Day 8: 13th October 2006, Friday

ROADTRIP - DAY 4

Sunny with cold winds.

Was up at 6.45am. Gasp!!! Yeah. That early and the time back home was 4.45am. Well, I was quite "zombie-fied" at such an hour. Had a cold breakfast of crumpets, toast and tea due to my lateness. By the time it was eight in the morning, we were already hitting the road for The 12 Apostles.

Stop 1 - Loch Ard Gorge.

We got there at about 9.20am. Spent half hour there taking photos, learning some geography and history at the same time.

Loch Ard Gorge. Makes me wonder how the coast of Australia really looked like thousands of years ago.

The power of the waves... Erosion.

Stop 2 - Port Campbell.

After Loch Ard Gorge, we headed further east to Port Campbell for our morning tea.

Stop 3 - The 12 Apostles.

We had to return the same way we came as Aunt Kathy missed the sign for The 12 Apostles. She said that after so many years, she could not regconised the place. Well, it was evident the local state government quite recently pumped mone to spruce up Victoria's famous tourist attraction, with the likes of a proper graveled car and coach parking area, an underground pass to cross to the coast from the vehicle parking lot, and a visitors' centre-like place housing toilets. Anyway, we spent more time there taking photos and getting ourselves frozen by both the chilly coastal winds and approaching mists.

The sign says it all.

No longer 12... Just about 8 or 9 left standing.

Stacks and stumps. Where are the arches? Gone with the wind, and sea.

Stop 4 - Geelong.

We had tunch down at a beach in Geelong. Stayed for a short while, just to stretch our legs. By the way, after the coastal winds, I was asleep for most of the way enroute to Geelong. Yoohoo!!! Mr Humphryes!!! Where are you??? LOL. :)

Stop 5 - Hoppers Crossing

From Geelong, we went on to Werribee which is another town that is located very near to Melbourne City. We were there looking for a plae to stay till sunday morning but ended up visiting another of Mum's friends, Mrs. P's son, who happens to be a Catholic priest. Fr. Jude,of St. James the Apostle at Hoppers Crossing, was a very friendly man, the male version of his sister, Lou. Looked like it really did run in the family. Anyway, we had a nice time sitting there around the main dining table, having tea and cakes. Mum, Aunt Kathy and Fr. Jude were trading stories, while Godma and I were successfully picking the pieces of their very interesting tales in order to understand what happened. He then drove us to visit a group of youths, the New Evangelical Team (NET), who were in the area helping his parish. After a short while talking to these youths who had already decided on dedicating their youth to God in this form of evangelising, he drove us around looking for a motel or some place where we could stay. When we finally found one, there was not a vacancy left! Fr. Jude then realised that he could actually let us stay with him at the parish rectory since he was the only one there! Viola! Done. So, all 4 of us were staying in a parish rectory which was one of the things I had done for the first time. Amazing. Anyway, Fr. Jude had to meet the same group of NET youths for dinner, thus, leaving us alone. We then drove out to the supermarket to get some food before having dinner at Fasta Pasta, a slightly pricy version of our Pasta Mania.

Yawn...