A less hipster laneway
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So we left Melbourne behind, in favour of a great, albeit short, road trip. We rented a car for 3 days and set off for the Great Ocean road.
Our first stop was Geelong, or as we assume the locals call it, Geels, pronounced “Jeels”. Everything is given a cute name here. Toasted Sandwiches are called “Toasties”, Kangaroos are called “Roos”, McDonalds is called “Maccas”, the list goes on. Geels was filled with why can only be described as Peg People. It also has a large brewery that used to be a clothing factory (we guessed). Oh, and a barber that operates out of a truck (you may have seen Miranda post about it on Instagram!)
From there we drove down the coast through tiny town, overlooking beautiful cliffs and the rough ocean. Until KOALA bears. Well, Kennett River. I’d read that they can be spotted in the trees near the river. We got out of the car, and walked 50 metres. Boom, Koalas. They are super cute (as you likely know) but call out like a whining child (a surprise to most of us – in Melbourne our friend, who I won’t name to save from embarrassment, did a shockingly accurate impression!) In case you’re curious, Miranda has also really developed an accurate Koala call as well – ask her nicely, of give her some Gin and you might be in for a surprise! Note, I didn’t spare her any imbarrassment, cause I love her and she’s awesome!
Our first night ended in Apollo Bay, in a shack, off an alley, down a laneway, but not the kind you find in Melbourne. As we pulled up one of the neighbours wished us luck, saying that her dogs bark all night, we had to maneuver our bags around the rusted car that hadn’t moved in a Koalas-age, and navigate the overgrown ferns to our shack.
More on the Great Ocean Road next time.
