Friday, October 2, 2015

Friday, Oct 2nd, Geelong

Greetings!

Today, I think Pat really began to understand the beauty of surfing.  We stopped by several spots along the Great Ocean Highway, including world-famous Bell's Beach, and I heard her comment "Good ride!" as she watched through her binoculars as surfers tried to get the most out of a six-foot swell rolling into town on a beautiful day.   I've appreciated how much she cares about what surfing means to me, but today I think it started meaning something to her too.

Arriving early in Geelong, our last stop before we fly to Tasmania on Sunday, we drove to their Botanical Gardens while our hotel room was being cleaned.  One of the first trees we saw were their Dawn and Giant Redwoods.
Planted in 1873, the Giant Sequoia came from central California.  The Dawn is endemic, and Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve actually got ours from here.

I have probably over-used the word "great" in these posts, but it is never more appropriate than when used to describe the coastal highway we just completed.  Constructed by returning WWI vets in a major public works project, it was dedicated by them to their fallen comrades, and is called the largest military memorial in the world.  It's compares with California's Highway 1 along the coast near Big Sur.  Except it's got major surf spots that are accessible.  The county is even called Surf Coast Shire.  And koalas sit in the trees just above the road.  It's awesome.

Here is a link to the photos we took today.
Friday, Oct 2nd, Geelong.

1 comment:

MikeVdP said...

Very interesting to see the redwoods. Of course, the Dawn had to come from China to get there and then go to California at Armstrong Woods.