Aussie Road Trip Day Seventeen Wednesday 31st July

Paintings, portaits views and dinosaurs.....

Canberra has turned on the most glorious weather for us. Even the temperature is remarkably mild compared to what we were expecting in a city known for its grey cold winter gloom. Not today!

John and I ventured out alone this morning while Ailsa, David and Penelope caught up with another friend, Diana. We'll meet up with them later for dinner tonight. They had already done the touristy sights in Canberra anyway, so John (who has never been before) and I, guided by the trusty GPS made our way into the city.

First stop was the National Portrait Gallery. We managed to find a park outside Questicon, and walk from there to the Gallery. I was really looking forward to this, having LOVED the National Portrait Gallery in Washington. The building itself is large and  starkly modern, like so many of the buildings in Canberra. They are quite imposing in their own way, and the gardens surrounding them are intrinsically Australian except for the vast expanses of well-kept lawns.

Sculptures outside Questicon

John at the Portait Gallery

Barb at the Portrait Gallery

The paintings in the gallery were a mixed bag for me. I paricularly like the one of the musician Paul Kelly, and a fairly recent one of Princess Mary of Denmark, but there were also some hilariously awful ones. Each to their own in artistic tastes.

Likewise the National Gallery both intrigued, delighted and bemused me. We hadn't pre-purchased tickets to the Turner exhibit, and the queue of rowdy school kids headed in that direction put me off going anyway. We stuck instead to the regular exhibits. I saw "Blue Poles" by Jackson Pollock for real for the first time. I remember the hoo hah over the price paid for this particular piece many years ago, and I'm happy to report it's better than it looks in a book. On the other hand I do hope the public purse didn't fork out much to purchase what is essentially a blank white piece of canvas that looks remarkably similar to the wall colour on which it is hung. What is the point? Both John and I had the same thought: Emperor's new clothes.

Barb at the National Gallery

Old Parliament House

We walked back along Lake Burley Griffin. It looked its very best with the white fluffy nimbus clouds above reflected in its placid waters. We viewed from afar Parliament House and across the lake the Australian War Memorial beckoned. We drove over there and had a fairly high-speed tour of this grand old building, before heading up to Black Mountain where the Telecom tower sits like a beacon to get a birds-eye view of Canberra and surrounds.

Lake Burley Griffin

Avenue of flags

View from the War Memorial
 

Barb at War Memorial

The Telecom Tower

View from Telecom Tower

John having coffee on the Observation deck cafe

Red poppies on the Wall of Remembrance

 

It was certainly a spectacular sight .... especially on a day of such weather clarity. We had a very light lunch there and then headed for the National Dinosaur Museum which we'd spotted on the way into town.


Barb at the Dinosaur Museum

My son Garreth had a great fascination with dinosaurs as a young child and his daughter Bronte will no doubt be introduced to them because of his interest. We found a plush toy called Bronty (the Brontosaurus) in the gift shop .... it's coming home with us!

Late extra: We've arrived back at our hosts' home late in the evening, after a meal out with them in Canberra. More tomorrow!

Aussie Road Trip Day Sixteen Tuesday 30th July

Where's my breakfast?

As usual, we left early with a long day of driving ahead of us. Also as usual we planned to drive for a couple of hours and then find somewhere to have breakfast.

I was taking my turn on driving duty. Leaving Daylesford reminded me of driving to work through the fog and mist on the Maleny/Montville road and I felt well used to these conditions. We drove through the lovely old gold mining city of Bendigo. This truly is a lovely place and deserved to have more time to properly explore it. There has obviously been a LOT of money poured into this city during the boom times of the gold rush. Standing atop a small hill in town was a very beautiful cathedral with a steeple to rival Salisbury Cathedral in the UK (or so it seemed).

Continuing on the Midland Highway towards Shepparton in search of breakfast, we were disappointed not to find somewhere to park once we got there. Tortured by the aromas of coffee and food, we even backtracked along the main road desperately trying to find somewhere to pull in. It was not to be. With grumbling tummies, (and a few whinges from the back seat) we contined on towards Benalla, hoping that a smaller town might offer better parking opportunities. By the time we reached Benalla it was getting on for eleven o'clock. Phew! We found somewhere with both coffee and good wholesome food.

Ailsa and David at lunch in Benalla

Sated, Ailsa took over the driving and we finally managed to join the Hume Highway which speeded up the journey no end.

Hellbent as we were we on achieving our aim of Gundagai for a late lunch, no-one really noticed that the petrol gauge was dropping into the dangerously low level, and then it started beeping an alarm that the tank was near empty. We still had a few more kilometres to go but we managed to get off the highway and scurry to the first petrol station we could find. This has never happened to me before (John: Barb controlled her discomfort *really* well!). I rarely let the petrol gauge fall below half full let alone down to near empty - such a worry wart.  Ailsa and David confessed that their cars have been know to travel up to fifty kilometres on "empty". They clearly have nerves of steel.

We lunched in Gundagai but didn't see the dog on the tucker box statue I'd seen many years ago on a school trip through the town - it's at a servo on the northern side of town. We wouldn't have made it there! The bakery where we ate lunch  had old fashioned cream buns, just like the ones available at tuckshop in the bad old days of my youth when such unhealthy fare was served up to us happy kiddies (who surprisingly didn't suffer weight problems back then). (John: no photos, we were all too busy stuffing our faces).

Penelope's cat Hera in cammoflage

Cooking dinner

Hera finds our bed

Canberra finally came into view before sundown. We are staying with Ailsa's cousin Penelope and her husband Stephen's while here in Canberra, and have been spoiled with a wonderful home cooked meal and John has over-indulged sampling Stephen's extensive fine whisky collection. (John: hrrmmpphh).

John sampling the whisky

Stephen, Penelope, David and Ailsa

The four travellers

Aussie Road Trip Day Fifteen Monday 29th July

From the sea to the hills

It was a good move not to try going to Lorne yesterday. A furious thunderstorm hit Apollo Bay last night, nearly catching Ailsa and David out in their post-dinner walk. They had seen the lightning but didn't realise how close they were to a drenching. Within moments of regaining the safety of their motel room the downpour came .... complete with claps of thunder, driving rain and an icy wind.

The next morning as we drove along the winding ocean road we saw evidence of last nights' storm in the rockfall and scree littering the road. John very carefully manouvred round some quite large rocks strewn in our path. I wouldn't like to have been on that road during the storm ... it would've been terrifying.


Dawn breaking on the Great Ocean Road

John on the Great Ocean Road

We stopped at Lorne to have breakfast at Kaos Cafe. David seems to have an uncanny knack of picking excellent dining options, and we weren't disappointed here. To be fair the waitress did warn us that the porridge was a very large serve and we might like the child's portion and maybe some fruit toast. But no .... we were up for a challenge! (John: Barb omitted to mention that the fruit juices were sensational. Next time you're in Lorne I'd put Kaos Cafe on your Must Do list!). After satisfying our hunger we emerged from the cafe and chatted to a local chap who pointed us in the direction of the Erskin Falls, some 12 kilometres out of Lorne in the Great Otway National Park. This proved to be a worthwhile diversion. We had to walk down and up a whole lot of steps to view the falls which were very pretty, but had the bonus effect of aiding digestion of the recently consumed porridge and pancakes (John: what goes down has to come up. In this case a long, long way, say 50 metres or so. Ohhh, we all had too much breakfast!).

At the Erskin Falls

Resuming our journey along the Great Ocean Road, both John and David commented that the road reminded them of the Mediterranean coast roads with its hairpin bends, sheer cliffs one side and blue sea the other. We stopped briefly at Fairhaven to look at the Great Ocean Road Memorial to the ex-World War One soldiers who toiled to build it. Four coaches and a few small tour buses had the same idea, disgorging their oriental tourists for the requisite shot of the arch and memorial and a quick five minutes break, then back on the bus to the Twelve Apostles. Thank heaven we did that bit yesterday before these hordes arrived.

Ailsa and David at the memorial to the World War One soldiers

Ailsa, David and Barb

Spotting a likely coffee place in Torquay, we paused  for a reviving cuppa before pushing on towards Ballarat and then on to Daylesford for a late lunch. Daylesford is a spa town set in the hills not far from Ballarat. We're at around 700 metres elevation here in Daylesford and last week they had a fall of snow of several centimetres. It's cold!

The main street is rather lovely, with many beautiful old buildings. We chose the Food Gallery from among the numerous cafes offering delicious looking food to have lunch before exploring further around the town (John: bugger! Too much nice food AGAIN). We checked into our motel and after being shocked by the prices of spa treatments in the many natural mineral spa places around town, we decided to decline the experience and headed to the curiously named Wombat Hill Gardens instead.

Ailsa and Barb at Wombat Hill Gardens

Barb, John, Ailsa and David at Wombat Hill Gardens

We drove through the gardens along the most potholed road imaginable (John: she's forgetting Steve Irwin Way after heavy rain) and wound up at the top of the hill where there was a large observation tower like a lighthouse without the light. Unable to resist the chance to climb another set of steps (Oh God!) up we went. John (and Ailsa) later described it as squalid. It was indeed dark and foetid inside that tower, but the view was .... well that was not great either. So many trees had grown up to obstruct the view over time. Never mind.

Ailsa was determined to see the natural springs at the very least. We drove just out of Daylesford and found a lake and the natural springs. Apparently in warmer weather people swim in the lake. There were change rooms and swimming platforms for that purpose but today the water appeared cold and uninviting. When we spotted what appeared to be a large water rat swimming rapidly across the lake before disappearing into a whole in the rock wall all thought of swimming in any climate was abandoned.

Natural Springs

John taking the waters?

Ailsa, Barb and David at the lake

We've just come in from dinner at Ruben's in the nearby town of Hepburn Springs. This restaurant was recommended to us by our motel host, Darren, and he didn't steer us wrong. The Italian fare was high quality, and we were lucky to squeeze in without a booking even though it obviously is a popular spot with both tourists and locals, and for good reason.

Tomorrow is a long drive to Canberra. I doubt that there'll be opportunity to run up and down some steps, but boy I need to!

Aussie Road Trip Day Fourteen, Sunday 28th July

The Great Ocean Road .... Woo Hoo!!!!

I was so excited to be setting out on our tour of the Great Ocean Road this morning. This was, after all the reason for the whole trip and how come Ailsa and David came to join us on this leg of it.

It all started out with a casual comment during our New Year phone call to Ailsa and David to exchange good wishes for the year. "What are your travel plans for this year?" they asked. "Well I've always wanted to do the Great Ocean Road" said I. "Yeah, so do we." That's about all it took to convince them to come with us. So the trip was born .... and here we are at the Great Ocean Road on a wild wet and windy day, absolutely LOVING it!!!!

John at the Bay of Islands

A lone Corella sits on a rock warmed by the morning sun

David goes where Angels fear to tread

John, Barb and Ailsa at the Bay of Islands

Barb dancing for joy on the beach

Wisely (in our view) we got going early from Warrnambool. The weather forecast for the day didn't look too promising so we took advantage of the early morning sun while it lasted. Our first port of call was the Bay of Islands. This is, well, a bay of limestone stacks forming islands. But wow! What a way to start the day. It was simply stunning and the bright morning sun as it came up hit the rocks giving a magical glow to the formations and infusing some welcome warmth to the chilly air.

Next was the Bay of Martyrs. Again we marvelled over the amazing rock formations with their multi-coloured strata. We were able to get down onto the beach via a steep set of stairs and I danced for joy on the sand.

David was determined to get the very best photographic shots and risked life and limb to do so. No edges for me thanks! I stayed well clear, being a fraidy cat of long standing. It was hard to NOT get good photos anyway, the scenery speaks for itself.

The magical Grotto

We also went down a long set of steps at the Grotto to look through a window of rock to the churning sea beyond. I just know my quads will burn tonight from all the walking up and down we've done today, but it was sooo worth it!

London Bridge really did fall down. Not while we were there, fortunately. It is, or was, a pair of connected limestone arches reaching out from the mainland. Then in 1990 the nearer one forming the bridge to the land, fell into the sea. We noticed large fissures and cracks on many of the columns of rock that we saw today, so I guess it won't be the last rock collapse to occur.

London Bridge is falling down.....

The Arch

The Arch was another formation we viewed today. It was difficult to drag ourselves away from the splendid scenery we were gorging on to the point of sensory overload.

Hunger drove us to find somewhere finally to have breakfast. We found the Twelve Rocks Cafe on the waterfront at Port Campbell. With its floor to ceiling picture windows looking out over the pier and bay we were able to enjoy a hearty breakfast in toasty warm comfort while looking at the increasingly horrible weather outside. This nasty weather had been predicted and was starting to roll in with heavy gloomy clouds and a wind whipped from the Antarctic sea. We were delighted to have seen so much before having to deal with the elements at their worst.

Loch Ard Gorge

Ailsa and David brave the rain

The Loch Ard Razorback

Not far on from this was Loch Ard Gorge Razorback. It's easy to see why this area was called the shipwreck coast. The Loch Ard was another pioneering vessel to founder on this rocky coastline. Only two survivors, a young lady and cabin boy made it safely to shore where they scandalously spent the night alone together before being rescued.

Driving on towards the Twelve Apostles we managed to miss the turn off as it was on the opposite side of the road from what we expected. It turned out that the viewing platforms are accessed via a tunnel under the road.

Barb on Gibson's Steps

John on beach at Gibson's steps

We decided to see the Gibson Steps first (John: they were the only place to do a U-turn, we had little choice!) before backtracking back to the Twelve Apostles. Of course this - Gibson Steps - also involved another climb down a set of very steep and slippery stairs to the beach below. There were surfers again out here. We couldn't believe it. We were wet through and freezing, no umbrella could survive the wind without being blown inside out and by this time my hair was either plastered across my face or whipping into my eyes. It was lovely looking up at the sheer cliffs from the beach, although I kept a wary eye on the rapidly advancing tide so I could scurry back up the stairs if required.

David, Ailsa and John at 12 Apostles

Some of the Twelve Apostles

Inaccessible bay where seals live

We finally got back to the Twelve Apostles and we found where the rest of the tourists were congregated. This was clearly the place to be (John: ha! B****y Victoria!), and even on such a vile weathered day there was no shortage of foreign tourists posing in front of the Apostles. As did we. It was hard to stop yourself just going mad with the camera. I'm not known for holding back at any time when it comes to taking photos, and today was not the day to start!

Ailsa blown away by Apollo Bay Marina

We drove the rest of the way through some very winding road to Apollo Bay, only stopping briefly at Castle Cove to admire the view. After checking into our motel we had a late lunch in town and then ventured to the marina for a look around. Even the harbour was choppy with boats bouncing around on their moorings. Ailsa was nearly blown over by the wind. It seemed even the sea gulls were struggling to stay upright on their feet in the gusty wind. Some (fool) hardy golfers were attempting to play a round of golf on the nearby golf course. I'm predicting it wasn't a low scoring round.

The view from Marriner's lookout

Beautiful Apollo Bay

We then drove up to Mariners Lookout which overlooks the town of Apollo Bay. The views were spectacular from up on the hill. More photo opportunities! We were unable to see the Mariners Waterfall as the road there was closed, so it was back to the warmth of our motel to rest and look through our massive cache of photos from the day. We later learned that the road to the Mariners Waterfall was closed because of water over a ford on the way there. Waterfall, rain, water on road ... now why didn't we think of that?