For
the next couple of weeks we're going to be driving the Great Ocean Road,
which was built by unemployed ex-servicemen after the First World War.
Today we explored the stretch from Anglesea to Lorne – about 20 miles
– which wound along a coastline dotted with beach houses. Some of the
houses are older wooden slatted bungalows, while others are modern glass
and concrete affairs, built on big pillars and with huge windows facing
the sea. One even looked a bit like a concrete birdhouse, perched on
a 30 metre high solid concrete pillar. Around every headland is another
bay, with a long sandy beach, and normally occupied by surfers waiting
for 'the wave'. Although at the moment there's no waves of any size
– so they just seem to sit there all day on their boards, looking hopefully
out to sea for the 'next big wave'.
Not
all of the sights are on the coast though – in the evening we visited
Anglesea Golf Course – to see the hundreds of kangaroos which invade
the fairways at dusk. Kangaroos eat grass, and there's a plentiful supply
of freshly watered grass right along the golf course! We'd been told
that there were quite a few there, but hadn’t expected the hundreds
that were there – probably over 500 on three fairways alone. I guess
the members must avoid the early and late tee times, and leave those
for visitors! We got talking to a local golfer, and they had got used
to playing with kangaroos around the course. Apparently they have very
thick fur, so if a ball hits them anywhere on the body, it just bounces
off and the kangaroo ignores it. However, if you hit them on the head,
they just keel over like bowling pins, and lie there on the ground stunned.
There must also be some special local rules – do you get a free drop
if your ball disappears in a kangaroos pouch?