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In any case, we stopped to walk around a bit in Port Campbell. We were throwing a football, and it lightly bounced on this crazy Asian guys car door. He came out and kept saying, "What's this, what's this!?" But nothing was there, and we kept giggling. He left and we hopped on the Great Ocean Road. First we stopped at Loch Ard Gorge, which had some stunning examples of cliffs and erosion. There was even a cave hollowed out referred to as the Blowhole.
After some photos there, we hopped on the road to the Twelve Apostles. The ladies' bathroom there had a strange toilet without a seat. It was bizarre. Once again, the stone cliffs were gorgeous, and many photos were taken. The next part of the journey was a bit long. We went through trees and hills since that was the part of the Great Ocean Road that doesn't follow the ocean. Seriously, we were flying down a two-lane street with hills and winding turns. I'm not exaggerating about the winding roads and hills; there was motion sickness felt by one of the passengers (I won't name who). We stopped for lunch on the Gellibrand River, and had fun hanging out in the sun and having some sandwiches. I love how Polish people butter their sandwich rolls. Really, it was just fun being Polish again, and we exchanged words/phrases, jokes, and funny stories the whole ride long. As we drove through the hills of eucalyptus and gum trees, John and Jola both told me to keep my eyes out for koalas, but they're rare to spot. They usually sleep during the day and avoid the road area except at night when they're active. Also, they said that koalas were threatened, and you just never encounter them except in the zoo. They also laughed that I hadn't seen wild kangaroos, which are like deer around here. They git hit by cars and are considered pests.
At one point, we got to the ocean again, and it was gorgeous. From that point on, we followed the cliffs and overlooked the crashing waves and the ocasional beach. We made a stop in Apollo Bay on the beach to skip stones and look at the fairy-tale blue waters. Beata found a cuttlebone from a cuttlefish, which was cool. We hopped in the car, the whole time John bragging about how dramatic the coast was and their annual camping trip to the Wye River, but after five minutes, we noticed a police officer in the middle of the road. He informed us that there had been a fatality on the road, and diverted us. We asked if we could take a back road to the Wye River, and the officer said yes. Instead, we took a back road to the Kenett River, which is just before Wye River, so that we could see more of the gorgeous coast. Now when I say backroad, I mean back road. As in the "oh crap-the-cement-just-turned-into-gravel-just-turned-into-dirt-and-we're-in-a-minivan" kind of back road. It was an EPIC adventure through the tree-laden hills of Victoria, as we we're basically off-roading it in a car that clearly does not have four wheel drive. It was a riot, and the whole car had fun singing, laughing, and being Polish. Finally, we made it to the main road again, and we were moving up the road just about to Wye River when we saw another police officer. We stopped, and not to far away in the distance we saw a body laying on the road and a car. The officer said there had been a fatal collision of a motorcyclist and a car. It was really sad and disappointing (especially for John who really wanted me to experience Australia), and we had to turn around again. The officer did say that they were waiting for the coroner to come in from Melbourne before cleaning the scene. I later looked online to find the report: http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2011/02/06/241031_news.html
We stopped five minutes later at Kenett River beach, so that I could see and experience tidepools for the first time since our original plan to visit the tidepools at Wye River fell through. It was so cool! There were shells everywhere to collect (but you had to make sure there weren't critters inside), and pools galore since high tide was receding. We could walk all over the coastal rocks and peek into pools. I would see moving sea snail shells, guppies, kelp, mollusks, limpets, and anemones. I would touch the anemones and they would retreat like a flower closing; they were a beautiful red. After some photos and exploration, we headed back to Apollo Bay for dinner still a bit glum and disappointed that we couldn't travel through and sad about the unfortunate accident. As we were taking the short ride back, Beata screamed that she had seen something on the side of the road. She said it was a koala, but no one believed her. We jumped out of the car, and the craziest thing happened. There was a koala two feet away from us crawling on the ground! Suddenly, the glum mood changed dramatically to laughing and joy since there was a koala right there. It started to run away, and Jola didn't see it. She comes over and says, "There it is" and points, but really, it was a second koala in the treetop that was wide awake and wriggling about!! Two koalas within two minutes; everyone was ecstatic, smiling, and freaking out since this NEVER happens. Then the first koala popped up again, and so we had two wild, awake, active koalas in front of our eyes. I made a video because it was so incredible. Everyone was saying how rare and ridiculous it was.
Finally, went back to Apollo Bay and saw the road was still blocked off. We went to dinner in town, and I had fish and chips, which I haven't eaten here yet. We decided to see if the road was open, and finally, after our three hour adventure, it was and we could make our way home in peace. The road was beautiful, and we followed the ocean without anymore stops except for petrol. Oh, and a stop for some kangers! I found a whole herd of kangaroos (at least eight), so I had seen Australia's most common and least common national symbols in one day. And they were huge kangaroos (four to five footers).
On the way home, Peter, Beata, Jola, and I had fun conversations. Upon getting home at 10:30, everyone was exhausted and saying how much fun they had on the weekend. Beata said she hasn't had such a fun weekend in a long time, Max said this was the most fun he's ever had on the Great Ocean Road, Peter was excited to have had such a fun weekend and we sat together on the way back (he is so the youngest child and I absolutely adore him), and John and Jola said it was nice to be a tourist in their own country since it had been so long. All in all, it was a great weekend, and it's great to be part of the family. John even called me Terri once accidentally: "You look, talk, and act exactly like your mother". It's a compliment since I love my Mum and try to be as wonderful, strong, outgoing, unabashed, and hilariously irreverent as she is. The Starkowskis have been so generous and I feel so welcome. I truly feel like part of the family, and really, I feel like the Starkowski kids are my siblings. They are absolutely amazing, and I feel so blessed to have spent time with them since they are each so unique, talented, funny, and outgoing. They tease me and I tease them right back. My compliments to Jola and John since they have created such a loving family with so much character. The family dynamic (and volume level) reminds me so much of my own family and I can't wait to see my family again.
Tomorrow, who knows what will happen on my last day, but the kids begged to not go to school to have another fun day together, but it's school time. We'll all have fun together after they come home from school. I have some homework to take care of, so it's no worries.
Except I am worried since tomorrow I have vegemite toast.
Love and miss you all.
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