The pictures speak volumes to the beauty this part of the world holds. So, I'll share some of the information Tom shared with us about the history of the area and the places we visited.
In the 1850s, there was a gold rush to Victoria, to Geelong (Aboriginal for Bird flying over white cliffs). People were flocking to Geelong from all over the world. Melbourne got jealous of everyone going to Geelong, so a sneaky cartographer made a map of Victoria, showing Melbourne closer to the gold fields in Ballarat. That changed history and sealed Melbourne's future as a growing city, later to be the capital of Victoria.
Proceeding on our tour, we stopped in Torquay, the Gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is where the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach surfing competition is held each year. This year Mick Fanning won it, but Kelly Slater had an amazing ride and this is a clip of it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3G3Id3ucuE&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It is also the home of RipCurl. 2 guys in high school made themselves wetsuits for surfing, that fit well and weren't too heavy or awkward. Friends started asking for them and then strangers started asking... so began Rip Curl.
Now onto the road itself...
The Great Ocean Road took 13 years to build and was meant to give the soldiers work after the war because they were in a depression. 3000 soldiers were paid $1.05 per day and worked with a pick axe and a shovel. They were very in debt when the road was finished so set up a toll bridge to help with costs. The road is 250km long.
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