Laci is Employed; A Celebratory Road Trip Ensues

As of a week ago today, I’m officially employed! So, clearly a celebration was in order for my final week of unemployment, and since Regis should be starting his new position soon as well. This week is also the last official week of summer (the first day of fall here was the first), so with the amazing sunny weather, we decided to re-do the Great Ocean Road. We did a little tour when we were here last year but had cold, rainy weather. It was much more enjoyable this time around. Thanks to Scott for letting us borrow his car! :)

Before I get into that, I’m pretty excited to land a job! I actually started interviewing with this company while we were still in Charlotte – the first time they called me was a little awkward; it was 1am my time because they didn’t realize I hadn’t moved over yet, but we moved past that and I think it will be a pretty good fit for me! I’ll be doing communications and project work for a financial communications company. Is it my dream job? Probably not, but I will have 6 weeks of paid time off per year and it will give me great project management experience. It’s also a huge step in the right direction for me in the fact that my degree will be of somewhat good use since it's in my field - I can sort of justify my huge amount of student loan debt. Haha. To be honest, other than being a travel writer, photographer, or bartender on an island somewhere, I don’t really have a dream job anyway.

So, our road trip! The Great Ocean Road is a 243-kilometer-long road on the Southeastern coast of Australia in Victoria. It starts in Torquay, which is an internationally-renowned location for surfing, and ends in Allansford. For the entire stretch, there are gorgeous views of the forest, the Great Otway National Park, beaches, and windy roads. Regis loves driving on fun roads and I like looking at everything, so it works out pretty well for both of us. There are cute beach towns and breathtaking landmarks every so often, so it's a pretty fun weekend trip. 

Torquay Beach

We started out by driving from the city to Torquay, which takes about an hour and a half. We stayed there overnight in an Airbnb I found the day before (yay, tax return money!). Our parents think we are nuts for staying in random peoples' houses while they're home, but it's pretty interesting and also great if you're on a budget! The host made us breakfast and everything, and it was a really close walk to the beach and restaurants in the area. We ate more seafood than I have ever consumed at a time that evening. It was glorious.

<3

The next morning, we packed up and headed out. We stopped in Apollo Bay for some lunch and a little shopping. We went to a cool little brewpub for lunch and walked around on the beach there, which is really beautiful. We didn't do as much exploring as we could have last year since it was absolutely freezing and we were ill-prepared for the weather, so this was really nice.

Apollo Bay

After that, we continued driving and decided to stop at a wildlife park along the road for some kangaroo and koalas! I was pretty disappointed there weren't any koalas, since the animal sanctuary last year didn't have them either, but there was no shortage of cute animals! We got to hang out with some goats, sheep and wallabies in a petting area, and there were other ones outside of there too. I fed some goats and got chased after by an intimidating emu. Emus terrify me and this one was no joke! He scared me so much I dropped the bag of animal food I was carrying around, then he proceeded to eat all of it. What a jerk!

After that, we drove along the road and checked out a few of the amazing landmarks. We skipped the 12 Apostles, mainly because we saw them last year and because there were about 10 tour buses full of people there that we didn't feel like dealing with. Since we live so close, this trip will probably be a more regular thing for us, so we aren't worried about missing out! We checked out the London Bridge and Bay of Martyrs this time around - two landmarks we missed out on last time since we were in more of a hurry. They did not disappoint - these photos hardly do them justice! We hung out on the beach for awhile and watched some very brave paddle boarders before packing up and driving back to Lorne, where we stayed for the night. 

London Bridge

Bay of Martyrs

We had planned our final day to be our chill beach day, but it was pretty overcast, so after we had some breakfast, we headed to Erskine Falls, which is right outside of Lorne. This was the second waterfall I have ever seen in person and it was so amazing. In our typical fashion, we ignored the "do not climb over the fence" signs so I could get a better photo! 

Erskine Falls

After that, we stopped at a winery before heading home. Victoria, along with many other parts of Australia, is extremely well known for producing great wines. I actually know nothing about wine, other than the fact I like white wine and Regis likes red wine, so going to wineries and doing tastings is pretty fun and informational for both of us. I also had my first spider encounter while exploring the vineyard!

Ugh. :(

All in all, it was a great way to spend some of our last few days of unemployment. I start my new job on Monday and Regis is starting the week after. We probably won't have much time off before the end of the year. Hopefully this inspires a few of our friends to visit! :)

-L