The Great Ocean Road

The International Boys’ School Coalition held their 19th annual conference in Melbourne, Australia.  I was lucky enough to be there along with four of my St. Bernard’s colleagues and over 400 educators representing English speaking boys’ schools from around the world.  The conference was interesting, professionally stimulating, superbly organized, and fun.

After the conference, I stayed on in Melbourne for a couple days.  I signed up for a daylong tour of The Great Ocean Road, a 151 mile stretch of road along the southeastern coast of Australia.  The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I.  It winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks.

We drove by beautiful Bells Beach, the surf capital of Australia; it is part of international surfing folklore and the site for world championship surfing contests every Easter.  The first stop we made was to walk about a small wildlife preserve near the coastal town of Kennett River.  We spotted several koalas and got up close to indigenous birds:  carrowongs, king parrots, purple swamphens, and the famous kookaburra.

Next stop was at Mait's Rest, where we hiked on a trail through a very rare and ancient temperate rainforest.  Surrounded by an abundant garden of huge ferns, I felt dwarfed strolling past some of the tallest ash trees in the world, which were as old as 300 years.

The final stop on the tour before heading back to Melbourne was at The Twelve Apostles, a majestic collection of Miocene limestone rock stacks.  They were formed by erosion:  the harsh weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 50 yards high.  The National Parks of Victoria constructed discreet board-walks, tracks, and viewing areas to help experience this area thoroughly.

I am grateful to the school for supporting professional development to participate in conferences like this, which also allows for personal development to see the world.