Wednesday, April 30, 2008

GOR

From The Lighthouse


I think I've worn out the synonyms. They no longer have the charm they once did - at least for me. If I come across any noteworthy ones in the future, I'll be sure to share.

With many miles traveled, good times had and work done, I find myself writing once again about what has happened in the not so distant past yet it feels like an eternity. My last point referenced along the Great Ocean Road within the unrelenting grips of the "Caddy".

From Anglesea we took a short tour down "the road", stopped at an historic lighthouse and ended up at Wye River. A tiny little spot among many tiny little spots on this expanse of coastal highway. An easy choice for us really. It was a Big 4, it had wireless and a nice right hand point break out in front. No waves when we got there, but the following morning had some fast waist high crumblers ripe for the taking. I was particularly happy about this since our last night's sleep was less than stellar.

Imagine you're in "a van down by the river" and while sleeping a few mosquitos buzz about your head. Then a few more and a few more after that. When you finally decide to sit up in bed, all the buzzing hits you at once and you'd swear you're inside a hive. Well that's what happened and I spent the majority of the next couple hours swatting them in my hands, against the car, on susanna (she was livid) and with my shirt. In every instance that I was successful, they'd be a drop of blood (ours I'd hoped) until the sleeping area of the car was littered with specs. It was a serious crime scene and I was the one with blood all over my hands. I was so annoyed by my tribulations of the night that I was convinced the campsite manager put us by the river on purpose. "Oh sure, put the tourists in mosquito alley, that'll be a laugh riot."

After some friendly banter with a local out in the water at Wye River, he suggested that Johanna (An alternate contest location for the Bell Beach) would be bigger and positioned more favorably for the current wind direction. Susanna and I just had our next destination! We cruised around the southern point of Cape Otway and arrived at the southwest facing beach of Johanna late that afternoon. Fortunately, there was free camping.

Johanna is far from right off the road. It's about 8km through farmland to get to. It's a beautiful beach so it gets a few tourists, but mostly fisherman and surfers. The next morning we woke up to solid swell and offshore breezes. It was only a little overhead on the set, but man, the bicept burn to get out into the lineup was severe - a whole heck of a lot of water moving around out there. I surfed for a while with two other guys. Trading waves was real easy when it takes the last person who caught one, 5-10 minutes to paddle back out. After catching a few good ones, I opt not to head back into the treadmill of water. Funny this about that session was that the two other guys who were out there, were also from California. Both studying abroad in Adelaide from the San Luis Obispo area.

With the early morning surf out of the way, we keep on marching west, toward the "12 Apostles". A huge tourist trap along the GOR, but definitely worth seeing. They are large (vertically speaking) islands just off the coastline. They've formed by the deterioration of the limestone cliffs. Over hundreds of year the cliff side erodes away and around a portion of land, leaving it still standing. They were really breathtaking and with a decent swell in the water, it made the coastline movie-like. Plumes of whitewater crashing against vertically islands of rock. From one of the lookout points, we even saw a few surfers towing into the waves!

When we got done oowing and aahing, we kept on till the next town of Port Campbell. Lunch at the "12 Rocks" cafe seemed appropriate. From our table out on the patio I saw a surfer kick out at the end of a wave coming into the harbor. After some further investigation, I surveyed a nice right point with only five guys out. Not knowing when the swell will fade and if I'd even get a chance to surf wherever I am at that time again, I've gotten to the point where I don't contemplate too long anymore, I just go. Turned out to be pretty fun even with it's terribly dodgy locals only (down a shear cliff face) entry point. It also gave Sus a bit of time in the sun. She's mad she's still white.

By the end of the "12 Apostles" day, we're in Warrnambool. Our favorite town along the Great Ocean Road by far. There we caught an hysterical (although they were quite serious about it) laser show depicting a famous shipwreck. Apparently there are numerous throughout the region. We rented bikes and rode throughout the coastal community, stopping at some epic playgrounds (flying fox!) on the way. We stopped at a volcanic crater which coincidentally had an Aboriginal Apology festival happening. Warrnambool also had the most fantastic thrift store I'd even been to. Susanna literally had to restrain herself. I however, could not resist and bought something for our gracious host, Jake. Vintage beatles tee and autobiography, original pressing.

And then there was the surf. Still on our lucky streak, we happened upon, Logan's Beach. Well, not really happened, but after I convinced the i-lady I wasn't a beginner, she gave us directions. An awesome little beach break on the outskirts of town. Kind of dumpy and mostly ridden by body boarders, it defied its stereotype and produced a memorable session, filled with hot snaps, head dips and punts. The most fun I've had in foreign waters yet.

By this point, the GOR is about done, but we have nothing but time on our hands so we decide to continue west. Our next two, mostly uneventful stops, were Port Fairy and then Portland. Port Fairy is a small town, popular in the summer months. During our brief visit, it was dead. There was only one discernible surf spot there. A right rock point break. At the time, completely windblown, with five guys on it. A couple of which thought it was still good enough out there to snake one another for a wave. Ah, no thanks. Wave possibilities looked up in Portland. It has a few small peninsulas, picking up swell from a variety of directions. In addition, with its land unique land formation, it allows you to easily pinpoint a beach where the wind is offshore. I grabbed a local surf map from the i-site and checked one spot out. It was perfectly sunny, offshore, but only a couple feet. I decided, with end of the month looming, I'd better get on with surfshot. I spent that afternoon the the port fairy library. I would have liked to extend our stay in Portland, but we chose that as our turn around point.

Next stop Wye River, then back into Melbourne. No surf, just work.

p.s. Our last two nights on the road, we sprung for a cabin. The "Caddy" officially broke me down.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

i'm glad you're alive

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