Sept 28, Friday & Sept 29, Saturday

Sept 28, Friday   &   Sept 29, Saturday

I spent two days in bed, resting and trying to get rid of this bad cold.  Saturday night I needed to meet Melissa for dinner and had been debating with myself all day about taking the metro or the car to get there.  I finally opted for the car since I did not feel like walking around in a strange city at night.  All week they had been talking about a missing Melbourne woman and showing some footage of her walking down the street near her home. The media was asking anyone who had been in the vicinity to come forward with any information.  They finally found her body and arrested the killer.  Another reason I decided to take the car.   I had mapped out the route I needed to take to get to the restaurant in the Yarra District, but I still managed to take a wrong turn somewhere and had to stop to ask for directions. Turns out I was only one block away from the street I was looking for.  Observation:  Most city streets in the Australian cities I have been in do not indicate the names of the streets you are driving on; they only identify the cross streets.  It makes things a little confusing, especially since their streets also have a tendency to change names a few times along their length.

Anyway….. I got to the destination and after a few tries found an indoor parking spot to leave the car.  I had left early so that I would get to my destination while there was daylight, but it meant that I was about 1 hour early before I would meet Mel at 7 pm.  It started raining as I walked around trying to find the restaurant. 

 My first look at downtown Melbourne, from the South Yarra District

Storm clouds came in and it started raining

After locating it and walking around some more I decided to go in early and ask if I could have the table early if I ordered a coffee while I waited.  No problem; the waiter could hear by my voice that I had a bad cold, and I was shivering.  

I had a nice chat with Mel as we caught up and she treated me to supper, although I had wanted to treat her.  So nice to see a familiar face!  It’s at times like this that I realize that I am getting lonely after over 1 year on the road.  Mel and I parted ways at 10 pm and I got back in the car for the drive back to the hotel.  Again managed to take a wrong turn somewhere because I could not make a right turn onto St. Kilda Road.  I got turned around with the detours but after recognizing one of the street names I was able to turn and find my way back.  Thank God for giving me a good sense of direction.

I took a nice long hot shower when I got back to my room and loaded the bed with blankets to try to stop the shivers.

Sept 25, Tuesday to Sept 27, Thursday

Sept 25, Tuesday  to  Sept 27, Thursday

Tuesday:  The drive between Geelong to Melbourne was a short one, only 75 kms.  I had fairly good instructions from Google Map for my drive through Melbourne on my way to Brighton Beach, where I had booked a hotel for one week.  The exits on the highway through the city were numbered and I needed to get off at #2 to head south.  

Driving into Melbourne on the freeway.  There is LOTS of traffic to contend with.

The ramps were counting down; when I reached the signs for # 3 I switched lanes so that I would be ready to exit.   PROBLEM:  After exit #3, the next one was #1 ! ! !   What the F___ happened to #2?  I didn't want to take a chance of going further, so I exited on #1 to end up somewhere in the downtown area.  I did not have a detailed map of Melbourne. The map that Hertz had given me was just the downtown area and the greater Melbourne surrounding area. It turns out that my map of the state of Victoria had smaller inset maps of Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, the Gold Fields and the Great Ocean Road, but did not have one of Melbourne.  #(%&$#)@ ! ! !   OK, DEEP BREATHS..... You can do this Menard !

I knew I had gone far enough east, so that I could head south towards Brighton so I looped around with some left turns and came to a corner of "Ferrars" street, with a sign post pointing to St. Kilda.  YES ! ! !   I've done it ! !   Well close enough anyway.  I could see Ferrars on the downtown map so I knew I was now heading in the right direction.  I followed Ferrars into St. Kilda, where the road was remaned Canterbury, which was no longer on my map.  When I reached Barkley I decided to turn right to head south but since I no longer had a map with which to second guess myself, I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions.  I explained that I was looking for St. Kilda Road and Brighton Road and he told me I was only one block away, running at an angle, not quite parralel.  I continued one block to Carlisle, turned left, and then right on St. Kilda.  From there I could go back to the hotel's driving instructions into Brighton Beach.   It was as simple as A, B, C and I arrived at the Brighton Savoy Hotel without any further problems.   

I was obviously very early, it was only about noon when I checked in, but they had a room ready for me, so I was able to settle in.  I finally decided to stay put and rest.  I’m “sick – malade”.  This darn cold is getting worse, I’m coughing, I’m running a fever and my sinuses are dripping like a faucet.  Car or no rental car, I'm not going anywhere.

My room at the Brighton Savoy Hotel is quite nice and spacious.

Wednesday = in bed fighting off this cold

Thursday:  I actually went out today for about 3 hours, although it was cloudy this morning the sun was peeking through the grey clouds at noon.  I decided to just walk around and get my bearings.

The hotel is right on the Esplanade Parkway.  I decided to walk along the beach until I reached the Marina

 Brighton Beach

 Para sailing from a surf board

 

This is how far I am from downtown Melbourne.  Beautiful skyline in the distance.

Then into Brighton Beach downtown area 

 On Church Street I find.... the church of course.  This is St. Andrews.  A very old church which has undergone an expansion, but still retains the old church as a chapel.

 From the older section, looking into the new one.  It is beautifully done

and the stained glass windows, although modern, are breathtaking.

I continued along Church Street (the main drag in Brighton Beach). Turned out to be a nice warm day and the clouds disappeared while I was having lunch at a deli (Bagel, cream cheese and smoked salmon ! Last time I ate that I was in Pretoria, South Africa ! It was so good. Oh and it came with a nice glass of chilled white wine. May not help my cold but it did wonders for my moral.

 The shops on Church Street, Brighton Beach
Found some nice little shops to purchase some goodies: quinoa salad (with tomatoes, onions, parsley and goat cheese), veal paté with pistachios in it, beautiful multigrain mini loaf, snap peas & broccoli salad. It will make a nice change from soup. I’m only out for 3 hours of walking around, but it feels really good. Still, by the time I get back to the hotel my fever is back and I need to shower and have a nap. Lucky I'd found a pharmacy to refill my Aspro. Just checking my emails before taking a nap.

 My temporary office
One good thing about this cold is that I’m finally catching up on my blog notes and publications.

Sept 24, Monday

Sept 24, Monday

I had access to the Internet so I caught up on some emails. I’m late checking out of the motel this morning.  Yesterday afternoon I crossed another border and am now in the state of Victoria; their time is one hour later than South Australia!

I take a quick drive through Warrnambool to see some of the sites before heading down the Princes Highway (A1).  I also stopped in at a mall to get some cold medication.  The lady pharmacist was extremely helpful and I was able to purchase some syrup that would help with my chest cough without affecting my asthma.  Since she was being so helpful I asked if she would be able to refill my asthma medication (there were plenty of repeats left) but unfortunately she could not help with the daily one, only with the emergency pump.   Still, she was extremely kind and it was very much appreciated.

Today I’m starting my drive along the Great Ocean Road. I won’t be covering a lot of kilometers because I’m going to be stopping to take pictures at the many lookouts along this road.  Although I have a 270 km drive today, the bulk of that is after my sightseeing stops.

Bay of Islands, limestone bluffs

 
 
 
From one minute to the other the weather changes;  sunny one minute, dark and cloudy the next.

“London Bridge” has fallen down, near Port Campbell. “On the evening of 15 January 1990 the main arch connecting London Bridge to the mainland cracked and fell into the sea. Fortunately no one was injured. Two people marooned on the new island were rescued hours later by helicopter”.   Note to self: Stay well away from the edges of the cliffs and don’t walk over any open arches. Limestone cliffs continue to be eroded by waves, wind and rain; they have been for millions of years.

The view on the other side from London Bridge

 “The Arch”

“Loch Ard Gorge”

 
 And there are a few arches at this site as well.

 Layers in the limestone, revealing millions of years of formation

 
The “Loch Ard” was a clipper that sailed through this area in 1878 and was shipwrecked on the rocks. I walked four different trails here, it was a huge area providing different vistas

This rock formation is called the Razorback.  I wonder when it will keel over?
There were quite a few walking paths here and I ended up walking 3 of them, despite the extremely cold and windy day. The sky was ever changing, from sunny to white clouds, to grey rain clouds.

Still at "Loch Ard Gorge” but looking out past Razorback east on the southern coast.  This is where the twelve aposltes begin.

 A look at that arch from the other side of the cliffs.  Yes, I did A LOT OF WALKING up on those windy bluffs.

The next three photos all go together

 From this vantage point near the arch, I look back at the two promontories where I walked.
Can you see the people on the lookout on the second bluff over?

 Can you see them now?

OK, with the powerful zoom; Can you see them now?
Thought I would give you a bit of perspective on how high these bluffs really are.  You also get an idea of how ope it is at the top of the bluffs.  The horizon seems to go on forever.

I got back in the car for the 6th or 8th time; I completely lost track of how many stops I made.  But the next one was going to be the Twelve Apostles. 

 Unfortunately, the photos looking out towards the west have the reflection of the sun on the water and really doesn't do it justice.

 This is the view looking east, so you will just have to superimpose these colours to the one above to get an idea of how breathtaking this was.  
Another check-mark on my "bucket list".

The Twelve Apostles have almost disappeared because of the erosion from the waves, the wind and the rain.  There are only about 8 that are still tall, the other 4 have crumbled. 

I did not stop at “Gibson Steps”,  which would have been the next, and last stop today.  I figured I had had enough wind for the day and my cold was getting worse and worse.   Instead of continuing on the Great Ocean Road, I decided to turn inland through Lavers Hill toward Colac and get back on the A1 to get to Geelong.   

 The road to Colac was through high mountains and it started to rain.  I felt like I was driving on a roller coaster and had to decrease my speed because of the wet roads, and my poor reflexes because of my cold.
Once I got on the A1 however, the conditions improved and a rainbow appeared.  At first it was just a small portion near the ground, then it grew and grew

until it reached the other side of the road.  

 













If you look carefully, you can see a second rainbow shadowing it.   
Kind of the cherry on the sundae!

I didn't even bother looking through my little motel book, I just stayed on the main road into the city (it was there before the bypass was built) and located a motel not too far from the highway leading to Melbourne. I was very tired, my cold had gotten worse, and all I could think about was getting in bed and sleeping.

Sept 23, Sunday

Sept 23, Sunday

By 10 am I was up and on the road to the Naracoorte caves and the Wonambi Fossil Centre, just a few kilometers away from the motel. 

 Entrance to Naracoote caves.  Love the skeletons on the huge bolders

 The caves have been dated to 500,000 years and extremely important fossils have been unearthed here which have helped to shine some light on the evolution of animal life on this continent.

 Not as impressive as Carlsbad Caves, but still very interesting.

 Reflection on a pond inside one of the caves

The stalagtite have strange teeth like shapes
A World Heritage Site since 1994, it is a series of interconnecting caves that are only partially opened to the public.  Most of them are too narrow and shallow, but great fossils have been located here and have helped to identify what wild life lived in this part of the world 50,000 years ago.  “Discovered in 1908, it is considered one of the richest deposits in the world.  Tens of thousands of specimens have been recovered, most superbly preserved. Naracoorte Caves contain a record of evolution spanning several ice ages and highlight the impact on Australia’s mammals of both climatic change and the arrival of humans.”

 Water still glistens on some of the stalagtites

 Shining a light on the roof of one cave

 
 
 
There are still shells at this level of the cave, imbedded in the roof of the cave

 The cave where they found the most animal bones was the most interesting.  So was the re-assembly and lighting.

 The little kids really loved it.... and so did the big kids.

They are still digging in some areas, so there could still be more interesting finds to come.

After touring both caves with guides, I got back in the car and continued down on route A66 passed Mount Gambier, onto Portland, Port Fairy and made it to Warrnambool, where I was hoping to spend the night. 

 Lovely views during todays drive

 Again through all sorts of areas

 Now these cows have a great view from their pasture

 and along the coast there are wind farms as well

I haven’t talked about the scenery along the road. I’m driving through flat areas where there are fields full of sheep, cattle and horses. Every once in a while there are vineyards on either side of the road; some with still dormant vines, some with just a blush of green on them. As I drove out of Warrnambool I spotted a cheese factory. Memories of Thornloe…..STOP the car ! They don’t make curds here unfortunately, and they don’t age their cheddar as much as I like, but I still bought some cheese….and a bottle of wine. I love wine country; how civilized is that to have a wine shop in your cheese shop.

I picked up a motel brochure in Naracoorte and it indicated a nice motel in Warrnambool.  Luck was with me again, I got a room for the night.  Very nice lady owner, who signed me up for a discount plan with the motel book I had picked up. I’ll be able to use it in New Zealand as well.

I ended up going across the way to a mall where I purchased a few items that will allow me to keep some food in the car and in the hotel/motel rooms. Oh, and there was a bakery!  It’s amazing how you can have a complete dinner out of baked goods!    YUM ! ! !