M and M's Great Ocean Road and More Trip - Finally

Miss Meaghan Bell took the time out of her busy schedule as a Vet student at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia to join me on a road trip in July and kidnapped the trip journal. This is how it all went down in her words and I am glad to have had such an awesome young lady join me on the trip.

Read on and enjoy..........

M and M’s Great Ocean Road and More Road Trip!

How fun is it that I get to write the entry for someone else’s blog.

*Prior to the Road Trip - we hit up the Adelaide vs. Gold Coast Ice Hockey game on Canada appreciation day thanks to Miss Amy Danko. They were even selling poutine at the concession stand...*

Day 1 – ROAD TRIP BEGINS! Our road trip got off to a great start when our coupon donated by Amy Danko out of the Entertainment book saved us $100 on our rental car! Which we gladly used to purchase an interesting array of road trip snacks (no soft licorice for Mike though). Despite my awesome driving skills on the other side of the road, it took Mike and I about 20 minutes to navigate our way out of Adelaide (don’t worry we did better for the rest of the trip). But our red Honda Getz drove like a gem! Okay onto the highlights, in chronological order….

- We stopped for a dead wombat (which I initially thought was a decapitated cow…gross…which warranted the turn around, then Mike being a true Aussie running barefoot to take a pic).

- We drove along, waiting for the ocean to come and it never did.
- Two minutes after telling mike that we MUST stop at anything big, there is Larry the Lobster!
- Mike drives on the left hand side of the road. Brutal.
- Detour! To a wind farm! Need I explain how cool this was?!?!?

- Made a last minute change to the road trip plan which landed us in Hamilton for the night!
- Hamilton had nothing to offer. No hostels even! We ended up at a Quality Inn which Mike and I felt was the meeting place for men and their mistresses. Stole two spoons.
- In an intimate conversation from our separate double beds in our classy hotel room, Meaghan admits she likes men with a FU MAN CHU (I must have been sleep-talking) and has never had a peanut butter and banana sandwich, in which Mike eagerly offers to make me one on the trip adding “mine will be her first.” Thanks for the offer Mike.

Day 2
- Meaghan up at 4a.m. for a pee break.
- Mike up at 4a.m. for no reason.
- Meaghan woken up by loud TV next door, Mike shaving *tempted to go for the Handlebars* and using the “good side” of the shower (given it was the men and their mistresses’ hotel, there was a shower with double shower heads)
- Mike floods the bathroom by using the good side of the shower.
- Fuel up at the trusted BP (only one place to get gas on the whole trip...)
- Drive to Halls Gap and Grampians National Park!
- Meaghan freaks out because she almost hits three emus on the drive. Mike thinks I was running them down so I could show off my (totally non-existent) vet skills in emu emergency medicine.
- At the info centre Mike insists to the lady that we are both Canadian (had to be there)
- Made some geriatric friends who want to go to Canada. Mike talks hockey with them.
- We ignored the “do not cross the barriers” signs for good photos. - Meaghan gets annoyed at being Mike’s model and makes dumb poses in hopes he will give it a rest. Nope. Now Mike just has a heap of embarrassing photos of her. *(Dude, I'm in Australia - awesome - and luckily I'm with an intelligent, beautiful young lady - you don't really have a choice but to be the model.)*
- Mackenzie falls so not worth the stop. We agree that Niagara Falls has ruined our enthusiasm for future waterfall sightings.
- Mike would rather play DJ with his tunes then drive while listening to Meaghan’s “feminist music”. Meaghan would rather drive cause she fears Mike driving than listen to her “feminist music”.
- Hit up Warnambool for a whale viewing. Meaghan screams louder than the four year old beside her when she spots one. *Right up close - sweet view*
- Meaghan likes dogs. She asked Aboo a golden retriever how her day is going and if she realizes how sweet she is. Mike expressed he does not like when people ask their dogs questions.
- *Correction - Mike does not like when people ask their dogs questions and then answer for the dog… i.e. ‘You’re a good dog aren’t you? Yes you are, yes you are…” - The same when they do that to their kids...not cool.*
- Decide to touch down at the ocean to officially start the Great Ocean road drive.
- Mike attempts to drive with frozen toes from touching down in ocean (as if he wasn’t bad enough at driving! Cripes!) Then he insists on driving and eating (which I say is against the law in Oz but apparently Mike wants to add “getting arrested” to the trip highlights.

- Meaghan embarrasses herself (no surprise) to guy at hostel front desk and he expresses his sympathy to Mike for having to put up with me. (WHAT?!?!?).
- Meaghan eats a kick-ass veggie meal while Mike reads Cosmo (no wonder he is so good with the ladies..????)

Day 3
- Twelve Apostles for sunrise! Saw them. Loved them. No sun on them.
- Backtracked to cover what we missed: the Grotto where we almost died when this massive wave came crashing into the grotto. Meaghan escaped. Mike got wet. Sucker.
- London Bridge. Check.
- Drove to Otway National Park. Hit up the lighthouse, but opted no lighthouse was not worth the $15 entrance fee. Plus it was torrential rainfall. But being the optimists we are, we decided it was appropriate to drive through the rainforest while it rained! Determined to see Koalas in the wild (the whole reason we came)…we drove 0.2 km into the forest at 5 km/hour and there they were! Koalas in the wild. Check. - Stopped in Apollo Bay to find Meaghan a doctor for her infected potentially necrosing finger.
- After lunch (Mike gets his goat cheese and a debate over what to do given the weather, we keep on trucking to make a pit stop 1 km out of town to check out a beach/rocks/waves where Meaghan is no longer the model type but the guinea pig model-type and gets soaked in the process (ok I admit it was my idea hoping for a good shot). Meaghan is proud she picked up giant seaweed!
- Awesome views. Scary windy road.
- Stop at serene Roo-feeding grounds. Joeys and all!
- Stopped in Lorne (aka the rich people’s ocean front destination).
- Mike and I rent a two story cottage for cheap cheap! Cottage ruled. Free laundry was awesome. Beds sucked!
- At dinner in town, Neighbors is playing on the big-screen with no sound (!) but server confirmed girl is not dead just presumed to be dead. (WORD IS THAT THE GIRL ACTUALLY WAS DEAD - but it is a soap - so she will come back one day soon.)
- Forgot to get photos of chubby lady statues (Mike felt they were not his type).

Day 4
- Bells beach! Home of big surf competition. Smaller than imagined. Coarse sand.
- In Torquay, Mike hits up all the surf shops but finds no surf deals.
- Meaghan gets a doctors’ appointment for her finger! Prognosis is good. Drugs will help.
- Geelong – wandered around the waterfront with all the wooden painted people statues.
- Ate crepes for lunch. Mike and I were ecstatic!
- Rolled on to Melbourne!
- Meaghan throws a tantrum because we are lost in the city *Definately my fault*. Mike redeems himself by finding us a hostel. Which we ditch for another one.
- Hop on the free city tourist tram to check out the night sights around Melbourne.
- Pizza slices for $1.50! Krispy Cream donuts!

Day 5
- Mike leaves for Melbourne Airport with the rental car. Flys to Adelaide.
- Meaghan spends the day in Melbourne alone taking all the good pics Mike misses out on.
- No peanut butter sandwich for Meaghan Bell.

There are some amazing photos from Meaghan and myself that go with the trip and they will be shared eventually, perhaps somewhere soon. For now, stay out of trouble, have fun and remember that the best is yet to come.

MPH and MB