Limestone Coast Friday 2/08/08

As we travel south (after crossing the Murray River yesterday) we are driving along what is known as the "Limestone Coast" or the "Southwest Coast" as it is southwest of Melbourne. That will continue today for another hundred miles between Robe and Mt. Gambier. The landscape is low with dunes along the water, chalky inlets and bays here and there and white splotches appearing among the scrub brush that dominates the scene.

All lodging properties in NZ and Australia (and the UK and Ireland for that matter) provide an electric kettle and a carton of milk for making tea in the morning which we use for instant coffee. Mary mentions that the coffee tastes salty today and then remembers that Malcolm explained that this part of the country was all under the ocean at some time and as the water receded, it left a layer of salt that was eventually covered with various soils. Now the rain passes through the salt layer before entering the water table. John then remembers that Trudy, our host in Robe, explained that there was a jug of rainwater in the fridge for making coffee. You can’t remember everything, and some people like a little pinch of salt in their coffee.

The big news today is that after spending 3 of the last 15 months traveling in countries that require left-side-of-the-road driving, Mary takes her first shift behind the wheel. Roads are straight and reasonably wide with minimal traffic through these flat stretches so the morning run of 100 miles to Mt. Gambier is just the ticket. We do a little break dance around Robe trying to find the right road out of town (which is a nice warm up) and by the time we hit the highway the cruise control kicks in and it is smooth sailing. Outside of traveling 80 of the hundred miles with our left wheels in the ditch, several gasps by John and a couple of honking incidents when we reach Mt. Gambier, the trip was pleasant and uneventful.

Mt. Gambier boasts (argues) that they have the longest main street in Australia and we walk from one end to the other looking for just the right place for lunch. The temperature is probably in the low 60’s and the wind is whipping so Mary gets the big bowl of minestrone soup with pesto and John has the Asian chicken burger with garlic fries. The lunch is very good and we decide that the walk was worth it except for the part about walking back. Along the way we make a quick stop at a casino to warm up & win $8 on the penny machine with the first spin.

We are now starting our swing to the east and miss our turn to follow the coast road and instead wind up on the inland highway that is faster. We see our first emus along this stretch of road but don’t get an opportunity to get pictures. We rejoin the Southern Ocean at Portland and the landscape has changed dramatically to granite outcroppings and turquoise water. This piece of coastline in general and the Warrnambool harbor in particular are famous for shipwrecks and we stop at a place called the "Crags" for a view of the sailor surprises. We detour into Port Fairy for a walk around what has been described as one of the most unique small towns on the south coast. We must have picked up a Chamber of Commerce brochure because it is pretty so-so but at least we have saved ourselves a trip back tomorrow.

When we get to Warrnambool (pronounced warn’mbool) the street to our apartment is closed and we are detoured around a few blocks and eventually find our spot at the other end of the closure. When we check-in the desk person tells us that the street is closed for "Wunta" which is their big festival celebrating whales and water and maybe some other stuff that she hasn’t heard about. There will be bands and food and activities galore beginning a half block from our front door - yippee.

Actually it is fun. We head out in the evening and listen to some music and grab some egg rolls, pizza slices, fajitas and a couple beers from the sidewalk food vendors (the restaurants have set up outside with some of their specialties). There is a very good rock band playing with a Stevie Nicks type lead singer and even a guy on bagpipes (in case anyone is reading this in Illinois).
This is our 3-day rest stop and the apartment is nice even if we are stuck in a corner with a shrunken balcony and a view of the parking lot. Warrnambool has 32,000 folks and a festival so what more could we want?

Today’s local headline: Overruled The Standard (a Victoria state minister takes a housing development decision away from a local planning commission because he doesn’t feel the location will work with the future impact of climate change