After 10 planes, several boats, many cars, vans and buses (no trains on this trip - although we had one planned but got scratched with the delayed start), and over 16,000 miles traveled and 2200 photos taken, we are once again home. Despite the freezing temperatures, the snow on the ground and the threat of freezing rain and sleet potentially delaying or canceling our flight home, we are happy to be home with the dogs and the bird.
We left Melbourne at noon on Feb 1st and returned to Los Angeles at 7 am on Feb 1st - somehow we managed to go back in time...weird. We nervously watched the monitors in LA waiting for the inevitable cancellation or delay for the weather (every flight to the midwest was getting canceled as we watched), but fortunately that did not happen. The flight was bumpy and a little rough at times with the weather, but not too bad. We finally got home close to 9 pm...still on the 1st. Weird.
The trip was a great as usual. The Australian people were amazingly friendly and helpful and generally just upbeat and happy about most things..."no worries" is a theme. Of course, speaking English (well, Australian English!) was a plus and made things even easier to get around. Once again, we spend 2 weeks straight together 24 hours every day without one of us mysteriously disappearing into the bush.
Until next time...
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Great Ocean Drive
Today, we drove along the Great Ocean Road, which is similar to the Pacific Highway in California, in that it hugs the coastline along sheer cliffs and provides some fantastic views. We stopped several places along the way to see the coastline. We stopped at an area where we saw two koalas in the trees and where brightly colored semi-tame king parrots and rosellas would eat seeds from your hands. We walked along an area through a temperate rainforest with huge ferns and stopped to eat lunch in a cute seaside town. We saw the Loch Ard gorge, a place where two survivors of a shipwreck washed up and then on to the Twelve Apostles, which are interestingly shaped wind and water weathered rocks that rise from the ocean. On the way back, we cut inland past farms of sheep and cattle and vineyards. For dinner, we ate at Papa Goose, which wins the award for the best dessert (Eskimo pie) of the vacation. Tomorrow, we leave for the very long trip home.
On to Melbourne
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Today is another travel day. We flew on the small propeller plane from Kingscote in Kangaroo Island to Adeleide and then from Adeleide to Melbourne. After arriving in the late afternoon, we strolled around Melbourne. We saw Flinder’s (Flinder was a popular guy!) Station, a lovely historic train station; strolled through Queen Victoria’s Gardens, walked through Federation Square and meandered through St. Paul’s Cathedral. We had dinner at No. 35, a restaurant on the 35th floor of the Sofitel Hotel, which had fantastic views of the river, Federation Square, and the tennis arena. While we ate, we could see the crowds in Federation Square watch the men's final of the Australian open on a large TV.
Today is another travel day. We flew on the small propeller plane from Kingscote in Kangaroo Island to Adeleide and then from Adeleide to Melbourne. After arriving in the late afternoon, we strolled around Melbourne. We saw Flinder’s (Flinder was a popular guy!) Station, a lovely historic train station; strolled through Queen Victoria’s Gardens, walked through Federation Square and meandered through St. Paul’s Cathedral. We had dinner at No. 35, a restaurant on the 35th floor of the Sofitel Hotel, which had fantastic views of the river, Federation Square, and the tennis arena. While we ate, we could see the crowds in Federation Square watch the men's final of the Australian open on a large TV.
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