Melbourne | Diary of an Adventurous Retiree

We woke to a lovely morning and Earl made us a scrumptious breakfast – fruit and yogurt to start followed by fried egg, mushrooms tomato, bacon and banana.

The not so naked chef serving breakfast

We left at 8 to drive to Melbourne where we were to get our flight to Hobart. Just as we were craving a coffee and loo break a sign on the freeway indicated that truckers and others could slip off for a quick espresso. What a surprise – just a van with an electric outlet and fabulous coffee and food on offer – what a good idea. The owner’s dog was an extra attraction – he lay quietly waiting for unsuspecting guests then asked for his ‘ball’ to be thrown to him!

The Van Coffee Shop

Note the picnic table in the background – with Barbie facility

The Dog

Of course I couldn’t miss a bird photo – This is a butcher bird

We were in good time for our flight (1 p.m.) and tried to check in but were told we’d have to wait till 2:30 as our flight was only at 4:30. No problem – we had ham and rolls we made from our left overs and each other for company but – horror – no chairs or benches on which to sit – until you checked through! NOT very friendly we thought. So we sat on our suitcases and ate our lunch. To add injury to insult when we did finally check in we were told our flight had been cancelled! What! – the next one would be at 6:30! -We could have used the time to explore Melbourne had we been informed earlier! And they hadn’t even changed the notification from the board.

Well we finally arrived in beautiful Hobart, waited ages for the luggage to be offloaded, got our hire car – a red Golf – and with a difficulty found our accommodation – very posh with a fabulous view but all in one room! It was late so we ordered room service. Fettuccini with creamy mushroom and bacon sauce. And they only brought after I’d repeated the order four times! Anyway – it was an adventure – and things could have been worse.

The Bridge

The View from our window

It was a very early wake up time this morning. Earl was not feeling well last night and getting up at 3:00 a.m. did not help either. By four o’clock we were on the road with Aunt in the driver’s seat. She did not need the Garmen to find the way. It was a perfect morning and after dropping off the hire car and checking in – quite a mission because of the distance one has to walk – we checked in. Do you know you have to pay for a trolley at Australian Airports? I thought $3.00 was a bit steep! I was a little nervous when I saw the terminal was like it was used to be in the olden days when you walked onto the tarmac to board the plane. The first one I saw had propellers and Earl almost had me convinced that this was ours! The name Jetstar put me at ease!

A day to depart from Newcastle to Melbourne-

Dawn departure from Newcastle to Melbourne on a Jetstar Flight

It was a bit of a shock to land in a wet and windy Melbourne. I was so sure that Australia was a hot country that I didn’t pack any long sleeved shirts or warm jerseys – my jeans, fleece and school jacket would have to do!

It was a long drive to Warrnambool (Maria I promise this is really how you spell it!) Fortunately Earl was feeling better and took the wheel. We stopped for coffee at a quaint little coffee shop in one of the small town en route – excellent and Aunt assured us that $3.00 for a long black was cheap by Aussie standards.

It poured most of the way so stopping to sight see was not on the agenda. It cleared up when we arrived and so we explored the town and surrounds for an hour.

Water everywhere

Birds abound. This is a Blue-billed duck

Our accommodation is a two bedroomed, two bathroom, open plan livingroom/kitchen apartment and very comfortable. It has all the mod-cons of home including a washing machine!

After a rest we set off along the Great Ocean Road and took in the compulsory tourist must dos. And boy were they worth it. The weather was awful but the beauty was still sensational and it was well worth travelling all these miles to see these incredible natural phenomena. Also there were no crowds and no entrance fees to spoil the experience. We could just take it all in and enjoy. Of course we looked out for birds en route too!

We stopped at an old fashioned diner for delicious take away ham, cheese and tomato rolls.

Still need to find out what this bird is

Me at The Bay of Islands

Bay of Islands

Amazing rock formations

The gale nearly blew us away at the view point of The Twelve Apostles

The photographs do not do justice to the magnificence of these rock formations. I would also love to come back on a sunny day although I think that the wild weather added to the beauty of the experience in many ways. The sea was turbulent, the wind blew through our hair and we felt both awed and invigorated. It was good to feel the rugged beauty both in the rocks, the sea and the weather.

Australian Wood Duck

Spur Lapwing

Wood duck again

Australian Black Bird (type of thrush)

Black Swans

We got home quite late and went straight to Beu Jangles for pizza. I loved the Christmas hat sported by one of the chefs. Typical Aussie – the prettiest bush hat I’ve ever seen!