eroded away. Probably the most famous stretch of the road is a part called the Twelve Apostles. The only way you can actually see all of the Twelve Apostles is from the air, because from the viewpoints along the coast some of them are obstructed by other pinnacles or they are hidden behind outcrops. There were a few other points of interest. The London Bridge, used to be a complete bridge but back in 1990 the first half of it broke off into the water. At the time it collapsed, there were actually two tourists that had to be rescued from the half that remained over the water.

Also between Adelaide and Melbourne, is a National Park called The Grampians. We stopped in there for a few hikes to different waterfalls and viewpoints. It was a pretty rainy day, but I didn't mind. It was actually a nice change to have a bit of cooler weather instead of the heat and humidity that I had in Darwin and Broome.

I hopped off the bus in Geelong, home of Ford of Australia. I was put in touch with one of the test engineers to get a little tour of their facility. Unfortunately their crash barrier has been closed for a few weeks for rennovations, and was about a half hours drive from Geelong, but I did get a little walk through their components testing area and the two, count them TWO hoists they use to prep cars for testing. They also had a 50th percentile kangaroo dummy complete with floppy ears and all, which I found incredibly amusing.

Also in Geelong was the Ford Discovery Center, which I stopped into as well. It is a relatively new museum, having just opened in 1999. I mentioned to the lady at the desk that I was a Ford Employee in the U.S. and she got all excited and said "Oh! Well then you get the employee discount!" So I got in for $3 instead of $7. Cool! There was an array of different cars, a display highlighting the new Ford Territory, as well as a mini design studio with clay models on display. The smell of the clay instantly took me back to the design studio in Dearborn, kind of a strange feeling. There was also a little crash testing display, which showed a car up near the wall with a kangaroo dummy in front of it. On the walls and around the display there were pictures from actual crashes. I glanced at them at first then thought... "Wait a minute! I know that place!" All of the pictures on display were taken from the crash barrier back home! It was an interesting little museum, although minute compared to the Henry Ford Museum.

I took the train into Melbourne, which was only about an hour away, and was picked up by my friend Kellie, who I met on my 6 week trek in Africa. I'm actually writing this blog entry from Kellies work, where I've been set up in my own little office! Well, ok, so its really the copy room, but hey, I'll take it! I'll be here in Melbourne until sunday, visiting with Kellie and her family, catching up with other friends that I have met during my travels, and chasing down the fairy penguins on Phillip Island. Then it's back to Sydney for a night or two, before flying over my last ocean to S. America!