Mike's "Promise to Travel" blog: Monday, February 11: my 41st birthday, on Australia's "Great Ocean Road"

Introduction:

In my mid-twenties, I promised myself that I would visit all 7 continents by age 40. I kinda thought that would happen naturally, without any special effort on my part. Alas, I now find myself precisely age 40, and I've only been to 5 continents!

So at the end of 2007, I booked a flight to Argentina, the most common jumping-off point for voyages to Antarctica. I've scheduled about a month to find a stand-by berth on an expedition ship. I depart Argentina on February 7, 2008, for Melbourne, Australia. If all goes as planned, I will celebrate my 7th continent on February 10. And if I'm not too hung over, I will celebrate my 41st birthday on February 11. In Spanish, they call this timing "justito." I'd call it "cutting things close." Welcome along for the ride!

A note regarding photos: if you have trouble viewing the slide shows, try this alternate link: http://picasaweb.google.com/travelinsider .

Monday

Monday, February 11: my 41st birthday, on Australia's "Great Ocean Road"

Here's a map of Oz, showing most of the cities I plan to visit: Melbourne, Brisbane, Byron Bay, and then Sydney. Today, I head southwest of Melbourne by road, to check out one of Australia's great drives: the Great Ocean Road.

This stretch of coastal highway was built in the 1930s, as a memorial to Australia's fallen soldiers from WW1.

This bit of coast is also home to some great surf breaks. The Rip Curl Pro, the world's oldest surfing contest, takes place at Bell's beach, one of Australia's classic surf spots.

The Great Ocean Road is a long drive, so sadly we had to turn back before reaching the famous rock formations known as the 12 Apostles. But thanks to Tourism Australia, here's a photo, so you can see what I missed:

One day I will come back and stay at the Pole House, do a little surfing, and get out to see the Apostles, if any remain. (At this blog's "press time" in 2008, there seem to be only seven left.)

A few more photos from the Great Ocean Road:

Evening Report: Monsoons hit eastern Australia:

Optimism is usually a good thing. This time, there is more nuance. My optimism led me to book a cabin for a few days of sailing in the Whitsundays Islands. Bad plan in monsoon season! As you can see from these photos, at least one passenger yacht washed onto the rocks and was destroyed.

I'll need to save the Great Barrier reef and the Whitsundays for another trip. On the positive side, that leaves more time for surfing. I'm now looking into doing a week-long surf camp somewhere near Byron Bay.