Great Ocean Road

It's certainly been a strange few days. I'm tempted to blame it on the rain but I think there's something else going on in my head, although I've yet to figure it out.

I feel as though my attempts at living peacefully have come to a skreeching halt. After my second day of driving through the intense heat in Northern Victoria I began to push. I pushed through the desert, I pushed through the farmlands and pushed my way onto Kangaroo Island. Even once on KI I was never really reaching for peace. Just trying to "see" the island. Just trying to get stuff done; to be "productive". Ugh... this pushing was an awful reaching for the future; a focus on where I was going and how much I should get done instead of the peaceful living-each-moment-as-it-comes.

And after that, mellow life in Adelaide was a shock to my system. I bounced in the opposite direction and made use of each moment to be as lazy as possible. Avoiding productivity at all costs.

No wonder I felt agitated as I was leaving the city. It was like I was just heading out to push, push, push all over again.

The first day back on the bike my butt was sore, my hands ached and I was fighting traffic and the road. It was a relief to meet a friendly couple from Ballarat camped at the 42 Mile campground in the Coorong (gorgeous salty marshes seperated from the ocean by the Young Husband Peninsula, and prime fishing grounds judging by the number of fishermen camped on the beach). I was invited to join this young couple full of energy, adventure and great stories to tell for dinner followed by a glass of port.

Heading back to my lonely tent and waking up to the rain the next morning did nothing to improve the mood of the previous day. After a quick walk to the beach I was off to check off my list of places to see Kingston SE, Robe and Mt. Gambier, all the while not really enjoying the ride that should have been fun despite the rain. Crossed the SA-Vic Border (check) and through Nelson (check) and decided I'd checked off enough for the day.

I thought I'd try camping at Swan Lake in Discovery Bay Coastal Park. The dirt road soon became super corrugated and potholes abounded. I reached a point where, although the scenery was beautiful and I could hear the ocean, it was time to turn around as I could feel my leaking forks probably wouldn't take much more.

DAMN!!! While trying to turn the bike around on the narrow gravel road it tipped... downhill. It took every ounce of effort I could summon to get the bike back upright after 5 long minutes of "on-the-verge-of-freaking-out" and "oh-my-goodness-i'm-stuck-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-with-no -cellphone-reception", not to mention petrol leaking out of my tank and who knows what else could be wrong with the bike.

I stood there shaking for a further 5 minutes before climing back on and slowly working my way back to the highway. Once on the highway I didn't know what to do. I felt homesick for the first time in a long long time. But I couldn't think of anywhere I'd like to be. Just not here, in the rain, on my own. And maybe this whole trip was a bad idea...

I decided to screw this camping/buliding character b/s and checked into a hotel room at a pub in Portland, the next town down the road. Once there I collapsed and lay motionless on the warm, dry, soft bed until I could summon enough energy to enjoy a hot shower, a warm dinner, and a good conversation with a friend who called just at the right time.

This morning I awoke with a new perspective and was able to approach the day more peacefully, taking my time and enjoying the moment. The rain cleared up momentarily as I entered Port Fairy allowing me to observe the surfers as I ate my lunch on the rocky shore. Driving into town my bike sputtered... and stopped... Oh No!!! Only 186 km on the odometer out of the 220 I should be able to get out of a full tank. But then why is the fuel tank creaking on and on and OH YEAH: I had forgotten about the petrol I lost when the bike tipped.
Ok, no problem. Caltex is only a few blocks away. Just then a local came out of his house of offer a hand. After pushing the bike onto his front lawn he drove me to the petrol station and bought me a 5L can of petrol!!!
He said it was in return for the friendly Canadians who helped him out when his son was sick in Quebec. Straight out of Pay it Forward...

So now I'm camped 8km off of the Great Ocean Road at Johanna Beach. It was pretty cool to see the coastline this far. I expected the 12 Apostles to be somewhat of a letdown, having seen all the photos before. But with the sun low in the sky, peaking through the storm clouds, the coastline accentuated with these natural statues was breath-taking indeed! It was a treat to stop taking photographs (yet another push-push-push habit) and just absorb the beauty of the waves, the mist, the rocks and the cliffs!

The Great Ocean Road is definitely not overrated: some great driving this far despite the rain and I'm sure more to come tomorrow.