From Melbourne on home

I had forgotten the part of the Great Ocean Road from Geelong to Apollo Bay. I must have still been time-shifted the last time, some eight years ago. But this time, I remember it, and it is spectacular. Hard to believe they could have built a road under those conditions. But of course, and to our delight, they did. What a scenic route.








Up to Lorne was a recurring series of oohs and ahs, as we rounded one tight corner by the sea after another, stopping for the odd photo.





And Lorne was also a pleasant town, with a surfer's beach where we stopped to watch a while, and a clearly developed commercial scene.

The section between Lorne and Geelong had, unbeknownst to us, a bike race on the road. Tensions ran high in the front seat of the car, as I tried to negotiate around these bikers without hurting them or ourselves. And Darlene turned various shades of white at the drama of it all, wisely keeping from screaming along the way. Of course, it slowed us a lot (damn cyclists), but we still got into Melbourne with little difficulty (in spite of my anxieties). We were met by a young man who was working for the hotel and turned out to be from Vancouver. So we felt at home already.

Melbourne is a very different place from any we had been in over the prior weeks. Busy, ultra-modern to a fault, noisy, confusing. Our kids would have loved it; we found it a bit disorienting at first, but we quickly accommodated. After returning the car to the rental folks, we heaved a great sigh, had some lunch, and went back to the hotel room. And then headed out to take the tram down to the beach at St. Kilda's.

No chance of a sunset, as it turns out. But we had a pleasant walk in the neighbourhood, and a nice enough meal out on the deck of a restaurant: the last time we'll be able to do that for a while.

To bed early, up early and off to the airport for the 36-hour trip back home. Helped by the nice man who checked us in and got us into some very good seats for both aspects of the trip to Vancouver. And the trip is done.


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Location:Collins Street,Melbourne CBD,Australia

Port Fairy and Beyond

The trip down to Port Fairy was very pleasant. We travelled through the Grampians, which are quite stark rock faces without the softer curves inflicted by glaciation. Forests are a bit more dense, greenery is a bit more "green".

On the way, we stopped in Hall's Gap at the Brambuk Aboriginal Centre, an area given over by the Victoria Government to the local tribes (five of them) to present their stories to the public. It was very well done, and pulled no punches, as far as I could tell, in talking about the whites' invasion of their country.

From there, down through foothills and pastureland to the coast once again. Port Fairy was a whaling community until they killed off all the whales, then went into economic decline (which led to the architecture being preserved), and has more recently been revived as a tourist town. And doing quite well. Pleasant avenues with tall Norfolk Pines and Cedar trees, pleasant little cafes, and a few nice restaurants. We stayed at a "boutique hotel", which is code for "ostentatious" and "pretentious".





But it was pleasant enough, and right by the water - a bonus. We continue to be enthralled by the beautiful song of the magpie (itself a less attractive bird), and the beautiful sight of throngs of parrots flying together and making a god-awful noise.

We woke to rain on the day we were going to traverse the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. Unfortunate at best. But what can you do? On a vacation, you take what is given; and we have had very good weather for much of the time here.

Heading out, we stopped, in the rain, at the Bay of Islands,


and the London Bridge (where, in 1990, some picnickers were stranded when one of the arches collapsed into the sea, and they had to be rescued by helicopter).


By the time we got to the Twelve Apostles (now only ten, but considered still the main attraction), we were soaked and decided to head straight for Apollo Bay and a warm dry place.

After a night of drying out and warming up, as well as some packing, we went back out on the road we had come on the day before, to visit Mait's Rest, a section of temperate rainforest that Joel and I had visited some years before. It was as good as I remembered it to be. And the weather was by now drier and a bit sunny, so some nice pictures.








Then to Melbourne.


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Location:Apollo Bay, VIC, Australia

A Day at Boroka Downs

The drive here was long, as we thought it would be. But the road was good: quiet, well-maintained and signed, and generally straight. So I got to work on my left-hand driving. I have it down pretty well at this point, I think.

The land began quite flat, once we got away from the coast. Grazing and wheat areas primarily, along with parkland. They don't have forests as we know them. But rather, they have wooded area, with the tall eucalyptus trees, and shrubs lower down. Because it's so dry, the vegetation is more sparse than we would have.





Sheila, our patient GPS goddess, took us the back route, but got us there. We arrived late in the afternoon, having stopped for a bite in Horsham along the way. Turns out we should have got here earlier. This place is a bit like Sabi-Sabi in its grandeur. Fancy, clearly geared for the well-heeled traveller, with many things provided at top-notch quality. And the view was spectacular, complete with kangaroos and parrots.











We had brought some food to cook, and we did that, late in the evening. Watched the moon come up, almost full, over the field and water hole,





and walked down to visit with the kangaroo mob.

Darlene treated herself to a whirlpool bath, and I went to sleep early. It was so quiet and clear and cool, I had a wonderful sleep, and both of us woke before dawn (which here occurs about 7:15). We were able to be up and watch the sun rise out our window. And then the 'roos came by our place, grazing on the grass outside our cabin, having a drink in the pan set out for the birds.











They are incredible (in all senses of the word) creatures.

Sadly, we had to leave after breakfast and head back through the Grampians to Port Fairy. We stopped in th small town of Halls Gap to visit an aboriginal centre there, before heading back onto the plains and back to the ocean once more.


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Location:Birdswing Road, Victoria, Australia

Another day in Paradise

I'm not sure whether it is karma, or what exactly. The weather was predicted to be cool, cloudy, and rainy. It turned out to be warm, sunny, and dry. I could not have asked for a better way to see this wonderful little town.

After a leisurely breakfast, we got some directions from our hosts, and went for a walk along the coast to the north of the centre of town. (Fishing was not to bee: the sea was not right, according to our hosts.) There is a well-defined walkway, lots of terrific scenery,








and a gentle bit of exercise to perhaps justify the amount of food we are eating. And Darlene's hip is improving, so she could walk pretty well normally.

Returning back to the B&B, Andrew (our host) asked if we would be interested in going out to visit another beach with some surfing waves. I suggested we could do it ourselves, but he insisted on driving us, saying it was needed a 4WD car to get there. And he was right: it was bumpy, sandy, hilly; indeed, a rough ride. But well worth it.








Darlene was at the water edge light a bolt out of the blue. And she said her hip was cured. It was a wonderful experience!

After that, everything else was a bit anti-climactic. But we survived. It was with great sadness that we started to pack that evening. Our wonderful hosts would be hard to leave. And then there were the dogs.


(They even washed and folded our laundry.) We knew we had a longish trip the next day, but were reluctant to leave, so didn't get away until about eleven in the morning.



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Location:Royal Circus,Robe,Australia

And finally, to Robe

I feel like this is the central turning point of this vacation. It is the town I have wanted to come back to (and this is my third time here), and one which I feel a real affinity towards. And we had three glorious, unstructured days here.

Getting here from the ferry was a long trip through interesting country. The Fleurieu Peninsula, where the ferry leaves you, is hilly, and mostly pasture land or farmland. The driving was easy. And we crossed another ferry across the Murray River before getting into the Coorong, a large sea-side low plain, which floods regularly, and is mostly sand and salt flats. And it goes on forever, or seems to. The overall trip down was over 400 km. Made a lot better by the warm greeting of our B&B hosts, Andrew and Carolyn. They made us feel immediately at home, set us up for dinner, and were truly hospitable. Good thing, since it was raining when we got here, and the forecast was for three days of rain. But we ate out at a local pizzeria (very good), walked home, and were surprised to see the moon, through a cleared sky. Things were looking up.

The next day broke cool and cloudy, but then cleared up and was warm. We walked the length of the town, stopped in and bought an art piece at the gallery, watched the waves on the sand, and soaked up the sun in a wonderful place. A return to the room, then out to buy some things for a picnic lunch, and off to eat it by the ocean.























When we got home from this, Andrew invited me to have some lobster with him. I jokingly asked if he caught it himself, and was told he actually did! And the lobster was just fine, along with a little wine of course. And conversation.

To top it off, we saw the sunset and watched the moon rise. Again, magical.





And I think we might go out fishing tomorrow. Wow!

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Location:Royal Circus,Robe,Australia

travelling Kangaroo Island

This was our bus trip day, an organized overview of the island and its wares. As usual, we were picked up at 7:30, at the hotel. Interestingly, there were three other couples from Canada: one from Peterborough, one from Calgary, and one from Port Colbourne. It was nice to hear a Canadian accent again (although we don't really have one do we?).

After picking up some other folks along the way, we were off to the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Oil Plant. You might think that this would be a big, modern, plant in the style of a (say) tomato processing plant. You'd be wrong. This is one guy, working with some mates, and a few others to handle the selling. He owns the land, drives the tractor which cuts the plant, drives the truck which brings the leaves to the "still", which is just a big iron kettle and a wood fire underneath.





This still boils down the leaves and gets the oil from them, which is then further refined on the premises, and bottled. He makes a good part of the production of Australia from this rather primitive plant. But he is doing research, and trying to farm responsibly (as are most of the people we met in KI. And Larry, the bloke in charge, is a character, with strong opinions about almost everything, and not unwilling to share them.

From there, we were ferried to the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park to feed the kangaroos (the island has its own species of kangaroo), look at koalas, and visit the birds and other animals. I have included a picture of the kangaroos


an echidna (which is an egg-laying mammal)


a cassowary


and a beautiful parrot


There were lots of other local animals (all native to the island), but space doesn't permit. By the way, it turns out that Koalas are anything but cute: they sleep 20 hours a day, bite and claw you if they get angry, smell a lot, and have the social skills of a rock).

Then off to the west end of the island for a tour of the Remarkable Rocks, which are, actually, remarkable with a capital "r". The wind was blowing hard enough, one of the fellow guests said, "to blow a dog off its chain". But it kept the flies away, even though it made it a bit more difficult to fell safe.














We finished with a quick rtip to Admiral's Arch, a natural hole through the limestone in the west end of the island which is quite awesome.


And then home to the hotel, for a quiet evening and packing for the next day. We have decided we don't really like bus trips, but this one was fine - even better than fine.

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Location:Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island

To Kangaroo Island on the Wrong Side of the road

We knew this morning would be a test of us individually and together. So we started with -what else- a good breakfast. Packed the car, left Adelaide giving ourselves an hour more time than we should need to get to the ferry, and headed off, putting our lives and our marriage in the hands of Sheila, the GPS goddess.

Now, we were leaving at 7 or so in the morning, so traffic was relatively light. And we were going out of the city, which was definitely the way to go. Darlene stayed calm (or was it controlled?), I held tight to the steering wheel, and everything was fine until Sheila tried to get us to go onto Marion Street. This turned out to be almost impossible, as far as we could tell. After three tried, but no yelling, we did manage to do what she wanted us to, and found ourselves on the road out of town. What a relief. And as we went, the road went from three lanes each way to two, and then to one. And we and our marriage survived.

Some beautiful country south of Adelaide, rolling to hilly, pasture to woodland, some seacoast views. We arrived at Cape Jervis in plenty of time, and took many deep breaths of the fine sea air. The trip across on the ferry was just fine: sunny and calm, getting us to Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island right on schedule. And the hotel was the one that Joel and I had been in eight years ago, somewhat renovated, but in a wonderful location. Immediately, we relaxed and enjoyed the quiet and the sun and the gentle wind. A walk out for a coffee and quick tour of the town, then a drive down the road to visit a few small towns, as well as a beach or two. The top is at a beach, the middle one some local pelicans, and the bottom one is from our balcony.








I was so tired I needed another nap.

I went out that night to see if I could find the little penguins I had seen and enjoyed many years ago. Turns out there numbers have been decimated: they are the favourite meal of the growing seal population. So we didn't see very many, and it was disappointing. But I saw the moon and some wallaby's.





I went to bed after that: a busy and eventful, very pleasant day.

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Location:North Terrace,Penneshaw,Australia

Adelaide in a Day

What a wonderful day this turned out to be. Weather was cool (...for here: 16 degrees) when we woke up (earlier than recently), and it was sunny. We had some plans for the day, and set out to fulfill them.

Before anything, we had an adventure trying to find the car rental place. The address given us was incorrect, and we walked up and down the street asking various people. Fortunately, once it was located, the folks there were friendly and generous. All the paperwork was done, and all I had to do was drive it ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!! Gulp.

They do things funny down here. When you look in the rear-view mirror, it's not where it should be, but on the left side. The turn indicators are on the other side. When you turn, you go into the left lane. It's all very confusing. And we just had to drive three blocks back to the hotel garage. Darlene and I were both in palpitations by the time we got there. The rest of the day's transport would be by foot or public transit.

First up was the Central Market, an institution in Adelaide for over a century. And remember, Australia has a varied enough climate, that it grows everything from bananas to rice to olives to coffee to apples, to pumpkins. So all this stuff is available, and local (i.e. Australian). The market has about 250 stalls, and it is a bustling place, with the aforementioned fruits and veggies, as well as cheeses, meats in many states of preparation. And then there are the stalls of used books, stalls for selling shoes and t-shirts, wine, coffee, and so on. It's a whole earth experience, all in one building.

And we were able to fulfill our second goal: to find the local, and quite good, chocolate manufacturer - Haigh's. We had thought that we might go on the free tour of the factory, but time was against us. We bought some chocolates, and headed off for the third stop: the Tandanya Aboriginal Centre. It took a while to get there, but we found it, and were pleased enough to get the things we wished from there as well. The day was resplendent: warm but not hot, bright sun, friendly people overall. And Adelaide was pleasing to us. I include a picture of one of the wonderful old houses, now a medical office.


Back to the hotel, for Bob to have a quick nap. Then we decided to head out to henley Beach (the other beach I had visited when I was here before). We caught the express bus, didn't have to pay, and got there in good time. A walk out the jetty, some time on the sand, watching the sun go down, and a pub meal rounded out the fine experience.





Then a bus back to the city, hotel and an early night. I was nervous about the drive the following day.


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Location:Hindley Street,Adelaide CBD,Australia