Sept. 18th
I woke up at 3:30 and just couldn’t fall back asleep. I probably crawled out of bed around 5:00 and we made it down to breakfast by 6. That was an adventure! Nate had never tried the Aussie treat known as Vegemite, and to our delight there were packets of it at our table. He thought it was absolutely vile, even though I warned him in advance. I apparently like to punish myself, so I tried it again, and it was just as I remembered. I can’t fathom how children can like the stuff! Bleh!! Still, when in Oz, one must immerse oneself in the culture, right?
After eating, we had a number of errands to run. Our first stop was the Big W, Australia’s Walmart equivalent. We got an Australian atlas and phone. Then we hit Woolworths for groceries and came back to pack the car. Then we did a little geocaching. We weren’t able to access an island on which one was situated, but we did get two back at the botanic gardens. From there, we searched out the HiFi store for a Sim card for our phone. We had lunch at Soda Rock Diner which was trying really hard to be American. Nate got a burger with beets on it and really liked it. I noted how the Coke was served in cans and not from a fountain. We’d discover along our trip that this was the rule. McDonalds was the only place we visited that used soda fountains. I was also happy that sodas used cane sugar and not the corn syrup crud that the US seems obsessed with.
After lunch, we decided to drive down to St. Kilda, home of Luna Park, Australia’s oldest amusement park. I was so incredibly excited to visit, especially since it’s also home to the oldest continuously running roller coaster in the world: Scenic Railway. Opened in 1912, this coaster was so special and historically significant that I couldn’t miss it. Well, we dealt with the madhouse that was St. Kilda and managed to find parking about a mile away from the park. Once we arrived, we discovered that the iconic entrance, a grotesque face, was under construction, and because of this, the Scenic Railway (which circles the entire park and is attached to the face) was not running. Talk about a bummer! I really didn’t like Melbourne enough to return, and I’d have to miss out on the one coaster I wanted to ride more than any other. Well, at least there was another coaster, Metropolis, a production Galaxi, for me to ride. While in line, a local family struck up a conversation with me and invited me to ride with them, so I got to ride sooner than expected. Nate sat out, but he joined me on the haunted house ride, which was campy but historic. We also took some nice pictures, and then walked down to the beach before hitting the road.
We were happy it was Sunday, so traffic wasn’t as terrible as it could have been. We made our way through Melbourne and down to the Great Ocean Road. We did a number of hikes, visited a lighthouse or two, and saw our first two kangaroos on the road, which is always startling, but very cool nonetheless. The views along this drive are outstanding, and it’s considered one of the greatest drives in the world. Stretching from Torquay to Warrnambool, the road is also the largest WWI memorial in the world, stretching 151 miles, and having been built by returning soldiers in commemoration of the war.
We stopped for the night in Lorne, staying at a hostel that provided us with a cozy little cabin. The fancy restaurant a block away was hosting a party, so we opted for the local pizza joint instead. We ordered the shrimp, chili, and rockets (arugula) pizza, and it was heavenly! The chili was used in place of tomato sauce, and it was one of the tastiest things around! We also swung by the grocery store so Nate could try some Tim Tams and Lemon Ruskies. Now Tim Tams are chocolate covered cookies that are all the rage to many visitors to Oz, but I’ve never thought much of them. Still, I thought Nate should get the full experience and try them. He agreed with me, but at least now he knows! As for a Lemon Ruski, this is a vodka, wine, and lemon drink that I adored when I studied abroad. I was so excited to see they still made them, so we got a six pack. To my delight, Nate liked them, too! So with unusual pizza, Lemon Ruskies, and Tim Tams, we had a solid Aussie dinner! Then we watched some cartoons and hit the hay.
Sept. 19th
The time change was working in our favor, and we got up super early for the second day in a row! By 6am we were up, and we were out the door by 7. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check out until 9, so we used the time to head up the coast a bit, taking our bed sheets with us (you turn them in when you check out) and found a trail that took us up to Sheoak Falls. It was lovely, and there were so many birds! Upon our return, we stopped briefly in town to activate our phone. The person on the line was immensely confused insisting that we needed to have an Australian address to activate our account even though it was prepaid. How stupid! After trying in vain to explain our situation, I just gave up and decided to call back later. Honestly, it seemed like many things in Australia are set up to be nonsensical. Surely we’re not the first people to need a temporary phone while traveling abroad!
After that, we checked out of the hostel, got postcards, and made a few more stops along the way. We saw the wreck of the W.B. Godfrey, although only its anchor was visible. We did an amazing hike in Great Otway National Park through an incredibly lush rainforest. Then we visited Cape Otway Lightstation where we searched furiously and unsuccessfully for echidnas, climbed the lighthouse, learned about the strange disappearance of Frederick Valentich, a pilot who disappeared after being pursued by an aircraft that “is not an aircraft” (creepy!), and saw lots and lots of wild koalas! We continued on and saw a number of other outstanding oceanic overlooks including the Twelve Apostles, Castle Cove, and just about any other pull offs and hikes that were available. We stopped in Port Campbell, which appeared as a ghost town, but managed to find a fast foodish establishment for our 3:30 meal of the day. We decided to save money by only eating once a day if possible, and it seemed to be working so far! Anyway, Nate got fish and chips (barramundi fish is a million times more flavorful and nice than cod), and I got a beef burgundy pie which grossed Nate out, especially since it didn’t come with a fork and I had to eat it as is. The town seemed pleasant, and I could see coming back when things are actually open. Continuing along the Great Ocean Road, it started to get windy and rainy and generally miserable. Still, we didn’t let it stop us. We came here to see the sights, and dag nab it, that’s what we’d do, even if the wind gusted us off a ledge!
Our last stop was the town of Warrnambool, famous for its annual whale sightings. We attempted to see them at the overlook, hoping that one of the choppy waves was attached to a whale, but to no avail. Our guidebook said that we may be hitting the end of their visit, but there was still a chance. After about a half hour in the rain and cold, we decided we better just find a place to stay for the night.
Up the road a short piece, we found the Blue Whale Motor Inn, and we were relieved that they still had a vacancy. For a very reasonable price we got an entire suite! Two bedrooms with 4 beds in total, our own bathroom, a full kitchen and seating room, AND internet! We learned a lot about Australian motel accommodations this night, too. First of all, if you get a single or double room, you share a bathroom with boarders in other rooms. If you get en suite, that is the equivalent of a normal motel room in the states – it just means you get a bathroom to yourself. Also, it is customary for the front desk to provide you with a small carton of milk for your coffee the next morning. When they handed us the carton, we were confused but graciously accepted. The other confusing thing occurred when we entered our room. There was no electricity. We searched and searched but couldn’t seem to find a switch that worked. Perplexed, I went back to the front desk to ask about it, and it turns out that you plug the key into a holder right next to the door that activates the electricity to the suite. Who knew?! And it’s a good thing we found that out because we’d come across the same issue several more times on our journey.
One of the most irksome characteristics of Australian motels, however, is their office hours. We discovered the hard way that these places tend to close down at 8pm, so if you don’t have a room by then, you’re out of luck. There are no convenient chain Motel 6es or the like out here. There are mom and pop establishments which are generally very well-kept and reminded me of the places I’d stay on travels with my family as a kid, not the skeezy mom and pops that they all seem to have become in recent years. There were a few skeezy, hostel-type motels that were associated with bars (and sponsored by different beers, depending on the state in which we were), and while they were open later, they usually were full before we’d arrive.
Anyway, the entire Great Ocean Road region seemed very New Englandy to me, and the people did, too. They were cordial enough, but distant. They didn’t warm up easily to newcomers, and this was quite a change from the people I’d met in Perth, but it was really interesting to see. It takes all kinds!
We spent the evening getting our phone officially activated, giving them the address of the Blue Whale which worked, luckily! We were the proud owners of a working Telstra phone for the remainder of our trip! Then we checked in on the internet and hit the hay by 9, hoping to continue our early morning starts to maximize our sight-seeing time.
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