Posted in Uncategorized on September 25, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Besides trams zipping every which way, Melbourne is pretty much like Sydney or the other cities we’ve seen. I’m sure a Melbournite or Sydneysider would gasp to hear that, but eh, we’re only here for two days. Haven’t had time to really get to know the place.
We found a light lunch at a pub, where [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 23, 2007 | No Comments »
Surf Coast Spa, the jewel of Anglesea, was a hideous collection of purple buildings. The whole place was mid-renovation, which given its state was long overdue, but at present resulted in a construction zone-type appearance.
We missed the chance to back the car up and keep on driving. Instead we were checked into room 4, an [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 23, 2007 | No Comments »
The next morning was blue skies, brilliant sun, and as usual, a chilly wind. Our hosts brought down poached eggs, sausages, and other yumminess for breakfast, after which we wandered down to the empty beach and enjoyed the view.
Then it was off eastward for the official Great Ocean Road drive.
Now, the G.O.R. can be divided [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 23, 2007 | No Comments »
Our first day’s drive out of Adelaide was to get us down toward the start of the Great Ocean Road. Our destination was Port Fairy, where a B&B awaited.
Driving out of Adelaide took us through scenic hills and one long tunnel. We could have taken the scenic coastal highway south, but the southeast road was [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 22, 2007 | No Comments »
We genuinely wished we’d given Kangaroo Island more time. This had been expressed to us repeatedly in the travel brochures, but I guess that’s the cost of a whirlwind tour.
The bus picked us up at the Hideaway (thank you, Rex and Michelle!) and we hopped on the ferry back to the mainland, where giant windmills [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 22, 2007 | 1 Comment »
On Thursday we had some yummy Multi-Grain Cheerios for breakfast (in Oz it’s just “Cheerios” 
and were picked up by a Sealink tour bus for a day-long tour of Kangaroo Island.
Now, the island is bigger than you think, even after you establish that it’s big. About 100 km long, it would comfortably wrap around the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 22, 2007 | No Comments »
We were up at 6 dang o’clock in the morning to catch the 6:20 shuttle to Kangaroo Island. Already we ran into a problem. Apparently here in Australia, whether by land or air, when they say 6:20, they mean “The bus/plane is pulling away at 6:18 whether or not you’re there.” We’ve seen this several [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 19, 2007 | 1 Comment »
About two in the morning, a noise woke me up. I rolled over. Mary Beth was sitting up in bed, MacBook open on her lap, “Deadwood” playing on the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t sleep.”
My sleepy butt rolled over and went back to sleep.
The next morning, the truth was revealed: by “can’t sleep,” Mary [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 19, 2007 | No Comments »
Down south we flew, into greener lands and cooler temperatures. We landed in Adelaide in the early afternoon and grabbed a bus into downtown.
Adelaide’s a planned city just like Austin, and the CBD is laid out in a perfect grid shape. It’s got plenty of old buildings, densely packed, with cool touches like a [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on September 17, 2007 | 1 Comment »
The plan for the next morning was to wake up bright and early for the 6:30 AM sunrise over Ayers Rock.
Thanks to the generous food and wine portions offered by the Sounds of Silence dinner, this didn’t exactly happen.
But I did roll out of bed not TOO far past sunrise, and stumbled to the top [...]
