The Great Ocean Road

When we first travelled on the Great Ocean Road, much of it was unsealed, and it was known as one of the Great Scenic Drives in the country, if not the world.

We had an old Peugeot in those days, and if there was one thing that Pug loved it was being flogged on windy dirt roads, and even if it didn't love it really, it certainly got used to it. It was 1975 I think, when we took off from Brisbane on a relaxing four week driving/camping tour of South Australia, Victoria and back through Canberra, a distance of around 7,000 kilometres.

We made it home in ten days.

We visited again only a few years ago (and have a few times since), and noted in its new paved and somewhat straightened form it is now billed as one of the Great Scenic Drives. Displaying a maturity that that matched that of the road, we decided to take our time along its route.

This time we'd stop and smell the roses, or any other introduced species of flora which we happened upon in our travels.

We'd visit every lookout.

We'd walk along every beach.

We'd walk hand in hand along the clifftops and watch the sun setting over the water, which in retrospect, given that the clifftops all face south, was probably a wee bit ambitious.

Undeterred, and armed with those simple objectives we left Cape Bridgewater one fine sunny if not a little cool and windy day, heading east, and not long after pulled into the first observation spot along the cliff top.

We climbed down and walked along the beach.

Then we stopped at the second spot and walked as far as the top of the stair to the beach.

By the time we arrived at the third, we stayed in the car and briefly admired the view. Then we looked at each other, and laughed out loud.

We were getting old.

Once there would have been opposite lock, a handbrake turn in the gravel carpark and a quick glance over our shoulders at the view as we bounced off, continuing our journey barely losing any speed, let alone momentum.

In my new mature state, I'd even turned off the engine!