The Place To Be
At least that’s what the license plates say in the state of Victoria. We officially set foot on our 4th continent since January by landing in Melbourne and we hit the road yet again. The three of us didn’t have the same flight so Beth had a little extra time in Melbourne to check out the shopping center. She found Woolworth’s and Target!
We headed for the Great Ocean Road and Apollo Bay. The first day was spent mostly in the twilight and dark which made driving the unfamiliar twisty coastal road lots of fun. In addition, we had to keep our eyes peeled for a collection of animals that we haven’t even seen in the daylight. Kangaroo and koala crossing signs were the most frequent. The next day we spent exploring the coast and the inland rain forest of the Otway National Park. We also spotted kangaroos and koalas off of a gravel road around twilight. The kangaroos bounced right in front of the car and the koalas perch themselves surprisingly high up on thin little branches. The next day we visited Cape Otway Lighthouse and did some bushwalking trying to find the elusive platypus, but no luck. We then returned to Melbourne via the faster inland highway. An actual divided highway, but no one speeds so you plod along at 100 km/h.
Once in Melbourne we were lucky enough to meet up with some locals. Denver, who we met on our hiking trip in Peru, toured us around the greater metro area, stopped at a couple of watering holes, and ended up at his sister’s for a home cooked meal. YUM and THANKS! The next day we met up with Eliza and Ryan, friends from California, for Sunday brunch. They picked out a great spot. They were nice enough to walk us around the city and point out other points of interest like the market, library, and the Melbourne Museum before we parted ways. Thanks for a fabulous morning! That same evening we walked along the beach and pier in St Kilda and got to see Blue penguins amongst the rocks. The poor little guys were getting flash-blinded by the countless tourists so we didn’t take any pictures.
The next destination was the Blue Mountain region outside of Sydney. Depending on who or what search engine you ask this can be an 8 to 12 hour drive. Mike drove all day, 10 hours, and we stopped an hour short in Bathurst. That put us in a new a state, New South Wales which has really boring license plates.