Great Ocean Road Sunday 2/10/08

Those ham and cheese Danish we bought yesterday turn out to be a wonderful idea this morning. That and a little fruit and we’re ready to go. It turns out that we have nowhere to be.
This is a good morning for us to get caught up on some computer stuff and get the packing and wardrobes realigned for the next few days, so a couple hours disappears pretty fast. We have to hit the ATM after all of our food (and beer) stand purchases from the last two days, and while we are doing that we see a paperback sale. We root through books for a while, buy 3 for $12 and think that maybe that bakery is open and we can grab a couple more of those Danish for tomorrow. By the time we do that we see that the Noodle Box is open and we had better have a little lunch to hold us over. We snare a couple chicken Pad Thai and go back to our apartment to eat. Where has the day gone?

Really, there are plans for the rest of the day. Even though we will be heading east tomorrow we have been advised to use Warrnambool to explore the first 40 miles of the Great Ocean Road which is a scenic tourist route that extends from here almost to Melbourne. As would be expected, the road hugs the coast with turnouts for vistas along the way. We decide to drive to the far end of our route for the day and work our way back, but are held up when we see Cheese World as we’re leaving town. Can’t miss that. We spend one and a half minutes exploring the cheese museum, then do some nibbling and pick up a couple chunks that are slated for lunch tomorrow.

Our destination, just beyond the little community of Port Campbell, is a rock formation called the Twelve Apostles. These are massive limestone pillars that are lined up down the water line. They were part of the original cliffs that have eroded through wave action and left standing as sentinels just off shore. The sign says that you can’t see all twelve from any angle but our guidebook says there were only ten to begin with and two have fallen down leaving eight. We think we count nine from where we are but maybe they’re not all apostles. What we count plenty of are Japanese tourists and the famous Aussie flies. One is pushing you around and the other is trying to crawl up your nose. Neither cares much about our concept of personal space.

We do work our way back down the coast stopping at each of the turn-out sites that are different versions of the 12 Apostles; Loch Ard Gorge, The Arch, London Bridge, The Grotto, Bay of Martyrs, the Bay of Islands and assorted unnamed views. Each is a different version of limestone formation or a site of some historic significance involving shipwrecks. Some sites have no buses and some have no flies and the afternoon turns out to be interesting. We stop for some groceries to go with our Cheese World cheese and get back about 5:30. Mary gets to do laundry.

We have some leftover Pad Thai, a bottle of shiraz from our wine tour in Adelaide, and finish out dinner with a little pizza-to-go from up the street. At 9:30 it is time for the big finale of "Wunta" fiesta with fireworks down at the lake. We have discovered that the lake is straight downhill from a vantage point that is a block from our apartment so we grab a parking lot barrier to sit on and watch the fireworks from above. Very nice. The Irish pub we stopped at last night is calling our name, and when we arrive, there are about a dozen folks hanging out. When we leave a half hour later we have to squeeze through hundreds of twenty-somethings who are there to party. Obviously they were down by the lake for the fireworks. Home to bed for the old folks.

Today’s local headline: Goodbye Daddy Sun Herald Sunday (Heath Ledger’s daughter at his funeral in Perth)

Warrnambool Saturday 2.09.08

We booked the "Bride and Groom" package with our apartment in Warrnambool which gets us a couple tiny bottles of champagne (now gone), a little package of chocolates (partially gone) and a breakfast at "Figsellers" about a block down the street. We decide this is the morning for breakfast so we mosey through the amazingly light residue from the festivities of the night before and settle in for some poached eggs on toast with sausages. They have a local paper available and we are able to check out the rest of the "Wunta" activities for the weekend which include a car show (that we already passed), and jazz in the park this afternoon. Tomorrow is the "Undy 500" where local celebrities run around in their undapants, along with family activities at the lake and fireworks in the evening. We are so lucky.

We now have an opportunity to check out the city and wander the streets for a couple hours poking into shops here and there. In a kitchen store a lady makes us a latte with chocolate sprinkles while we are nosing so we do our best to find something to buy and wind up spending 50 bucks. It’s always amazing what a little hospitality will do for business. We also check out the local Target (they are everywhere here) and at the bakery next door find a couple of ham and cheese Danish for tomorrow morning.

When we get back to our digs we have the desk person book a table for us for dinner and after sitting for 15 minutes decide that it must be time for Jazz in the Park! It is about a mile walk to the botanical gardens and there is a very nice crowd considering that it is still probably 60 degrees with a mixture of clouds, sun, wind, and the occasional spit of rain. We find a beer tent and grab a couple Cooper Pale Ales and as we turn around a table opens up in front of the stage and yet very near the beer. We are so lucky.

What a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. The music is very good, the beer is cold, and John discovers the "Kransky" which is a type of Polish sausage that he has on a bun with a fried bacon and onion mixture, grainy mustard and tomato relish. Mary tries a bite or two and another fourth of it dribbles onto the ground but it is still an excellent experience. At about 4:00 we are leaving at the same time as the 80-something couple next to us, and Mary volunteers us to haul their lawn chairs back to their car for them. She is explaining that we are from Minnesota that is very near Canada and we are convinced that the lady has decided that we are very nice Canadians. We are kind souls but not good diplomats. We check out cricket practice at the adjacent fields before wandering back.

Dinner is at "Beach Babylon" and we have their special seafood platter for two which includes a half lobster, oysters Kirkpatrick (baked with bacon and Worcestershire), shrimp, scallops and assorted other fish cakes and nibbly things along with a pile of garlic cheese bread. We need one more dash of local color so stop at the Irish Pub on the way back for a Guinness before bed. It is better than our mini Champagnes and we will sleep well tonight.

Today’s local headline: Swan acts to curb bank fees The Age (with rising interest rates the government minister is stepping in to reduce other fees charged by banks)