Stormy weather better than none

The drive along the Great Ocean Road was magnificent. We started our drive on Thursday morning from Apollo Bay, which is just about the halfway point on the route we were taking to the Twelve Apostles at Port Campbell. The sky was overcast and a steady drizzle was falling accompanied by blustery winds, reminding me of an autumn day in Seattle. I was a little bummed at first, but the woman who checked us out of the little motel we stayed at assured us that seeing the Twelve Apostles is boring any other way. And as we started driving, I realized she couldn’t have been more right: seeing the ocean rip against the eroding limestone and shoreline as the waves come crashing in was absolutely awe-inspiring.

Our first stop that morning was the Cape Otway Lighthouse, which is around 15-20 km detour to the coast off the main road (at this point on the GOR, the route goes more inland, as opposed to the first half which mostly hugged the coastline). On the way to the lighthouse, we saw a car pulled over to the side and two people standing with a camera near a tree. We got out of our car and immediately saw a sleeping koala! The koala was literally at eye-level on a branch snuggled so cutely against the trunk. We snapped a ton of pictures of the sleeping one and his two other buddies higher up on nearby trees. By the time we were ready to get back on our way, 5 other cars had pulled over fascinated by the same little guy.

We got to the lighthouse and started the walking hike around the property. At this point in the morning, the wind was ripping and it was especially windy on the coast where we were. After walking through the old residents’ quarters, we got to the lighthouse and climbed up the winding staircase. At the top, we met an older man, whose job it was to greet tourists and tell them about the history of the lighthouse. Before walking out to the balcony, he warned me to take off my hat if I “fancied keeping it”. We stepped outside to take in the views but couldn’t really stay out for so long given the strength of the winds. As we got back inside, the guy asked us where we from. After we answered, he asked us if we were happy about the outcome of our recent election, and we told him yes. He then went on to tell us how riveted people in Australia were and how much the media here followed the campaign in America. In general, he said a majority of Australians are quite happy with the election outcome and they are hopeful that Obama can repair America’s standing on the world stage. As we chatted for a bit more, it was remarkable to reflect on the extent that people around the world actually cared about who Americans would vote for; not just that they cared, but how deeply they felt about the last eight years and what it had done to America’s reputation. The fact that Australia is not a main player on the international stage makes it hits home even more: in very simplistic terms, Australians look for America to blaze the path, lead, and do what’s right. And they are hopeful that America can be that again once more. That’s humbling.

We left Cape Otway, making our way back to the main road, passing the sleeping koala with now at least 15 people standing near it snapping pictures. The next stop, more than an hour away, was Port Campbell, home of the Twelve Apostles. The weather didn’t change much, except for the on-again off-again drizzle and the packets of sunshine that tried to make its way thru the thicket of threatening clouds in its way. But, no matter. As we walked out to the lookout points, the words of the woman from this morning rang true: seeing the Twelve Apostles when it's sunny and calm is boring. In brief, the Apostles are limestone stacks that apparently were once part of the mainland but, over time, eroded from the intense wave action endlessly hitting against it. If you click on the Wikipedia link above and look at some of the pictures at the bottom of the page compared to the picture on the right, it's hard to argue that it's just better to experience in windy weather.

Since the plan was to be back in Melbourne for the evening, we decided not to just turn around and drive the GOR back, but to take a route inland that would take us thru Ballarat, the home of the Australian Gold Rush. (We learned only a day later that Ballarat is also home to the oldest synagogue in Australia; the stupid guide books didn’t tell us that.) The 2 hour drive to Ballarat was mostly flat, and after a day of meandering, windy roads thru the cliffs of the Australian coast, I was happy to see flatland filled with cows. Yes, southern Australia is dairy land, full of cows grazing on endless land. We drove thru very small towns on the way, flat land all around, except, to our surprise, a few formidable volcanoes standing in the middle of absolute nowhere. Here is Mount Elephant. Who knew?

We made it to Ballarat by 4:30pm, just in time to get in to the Gold Museum (everything touristy in Australia closes by 5 or 5:30pm, which is a bit disappointing, but doable). The main part of town still has the old building facades from the late 1800’s, which is pretty cool to see.

By the time we got back to the city, the day was practically over. We grabbed dinner and drove to our hotel for the night, which conveniently enough, was two blocks from the famed Queen Victoria Market (more about that later). Since we were both extremely tired, we ate dinner and called it a night at around 10pm. Friday was going to be a full day of city touring.

Two quick Australian observation:

• Filtered drip coffee doesn’t exist here. You either have an espresso-based drink at a café or you drink instant at home.
• Australia loves it's powernaps. In truth, they use these signs to encourage drivers to take powernaps at service areas along the highways so that they don't fall alseep while driving. Brilliant.