The Great Ocean Road

God, today, the road was breathtaking.

After we congratulated ourselves on stopping early yesterday when the GOR wasn’t showing at its best, we stopped at every lookout and took photos.  Sometimes the viewpoints were only one or two kilometers apart and we wondered if we should pull in having just stopped, but we were so glad we did.  Hope you agree.

 In the background, a few of the remaining 12 Apostles, one of the iconic images from Australia.

A better view, without the distractions of those other two in the foreground.

London Bridge is falling down.  There used to be a bridge connecting this rocky outcrop to the mainland but in 1990, it broke and dropped into the ocean below stranding a few people. They had to be airlifted by helicopter a few hours later.

A sobering sign.  Disobey at your peril.

It's a long and windy road

The Great Ocean Road today was, sadly, just the Ocean Road.  It was not a sunny day but quite cloudy, which robbed much of the beauty from this stunning drive. 

Still, the views, even without brilliant blue water, are quite beautiful and rugged with huge breakers crashing on the shore.  Lots of surfers were out taking advantage of the waves.   

We didn’t drive far today, instead taking the opportunity to stop at all the lookouts, explore the little towns, walk along the beach and have lunch at an outside café…wearing our jackets because it was cold. 

Toilets are not required, by the way, in small restaurants.  Odd.  This is the second time I’ve run across a “no toilet” eatery.

The wicked wind blew ceaselessly and dropped the temperature to 17 along the coastal road, a considerable change from Melbourne where, despite cloudy skies, it was balmy and in the mid-20s.   We drove through the fog looking for the Erskine Falls, which was 10 km off the main road but when we got there, it meant a 1 km hike in the forest and quite frankly, the fog was much too thick to see anything so we reluctantly turned back.

Billows of fog were blowing up the hills, pushed by the wind off the ocean.  I could see the wind breathe in the undulations of fog as it sighed up the hills.

 Still beautiful even with the fog.

 The lighthouse at Eagle's Point, which is still operational.

I love this shot.  The fog in the distance seems to glow with an unearthly light.

Quite the house.

Flat Tire? No problem. We got a new car.

“The right rear tire looks a little low” said Hans as he was unloading our luggage from our rental car.

We had just pulled into the driveway of our Melbourne hosts late Monday afternoon.  Closer examination revealed the head of a large sheet metal screw firmly embedded in the tire.

I phoned the next morning, and the roadside assistance number we had from Thrifty said someone would be there within the hour.  However our hosts were taking us on a sightseeing tour of the city, and then we were going to  Rotary in the evening where Hans was the speaker so…we decided to call back later.  Later turned out to be 9:30 p.m. and at that time the wait was going to be 2 ½ hours…so I decided to call early Wednesday morning.

“Can’t fix that tire,” declared the young fellow after he had replaced the faulty one with the spare.  Which, luckily, was a full sized tire.  The screw was in the shoulder where  apparently it can’t be fixed and so…another call to Thrifty.

“What do we do now?” I asked after I had explained the whole story.

“No problem,” said Thrifty, “we’ll just get you a new car.”   And that’s exactly what happened.

“Where are you heading?” asked the friendly agent, and when told our next destination was Geelong and then along the Great Ocean Road, he put us on hold, phoned one of their outlets along our route and found out they didn’t have a comparable car.  So he contacted another outlet at the Avalon Airport near Geelong where they had a slightly larger hatchback and once we got there, filled out a bit of paperwork, transferred our bags and Bob’s your uncle.  All done.  Quick and easy and no extra cost to us.

Luckily, at the urging of our new friends in Melbourne, we cut short our visit with them  to give us extra time to travel the Great Ocean Road and not rush to our next destination.  This turned out well for us since we got a late start due to the car change, and we didn’t have to go rush.  In fact, we stopped fairly early to overnight in Apollo Bay where we checked into a Best Western with wireless internet.  Hah!  Though apparently other guests have been able to connect to their network, we CANNOT get a connection yet again.  It must be our damn computer but we can’t do much about it while we travel so we’re continuing to limp along with only sporadic connections.  It’s seriously annoying. 

Oh well, tomorrow’s another day and though the weatherman forecasts more rain and gray skies, maybe he’ll be wrong.  (He wasn't!  The rain in Mount Gambier tonight has been of biblical proprtions).

And maybe tomorrow night I can connect the laptop to the internet at our new hosts’ house.  (YES!!!  I am pathetically grateful when I can get wireless internet connection and I have it here in Mount Gambier.)

Acronyms

AFD – Alcohol Free Days.  Haven’t had any in November.

KIPPERS – Kids in Parents Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings. 

This appears to be a big problem in Australia, according to many of our new friends.  Adult children continue to live at home long past the time they should leave, and rather than pay board at their parents’, spend their money on restaurants (which are full week nights with 20-30 year olds), run up huge mobile phone costs ($900 one month by our friend’s godson) and don’t seem too concerned about the future.

Rotary Banner Exchange

“This will be a different kind of exchange,” said President David as I approached with our club’s banner.

“You mean it will be just one way?” I said as I eyed his empty hands.

“Yours will be under your pillow tonight,” replied David.  And it was.

This was the night Hans was giving his presentation on the Walk to Beat Polio, which he hasn’t given in about a year, but the audience was rapt and there were lots of questions.  When he was introduced, it was mentioned that we live in Red Deer.

Later, someone asked me, “So, where is this Red Bull where you live?”

Views of Melbourne

Sofitel atrium, and views from the bathrooms on the 35^th floor

In other news, when we left the Sofitel after admiring the stunning views from the 35^th floor, we wait for Michael to pick us up.  A white sedan pulled up with the licence C-1 and an Australian flag on the front, with a second white SUV pulled up close behind.  They just sat there, waiting.  Jeanette knew that the C-1 plate meant government and speculated that it might be Julia Gerard.  We should have waited a little longer because it turns out it WAS Julia Gerard, the Prime Minister of Australia, who was in Melbourne that day.

Soccer stadium on the left.  Guess you could tell by the shape and colour of the building.

Fresh Kangaroo

Spent a happy 2 hours at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne.  It’s huge!  And you can find everything from little souvenirs to fresh kangaroo meat.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

It’s tiring driving in Australia. 

Every few kilometers you’ll see one of these signs…

“Pull over and rest”

“Powernap area ahead”

“Drowsy Drivers Die”

“Stop, Revive, Survive”

…and more in the same vein.  It was exhausting just to read them and where we weren’t tired before, it didn’t take long to start yawning the more we saw them.   So I wonder, are these signs good or bad?

But in between the dire warning signs, we drove through gorgeous areas with towering trees on both sides of the road.  Like driving through the heart of an emerald.

In places we were so high it felt like we were in the clouds, though I know it was just fog, and the fragrance of the eucalypts was so strong in places it stung our noses.  Loved it!  I wanted to smear that scent all over my skin.

And since Hans just reminded me, I should take a moment to say how great it has been to have the GPS.  It cost $150 to download the maps for Australia but more than once we’ve said it was worth every dollar.   I put in the address and in addition to the map showing you exactly where you’re going, a nice voice tells you when to turn, which exit to take from the roundabouts and generally takes all the stress out of navigating.



Lunch fit for a King.

 Here is the Master Chef Hans with his assistant, also Hans, making spaetzle, a type of German pasta and very tasty.  Trudy added a sauté of fresh garden veggies for colour and flavour and all was bound together with grated cheese.   It was SO delicious and now I want one of those spaetzle machines.

After lunch we went for a walk and watched this small family of 2 adult black swans with their one cygnet. 

And finally, when our visit came to an end, we left our hosts in Newlands Arm with a bagful of freshly picked oranges, nectarines and cherries and later had a picnic by the side of the road where we devoured the juicy fruit till it ran down our arms.

No koalas today

Took the ferry across to Raymond Island today where they have "wild" koalas.  I thought I heard some.  The males have quite a guttural, rauckus voice and I heard it so I stood for a long time under one of the trees waiting to spot him.  It was a crow.  Actually, two crows.  When I finally spotted them they looked too black against the sky.  Then they hurled themselves up like bird shaped bullet holes rapidly tearing through a painting of blue sky to the darkness beyond. 


Sadly, no koalas were seen today.

Newlands Arm

Breakfast, with freshly squeezed orange juice.  We picked the oranges this morning before we ate.  Now that's fresh!  And I got porridge, which I really love, cooked the Scottish way by soaking the oats overnight.  It was yummy and reminded me of my childhood when dad used to make porridge for us.

The two Hanses on the deck.  Looks like my Hans is demonstrating a bad golf shot.

Just look at the profusion of lemons on that tree!  And that's just one tree.  They also have a "lemonade" tree where the lemons are sweet and ready to be pressed.  Amazing.  Plus, there are several orange trees, and blood orange trees, as well as plus, cherry, grapefruit and almond.  And our hostess sent us off with a bagful of mandarins from their tree for our lunch, which we ate after Hans' golf game this morning.  He got 84, not a bad day of golf.

close up of the end of our hosts' garden, which leads to the water.  Haven't swum here yet, but tomorrow's another day.

These huge and abudant roses greeted us as we arrived at their home.  And the house is fragrant with huge bouquets of roses everywhere.

Church dating back to convict days

This is the inside of the Anglican church.  The boxes were there for the gentry, so they would be partially hidden from the convicts who sat at the back of the church in regular pews.  The gentry would come in first and secure themselves in the boxes, then the shackled convicts came in and were led to the back.  AT the end of the service, they were led out again after which the gentry could come out of hiding and mingle with each other.

Love those plates

I want those plates!  Just love them.  And lunch wasn’t bad either:  prawn and avocado salad.

Digeridoo

Women are not allowed to play this instrument.

Pretty Picnic

Lunch by the water.  Another perfect day.

Slaughterhouse Road

We came across a road with this name.  How would you like to live here?  Next to Freddie?

Driving South

When we left Sydney this morning, the highway seemed to be above the tree line because looking out my window on the left side, I saw acres and acres of treetops.  And the gum (eucalyptus trees) grow quite tall so I think we were quite high up.  Then came the down hill.  In the distance I could see the oceanfront towns far, far below us.  The drive was stunning, with colourful rolling hills in multiple shades of green, blue ocean below us and blue sky above.

Driving fines in Australia are serious.  There were frequent signs warning you to stay in the left (slow) lane unless you’re overtaking a car.  The fine for this infringement starts at $110 and goes up.  I wish we had those signs in Canada.

There were three (3!) warnings signs telling you the speed camera was coming up and you’d be pretty stupid to ignore 3 signs and get a camera ticket, which in our case would go to Thrifty Rental whereupon we would also get hit with a $35 administration fee on top of the ticket.  So, we’re being very law abiding.  And also, if you don’t signal your lane change and get caught, it’s another ticket.

Cheese Tasting

We left Sydney this morning to head south towards Bega, our first stop on the long odyssey we have ahead of us. 

Bega is a nice little town, somewhat inland from the ocean but we stopped at the tourist information center where they had a free cheese tasting.  There were about 12 or 14 different cheeses cut into tiny cubes, carefully labeled, and we had lots of toothpicks with which to taste.  I only got through about half of them before I found my two favourites, which I tasted over and over to see if the quality remained unchanged.  It did. The last taste was as good as the first.

It was 32 in Bega today, and when we stepped out of the car, the air felt baking hot.  But we decided not to overnight in Bega and instead went to Tathra, a little beach community 15 minutes away.  I thought I might go for a swim but…it’s really cold here right now.  The wind off the ocean is quite brisk and I’m wearing a sweater and still cold.  I’m not so sure I’ll be swimming in the morning.  Especially after I saw those little blue balloons on the beach with their long strings.

Computer Glitches with Million Dollar View

Okay, I’m seriously frustrated at the dismal internet connection in Australia.  Really, really frustrated.

This is a modern country and yet…wireless internet seems to be completely unknown here.  Come to think of it, I’ve been here over 3 weeks and don’t remember seeing WiFi signs around.  However, I wasn’t looking. Probably there are some, somewhere, but not in the hotel we’re in tonight.  And I was SO looking forward to just spending a whole evening on the computer since this is the first night we’re actually alone.  I figured I could log on, download all the updates that are hanging around in the ether waiting to come to Mama, and blog, and Facebook, and just even read all the emails I haven’t had time to look at.  It’s not going to happen tonight I guess.  I just want to weep.

In fairness, we’ve had internet connections at most of our hosts’ homes, but sometimes it meant unplugging their computer in order to connect ours, and they’ve been very good about it.  But it’s not the same, because I’m inconveniencing my hosts and so I try to be quick and consequently only do the most essential things.  *sigh*  I must say, I never expected this.

“Are you the owner?” Hans asked the next morning at breakfast.

He fixed Hans with a steady eye.  “If I were the owner, I wouldn’t be making your toast.” 

So there went our last hope of getting internet before leaving.  But once again, the beauty of the sunrise over the ocean made up for it .

We have no phone or internet here, but we do have a million dollar view.

We’re in a cheap motel (by Australian standards) which at $90 offers us a queen bed plus 2 singles but no phone or internet.  On the plus side, I’m sitting on my little balcony with a glass of wine and have a stunning view of the ocean below me, and I can hear the surf pounding.  Already I’m relaxing.  Oh, that could also be the wine.  But truly, the view is awesome and I’m really loving it.

Earlier, we walked along the beach where the tide is out and saw funny little blue “balloons” the size of your thumb, with lots of blue string.  Bright blue, like fountain pen ink.  They may be jellyfish that were washed up on the shore when the tide abandoned them.  Hans prodded one with the toe of his sandal and it sort of exhaled with a shudder, so we made sure not to touch it with any part of our flesh.  It could be one of those deadly little things in Australia that can kill you.  If I had internet, I could look it up but I’m not bitter.  Really.



The Wollemi Pine

They call it the Dinosaur pine.

It's older than the dinosaurs, and a small grove of them was recently found west of Sydney.  They've cloned some while waiting for seeds and cuttings to sprout, and the Rotary Club of Tamworth donated one to the botanical gardens in Tamworth.

http://www.wollemipine.com/aboutwp.php

More on Blue MOuntains

The Blue Mountains really were extraordinarily beautiful, and coming from Canada, we know about beautiful mountains.  However, these mountains are ten times older than the Grand Canyon.  Now that's old.

The views are seemingly endless blue-hazed valleys, golden sandstone escarpments, plunging waterfalls and deep, fern-filled canyons.

Three Sisters

The drive to the Blue Mountains was gorgeous and we had a day of brilliant blue sky and warm sun in which to enjoy it.  Below you can see the Three Sisters.

Our hosts came with us and Phil gave Hans directions so he didn't even need to bring his GPS and on the way home, we used his e-tag to take the motorway.  This is something we'll have to get for Sydney and Melbourne, also when we're in Queensland.