Part II: The Great Ocean Road…I don’t think anything could be greater

On Sunday morning my friends and I got picked up from our hostel at 7:30 am by the ‘Go West’ tour bus. There were about 20 of us on the day-trip, and all of us absolutely loved it. All I can say is…stunning. I really can’t put into words how beautiful the drive on Great Ocean Road is, which in total is about 3 hours from Melbourne and goes all along the coast. We stopped at Bells Beach on our way, had tea and bikkies (biscuits), and then kept driving to the start of The Great Ocean Road. The hills and the valleys were SO green, cattle grazed in the open fields, and small towns overlooked the Pacific Ocean. It’s weird to think that it’s still the Pacific Ocean way down here in Australia…but very cool to think that even though I’m so far, we still have that in common!

We stopped in Apollo Bay, one of the cute towns, for lunch and then made our way to Otway National Park, where we did a short hike through a rainforest. We also stopped to see koalas just hanging out in eucalyptus trees too. Very cool.

Now for the best part: the 12 Apostles. The 12 Apostles are a group of twelve rock formations that sit in the water just off of the coast. I smile every time I think about them, which may sound weird, but it is literally the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen in my life (even though the Grand Canyon is up there too…). Oh, it’s amazing! If you are ever going to Melbourne, you MUST do a tour of the Great Ocean Road just to see this. It was really windy and cold, but the wind made the waves breach more, making the Apostles look even prettier. To think that God created this makes me even more anxious to see heaven someday—how beautiful and magnificent He is. I don’t understand how people can see scenery like this and not believe in God. It blows my mind.

To end a great trip, Ashley, Jana, and I spontaneously decided that we wanted to ride in a helicopter over the 12 Apostles. It was optional in our tour, and we thought that since we loved it so much, how cool would it be to see the entire coast from up above? Plus, none of us had ever been in a helicopter, so that made it that much more perfect. It was spectacular. I was so excited because we got to wear the microphone headsets, and I sat in the front next to the pilot. It reminded me of ‘The Bachelorette’ when Deanna took my favorite bachelor Jason up in the helicopter  haha. The views were incredible, so you will have to check out my pictures to get a small glimpse of what it was like. All in all, it was a wonderful trip that I would recommend to anyone.

Now onto another huge highlight of my spring break…The Outback!!