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The real highlight of my trip to Australia was the road trip down the Great Ocean Road. Stretching more than 400 kilometres, it passes through numerous beaches, quaint towns & landmark scenery from Geelong to Nelson – kicking off near Melbourne. We rented a car and drove through most of it leading to the Grampians National Park and then back to Melbourne.

Highlights of the trip

1. The typical Mumbai city road signs… No Entry, One Way, No Stopping… the typical Australian country road signs… Drive on left in Australia (for those who have never lived in a former British colony!), Kangaroos next 50 kms, Koalas next 10 kms, Ducks Crossing.
2. At night there are so many stars, and the expanse of sky means that you can actually see the milky way!
3. Driving 50-80 kms in a national park in pitch dark in an area full of roos is not a good idea! we were driving upto the Grampians National Park at about 9 pm as we had booked a YHA there for the night, and we spent it on tenterhooks watching out for the kangaroos cos we definitely didn’t want to run over one. and we spotted 7! one of them was bounding across the road when the headlights lit up that section. thankfully we were still some distance away! and there was no other vehicle on the road the entire time.
3. My friend, T forgot her undies so her husband J created a special song while we were roo spotting – roo, roo, where is your chaddooo! – so while we were all watching out for the roos, he was also singing this song in hip hop style.
4. Nothing can prepare you for the expanse of the ocean and its sea green colour… and being on a deserted beach with perfect sand and translucent water is as close to heaven as it sounds like!
5. A road trip has a way of making you one with the road, where the road is the destination. It has a way of cutting out all surround noise, worries, frills… of getting right down to the basics.
6. When travelling with 3 other people, its very important not only that you like them, but that you can also tolerate all idiosyncrasies! do those have a way of surprising you! whatever you think you know about your friends, if you haven’t been in close proximity with them (meaning spending hours and days together in a car), be prepared. very prepared!
7. A road trip makes it all memorable…. flying from point A to point B doesn’t quite have the same effect. And with a coastline like that, driving is the ONLY choice.