The Greatest Journey -- Culture with a Tang

Melbourne, as the great bastion of culture in Australia, prides itself on its cultural institutions. I decided to take Isabella to the Melbourne Museum, a very modern and informative museum just north of the CBD. As you approach the area, you are confronted by the imposing Melbourne Exhibition, a building that was once the center of Melbourne's late 19th Century world exhibition and Australia's first Parliament House. Although now it is generally empty, it still has a certain majestic grandeur and the interior is decorated with various motifs. We couldn't get in because the building was locked so we proceeded onto the museum, around back.

The Melbourne Museum with its large glass frontage is, I think, one of the best such places in the world. Its exhibits are informative, exciting and interactive. You can easily lose a whole day looking around the place and that's just what Isabella and I did. We strolled at a leisurely pace around the various halls which showed things like dinosaurs, modern fauna, spiders, an Australian forest environment, Pacific Islander kites and even preserved human organs. It was all quite exhilarating.

From the museum portion we watched a movie at the IMAX theater attached to the museum. It was a piece about dolphins and whales narrated by Darryl Hannah. Unfortunately, Isabella and I agreed that it wasn't really all the great, especially when compared to other IMAX features.

After the museum closed, Isabella and I caught a tram, another Melbourne institution, back to St. Kilda and took a walk along the waterfront. There were people out paragliding and it looked like they were having immense fun.

At night, our host took us to a bar/club where some bands were playing. Melbourne's night life, especially its music scene, is very vibrant and I think it's great to share it. The club where we eventually stopped had band playing called the Barons of Tang. They played a sort of polka-trash metal mix that I found surprisingly appealing and so did most other people there. Everyone was having a great time and there's a loud collective cheer when the set finally ended. Quite exhausted, we all made our way back to St. Kilda to rest for the night. The next day was Australia's big day, Australia Day, and we would need all our energy to get through that.

The Greatest Journey -- Fairies and Fairy Penguins

Melbourne is Australia's 2nd largest city and, at least according to people not from Sydney, it Australia's best. Melbourne is widely regarded as the cultural capital of the country as it is home to some very interesting musea, galleries and other artistic institutions. It also has a vibrant music scene, innumerable ethnic restaurants and is a mosaic of cultures. It is also a growing city and some estimates predict that Melbourne will overtake Sydney in population within the next 30 years.

If Melbourne has one downside it is its unpredictable weather. It can be blistering hot one day and frightfully cool and raining the next. Melbourne's summer almanacs are full of days well over 40C followed by days where the temperatures hover around 20C. Our first day in Melbourne was a bit like the latter. It was particularly cool but I do remember a brisk breeze and some gray skies. Coming from the baking interior, though, it did make quite the difference. I took the opportunity to show Isabella around the city and the neighbourhood.

Our fist stop was the St. Kilda waterfront. St. Kilda is an old neighbourhood of Melbourne, not too far from the city and has always been a bit of an urban getaway. When Melburnians attempt to escape the hottest summer days, they head down to St. Kilda. Melbourne doesn't have the beaches of Sydney so Melburnians make do with small rocky beaches on cold Port Phillip Bay. St. Kilda's beachfront, though, has been built up and there are parks, restaurants and an old pier.

Isabella and I walked along until we reached Luna Park, an amusement park with a clown's head entrance. This is actually one of a chain of Luna Parks and each one has a different clown face entrance. It's not very big and Isabella and I sort of walked around not entirely impressed. As it was coming to the end of the school holidays there were quite a few children running around. I'm sure it's fun when you're that young but seeing how small it is, it doesn't really attract my attention.

From Luna Park, we walked back along the water's edge but on a bike path we noticed some scale models of the planets. It turns out that there is a scale model of our solar system and the nearest star that stretches along the waterfront for a few kilometers towards the city. It really gives a great sense of the vastness of space. Each planet was to scale and while Jupiter and Saturn were quite large, the Earth and Mars were miniscule. The sun was very large indeed and what really impressed me was that the model included Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our solar system. It stood only a few meters from the model of the sun but the plaque explained that on this scale Proxima Centauri was 40 000 kilometers away meaning that you would have to go around the world to get the true sense of distance!

From St. Kilda we drove into the city and I showed Isabella around the Fitzroy Gardens, a sort of urban park with quite a few things to see in it. There are several fountains that are now playing again, thanks to the end of the drought. There's a part made of tiles donated by people with various messages and designs drawn on them. Also in the park is a greenhouse called the Conservatory that has examples of many Australian flowers and a very nice little bridge. The Fitzroy Gardens also contains Cook's Cottage, the home of James Cook, the famous explorer. IT was taken apart brick by brick and reassembled in Australia and thus claims to be Australia's "oldest" building. Not too far away is a model Tudor village donated by the people of Lambeth, England as thanks for the food they received from Victoria during World War 2. Beside that there is the Fairies' Tree, an old stump with painted fauna and fairies designed by a children's book writer.

With that, we returned to St. Kilda and I think I may have taken Isabella to one of the many cake shops on Acland Street. This area was once, perhaps even still is, home to a large Jewish population. On Acland Street, Jewish entrepreneurs opened several bakeries and cake shops. As you walk down you can't help but stare. The sweets entice you and you find yourself just craving one. Isabella and I had some delicious cake with her drinking a cappuccino, I think, and me a hot chocolate. I've been here so many times that they all just sort of blur together.

As evening fell, Isabella and I walked to the end of St. Kilda pier to see the Fairy, or Blue, Penguins that come into shore at that time. They've taken up residence among the rocks that form the breakwater to a small marina harbour. There is also a colony of water rats who, despite their name, are actually quite cute. Still, for cuteness, nothing beats the Fairy Penguins, except perhaps puffins but there weren't any around. Isabella and I watched the penguins, along with several other people as this is a well-known feature of St. Kilda. We returned to the apartment tired but ready for another day.

The Greatest Journey -- The Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean, or GOR, is one of the most scenic routes in the world. It snakes along Victoria's south coast from Warrnambool to Torquay through along some very rugged coastline and through some dense forest. While not the most direct route to Melbourne, it is by far the prettiest.

The GOR was built after World War One as a make-work project for returning veterans. It took many years to complete, even though it isn't really all that long, because the had to blast much of the road from sheer cliffs. It wasn't easy and the GOR is still just a 2-lane coastal highway. However, many of the towns that dot the highway, like Apollo Bay, are now getaways for Melbourne's rich and I guess you could say the whole is sort of like an Australian Riviera or Cote d'Azure.

Isabella and I set out that day hoping for a great adventure. The rains that had plagued us in Queensland and NSW had come down to Victoria. Much of the west of the state was flooded or in danger and I was worried the GOR would be closed. There had been some landslides a few days before and I wasn't sure what the conditions were. As we reached the turnoff, to my great relief the Princes Highway was closed but the GOR was open so we turned and headed south.

The thing about the GOR is that it is made for tourists and there is much to see so travelling is sort of stop-start. The first place Isabella and I stopped was the Bay of Islands, a little inlet with some sheer cliffs. From the lookout you could see that the whole coastline was basically sheer cliffs to the water's edge. The whole area is limestone which erodes and has done so in some odd shapes. Where water had eroded the natural joints in the stone, there were now little islands just off the coast.

From the Bay of Islands, Isabella and I journeyed to the Grotto, an arch in the stone eroded by wind and water. Then it was on to London Arch. This formation was once called London Bridge because it was once connected to the mainland by a bridge of limestone. 20 years ago people could drive their cars directly onto the formation but one day, while some tourists and their vehicle were on it, the bridge gave way stranding them; they had to be rescued by helicopter. From then on, there has been no vehicular access to any limestone formation.

The crown jewels of the GOR, though, arethe 12 Apostles, our next stop. It was here that we saw masses of tourists and even a tourist information center. The 12 Apostles are a series of limestone islands that stand alone in the sea. There have never been 12 of them and there are now 7 or 8 I think as some have been lost due to erosion; eventually they will all collapse. The formation was originally called the Sow and Piglets and was changed to the 12 Apostles purely for reasons of tourism. However, they are spectacular in their own way.

As Isabella and I drove up, there was strange sort of thick mist in the air. I thought it might be smoke from a bushfire but it turned out to be just a sort of fog off the sea. We parked the car and walked to the lookout point and saw the amazing view of the Apostles. A little later, Isabella and I found ourselves the only participants in a free guided tour of the ecology of the Apostles. We were told about the reseeding projects to bring native flora back to the area and even tasted some saltbush. Since this plant gets much of its water from the sea via sea spray, its leaves have a distinct salt taste. Still, nothing could beat that spectacular view, especially on a sunny day.

The 12 Apostles was the last thing to see for a while so Isabella and I drove on. We had heard about a tree top walk in Otway National Park and drove out there. Unfortunately we reached it only minutes after it had closed. A little dejected, we drove to another part of the forest and took a walk through the woods to Triple Falls. The whole area was old growth forest that had once echoed with the din of sawmills. Now long since abandoned, the area has been made into a nice walking trail. The falls themselves were quite nice as the water cascaded down the rock face.

From Triple Falls, we drove to Cape Otway to see the famous lighthouse. When we arrived, it too was closed. It seemed very inconvenient to close things as it was only 18:00 and summertime. Along the way, though, we noticed that there were a few cars parked by the side of the road and then we noticed that everyone was looking at wild koalas. Isabella and I stuck around for a while and took some photos. They were just eating some eucalyptus leaves but for Isabella, who was on a mission to see as many iconic Australian animals as possible, it was quite the experience.

Since the lighthouse was closed, Isabella and I took a walk on some trails in the area. It wasn't particularly interesting as the view to the sea was blocked by dense growth. We though maybe there would be a better view somewhere along the walk but no such luck. With that, we continued east towards Melbourne.

As we drove out of the wild part of the GOR and onto the more developed areas, every so often there was a set of traffic lights. The landslides meant that there were still some boulders on the roads although the road was at least partially cleared. As we drove from town to town, wwe would see people milling about, nice hotels and homes and I definitely got the impression that this was a vacation area for wealthy people, though not exclusively for them.

The GOR ends around Torquay and from there its north to Geelong, Victoria's second biggest city. It was getting quite late as it was already nightfall by the time we reached Geelong. We just drove past it and finally made it to Melbourne. Our couchsurf host this time was a young man living in the very trendy neighbourhood of St. Kilda. We made it to his apartment and I was delighted to show Isabella that even late at night, there were parts of Australia that weren't asleep. We quickly got ourselves sorted before turning in for the night. Melbourne is an exciting city and we would have several days to get to know it.

The Greatest Journey -- Through Southern Ports

An early morning departure was called for as we left Adelaide that day towards Melbourne via Warrnambool, our overnight stop. We would be travelling along the Princes Highway which abuts the southern coast of South Australia. We were hoping to perhaps doing some swimming on one of the many beaches along the way and we would get to see some of the quainter South Australian towns.

Our first stop was Mount Lofty, just outside Adelaide. This is one of the higher peaks of the Adelaide Hills and it offered a stunning view of Adelaide below. It was a crystal clear day with a stunning blue sky. We didn't stay very long as we had to get going but the view was truly magnificent.

Isabella and I drove out of Adelaide and began passing the many farming communities that dot the landscape outside Adelaide. We passed Hahndorf, a community heavily rooted in German traditions, and other places with names like Murray Bridge and Tailem Bend. And it was just outside Tailem Bend that we turned south along the Princes Highway.

The scenery changed from one of farmland to one of semi-aridity. Much of this land is unsuitable for farming and is punctuated by scrubs and saltpans. It was very interesting how such a bleak landscape could exist so close to the sea. Along the way we saw the water of Lake Albert, a local lagoon and part of the mouth of the Murray River, also known as the Lower Lakes. It gave the water a very unusual green colour; I'd never seen water that colour before. After some time we reached the Younghusband Peninsula, a protected long spit of land. It's home to several species of bird and I believe is composed mainly of sand dunes. The whole is a national park which is great but means that the view to the sea is obstructed.

Further along we finally got a view of the sea, bright and blue. Kingston S.E. is a pleasant little community and the largest on the coast south of Adelaide. It was given the addition S.E. (southeast) to avoid confusion with another South Australian town also called Kingston. Kingston S.E. is still a fishing community largely although tourism does play a large part in its existence. It is also the home of the Big Lobster which is in much better shape than the Big Prawn in Ballina.

Isabella and I found ourselves a nice little fish and chips shop for lunch. We figured that since we were in fishing communities we should indulge ourselves in the local cuisine. I don't remember what fish we had but I do remember that it tasted alright. We sat on the beachfront, eating our lunches, and looked out over the sparkling sea. From Kingston S.E. we split off the main highway and took the B101 the South Ports Highway along the coast.

The South Ports are now sleepy little fishing communities dotting the coast towards Victoria. In days gone by they were fairly important centers of trade and fishing but now, with their importance waned, they're just small places off the beaten path. Our first stop was Robe, small community that seemed to have a bit of a resort quality to it. There weren't many people about but it was by no means empty. We reached the beach and thought about swimming but the air was a bit cool and the wind quite strong, which would have made swimming and drying off somewhat uncomfortable. We decided that it might be better to try at the next stop, although Isabella did go for a walk in the water as consolation.

The other South Port town we stopped in was Beachport, a community much like Robe but smaller and less touristy. When we got to the beach, to our dismay, the wind was still blowing strongly and the water was quite choppy. We went for a walk along the beach but decided it was unsuitable for swimming. This was unfortunate as from Beachport the highway reconnects with the Princes Highway but at least we got to see an interesting part of South Australia.

From Beachport we reached the town of Millicent and from there we drove on to Mount Gambier. Mount Gambier is a mining town and we decided not to linger. We crossed the border into Victoria and headed along the highway stopping in small port town like Portland and Port Fairy. It was in Portland that I was randomly breath tested by the police for a second time. Actually, I asked the police officer the best way back to the main highway since we'd gotten ourselves spun around. We reached Warrnambool just as the day's light was fading.

Warrnambool is a large town west of Melbourne on the coast and the largest on the coast west of Geelong. It's also the entrance to the Great Ocean Road. Isabella and I decided to have some Mexican food at a restaurant in the city center. From there we got in contact with our couchsurf host, a young German engineer, who showed us our accommodation. He was very pleasant and has a huge house all to himself. He was an engineer working on some project north of Warrnambool and his firm had bought the house for him. It was very modern with furnishings that seemed to have had the price tag only just taken off. Isabella and I weren't the only ones couchsurfing as there was a young Finnish couple there too. I think we all got along quite well. It was sort of a shame that we could only stay there overnight but the road was calling in the morning and it was one of Australia's great drives too.

The Greatest Journey -- Adelaide the Wild and Wines

Having had enough of the city for a while, Isabella and I decided to take a trip into the Adelaide Hills, just east of the city. Adelaide may be a large city but it is quite squashed up against the coast. While north to south Adelaide is expansive, from east to west it is quite a short trip. It didn't take us long to be out of Adelaide. Our first stop that morning was a free wildlife sanctuary outside Adelaide called Warrowong, which housed several native Australian species. It was originally a farm but one of the owners decided to turn it into a sanctuary for Australian animals and that's what we have now.

When we arrived, the sanctuary wasn't open yet so Isabella and I took a trip a little further down the road and found some a park where we could do a short hike. It wasn't particularly spectacular but it was a nice walk through the bush. After about 30 minutes we made our way back to Warrowong to see the exhibits.

Isabella was intent on seeing as many native Australian animals as she could and as we walked in there were some wallabies and small kangaroos. We walked on and saw many native birds but as we got to a pond we were hoping to see a platypus. We waited and waited but, unfortunately, no platypus revealed itself. We walked on and while it was somewhat interesting, the sanctuary wasn't particularly captivating. We saw a demonstration showcasing several animals, mostly reptiles like the large, but mostly harmless python, but in the end, we decided not to stay very long. We'd seen pretty much everything and now it was time to go to another of the treasures just beyond Adelaide, the McLaren Vale.

Adelaide is known for its wines and one of the areas best known for it is the McLaren Vale, just south of the city. It's very pleasant country and has been used for viticulture for about 150 years, I think. I'd been there with my parents and I decided to take Isabella who enjoys a fine wine. Virtually all the wineries have tasting rooms and let you sample their products, some for free, others for a small price.

We drove to about 3 wineries over the course of the afternoon. Isabella, who really knows what she likes, had a bit of wine at our stops. She even convinced me to try some sweet champagne, which I liked. I don't drink alcohol and don't like the taste of champagne because I find it too bitter but this one was nice and sweet. Isabella also found a grape, Traminer, which she was particularly fond of. Neither of us had ever heard of this type of grape before but Isabella thought it was very delicious and even bought herself a 375mL bottle of the stuff, which she would have back in Canada.

A lot of the wineries in the area have little sort of gimmicks to entice you to visit them. One of them had a black sheep statue on the avenue leading up to their cellar since that was their symbol. Another winery had big bottle made out of corks outside, a big cricket ball inside their tastery and a trebuchet with a wine barrel as the counterweight on the lawn. This seemed to be in keeping with Australia's tradition of having items that are "The Big Something".

With the day winding down, Isabella and I made it back to the McLaren Vale Tourist Information Centre to be on time for a local wine and jazz festival. First, Isabella went online and quickly bought herself a bicycle for her trip around New Zealand, at a very reasonable price; it was just one less thing to worry about. We stayed around for the festival which had food stands, wine tasting stands, cooking demonstrations and a jazz band. It was very relaxing and a great way to end off such a wonderful day. Isabella and I headed back to Adelaide to rest up as tomorrow we were off again, this time to Warrnambool in Victoria. It was another long trip but it promised to be a good one as it would be along the coast of the Great Southern Ocean.

The Greatest Journey -- Adelaide the Indigenous

The day before, in a local brochure, Isabella discovered that there was a free tour offered by the city that focussed on Adelaide's aboriginal heritage. The Adelaide area, prior to European settlement, had been the home of the Kaurna people for thousands of years. It seems that Adelaide City Council, in an effort to boost the profile of this history, that has been ignored for so long, offers free tours to whoever is interested run by a local aboriginal guide. As we hadn't had much exposure to aboriginal culture in our trip around Australia and because it sounded interesting, Isabella and I agreed to take part in the tour.

We left our hostel and made our way to Victoria Square, a large urban park in the center of Adelaide's downtown. In Victoria Square there are always 2 large flags flying, that of Australia and that of Australian aboriginals. There is also a fountain that represents the 3 rivers of Adelaide: the Torrens, the Murray and the Onkaparinga. The fountain is my favourite place in Adelaide. Its design is quite imaginative and it's such a welcome sight on a hot day. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it this time, though I have posted pictures before. At any rate, it was in Victoria Square that we met our guide.

There were actually quite a lot of us, some from Germany, Britain and Australia, as I recall. The tour guide said that this was the largest group he'd ever guided and I think there were maybe a dozen of us, maybe closer to 1.5 dozen. He explained the significance of Victoria Square and its aboriginal name. Most landmarks in Adelaide, especially civic points, have aboriginal names associated with them. It was in Victoria Square that the Australian aboriginal flag first flew.

From Victoria Square we hopped on a tram for a quick ride to Parliament and Festival Square. South Australia is known as the Festival State because of the many music festivals Adelaide hosts. Behind Parliament was built the Festival Arts Centre and Festival Square. Around Festival Square there were many works of art that represented aboriginal myths about the land. Our guide even explained how the roots of a tree were used to make boomerangs. As we all walked on we saw a large mural depicting various aboriginal themes and when asked if we could find the widgetty grub, I found it first. From there we walked to a weir on the Torrens River and our guide explained the large gatherings that used to take place on its banks many centuries ago.

While there aren't many photos and the description might not be long, this whole walk took over 2 hours. It was very interesting and informative. I must commend the City Council for coming up with the idea and funding it.

At this point Isabella and I made our way back to the car where I found I had been given a parking ticket for overstaying the time limit. I later tried to get it expunged but the people at the City Council office refused, so I paid the $22. That's right, $22. That's very cheap for a fine in the center of a major city.

We drove to the south of the city where we met our host, a very pleasant man, somewhat older than I, who worked for the government. He and I got along great especially when we both put on very thick, very stereotypical Australian accents talking about beer and the barbie. And, as it was my birthday, Isabella bought a nice chocolate cake and some steaks as well. We brought them to our host who marinaded and cooked them quite well. A small birthday party, but a great one.

The next day, I resolved to show Isabella some wildlife, suitably caged of course, and giver her a taste of that which has made the area most famous.

The Greatest Journey -- Adelaide the Remarkable

We awoke in the morning to a great symphony from above. The birds were singing their morning songs in the trees overhead as the sun came up. It was wonderful to hear the singing knowing that you did not have to get up right away and could take some time to enjoy the performance. With a drive of only a few short hours to Adelaide that day, Isabella and I could afford to take our time in getting to our destination. We decided to explore the surrounding parkland of Mt. Remarkable National Park.

Isabella, being the outdoorsy type, had wanted to do some hiking in Australia. Unfortunately, our route hadn't allowed for much of it and this would be one of the few chances we would get. We selected a short route of only a few hours that we thought would give us the best overview of the flora and fauna of the park.

The park is in a surprisingly lush corner of South Australia. Most of the path was through fairly well-wooded areas and it was only in the slightly higher elevations that the trees thinned out. Along the way we dodged large spider webs of the kind we saw outside Alice Springs. However, on our track we did see a wild emu. We kept our distance as it crossed the path and just admired it as it walked down the mountain and then into the brush. As we rounded a bend following our emu encounter we were treated to a spectacular view of the Spencer Gulf. We then ran into a rare yellow-footed wallaby, a park native. All-in-all, not bad for a few hours walking.

From Mt. Remarkable we headed south towards Adelaide. Along the way we passed several small port towns until we finally hit the northern outskirts of Adelaide. Adelaide is a city that is squashed against the sea. The city of about 1 million is not very wide east to west but stretches an incredible distance north to south. It is a city of parks, being the only major city in the world whose central area is surrounded by one. Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, also takes pride in the fact that only free settlers, no convicts, arrived here though the founder of South Australia had a shady past. Adelaide is also a city in quiet decline. The 2 major industries of Adelaide were the defence and automotive sectors. While defence still generates considerable employment the automotive industry has declined considerably and now Adelaide is losing people. Despite this, Adelaide still has a certain undeniable charm.

Isabella had wanted to go swimming in the ocean while in Australia so I took her to probably my favourite location in Adelaide, Glenelg Beach. Glenelg, where the first European settlers landed, is a very upscale neighbourhood of Adelaide and is the city's ocean playground. This is here everyone goes on a hot summer's day. Certainly when we were there the beach was well populated although not to the extent I would have thought. The sun was shining and the water was perfect so Isabella and I took to swimming in the Great Southern Ocean.

After a good deal of frolicking in the warm water we drove to our hostel. It was in the center of the city and quite pleasant. Unfortunately our coushsurfing host was unavailable for our first day in Adelaide so we stayed in hostel. It wasn't too bad from what I remember.

After getting our stuff into the hostel, Isabella and I found out that there was a food festival in another part of the city. We drove down to check it out and had a wonderful time. There were jugglers, buskers, cooking demonstrations, overpriced Moroccan food stands, beer tents, a live band, thousands of people and, at the end, a fashion show. It showcased several types of clothes like sportswear and evening dresses. While many were quite satisfactory, Isabella and I agreed that some of the dresses were positively hideous. At the end, there was a procession of bridal wedding dresses. Having fed ourselves well at the festival stands, Isabella and I returned to our host's home for some well-deserved sleep. With the Outback now well behind us, we were left to explore this great city the next day and what an interesting experience that turned out to be.