So far this year I virtually floated down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA and I virtually hiked trails in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. The time has come to virtually head back down under! If you have been following my blog for a couple of years, then you are familiar with my 2022 Virtual Challenge. For that year, I designed my own route for the Conquer 2022 Challenge. I called it the "Aussie Coastal Bushwalk". It was a distance of 2022 kms, from the start in the north to the finish in the south, along the eastern coast of Australia. Now I want to continue along the southern portion by taking on the Great Ocean Road Virtual Challenge.
Aussie Coastal Bushwalk Summary
Complete
my Conquer 2022 Virtual Challenge medal
The original Aussie Coastal Bushwalk route was to take me along the south edge!
The actual virtual Aussie Coastal Bushwalk Route!
(I revamped the route part way through.)
The route I covered shown on google maps.
Great Ocean Road
This virtual challenge measures 240 kilometres long. It runs in a westerly direction from Torquay to Allansford in the state of Victoria.
(excerpt from postcard story)
Great Ocean Road is on the south-west coast of Victoria and is famed for being the largest war memorial in the world. The road was built by 3000 returned WWI servicemen as a way to connect sparsely populated areas and provide a transportation link to the timber industry. Construction took 13 years as it was built by hand using explosives, picks, shovels and wheelbarrows with very little machinery. The wilderness was so dense they could only progress a mere 1.8mi (3km) every month. It was quite a dangerous job due to the use of explosives, and unfortunately, it was not without fatalities.
Besides being a popular tourist destination, the Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage Site and carries the Engineering Heritage National Marker awarded by Engineers Australia.
Oh my this is a popular challenge!
I picked this photo as my marker!
the route
I am sharing this route with many others!
These are the conquerors from the past 30 days.
You can see me shortly after the start sign.
I received my first postcard after logging in 7 kms from a visit to The Sanctuary this morning.
(excerpt from postcard story)
After a decent tucker of fish and chips and a pot of coldie,
I'll be on my way to Lorne.
Write to you soon!
i so want to walk the Great Ocean Road for real, but it is so far away.
ReplyDeleteAs I progress along the route, the views are becoming even more amazing. I can see why you would want to walk there.
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