November 28 - it's cloudy, and starts to rain as we arrive in Melbourne. Short trip to pick up the car, and we are off to the Dandenong Ranges just east of Melbourne. Lush mountains, and home to the tallest flowering tree in the world - the mountain ash. Not like our mountain ashes back home though. These all incredibly tall, shed their bark and don't fruit the same as the ones we have. Really narrow, winding roads, with steep switchbacks. Combined with driving on the other side of the road. Now both of us have experience with right hand driving, but neither of us are the best of passengers - to put it mildly, we both like to drive. So we are working on our skills at being navigators - to stop us both being 'passenger seat' drivers. All in all, we're doing okay at it.
It's pouring - really teeming, so too wet to go anywhere, or do anything outside. So we head to our B&B, this custom built home on the side of a mountain. The view of their gardens is really something. We settle in, then head out again to do a little exploring in the car. Up and down windy narrow roads, we visit a few small towns. We did try for the Dandenong Lookout, but the mist and fog completely block any view - and the road back for that matter. So back to Olinda for some tea and later on some supper at the local restaurant. Stayed up a bit chatting with Graeme, our host, learning about the area around Melbourne. Then to bed for a fairly early start to tomorrow.
November 29 - It's stopped raining, so we are heading out to the Mornington Peninsula to visit a couple of wineries, and shop for some sheepskin. So we are off in our usual get up and go manner - or get up and meander through the morning. We head out and decide that we will do the sheepskin stuff first to make sure places are open. Well, needless to say by the time we are done that, there is no time for wineries - WHAT since when is there no time for wine???? We reset the GPS and gird ourselves for the drive into Melbourne. Big spread-out city - it takes quite a long time but finally we find our way down to St Kilda - a really funky area of Melbourne right on the beach. Comparison would be the beaches area of TO before it became too pricey. This was great, we were steps from the beach, interesting homes, good restaurants and beach markets. Like Sydney, everyone here is very friendly and helpful.
We had a small flat, so were completely self contained. Went out and had yummy Malaysian food for supper. (Note: have been treating my cold with love and chemical care, and now Lyn has decided she wants one too. So back to the pharmacy (they call them chemists or druggists here - very appropriate I think) we go to double up on the drugs!!) We have a big tour day tomorrow.
November 30 - It's the Great Ocean Road Tour day today! This is one of the main things we wanted to do in Melbourne so I'm very excited about this. We chose Escape Discovery Adventures for our tour. They offered small (only 10 people), all inclusive very extensive tours. David, our guide, picked us up at 7 am, and we headed out. Our first stop was at Torquay, the official start of the road. I finally see my first roos.
The Great Ocean Road was started in the early 1900s to connect towns along the southeast coast by road, and also to provide returning soldiers with employment. It was built totally by hand, no machinery. Much of the road runs directly along the coastline cliffs, an amazing feat. It is spectacular scenery. Many of the towns now are holiday places. When we got to the Twelve Apostles, Lyn took the helicopter flight over the coastline and got some incredible shots and video, which was a blessing as somehow I managed to delete all the photos on my card. I was so ticked at myself. The weather turned out to be perfect for the day, a little cloudy to start, but it warmed up and then was brilliantly sunny by the time we got the rock formations. We have too many photos and too much information about it to put here, but it is a must for anyone who visits Melbourne.
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| Loch Ard Gorge - site of the Loch Ard shipwreck in the late 1800s |
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| London Bridge - the joining part collapsed in 1996 |
December 1 - Today is putter and beach day. After wandering through the market along the beach boardwalk this morning, we go back and have brunch, call (Skype) our families, and then head out for a lazy afternoon on the beach. It's a hot one today - 32 degrees. But the water is still cold - that southern ocean.
December 2 - On my own today as Lyn is at RMIT giving a workshop. So did some work in the morning, and then off to the beach. It is really hot today - over 36 degrees. After a bit, I found some shade and spent the afternoon reading. Too hot even for the birds, they were also resting under a tree. Made for a nice and relaxing afternoon. Caught up with Lyn later for a late supper.
December 3 - Our last full day in Melbourne. Today is winery day. So off we go to the Mornington Peninsula. We arrive at Manton Creek Estates around mid-afternoon and spend an hour of so sampling their wines and chatting. Then off to a couple of others and in search of food. We missed the lunch window, and found that most places only cater to weekends or are closed Monday and Tuesdays. Most of the wineries are in the southern part of the peninsula, along a high ridge that runs like a spine. Coming down there were a couple of lookouts and parks where we were able to stop and see the views. It was a very pretty drive back up the peninsula to the town of Mornington where we ended up at Kirk's for a seafood dinner. Not the best we've had, or will have, but certainly lots of it. And those were the largest prawns I have ever seen!
December 4 - We were both awake really early this morning. Lyn's cold is getting quite a bit worse, mine is on the way out, so neither of us slept really well. But that was okay as we had to leave around 6am for the airport and to return the car. Good thing we left really early, as it turned out that our domestic flight was routed through the international terminal which meant that on the Sydney end we had to line up and go through customs. Everything took of course twice as long. Very bizarre, apparently it is a cost-saving measure. Certainly not a mood-saving measure. Now on to our coastal adventure.
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