The Auld Dog Visits Lands of Kiwis and Kangaroos

PLANES AND BOATS AND TRAINS ... AND RENTAL CARS Arose with mixed feelings: sadness at leaving the natural beauty and numerous attractions of the Otway/Apollo Bay area, but looking forward to our stay at Manly Beach. The clouds were dense and the rain intermittent as we broke camp and loaded the car. There was a bright rainbow to the north, however, as we turned in that direction to follow a winding mountainous road toward Melbourne. [cue Paul McCartney]. Once through the mountains we could have been in rural Mississippi ... broad fields of recently harvested hay; heaps of cattle (Angus, Hereford, Holstein, Brahman), as well as sheep and horses; small towns with churches, a general store, and a ball field ... only the eucalyptus/gum trees are different.  In less than 3 hours we were turning our rental car in near Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne.  Flying Tiger Air, and having learned our lesson about sweating a close call on making the cutoff for the flight last...

SURF PATROL COMPETITION AT APOLLO BAY We awakened, as predicted, to heavy rain and dark skies. The forecast was for this type weather all day today and tomorrow. We lounged around, did laundry, sipped tea and coffee (I’ve become quite the barista with the Expressi machine). Suddenly the rain stopped, and the clouds began to break. Keith was feeling a bit crook with a head cold coming on, so the girls and I went to Apollo Bay for some souvenir shopping. There’s a surf competition scheduled for Apollo Bay this weekend. We watched a little and took a few pictures. At Di and Susan’s suggestion I bought a scallop meat pie at the bakery for lunch, along with a lemon meringue tart and a saucer size ANZAC biscuit for us to share. We had lunch on the balcony, made even more enjoyable by the sailboat race getting underway across the bay and a dozen surfers riding some nice swells just down the hill from us. The good life! Victoria Surf Patrol competition at Apollo Bay Sailboats in ...

CAPE OTWAY As my blushing bride of 45 years slept in, Keith, Di, and I drove the ~20 miles to Cape Otway for  a walk along the Great Ocean Walk and for me to see the lighthouse there, which was built in 1848, making it the 2nd oldest in Australia. Thankfully after melting in jeans yesterday I had the foresight to wear shorts and a lightweight t shirt. The walk was fairly hilly, but it was a beautiful trail with several ocean views from high along the cliffs. We saw one other couple along the way.  Part of Great Ocean Walk After about 70 minutes I turned back so I could tour the lighthouse (something they weren’t as interested in). Going back I almost walked up on a wallaby and saw lots of birds. I was hot and thirsty, so had a drink made with passion fruit, guava, and some other fruit ... the fizz, wet, and sugar were wonderful after the walk. I very much enjoyed the lighthouse ... have a special feeling for them, perhaps because the Biloxi Lighthouse ...

THE TWELVE APOSTLES & FRIENDS Remember when you were a kid, and Christmas morning or your birthday came with great anticipation and excitement — and the event met (or even exceeded) your expectations? Piling on years of real life often dulls those expectations of wonder, but every now and then, if you’re really lucky ....  Today was one of those lucky times for me. We drove in the warm sun about 80 miles west, stopping at an overlook at Castle Cove, to a series of sea stacks which the sea and wind have carved out of the limestone which all have names. The most famous is a collection originally called the Sow and Piglets, but more recently known as the 12 Apostles, and the pictures I had seen of them were enchanting. Keith had identified a walk along part of the Great Ocean Walk about 5.5 km east of the Apostles to be dropped off and walk from there. I chose a spot about 4 km away (and not as steep from the looks of things). It was a nice walk along a gravelish track with a ...

SKENE'S CREEK/APOLLO BAY Today we continued to settle in at our Skene’s Creek house, which is just perfect: Large open den and kitchen upstairs with a wall of glass overlooking the ocean, which is about 300m away. A large deck with table and chairs, as well as a couple of lounge chairs and a gas grill. Downstairs are 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a laundry room. It’s in a wooded area above the beach,  and we’ve seen majestic but obnoxious sulfur-crested cockatoos, brilliant red mountain parrots, magpies (of course), and other species. The house is perfect for spending a few days relaxing and making day trips to nearby attractions we’d like to see.  Our neighbors - sulfur-crested cockatoos View of our rental house from beach View of beach from our house Spent the morning going into Apollo Bay to the visitor centre and getting info on places to go and the best routes. Keith walked the ~6 km, part of the route along the Great Ocean Walk, but I wimped to ...

MELBOURNE TO THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD Up early, check out, and catch an Uber to Southern Cross Station to rent a car for our trip to and on the Great Ocean Road. After a Chinese fire drill finding the car (how many pensioners does it take to find a car in a numbered car park?!?), we made it through the Melbourne traffic out to the western suburb of Geelong and beyond to the highway known as the Great Ocean Road, which runs along the southern coast from Melbourne to Adelaide. Our destination, the tiny beach village of Skene’s Creek on the outskirts of the neat coastal town of Apollo Bay, is about a 3 hour drive. It was a cool, windy, overcast day. We picked up the ocean — where the Bass Strait merges with the Southern Ocean — at Torquay, the alleged capital of Australian surfing. At the small town of Anglesea we stopped and had lunch at a pub/general store. The highway became narrower, hillier, more curvy, and had more construction the further we got from Melbourne.  We act...

IN THE SPORTS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD A sport (not sports or athletics) day! Keith and I had made reservations for a guided tour to opulent, enormous (120,000+) Flemington Park, the home of the Melbourne Cup, Australia's biggest horserace and the richest race in the world;  "The Straight Six" at Flemington and the 100,000+ seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), home of numerous cricket and AFL games (including the Grand Final, their Super Bowl).  MCG We also drove by the Laver Tennis Centre, home of the Australian Open, and two other footy stadiums, the AAMI (NRL) and Etihad (AFL). Melbourne has big money and accompanying pretense, as the Victoria Racing Club (Flemington) and Melbourne Cricket Club richly demonstrate. And our guide declared that Melbourne is the “sports capital of the world.” They certainly have a fervor and impressive facilities. While we were out, the girls went out to investigate Melbourne’s shoppi...

FIRST FULL DAY IN MELBOURNE Started my day with an instant coffee (that had been awhile!) — in Australia and NZ they’re big on hot tea, so an electric kettle to boil water for tea is standard equipment, rather than a Keurig or drip coffee maker. Found a Starbucks a couple of blocks away, and got us a muffin. It had gotten cooler and was threatening to rain ... but only sprinkled a little. The girls headed to art galleries, and Keith and I went our own ways. Taking a chance on the rain, I decided to walk the ~1 mile to the Melbourne Museum. It wwas excellent!  Saw outstanding exhibits on Aboriginal life, the history of Melbourne, and Aussie animals.  Also found lots of cool stuff for some of the grands at their gift shop. I was whupped, so headed for a place to sit, have a beer and a sandwich, and chill. I’ll be damned if I didn’t wander into a brew pub that had the Florida vs. Texas Tech NCAA tournament basketball game, which was very close at the half. I got mys...

NAMBUCCA TO MELBOURNE So we're leaving paradise in search of new locales and adventures.  Keith & Di's oldest son Scott picked us up in Nambucca and drove us to the local airport at Coffs Harbour for our flight to Melbourne.  After a flight on Tiger Air (more later*) of just <2 hours to Melbourne, we caught an Uber to our serviced apartment, which is conveniently located right smack in the middle of the CBD. We bought Myki (tram, train, and bus) cards and caught the tram out to Beacon Cove. It was overcast, but no rain. Had a nice dinner at a little place on the harbour.   Walked back by the huge ferry that makes the overnight trip to Tasmania, caught the tram back to the apartment, and called it a night. We are definitely in the big city! And it’s unusually warm in Melbourne, which I understand can be like San Francisco in regard to its weather. *Tiger Air, which we flew today and will fly from Melbourne to Sydney next week, is a low cost c...

LAST FULL DAY AT NAMBUCCA Although considerably preferable to the alternative, old age can be a pain ... literally.  This morning I decided to baby my knees and hip, which have gotten sore from walking in soft sand and up and down hills, as well as getting torqued about in the surf.  So I didn't do my usual beach walk.  In the late morning the girls went back to Shelly, and Keith and I went for a surf at Main Beach for awhile, but found the surf wanting and a little bit of a rip.  We then walked back to Swimming Creek, found a good (rock free) spot to go out, and caught a few nice waves there.  I'll really miss this part of the trip.  Later in the day it was time to wash and hang a final load of clothes and begin packing since we leave for Melbourne tomorrow.  Tonight we had an easy dinner of fish and chips that we ordered from a place downtown and took it and a bottle of wine to the picnic area on the estuary for a leisurely dinner....

THE IDES OF MARCH No, not the ones who sang the brassy 1970 hit "Vehicle" (although that's a terrific song), but the one on which yond Cassius had "that lean and hungry look," which portended bad cheddar for ole Julie Baby.  Perhaps he should've shared his baloney sammitch?!  Although today was a comfortable, cloudless day, the surf was (to use Keith's term) a bit messy, and thus not favorable for grandfatherly surfing.  A long beach walk would have to do ... and did, along with some time with Susan and Di at Shelly Beach, their favorite place to read, beachcomb, and loll about in the shade.  I got in the water a couple of times to cool off, and the water temp was quite nice.  Back home for reading and a short kip, then the real excitement began.  Keith and Di hosted a small birthday dinner party for their daughter-in-law, Lee.  Di's older sister and husband, who live just up (literally) the street from them, came too.  Kiva, the 7 yr. ...

HAPPY PI DAY Not sure about where you are, but here in Nambucca Heads we elected to celebrate Pi Day by spending time enjoying the beach and the great outdoors.  Susan, the woman who should live to be 180 because she's been asleep about half the time she's been alive, actually woke up to see the sun come up over the trees in the national forest to our SE, as the photo reveals.  "It's another Nambucca sunrise ...." (There's a good reason for this:  The neighbors on the side next to our bedroom window get up and going at 5:30 each morning, have a squeaky garage door, and a loud truck ... and take turns shouting at each other.  As if the kookaburras need the help!) While Keith swam, I walked through town to the riverwalk, along it, to the estuary and V Wall, then across the hill to Shelly Beach, and along it back home.  It was a good 1 1/2 hr. walk, and I was ready for breakfast.  The girls went off the Shelly, and Keith and I returned to Ma...

GETTING THE HANG OF IT Okay, so here's the way nice days -- and this one was cloudless with perfect early fall temps -- go in this idyllic little beach town:  Have some coffee or tea.  Go for a walk on the beach.  Come home and eat a healthy breakfast.  Have a surf.  Shower and shave.  Eat a light lunch.  Read and take a nap.  Maybe go on a late afternoon beach walk.  Have a glass of wine or a beer.  Eat dinner.  Have another glass of wine.  Watch TV until you start nodding off.  Read yourself to sleep.  Rinse and repeat.  I think I've about got it. The above pretty well describes this day.  About the only thing out of the ordinary is that when Keith and I went to Black Rock to bodysurf, we noticed a definite rip current on either side of where we were surfing.  Very soon after we'd gotten into the water, Keith said, "I think we'd better give it a miss" and explained why.  I had only see...

A PERFECT DAY   We awoke to cool temperatures (59F), but it warmed up steadily to about 77 ... and the sky was cloudless.  The perfect beach day!  Keith and I went back to Black Rock for a surf, and the waves were better than the previous day -- still a good size, but not quite as turbulent without as much wind.  Susan and Di had walked down to Shelly, so we walked down to join them.  Eventually we wandered back home for lunch, then had a kip (nap).  Read a while, then later in the afternoon I decided to walk the crest again down to Beilby and to take some photos.  As it turned out, that was a good decision since the lighting was very good, as you'll see below.  Di grilled lamb (don't tell Mary or Bo Peep!) for dinner, and we had a lovely, easy evening on the deck just eating, drinking wine, and talking about a variety of things that we too seldom don't have a chance to do together.  It was a cool, serene, starlit night.  With ...