Transcending Borders With Seeds in Our Hands

I got up at an ungodly hour this morning to get on the bus to begin our Great Ocean Road trip. I got on the bus and said hello to everyone. We were not really that talkative though because we were still really sleepy. We went around and picked up the rest of our group from their hostels and when we were all in the vehicle our tour guide introduced herself as Fleur and wrote her name on the window with a marker. She instructed us to write our name and where we are from. There were a couple of Canadians, one French Canadian, one Frenchman, two Irish, two Germans, two Americans (finally), two Australians, two Dutch, one Italian, and me; a good mix of people.

We rode along until we came to a neat little town that is the hub of all things surfing. It is the birthplace of Ripcurl, Billabong, Oakleys, and several other leading names in surfing merchandise. We got some much-needed coffee and set out to our first destination–the Great Ocean Memorial Arch. The men who came back from the destruction of the second World War were given this roadway to build so that they would have a sense of purpose; to have the feeling that they helped to create something beautiful and meaningful that generations, from all corners of the globe, could enjoy. The road eventually lead up to the Loch Ard gorge which is where a ship carrying travelers from the UK wrecked in the 1800s. Our guide Fleur told us the story of the shipwreck and how they were pulled in by the incredibly strong and unpredictable currents and waves of the Southern Ocean. Only two people made it to the shores alive. The rest were pushed into a gorge where they could not possibly climb the sheer cliffs or survive the raging waves that gorge created.

We headed out and a few minutes later came to the Twelve Apostles. There are actually only nine formations still standing, with the most recent apostle crumbling into the ocean in 2005. They were originally called the 12 sows (or something like that…because they were named by local farmers) but the name was changed to promote tourism in the region. I don’t see why the name matters–the rock formations are absolutely stunning. Mere words really cannot describe how incredible the shore line is in the Twelve Apostles park. The limestone rocks emerge from the ocean bed, looking as if they had been dropped right in a row along the coast. Some of them look like big sails on a ship, billowing in the Southern Ocean breeze, or like massive towers standing with the help of an unseen force rather than with the strength of their foundation. It was overcast when we first saw them which was a little disappointing but we headed into the tiny town of Port Campbell to start dinner and wait to see if it would clear up for sunset. And…it did!! We put dinner preparations on hold and went up to the cliffs that overlook the apostles and watched the sunset. The number of different color combinations was incredible. The sunset made all kinds of pinks and yellows and oranges. You have to look at the pictures to get an idea of the beauty of it all.

We came back to the house we all were staying in (which had a fireplace–so nice!) and chatted a bit and ate a delicious meal. We had shepherd’s pie made with both beef and kangaroo and yes, the kangaroo was better than the beef! We also had Fleur’s specialty, apricot chicken and it was delectable. We played a bit of cards and played a rousing game of guess the marshmallow color with your eyes closed. The game went something like Joel, the ridiculous, almost always overbearing Australian, would pick two marshmallows (pink or white), roast them, then put one in each of the taster’s hands and then have them guess the combination. He tried to trick me by giving me two whites but I got it right because the pink had a distinct cherry flavor to me. Others tried to tell the difference–most with no success–but I got it right everytime (I’m not sounding too braggy, right?!) and was declared the marshmallow tasting champion. In the end I ate way too many marshmallows and felt like hurling pink for about 10 minutes afterward.

I got to talk to a lot of different people and got to know where exactly in their country they were from and we talked about the usual cultural differences and so on. We went to bed kind of early because we had to get up early the next morning to beat the crowds of tourists to the Twelve Apostles. We cranked up the heat and curled up in our bunks and slept very well.

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