Sydney Bound

On the 16^th, we had one more night on the road, and three options for returning to Sydney. The fastest route, the Hume Highway, was the way we had come to Melbourne initially, and it was now on the opposite side of Melbourne. So we decided to opt for the southerly Princes Highway. This heads through an area called Gippsland, which is known apparently for industry and dairy farming. The monumental winds of the day before hadn’t let up, so this wide open countryside made for some challenging driving.

The Princes Highway meets up with the ocean at a town called Lakes Entrance. There is a series of lakes separated from the Tasman Sea only by a narrow peninsula. It’s a popular holiday spot, and very pretty, but again, we couldn’t stop. Nor, unfortunately, could we afford a side trip to Wilson’s Promontory, the most southerly part of mainland Australia. Instead, we pushed on along the highway to the hamlet of Cann River, where the road forked again. It was getting dark by this point, and we chose to head north on the Monaro Highway, through the high plains to Canberra, instead of taking the Princes Highway all the way along the coast. Let me just say, it’s not a road we would recommend driving by night. I’m sure the scenery was great, because the road was very dark and serpentine—but we couldn’t see it. We had a close call with a couple of bovines crossing the road at dusk, and another close call with a wombat frozen on the center stripe. I sure hope he made it across the road, because a few minutes behind us was a very large truck. (Wombats, by the way, are not as big as kangaroos, but they’re not exactly small, either). We did see lots of kangaroos, too—but they were all on the side of the road, and very still.

The first town we passed through on our way north was completely black. Not a street light; not a porch light; not even a lighted sign for a closed business. Maybe they had a power outage? Turns out, it's much more difficult to drive through a dark town than along a dark road. The next town was all closed up, too, but at least they left some lights on, so it was easier to see the street as we drove through town. We finally reached Cooma, which is a jumping off point for the ski resorts in the Snowy Mountains. Since it was Sunday night, finding a room for the night was a cinch, and pretty reasonable to boot. At that point, we were so frazzled from the drive, we weren't too choosy, but the Cooma Motor Lodge was quite nice, very comfortable, and with a very welcoming reception--a wonderful haven for the night.

GOR part dieux (August 15)

We left our very friendly hostel bright and early...and headed backwards. A treetop walk in the rainforest beckoned, and it looked as though the shortest route meant driving back a few kilometers to Skenes Creek, then taking what might be an unsealed (i.e., dirt) road to the Otway Fly. As it turned out, the shortcut road was in fact paved--it was just very winding and twisting and narrow. It took us through a magnificent eucalyptus forest. California has plenty of eucalyptus trees, but it's quite amazing to see so many spectacularly tall trees all together. After the rainforest section, the road widened and straightened out a bit, and began heading through dairy country.

The Otway Fly takes you along a woodland path, through a rare stand of original temperate rainforest, before you head up an elevated walkway into the canopy. The map of the walkway warns that "it's meant to sway." As it turns out, that day dawned with gale force winds all through southern Australia, and the forest canopy swayed even more than usual, so being suspended 25 meters off the forest floor on a slightly swaying walkway was a bit of a thrill ride. For even more thrills, Adrian and Ian went to the top of a tower that took them right to the treetops (about 40 meters up, or around 10 stories). The funny thing is that Ian really loved all of this. Yes, the same kid who chickened out on the Dumbo ride at Disney World earlier this year bounced and skipped along the swaying walkway as if he were on terra firma.

By the time we emerged from the forest, it was just past noon, and we still had a lot of driving before the day was done. From there the Great Ocean Road doesn't actually meet the ocean again for some time, so we had a bit more mountain-style driving before catching up to the ocean again, right before the 12 Apostles. These rock stacks separated from the coast, surrounded by pounding surf are probably on of Australia's most photographed natural wonders, and the coast there is certainly spectacular. We saw more tourists there than anywhere else along the coast. We suspect most of the tours from Melbourne that do the GOR in one day make a beeline for the Apostles, and don't see much else.

We (i.e., Adrian) took loads of photos, and stopped at the gorge where the only two survivors from the infamous Loch Ard shipwreck washed up then grabbed a snack and hit the road back east. We didn't know where we were going to stop for the night, but with only two nights left before we had to return the car in Sydney, we wanted to get as close to Melbourne as possible. So, we powered through and made it back to Melbourne, where we found a room in a business hotel listed in the Lonely Planet guide.

The next question was, which way would we pick for our return trip to Sydney?

The Great Ocean Road

Once we figured out how to get to the freeway heading west from Melbourne, yesterday’s drive was pretty smooth sailing. Pretty farmland, lots of sheep, etc., until the road hit the ocean in Torquay. If that name rings any bells, you’re probably a surfer. This is where surfing in Australia really took off, and it’s home to some heavy hitters in the surfing world, like RipCurl and Quicksilver. We took in Surf World, a small but nice museum about Australian surfing, and poked around a couple of outlet shops, then headed for a look at Bells Beach. Australia has a few world famous beaches, but this one is known for really big waves, and some big-time surfing competitions. Unlike the beaches around Sydney, this one was really rocky. Nice sand, but where the waves break on the sand, there are big chunks of sandstone.

The Great Ocean Road (or Gor) began as a make-work project, employing Australian servicemen returned from WWI. It took years to complete, and today is a big draw in this part of the country. So much so, that it’s the only place we’ve seen signs reminding us to drive on the left! It is as winding and twisting as the Road to Hana in Maui, but with more little towns along the way. It’s not very long—plenty of tour companies do the whole thing in a day trip from Melbourne—but we were taking our leisurely time, and by the time we reached the Split Point Lighthouse in Airey’s Inlet, it was past 2:00. So we decided on take-away sandwiches for lunch, and kept pushing on…but had to stop in the little hamlet of Kennett River, to look at koalas. It took a while to spot them, but there’s a stand of eucalyptus trees where they like to hang out, so we got to see actual wild koalas. That’s 2 iconic Australian animals we’ve spotted in the wild.

With evening fast approaching, we decided to call it a night in Apollo Bay. With lots of restaurants and motels, it seemed like an easy choice, and most of the motels had vacancy signs when we arrived. However, I was intrigued by the guidebooks’ descriptions of the YHA Hostel here, so we decided to have a look. The Eco Beach YHA is a million-dollar facility, designed from the ground up to be as eco-friendly as possible. It’s made from materials that are thermally stable, and situated to catch ocean breezes in the summer, and make the most of the winter sun. They collect rainwater for their native planted, drought friendly gardens, and recycle and compost as much as possible. They had a family room, so we decided to give it a try (at $109 for the room, it helped the budget out, too!). Our room had a double bed and two bunk beds. The room was pretty Spartan (but the bed was comfortable). The public rooms, however, were really nice—wood burning fireplace in the living room, a beautifully equipped kitchen, and a sun deck on the roof which was perfect for stargazing. Ian fell in love with the place!

We had dinner at the Apollo Bay Hotel. One peculiarity in Australia is all the hotels which aren’t. Maybe they once were hotels, but almost every town has at least one establishment with “hotel” in its name, that seems to be just a bar. In this case, it was a bistro, as well, kid-friendly with quite fine food. It was probably our first real hot meal here, since most of the restaurants we’ve seen were intimidating to take Ian to. So, we had a budget sleep and splurged on dinner. Maybe we’ll get a look at Apollo Bay itself in the morning, before heading for the end of the Gor.

Melbourne for Free(ish)

Thursday, we took advantage of Melbourne’s free tourist bus—especially useful, since I had hurt my knee the day before, and walking for miles was not an attractive option. Unfortunately, it didn’t reach the pickup spot near our hotel until nearly 11 am, so we walked to the Arts Centre, at the beginning of the route. It’s a hop-on, hop-off service that goes all around central Melbourne in about 1-1/2 hours.

We saw the legendary MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), and got off for a look around Victoria Market. Then, it was non-stop to the Royal Botanic Garden, where we strolled until closing time.

On our way back to our hotel (walking, since the free transport had stopped running), we discovered the Southgate Complex—with loads of restaurants. One thing Melbourne has elevated is the food court. Not just fast food, but some really good food, was arrayed in a couple of food court type options in the complex, along with more upscale options. After dinner, we strolled along the riverbank toward our hotel. While we stopped to take in the sights (and for Adrian to take photos), we heard a whooshing sound, and a fountain of flame shot from a series of towers flanking the river. A completely unexpected, and very dramatic end to our Melbourne visit.

Melbourne!!

I'm sitting in Federation Square, on lovely but cold Kimberley stone, to write this, because there's free wi-fi here. Fed Square, as it's called (Australians shorten everything, with nicknames and acronyms), is home to several museums, cafes, etc., in buildings that absolutely do not blend in! It's very popular with school groups, and office workers lunching and taking elevenses.

We have less time here than in Sydney, really just two full days. When we arrived Tuesday night, we went to the observation deck on the Rialto Towers, just in time for sunset, and got a spectacular look at Melbourne all glittery at night. Like Sydney, it has lots of suburbs, and sprawls for quite a way. Unlike Sydney, though, Melbourne has a really bustling Central Business District, with lots more in the way of restaurants, musuems, and such. It's great to get around here, too, as there's a free tram that circles the CBD, and a free tourist shuttle bus (which we plan to try today) that takes in most of the biggie attractions. (To be fair, Sydney has a free bus that operates around its CBD, too; we just didn't use it.)

Did a walking tour from the Lonely Planet Melbourne & Victoria guide yesterday, which took in lots of the arcades and little lanes here. Among the highlights was a building called Curtin House, with shops and clubs on each floor, and a rooftop bar/cinema. Amazing views, beach-style deck chairs on astroturf, and some of the best-value drinks we've had on the trip! Ian got a kick out of sitting on top of a roof and drinking hot chocolate!

Yesterday was quite cloudy with a bit of rain, but today is sunny and clear, so we'll go see what we can see, and share later.

BTW, when it comes to coffee, Seattle has nothing on Melbourne. Coffee shops everywhere, and mostly not chains. Hard to find just a regular cuppa joe, as espresso drinks are the norm, and are excellent everywhere.