Great Ocean Road, Australia

The Great Ocean Road, a windy, scenic, coastal road near Melbourne, is similar to California’s coastal Highway 1. Actually, with its numerous rock formations, curvaceous coast and blue-green water, I think the Great Ocean Road is more stunning than its California counterpart.

Four other CouchSurfers and I rented an SUV to explore the Great Ocean Road in two days. We started in Torquay (nearest to Melbourne) and drove all the way to Port Campbell before heading back. My favorite view of the Great Ocean Road meandering along the coast was at Teddy’s Lookout.

We camped at Cape Otway, the southernmost point of the area. Near our campsite were coastal trails that led to scenic, rocky beaches. Also, there were several koalas in the trees in Cape Otway, resting and eating, as usual. We also saw two koalas near the road at night while driving back.

Parts of the Great Ocean Road are a bit inland, giving us the opportunity to observe lush hills and valleys and cattle. Some areas reminded me of the European countryside.

The most stunning part of the Great Ocean Road had to be The Twelve Apostles and the area nearby. The Twelve Apostles are six (used to be twelve) rock formations in the ocean. Together with the adjacent undulating coast, it makes for great photographs and priceless memories. We were luckily able to witness the sunset and the changing colors of the clouds at The Twelve Apostles. Visiting nature’s gifts, like those along the Great Ocean Road, reminds me of how beautiful the world is and how we need to safeguard these natural treasures for future generations.

Australian Open 2010

They say that there can be four seasons in a day in Melbourne and this was clearly exhibited during the Australian Open (tennis tournament). On several days, there was a persistent overcast and chill, reminding me of wintry weather (I thought heading to the Southern hemisphere would save me from winter). However, many people, including me, got sun-burnt on those days. At least it wasn’t scorching hot during the tournament, though!

The reason I chose to come to Melbourne in mid-January, in the middle of the Australian summer, was to watch the Australian Open, one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments (the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open). Ever since I was a child, it had been my dream to attend a Grand Slam tournament. I was going to watch the French Open in Paris last May but did not get a chance as all the tickets were sold out by the time I got to the venue. Thus, I bought my five-day grounds pass for the Aussie Open months ahead of the competition.

I watched tennis for five straight days (the second to sixth days as it was raining on the first day), spending about 7-12 hours a day at Melbourne Park, the venue. With my grounds pass, I could roam around more than a dozen courts, giving me complete flexibility. In actuality, though, one can only enter the courts during players’ rest time and many of the seats in the three outside stadiums fill up early in the day. I watched first to third round matches. I was lucky in that I watched all the matches that I wanted to. My favorite player to watch is the French male player Gael Monfils, slipping and sliding on the court as if it were clay! I also got to watch Venus and Serena Williams play doubles.

One thing about watching live tennis--it is much more interesting than watching TV tennis! The time seems to go by much faster during live matches as one can catch up on scores from the other courts or simply observe the audience during players’ breaks. The atmosphere in the courts in outstanding! Some countries have cheering squads that resemble fans at football matches (e.g., Sweden, Croatia, Serbia and Chile--I’ll never forget those fans!). Other fans waved flags, wore their nation’s colors, painted their favorite players’ names on themselves or simply yelled!

Outside of tennis, there were vendor stalls and food booths in the area. I especially enjoyed the big screens that broadcasted live matches from the two main courts, along with score updates. Overall, the Aussie Open had great atmosphere and I want to come back in the future.

Melbourne, Australia

Melbourne, Australia’s “second city” has a European vibe to it. The city is composed of charming neighborhoods filled with Victorian architecture, curbside cafes and shady parks. Because of all this, I adore Melbourne more than Sydney, which I found rather bland and modern.

Melbourne’s heart is Federation Square, with its modern museums and giant TV screen. I like the atmosphere of this central location; in fact, I watched some Australian Open tennis on the giant screen.

My highlight in the city had to be celebrating Australia Day. The government did a great job of planning a day of free events for the public. This began with a People’s Parade down Swanston Street. The festivities also included an acrobatics show by the Australian Air Force, a guitar concert, birthday cake cutting and vintage car exhibition. The grand finale was a spectacular fireworks show over Federation Square and the Yarra River. Happy birthday, Australia!