I have an on-going personal challenge to incorporate more musical theater references in my post titles. Score one for me!

This reminds me of a funny line from the TV show Happy Endings (a show I admittedly do not watch but would like to) — “I was in an all-white production of The Wiz. No one really eased on down the road, it was more like a stiff, uncoordinated lumbering.”

I hope that made you laugh.

Back to travel… I am THRILLED to finally share images of my trip down the Great Ocean Road, a journey from Melbourne to Adelaide that is sort of like driving down BIg Sur in California. Groovy Grape is hosting my trip for the next three days and I’m excited to travel with them because of their small group sizes and passionate guides. This trip does not disappoint.

I’ll introduce you to our cast of characters since they’ll appear throughout my posts this week — our guide for the trip is Leith (“like Keith but with an L,” he tells us) and there are only seven of us passengers on tour — Matthias from Germany (age 21), Ayumi from Japan (she turns 30 during the trip!), John & Thomas from Belgium (around 20), and Anna & Michelle from Switzerland (early 20s). This puts our group in context — multi-cultural, all aged between 20-30, and ready for an adventure.

From L to R: Thomas, Anna, Matthias, Ayumi, Michelle, John

We begin our trip with a stop at Bells Beach, a popular spot for surfers.

The climax of the Kathryn Bigelow-directed movie Point Break (starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze) takes place on this very beach, even though it was actually shot on coastal Oregon. Here’s a description of that scene from Wikipedia… spoiler alert in case you don’t want to know how it ends:

Nine months later, a long-haired Johnny (Keanu), still surfing, tracks down Bodhi (Swayze) at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, where a record storm is producing lethal waves. This is an event Bodhi had talked about experiencing, calling it the “50 Year Storm”. After a brutal fight in the surf, Johnny manages to handcuff himself and Bodhi together. Bodhi begs Johnny to release him so he can ride the once-in-a-lifetime wave. Knowing he will not come back alive, Johnny releases him, bids him farewell, and watches, with the authorities, as Bodhi goes to his death. Johnny walks away, throwing his FBI badge into the ocean. (via)

Bells Beach is home to the annual Rip Curl Pro Surf & Music festival. There just happens to be a competition going on while we walk the beach.

Split Point Lighthouse is our next stop.

The photo below is from Matthias’s camera — he is very good at organizing group shots and he generously shared it with me. As the person usually behind the camera, I appreciate being in photos!

Can you make out the shape of this bench?

It’s a whale — and the perfect place to sit while keeping an eye out for these very creatures breaching the ocean’s surface.

Behold this epic view from the whale bench:

Hi there!

See why this area is so often compared to Big Sur?

This is the official beginning of Great Ocean Road, which runs approximately 150 miles between Torquay and Warrnambool. We take obligatory photos in front of the sign.

There is a plaque to the left (not pictured) explaining that the Great Ocean Road was built by returned soldiers in the 1920s and it’s dedicated to the casualties of World War I. (via)

We stop for lunch in the pretty seaside town of Lorne. I take the opportunity to snap some beauty shots of our Groovy Grape van.

Here’s another shot from Matthias’s camera. I’m joking around with tour guide Leith on the right. Yay for photos of the photographer!

Each day for lunch we chop up a salad and prepare wraps with deli meats and various sauces. It’s simple, tasty, and healthy. Plus this sort of picnic lunch helps to keep tour prices down. A win for everyone.

Here’s a cluster of Australian Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.

Another look-out along the Great Ocean Road:

I get a kick out of these “drive on the left in Australia” reminder signs.

We stop briefly at Great Otway National Park to trek through the woods and pose with giant trees.

This is a giant Mountain Ash tree, also known as Eucalyptus regnans.

Warrnambool is just a funny name for a town.

And we’ve arrived at our much-anticipated destination just in time for sunset…

Tomorrow I’ll share my CRAZY impressive photos of the sunset over Twelve Apostles. These upcoming shots are less due to my photography skills and more due to the fact that nature decided to put on a show for us that night. Stay tuned.

This post is sponsored by Groovy Grape Getaways, who cater to the adventurous backpacker looking for a fun and informative trip. These photos were taken on the Great Ocean Road & Grampians tour. Opinions, as always, are my own.