Monday and Tuesday - January 19th & 20th, 2009 Heading Home

Monday we spent the day shopping for a few last minute take home items, then got all our bags organized and weighed so that we would not have any challenges at the check in. Then we were free to wander around, so Barb went for a walk to check out places for our last dinner in Australia. Of the two places she checked on, the first choice was closed for supper, and the second had no customers, so we enjoyed a beer and headed back to the motel to pick up the car for further searching. We ended up enjoying a delightful dinner in a small steak and seafood restaurant about 10 minutes from the motel.
Tuesday we headed out early – being a little cautious about finding our way to the airport. It went so smoothly, that when we checked in we were the first to arrive for our flight. This allowed us time to pick up the few items we hadn’t been able to find yesterday. One thing we purchased was a hand painted Boomerang. As we bought it in the airport in Melbourne we thought nothing about taking in on the plane, however, when Harry left it on the seat in the airplane in Sydney, we learned that it was a weapon and not welcome on the flight from Sydney to LA, this meant a bit of reorganizing and running around (by Barb) to get it put into the computer bag and checked. The computer remained on board with us. The rest of the trip was fairly smooth, except that Barb left her waist purse on the plane – more running around, but all was found. And now as we sit in the LA Airport awaiting our last flight home we have time to reflect a bit on the trip.

It has been an amazing almost 6 weeks. No including getting there and coming back, we travelled about 16,715 KM, 8,500 KM by air, 465 by bus and the rest 7750 by car – of which about 5975 were in Australia. We saw drought-starved land in Victoria and deserts in the Northern Territory that have had so much rain that they are unusually green. We have been in temperatures approaching 40 C and enjoyed swimming in beautiful oceans that were well over 20 C. We had wonderful conversations with so many folks, some in stores and restaurants, some just on the street. We feel that we have been really blessed to have been able to make this trip together be talking at the end. We returned home to sub zer temperatures (just a bit) and a fog that had been hanging around for 15 days, and left over snow from Chirstmas. We look forward to future trips to other lands.
Watch for the blog which we hope to post when Marcus and Barb go to Kenya this summer, and next year when Harry and Barb are hosting a trip to Europe to see among other things the Passion Play in Oberammergau.

Sunday January 18th, 2009 – Frankston

After we arrived home last evening we checked out some Uniting Churches in the area, and decided to attend the Contemporary service at the High Street Uniting Church in Frankston. We decided on the Contemporary service for a couple of reasons, the most practical was that Frankston is a 25 KM drive from our motel, and the contemporary service was at 10:30 while the traditional service was at 9 AM. We arrived at the church about 9:30, so took the opportunity to scope out the area and found there was a ‘festival’ happening at the beach and community park. There was also – as we expected a wonderful beach.
We were warmly greeted at the door, and quickly engaged in conversation with Ruth Poole the wife of retired clergy Arthur. We were also greeted by the Rev Dr. Robert Johnson and his wife Chris. The service was delightful with much upbeat music and a strong message. Part of the service was used to report on the National Christian Youth Conference (NCYC) that was just held in Melbourne in the past week or so. The youth who attended, and the adults that volunteered were equally excited about what they had experienced. After the service over tea we were invited to dinner with Arthur and Ruth, and we gratefully accepted.
The afternoon was spent partly at “the Fair” and partly sunning and swimming at the beach. For the most part the Fair was comprised of the usual food booths, demonstrations of dance and music, live stage presentations and some rides. What was unusual, and a real delight was this Sand sculpture display of Dinosaurs. We spent the better part of an hour wandering through the exhibit and marvelling at the work involved in the presentation.
Then it was time for Barb to hit the water. She walked out into the waves – and walked – and walked, and finally, when the water reached her waist she swam. The water was lovely and warm, and the waves manageable. No one was surfing as the waves were just right for a bit of body surfing, but not enough for the serious surfers.
At about 5:30 we set out to find Ruth and Arthur’s home. Mission accomplished. We had delightful dinner and stimulating conversations with this much travelled couple. What a wonderful way to wrap up our last Sunday in Australia (for this trip).
With their clear directions we made it back to our motel in record time, and we were quick to head into bed – looking forward to tomorrow to do a bit of last minute shopping and getting things packed up for the trip home on Tuesday.

Saturday January 17th, 2009 - Warrnambool to Melbourne (Dandenong)

We had a really good sleep and awoke late so slowly packed up and headed back to Dandenong via the A1 (the Princess Highway) and Queenscliff. The A1 is definitely the faster route, though less scenic route between Geelong and Warrnambool. The route goes through a few small towns and lots of ranch area with some very large herds of dairy cattle and sheep. We left at about 10:30, drove the distance, shopped at Torquay for an hour or so and then headed to the 4 PM ferry at Queenscliff to Sorrento. This way we avoided driving through Melbourne. While on the ferry we noted a very large number of sail and motor boats in the bay, and even more wonderful scenery.
We had a great drive up the coast line from Sorrento to Dandenong, with a wonderful view of the Port Phillip Bay including more than one swimming beach and lots of places to launch boats. At times we were right down at water levels and at other times we were way above. All along the route on the other side of the road were a multitude of house and businesses. As this is within a half an hour of our motel, we figure this might be a wonderful place to visit over the next few days.

Friday January 16th, 2009 - the Great Ocean Road

The plan for today was to leave our hotel in Dandenong (an eastern suburb of Melbourne), at around 7 AM (which we did), travel –through the city to Geelong, to Torquay and onto the Great Ocean Road. This road follows the coast line from Torquay through to Adelaide, but we only intended to go as far as Warrnambool. The driving time should have been about 6 hours and 30 minutes, plus a half an hour to get through town, however, getting through town took a hour and a half because we got lost 3 times. First of all we got onto M3 instead of M1, and then received only partial instruction – well – anyway – we made it, and had an adventure or two along the way.
The route has some of the most magnificent scenery we have ever seen. For the most part, it follows the coast, past some world famous surfing beaches and incredible cliffs.
Our first stop was Bell’s Beach – which despite the chilly and blustery weather, and a recent shark attack, had a goodly number of surfers either already in the water, or getting into their ‘wetty’s’ to head out.
A little further along we came across the Split Point Lighthouse – which was very important in early navigation and still functions today, though is fully automated. The scenery was lovely, there was a very nice walking trail that led to the viewpoint and there were these delightful, tiny berries along the path. We stopped for a coffee/tea and a freshly made scone with cream and home made jam. Yum!
We drove on quite a way further admiring the scenery as we went (the road is very winding, sometimes we were at ocean level, and sometime far above). Then at Marengo we left the coast line and the road wandered though lush rain forests and cultivated farm land. At one point when surrounded by fields we noted a sign for a view point. We were surprised as we thought we were quite a way inland, (as you can see here), but when we went over the little hill – we were amazed by the sight of Castle Cove.
After another period of being in land, we were back on the coast, and invited to visit the Loch Ard Gorge view point. It was still cold and blustery, but Barb went out and got these wonderful pictures of the artwork that God has created through time, and erosion.
We stopped briefly at Port Campbell for a bit of late lunch, and then were back on our way to Warrnambool. We made this last stop at the Bay of Islands, and then arrived just before 5 PM.
After checking in we set out on foot to explore Warrnambool, wandering down the main street, and checking out the fair at the Beach and Lake Pertobe in Warrnambool and then did a bit of shopping, had supper and back to our motel – about a 3 hours adventure. One thing we did see of great interest was this maze that is a focal point in the middle of a children’s playground. Tomorrow we will head back to Melbourne for our last few days before heading home.

Thursday January 15th, 2009 - Phillip Island Victoria

We had a relaxed get up today as we planned to spend the day on Phillip Island which is located about 95 KM South and East of Melbourne. It is most famous for its Penguin Parade, but as we learned, it has a lot more to offer. The day started out cool and blustery – about 15 C, overcast, and windy so we took along what we thought were adequate clothes for a day and early evening outside.
Our first stop – after the Information Booth, was the Heritage Farm Site. Here we spent the better part of two hours wandering around this farm site that was used for over a hundred years, partly as a working farm, and partly as a summer retreat for its wealthy owner. The site was sold to the state 1976 to be used for heritage and education purposes. While we were there, a group of children were given a demonstration of cooking scones in a wood burning fireplace and making butter from scratch. They were obviously having a great time. Barb enjoyed wandering through the Amess family home, and the beautiful gardens (including this stunning example of a Mulberry tree). Harry enjoyed attempting to name and figure out the uses for all the machinery in the machinery and blacksmith shops.
Our next stop after a light lunch was the Koala Reserve. Here the conservation branch of the government has set up a site which maintains about 20 Koalas – within a semi enclosed space, and ensures that they have adequate food and safety. In exchange, people like ourselves can wander through the elevated pathways to observe them a little closer that usual, and in a more natural setting than the Australian Zoo. Most of the time – about 20 hours a day the Koalas rest as their food consists only of Eucalyptus leaves which give them a daily nutritional supply of about 1 cup of cereal for us. Therefore, they must preserve their strength for important activities like eating, mating and staying in trees. The greatest delight was this young female that decided to take a bit of a walk down the path to try out a new tree. We were very fortunate to see this amount of activity.
The next stop was Shelley Beach to watch some surfers. Barb’s zoom lens picked up this surfer trying a stunt on his board.
The third stop of the day took about 3 hours of wandering up and down the paths of The Nobbies. These are two islands off the coast of Phillip Island. The number of gulls flying around was astounding, and we were able to get this picture of a baby Fairy Penguin which had come out of its burrow to look around.
The scenery around the area was amazing, and the colours of both the water and the flowers growing on the cliffs are absolutely beautiful as you can see. There is something so attractive about waves crashing up on rocks.
Our last stop of the day was the Penguin Parade. Here hundreds of fairy penguins waddle up the beach each night to their waiting chicks on the shore. They come up after dark in rafts of 10 to 15 birds at one time, at first tentatively leaving the water, and gradually making their way up the beach and into the grassy areas on the dunes. There are no pictures as taking pictures is strictly forbidden as any flash might scare the Penguins into returning to the water without feeding their young. These penguins are the smallest penguins in the world, being only about 1 Kilo in weight and reaching a maximum of 30 cm in height. We returned back to our motel by about 11 PM – a little tired, and a little cold, but filled with the joy of the memories of the sights we had seen today.