The Quest to Keep Myself Occupied – Part E, Geelong

During the Great Ocean Road tour, our guide Jude had taken us through Torquay and Geelong on the way back to Melbourne and had said that Torquay in particular was an interesting place to visit because it is ground zero for surfer two of the biggest surfing equipment and clothing companies in the world, Ripcurl and Quiksilver. They were both started in Torquay. I decided to take a day trip out and go and see Torquay. Unfortunately the weather was chilly and extremely windy as well as somewhat rainy. It was clear by the time I got off the train in Geelong that it wasn't the best day for this little jaunt, and I decided not to find the bus to Torquay. I would spend my time in Geelong.

Geelong was quite nice. Again it seemed that it would be quite a good place for a day out on a warm summer day. It's not too far from Melbourne. There is a long, narrow beach along the bay and lots of little wharves and restaurants to stop for a coffee or a bite to eat. Or, in my case, they made great places to get out of the wind and spurts of rain.

One of the neat things about Geelong that I discovered as I walked along the shore were some carved poles that were placed at intervals along the path. At first I thought they were just associated with the rowing club that I passed. But as I continued along the shore, I kept seeing them. They are sculptures of people in various roles and guises. Some were quite interesting.

I wondered though if there would be any representation of the Aborigines. There was. But only slight. These were the only ones along the whole way.

Later I went through a large park and passed a sign explaining facts about fruit bats.

It was then that I started thinking about the noises that I was hearing. I hadn't paid them much notice before reading the sign, but then it occurred to me that those were the noises of animals. I looked around, and up, and noticed the trees all around me were full of a colony of fruit bats. Thousands of them.

Although cold and rainy, it was a nice day spent in Geelong and, more importantly, away from Melbourne.