Great Ocean Highway Day 2 - Saturday, May 10, 2014

A rain storm passed over the area during the evening and overnight (we used our umbrella’s to walk to a restaurant), but by morning the sun was bright and the sky clear.  We are off on a great day.  The rugged coast line of southern Australia continues to be interesting.  We stopped at the Otway Lighthouse, and Johanna Beach. We drove on some very off-the-main-route roads! Beautiful remote country side!

Coastal Hills near Apollo Bay

Almost looks like "A Man From Snowy River" House

Eucalyptus Trees

Coast near Otway Lighthouse

Otway Lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then we found a spot where koala’s were in the trees!!  We were told they were likely in this certain area, so we began looking for lumps in the tree tops.  Sure enough, we first spotted one that was sleeping, then another and then one that was awake.  In the end we spotted 6 koala in the wild at this spot along the road.  It was approximately noon, and by this time koalas are usually napping.  That is what we found them doing.  They were in the ‘Y’ of a tree branch curled in a ball, sleeping away!  It was exciting! 

We stopped at every interesting point along the Great Ocean road, hiking to almost every lookout point.  The 12 Apostle formations, the Arch formation, the London Bridge formation, and finally the Grotto formation - these were a few of the interesting formations we saw today just off the rugged southern coast of Australia. 



Johana Beach



Farmstead along a Remote Road



Remote Road - No one else around

12 Apostle Rock Formation

12 Apostle Rock formation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loc-Ard Gorge

The Arch

London Bridge - Connection to mainland fell in 1990

The Grotto

We were in some remote locations where there were very few people, but at the 12 Apostles formations, half of Asia was there!! – busloads!!

For tonight we are in the town of Warrnambool.  It was a great day viewing nature.    

Flinders to Apollo Bay, The Great Ocean Highway - Friday, May 9, 2014:

I mentioned in the previous blog how we visited a former exchange student who spent a year in Mt Pleasant. I knew he was from Melbourne, but that really is not specific.  I contacted the family who hosted him, as to where he was located, in or around Melbourne.  To our surprise he lives 30 minutes from our friends on the Mornington Peninsula.  To say the least, it was wonderful to reconnect after 20 years.  I had told him I would look him up when I get to Melbourne, not knowing it would really be this easy!  

After breakfast this morning we were off to the Budget car rental in Mornington.  We picked up a blue Nissan.  Our friends have been wonderful hosts, showing us the Mornington Peninsula, BUT now we are on our own!  The driver sits on the ‘wrong side’ of the car, driving on the ‘other side of the road’, and going around the round-a-bouts at what seems to be in the wrong directions.  We have done it before and we can do it again!!  You simply have to concentrate!     

We are off toward the ferry on the southwest tip of the Mornington Peninsula. It was a 45 minute crossing to where we picked up The Great Ocean Road - that is road along the southern coast of Australia.

Ferry from Portsea to Queens Cliff

Bells Beach

Bells Beach - Famous Surfing Beach

I have not said much about the temperature.  Overnight it is in the 40’s but by midday it is in the low to mid 60’s when the sun is out.  If it is a cloudy day, as would be expected, it does not warm up as much.  Thank goodness for all the layers we brought along.  The other night when we were watching the penguins we had hats, hoods, gloves, and coats, plus when we were seated in the viewing stands, we had a blanket over our legs like we do at football games. The wind was blowing directly off Antarctica!!

The Great Ocean Road – What breathe taking views of the coast line.  It reminds us of Hwy #1 in CA.  There are numerous pull outs where you can stop to take photos.   We stopped many times.  One of those stops was to see the lighthouse near Aireys Inlet.  We hiked up the hill to the Split Point Light House from where we could view the Split Point rock formation.  We took so many photos today of the coastline, but we will share only a few! 

Rock Formation at Anglesea

Cal at Rock Formation at Anglesea

Willy Wagtail distracting us from his nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued on to Apollo Bay where we found a motel for the night.  This is winter, so not many tourists are around. 

Coastal View along The Great Ocean Highway

Light House at Aireys Inlet

Aireys Inlet Split Point Rock

Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo

Here are a few words that we understand, but are said differently! “No overtaking” – means ‘no passing’; ‘Give way’ – means ‘yield’; instead of seeing signs that say ‘keep right’, they say ‘keep left’!

Great Ocean Road Entrance

House along the Highway

Great Ocean Highway

Remember - Drive on the LEFT

Ocean View

We have not seen many tillable crops in this area of Australia.  If there are tillable crops, it is usually veggies for human consumption. So far we have seen mostly grazing land for cattle/cows of which we have seen a lot.  We have seen several horse farms, and today we saw more sheep grazing on the hillsides. We continued to see wineries and golf courses - you could either golf your way across the area or wine taste your way!

I have discovered there is a whole new set of birds in Australia!  If they sit/stand still long enough and if we are close enough, we take a photo of them.  Also there are plants that bloom during the winter, so we have taken a few pictures of blooming flowers.

Tomorrow we continue west on The Great Ocean Road – this is actually a Memorial Highway to those lost in WWI.   

The Flinders Area - Thursday May 8, 2014

After a slow start this morning – did some laundry which we hung out, and answered some emails, we went to St Andrews Beach, on the south side of the peninsula.  This is a well-known surfing beach.  At least 14 people were in the water where we stopped, and by the time we left, another 10 were there to surf over their noon break from work – they may have been taking the afternoon off too!

St Andrews Beach

St Andrews Beach

St Andrews Beach with Friends



Cal & Rachel on St Andrews Beach

On this peninsula, where ever you go you are always seeing the ocean or one of two bays. It is beautiful! Also on this peninsula, if you are not playing golf, you can go wine tasting.  There are lots of golf courses and lots of wineries.  At 2:30 we had a light lunch at a winery about 10 minutes from our friend’s home. –You can tell we are on vacation, eating lunch at 2:30!!

Australian Winery

Lunch at the Winery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This evening we are being hosted for dinner by a former exchange student who attended Mt Pleasant High School in 1993-4.          -  What a lovely evening we had.  It is such a delight to see exchange students years later when they are young adults – to meet their spouses and children.  He is now an Assistant Principal and teacher for grade 7 while his wife teaches grade 8.  They are wonderful chefs too.  We had a gourmet meal of lamb in a home they have designed and built themselves. It was so fun catching up on his last 20 years.  

Flinders and Phillip Island - Thursday, May 8, 2014

Oh, what a beautiful morning! The sun is shining, and the view is gorgeous! It looks so warm outside however, it is in the middle 40’s at this point.  By afternoon it will warm up to the 60’s.

Our Friends House in Flinders

 

View from Living Room

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday morning we walked along the beach and local golf course that looks over the sea.  The serenity was wonderful.  In the afternoon, we drove to a Botanical Gardens which has only Australian native plants. The Gardens design was wonderful.

Flowers in the Garden

View of the Beach during our Walk

For it being wintertime, there are still many blooming flowers, and many different species of birds..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But the highlight of the day was seeing the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island! At late dusk, these ‘little penguins’, 12-13 inches tall, come in from the sea where they have been fishing all day.  It is a phenomenon of nature!  It is actually too dark to take photos, when all of a sudden they beginning popping out of the sea onto the beach, usually in clusters of 12-15.  From the beach they walk/crawl over rocks to the sandy dune above, where they have burrows.  They mate and lay eggs in the burrows, and stay there overnight until before dawn they are out in the ocean fishing again.  When they have young, they regurgitate the fish to feed them. The photo we will post is from a poster, as we were not allowed to take photos with a flash. If you want to see a video, go to You Tube – Phillip Island Penguin Parade.  There is a huge colony of penguins on Phillip Island – 32,000!  They were expecting 750 penguins to come on shore at our location last night.  During the day, this area is closed to the public, but those that are sitting on the nest, and have young, remain near the burrows all day. 

 

Flowering Eucalyptus Tree

HoneyEater Bird in the Eucalyptus Tree



Australian Country Side



Little Penguins coming ashore

 We are off for another day of adventure. 



Phillip Island Penguin Parade

Melbourne, Australia – Wednesday May 7, 2014

We have missed most of May 5^th.  Due to crossing the International Date line we went directly to  May 6^th!

 

On the plane – One of the 2 parts of this trip that we dreaded is almost over! - The 16 hour flight from Dallas, TX to Brisbane, AU. Each of us watched 2 movies and we did sleep for a while – however it was not quality sleep! To our delight the plane was not full, which was wonderful – it gives you space to move around and not be crowded elbow to elbow.  We had reserved isle seats for both of us – across from each other, but when we realized there was plenty of room, I moved. We are flying Quantas Air which has amenities we do not call normal on US flights – plenty of food, snack, and drinks.  They have a free snack bar – apples, nuts and sweets, etc.

Our flight left Dallas on time and we arrived a tad ahead of schedule in Brisbane, just as the airport was waking up for the day. (5:00 am). We saw the sun rise for the morning of May 6 from Brisbane airport.

After a transfer to the domestic airport in Brisbane, we boarded a plane for a 2 hour 10 min flight to Melborne.  To our surprise we were served breakfast on this short flight.   

Australia from the air

Sunrise at Brisbane airport

 At the Melbourne airport we were met by our dear friends who live on a peninsula south east of Melbourne – Mornington Peninsula. How wonderful it was stop see them again.  They have wanted us to come to see their paradise for years.  After leaving the airport which is located at the northwest corner of the city, we drove downtown for a glimpse of the Melbourne skyline and spent a little time walking around their lovely Botanical gardens, where we also had a cup of tea/coffee and a sweet.

The drive down the peninsula was a beautiful drive, and we arrived at their paradise! We walked into the house and said, WOW!!  The view is beautiful.  Their house has lots of glass so you can see the Bay and Philip Island from the kitchen, dining area, living area and bedroom! Last evening we saw two rainbows, one while we were driving and one from the house.  We will be going out to Philip Island at some point during our visit. 

We had a very good sleep our first night in beds! We will see what the day holds in this beautiful part of the world.   We plan to walk around their gardens and beyond.    

    

Botanical Gardens in Melbourne

Tea with Friends in the Gardens

Melbourne Botanical Gardens

WOW!! - View of Coast from Front Window of Friends House

Mt Pleasant to Brisbane Australia - Sunday May 4, 2014

Cal and I are off on another adventure- May 4 to June 24.  This time to Australia & New Zealand – ‘down under’!!  The reason for going this time of year, their winter, is that we will be attending the Rotary International Convention in Sydney, June 1-4.  We have been enjoying every warm day in Iowa – which have been few, as spring has been slow to come to arrive in Iowa.

Before going to Sydney we will be joined by 3 other couples from Iowa at the Melbourne airport to be hosted by two Rotary Districts – one is north of Melbourne and the other around the area of Adelaide, for a total of 3 weeks. This is called a Friendship Exchange. We look forward to making new friends and seeing some old friends that we have hosted.  Also on this trip, Cal and I will be seeing old friends south of Melbourne, including an exchange student who attended Mt Pleasant High School in the l993-94 school year.  As some of you may remember, we spent 4 weeks in NZ in 1996.  We have hosted New Zealand Rotarians over the years and we will be stopping to see a few of them.  We will be renting a car and driving on the ‘other side of the road’. 

As I am writing this, we are in the Dallas-Ft Worth airport, waiting to board a 16 hour flight to Brisbane!!!! So as you are sleeping we will be trying to sleep in a ‘tin can’.

Iowa Farmland from the Air

Our Bird to Australia

We do not know if we will blog every day, but hopefully often.