After a much needed rest, we woke up and got ready to start the day. Dave showered first and then it was my turn. This would be the day that we would figure out that I should always shower first because it takes me so much longer to do my hair. I can not wait for Lizzy’s wedding to come so that I can cut my hair afterwards. It is entirely too much work. Anyways, we looked through all of the pictures we had taken yesterday and named them and then I showered. Dave cleaned up the room and got everything organized while I was getting ready and ran into the man who had checked us in last night. He said that he had asked what time we were leaving and Dave had said soon. This was all true; I just had to straighten my hair and then pack and go. About 20 minutes later (we watched some ANZAC celebrations on tv too, which was nice), some pregnant woman knocked on our door and told us we had 1 minute to get out. What?! She was extremely rude to us too, so this made us want to take our time a bit just to piss her off more. But, we were nice and a few minutes later Dave took my suitcase to the car and I went to drop off the key. That same woman was behind the desk. I gave her the key and went to leave and she said I had to pay for the room. I told her we already did and she gave me the most sarcastic/flip ‘ahh, no you didn’t’ that I have ever heard. I really tried to remain calm, knowing that I had the confirmation right in the car that said Deposit Paid: $95. Dave and I passed eachother as I went to get the sheet in the car and he went to find out what the hell was up. I got the sheet, verified that I was correct, and turned back…and heard Dave sounding awfully pissed off and talking quite loudly as I approached the door. He said something like ‘can you believe she is actually getting me to yell at her?’ Well, no I couldn’t, but really this woman was SUCH a bitch that it was nearly impossible not to get upset. She kept going on and on telling us basically how terrible we were, how much we had created so much more work. Her husband (the guy who checked us in) also came over to gang up on us. He was a bit calmer but still had an attitude and told us we should have called for a late checkout (no phone in the room and no cell service) or read the book (there is no book), and also that he had told us 10am the night before, to which I replied ‘No, you said Here is your milk for coffee, goodnight – that’s it’ It was completely unbelievable and I really had to resist the urge to say something to her as we were leaving (and apparently so did Dave). It was SO tempting to just go off on her and I’m sure she would have loved to fight. Good, I hope her unborn child is as terrible as she is.
We stopped in the town center to get some snacks but we really just ended up pacing up and down the aisles talking about the experience. I’m sure in a few days it will make a great story. Since I had not driven the stretch of land from Otway Park to Port Campbell, and we are both OCD enough to have to both drive the entire Great Ocean Road, it was my turn to take the wheel. It wasn’t nearly as scary as last night and the 12 apostles weren’t too far away. We walked along the same path we had the night before and realized even more how isolated we had been last night and how high up we were. The view was absolutely breathtaking and it was so cool to see something so famous. We took lots of pictures of course, and had a funny time trying to find someone to take a proper picture of the two of us. We kept pointing people out, speculating on their picture taking abilities only to find ourselves disappointed with the resulting picture and left waiting until the photographer left so we could seek our someone new. It was exhausting but finally a nice man took all of our pics and did a nice job doing so. We made guesses on how these apostles had formed and a plaque by the entrance confirmed our story (we are awesome scientists). After seeing all there was to see, we continued east to Pricetown for gas (just the minimum of $20) and then on to Apollo Bay where we would switch drivers and get some lunch. Apollo Bay was hosting some type of faire so the main road was blocked off and there were all sorts of tents and things all over the road. After speculating as to the quantity of seafood that would arrive in the specified meals at our chosen restaurant, we opted for fish and chips with gravy. Gravy is so so good and I will miss it terribly. The fish was great too and we were glad that we had only ordered the 1 entree. After grabbing some ices and looking for those salt and pepper crackers that we had yesterday (wow they were good) we were off again. With Dave driving I had the opportunity to watch the ocean as he navigated all of the turns up and down the mountainous terrain. It was really breathtaking and we stopped at a lookout point along the way too.
Coming into Anglesea, we were all set to search high and low for this mystery golf course with kangaroos. Thanks to Lonely Planet, however, such a search was not necessary. The road was clearly marked and just about 5 minutes off of the main road we found it. Driving up we saw kangaroos!! Lots of them with people pushed up against a fence just watching…course they were about 100 meters away. Hm, this was cool, but closer is better. Ignoring the signs, we parked in the lot and proceeded to walk onto the course (‘members only’) and get close to even MORE kangaroos! We were following 4 for a while until we got up the nerve to fully break the rules and head straight onto the green and walk just feet away from the grazing ‘roos. It was SO cool. Some were marked but they were indeed wild kangaroos. So so weird to see all of this, especially with people playing golf right through it all. We took some amazing pictures and hung out there until it starting getting too dark. This was an amazing thing to see and certainly something that not everyone gets to do when they come to Australia. From Anglesea it was my turn to drive again and I hustled quickly towards the city along the remaining miles of the Great Ocean Road and then along the M1. We got a bit lost on the way to the hotel, mostly because our map sucks and you can’t really tell where the exits are off of the expressway, but we stopped to get directions and found out we weren’t too far away. Parking wasn’t an issue and we got a spot right outside the hotel. Checking in was lovely compared to this mornings’ experience, with this hotel worker clearly telling us check-out time. This is our ‘worst’ hotel of the trip, as we had a closet sized room, bunk beds, and shared bathrooms. There really was no room for anything. After settling in, we went to a restaurant about a block away to meet Gabriel, Dave’s friend from last semester. It was a cute little Italian place with really good chicken parm…much needed. Dave had meatballs and Gabriel had carbonara. Gabriel is a really nice kid and LOVES the US. Of course he had been to Boston and we were able to talk about the Pats and the Sox, with him knowing players’ names and numbers! Wow. We seems to have an affinity for CT of all places which is just retarded. I think I conveyed that he must be ill informed. From Italian food, we went over to the ‘Little Italy’ section of the city for dessert in Gabriel’s roommate’s car. The city is pretty nice with some very unique architecture and a really nice Italian section. Like, really nice The entire street was mobbed with people but instead of being annoying if just felt lively and fun. We made our way to Koko Black for some chocolate dessert. I got some sort of ice cream thing that was a bit like a milk shake but not quite. Hard to explain. Dave had ice cream that you pour hot chocolate over and Gabriel had the same thing as I did. It was really good and I enjoyed meeting Gabriel a lot and seeing the city. Back at the hotel, Dave and I checked email and then pretty much went to bed. My eyes have been acting weird on this trip and I’m not sure why…they are just really red and nothing I do will make it go away. Maybe I’m just tired? Who knows.
