Court Coverage: January 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Great Ocean Road - Part 2

Yesterday I drove the Great Ocean Road from Apollo Bay to Mount Gambier. AWESOME & Breathtaking!

This took me through the Otway Forest, to Cape Otway, and through beautiful farmland all the way to the 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, The Arch, London Bridge, the Bay of Martyrs, and the Bay of Islands. There were several other little stops along the way and cute port towns with cafés and small beaches.

I wish I had chosen to stop somewhere around the Bay of Islands or Warrnambool instead. The reasons for this is that everything that is worth seeing is along this stretch. Literally every half mile, I was pulling over to look at the view. I think it's better to do this portion of the the route in one day. I had an extra 3 hours to drive after Bay of Islands (finishing there at (5:30pm).

The pictures say enough!

View from Cape Otway Lighthouse

Koalas on the trees at Cape Otway

Castle Cove

Gibson Steps, Birds trapped in finishing line.

12 Apostles looking west.

12 Apostles Looking East.

Loch Ard Gorge

Arch near Gorge

Area outside the Gorge

The Arch

Bay of Martyrs

Crofts Bay

Bay of Islands

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Great Ocean Road - Day 1

The Great Ocean Road reminds me so much of my drive up Highway 1 in California. Everwhere you look, the scenery is jaw dropping and any turn you make will lead you to something cute or spectacular. Things like this make me appreciate Mother Nature more and more each day.

The Great Ocean Road in Australia runs along the South Coast and I rented a car in order to take it to Adelaide, where I will spend a few days. Today, I started my journey in Phillip Island, taking the ferry to Queenscliff, and ending in Apollo Bay. It was about 5-6 hours of total driving but took me about 9 hours because I stopped at so many places to enjoy the view and take pictures.

Here are just a few of the 100s of photos that I took. I really didn't know when to stop! There were so many places to pull of and look at around. I'm pretty sure I stopped at 90% of them!!

Actually getting the hang of driving on the other side of the road and the other side of the car - with the occasional getting into the car on the wrong side and waiting for a moment until I realize the steering wheel is in the other seat....

Bells Beach

Surfers

Erskine Falls

Great Ocean Road from Teddy's Lookout

Teddy's Lookout

I HATE SNAKES, so I turned around :)

Court Coverage: Australian Open 2nd Week

Overall, when it comes to the Australian Open, I say Relaxed and Entertaining, whether you're a die hard tennis fan or a casual one. All of the fans here are great; they are enthusiastic about tennis, always in a relaxed and chill mood, and seem to be having fun with the whole event.

I saw SOOO much tennis and live music. It was really cool to see a tournament all the way through to the finals and finally see what everyone means what they say that the Australian Open is the "Happy Slam."

A lot of people are there to represent and cheer on their home country and you often a see fans dressed up in authentic gear from the town and sporting face paint and coordinates outfits.

The grounds are amazing. They have live music everyday and night and the grounds passes seem to always be sold out to locals who come to hang out with their friends in the Heineken Beer Garden and watch the matches on the big screens.

There are several restaurants and Lacoste boutiques, but that is the only tennis gear they carry. AO official items and Lacoste were the only options available for tournament gear. Brands such as Nike and Adidas were not represented here like some other tournaments.

I stayed less than a mile from the tournament and was able to walk there and back every day in no more than 20 minutes. It was a beautiful walk too, up and down the Yarra River. The location of the grounds is so close to the city center and it makes everything very convenient.