Great Ocean Road

[I'm a Chubby Baby]

I tried to describe my trip to the Great Ocean Road. Please correct the errors.

I want to tell you about my trip to the Great Ocean Road. When my friend and I were traveling in/visiting Melbourne, Australia, we booked a 2-day bus trip to the Great Ocean Road with a local travel agency. I remember there were like 12 people on the bus. We are all from different countries, because you know local people would just drive themselves instead of traveling with an agency. The scenery on the road was really spectacular. I was most impressed with those 12 huge rocks in the ocean. I don’t remember what they are called. Anyway, they were massive, and the waves were so strong. When the waves hit them, the scene was just so breathtaking. We also visited a couple of national parks, and that really made me exhausted. In those parks, the bus could only take us so far, we had to walk to get to the attractions in the parks. But it was totally worth the effort. The waterfalls, mountains and wild animals in the parks were so beautiful. There was only one thing I wasn’t happy about the trip. There were no good restaurants on the road. It seems Australians didn’t know how to season the food. Everything we ate just didn’t taste good. But all in all, we had an amazing two day trip. Our guide who was also our driver worked so hard to give us an amazing experience. I remember the first day he drove like 10 hours. And he wasn’t just driving. He was telling us the cultural and history about the Great Ocean Road while driving. So in the end, we each gave him a 10 dollar tip.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I tried to describe my trip to the Great Ocean Road. Please correct the errors.

I want to tell you about my trip to the Great Ocean Road. When my friend and I were [STRIKE]traveling in/[/STRIKE]visiting Melbourne, Australia, we booked a two-day bus trip to the Great Ocean Road with a local travel agency. I remember there were about a dozen people on the bus. We are all from different countries, because [STRIKE]you know[/STRIKE] local people would just drive themselves instead of traveling with an agency. The scenery on the road was really spectacular. I was most impressed with those twelve huge rocks in the ocean. I don’t remember what they are called. Anyway, they were massive, and the waves were so strong. When the waves hit them, the scene was just [STRIKE]so[/STRIKE] breathtaking. We also visited a couple of national parks, and that really made me exhausted. In those parks, the bus could only take us so far, so we had to walk to get to the attractions [STRIKE]in the parks[/STRIKE]. But it was totally worth the effort. The waterfalls, mountains, and wild animals [STRIKE]in the parks[/STRIKE] were [STRIKE]so[/STRIKE] beautiful. There was only one thing I wasn’t happy about on the trip. There were no good restaurants on the road. It seems Australians don’t know how to season [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] food. Everything we ate just didn’t taste good. But all in all, we had an amazing two-day trip. Our guide, who was also our driver, worked [STRIKE]so[/STRIKE] hard to give us an amazing experience. I remember the first day he drove something like ten hours. And he wasn’t just driving. He was telling us about the cultural and history of the Great Ocean Road while driving. So in the end, we each gave him a ten-dollar tip.

It's good! You have strong command of the language.

Written English is not the same as spoken. Words that people use in casual conversational, such as like and so, are used more sparingly in writing. Even though they're grammatical, they can quickly become tiresome to readers.

 

[I'm a Chubby Baby]

I remember the first day he drove something like ten hours.

local people would just drive themselves instead of traveling with an agency

Thanks, Charlie. Your compliment made my day. I was wondering if my original version 'I remember the first day he drove like 10 hours' works in casual everyday conversions?

'Drive themselves' is actually idiomatic?

 

[probus]

"He drove like ten hours" is very natural. I'd say it myself.

"Drive themselves" does not seem idiomatic to me. It's just a normal use of the reflexive. Consider, for example, the old paradox: "The barber shaves everyone in town who doesn't shave himself".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thanks, Charlie. Your compliment made my day. I was wondering if my original version 'I remember the first day, he drove like ten hours' works in casual everyday conversation?

Good question.

Like ten hours is fine for casual everyday conversation. Unless we're told otherwise, the changes we suggest here generally assume that you're aiming at standard written English.

Like is commonly used (and overused and abused) in daily speech but doesn't always fit written English. As you used it, it's short for something like ten hours (or about ten hours or around ten hours). That shortcut is more likely and natural in spoken English than in written English.

Remember that spoken and written English are different. In written English, complete sentences are more likely and natural, vocabulary is more varied, and verbal tics such as like, so, um, well, and I mean are not usually used.

So, yes:

Re 10 versus ten:Written, it's better to spell out smaller numbers. You can learn more about spelling out numbers versus using digits via Google.

Is 'drive themselves' [STRIKE]is[/STRIKE] actually idiomatic?

I don't think so.

On you go!

 

[I'm a Chubby Baby]

"Drive themselves" does not seem idiomatic to me.

Thanks, everyone. Then how to say it idiomatically?

Local people would just drive themselves instead of traveling with an agency.

 

[probus]

"Drive themselves" is correct snd natural. Again it's something I would use myself. I can't think of an idiom that means drive oneself.

 

[emsr2d2]

[STRIKE]Then[/STRIKE] How [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] can I say it idiomatically?

Note my changes above. We don't start questions with "How to".

 

[tedmc]

Thanks, Charlie. Your compliment made my day. I was wondering if my original version 'I remember the first day he drove like 10 hours' works in casual everyday conversions?

'Drive themselves' is actually idiomatic?

Like Charlie said, youngsters these days have the habit of overusing "like", which I find irritating. It is not recommended in written English.

"Drive themselves" reminds me of people saying "cook themselves" (like cannibals) when they mean they do their own cooking.

The twelve rocks along the coast that you saw is the famous tourist attraction called "The Twelve Apostles".

 

[Tarheel]

Just one thing. The word "cultural" is an adjective and not a noun.

 

[Tdol]

I've only been to Australia once, but I didn't notice any inadequate seasoning, and I have lived in many countries.

 

[tedmc]

I've only been to Australia once, but I didn't notice any inadequate seasoning, and I have lived in many countries.

Western cuisines are generally less spicy compared to Asian cuisines.