On Monday, John drove our rental car the entire length of the Great Ocean Road. Starting south of Geelong (I posted an inaccurate pronunciation previously; it’s JUH-long), we went over 150 miles through the most fascinating and diverse geography: ocean cliffs, rolling hills, eucalyptus forests, a rain forest, windswept plains, dry desert, and grain fields.

It took us all day because of the multiple times we stopped to enjoy the view. We even walked through part of the rain forest and climbed the Cape Otway Lighthouse–known as one of the southern-most points in Australia and home of the first telegraph line to Tasmania. The tourist-stacked round rocks of Carisbrook Creek startled us the most, and the limestone rock formations of The Twelve Apostles left us breathless. The latter site only has eight stones now, as the remaining ones have fallen into the sea. (I wonder which apostles fell down? Probably Judas for certain.) We also stopped to take short walks to the “London Bridge” and “Grotto” formations.

A surprise appearance of a koala in a tree by the roadway made me yell, “Stop!” John obliged, and I found myself two feet away from a blinking bear. We still haven’t run into any hopping kangaroos, but we dodged several fallen ones by the roadside….:(

Another highlight came at Port Campbell, when we dipped our feet into the Southern Ocean. All in all, when we stopped in the whaling village of Warrnambool for the night, I reflected on how fantastic the day’s journey had been. Because we did not go on a tour bus, we could stop more often and see much more than many people have. What a privilege to see so much of God’s handiwork!