Australia - Melbourne to Adelaide

We flew into Melbourne from Tasmania on a Saturday afternoon and picked up our rental car at the airport.  We didn’t go into Melbourne but headed straight out towards the coast to the west of the city.  After the relative calm of Tasmanian traffic the busier and more frenetic traffic in Melbourne took a while to get used to.  We bypassed Geelong, the major city to the west of Melbourne and drove to Torquay where we found a hotel for the evening near the beach.  We drove into town to dine.  There were lots of restaurants and we settled on an Italian one, Luigi’s - not bad, but not outstanding.

Bella Beach - Torquay

The next morning we were lazy and had a late start to the day.  We walked out onto the beach and park in front of the hotel to get a flavor of Torquay before we left on the coast road towards Adelaide.  We stopped at Bells Beach, a famous surfing beach (there is a long standing pro surfing competition held there every year).  There were many surfers in the water that morning - little black flecks in the ocean.

The start of the Great Ocean Road

We drove further on and we came to an archway over the road marking the start of the Great Ocean Road, the coastal road that runs from Torquay to Allensford in the north.  The road was built by returning soldiers after World War I, and it is dedicated as a memorial to the war dead.  

Beach near Lorne

The beaches along the way were truly spectacular.  There is a reason that this road is one of the world’s best coastal roads.  

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

We stopped in Lorne for lunch.  Lorne has many restaurants and cafes along the main street with lots of outdoor seating.  As a result of all this outdoor eating the town has a real problem with the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.  They scavenge at the tables and bins in town and harass people while they are eating.  Such a beautiful bird but ultimately it becomes a real pest.

Separation Creek Beach

We continued our drive north stopping at numerous beaches along the way and each one was spectacular.  We stopped at one called Separation Creek where there was a memorial for a shipwreck.  Apparently in 1891 the sailing ship W.B. Godfrey ran onto the rocks in poor visibility due to smoke from a bush fire.  All crew made it safely to shore but later in 3 separate salvage operations 5 people were drowned trying to reach the shipwreck.  

In the evening we arrived in Apollo Bay our destination for the evening.  We had a wonderful meal, an entire fish, a red snapper maybe, in a restaurant in the town. 

Early morning beach, Apollo Bay

The next morning I took an early morning run on the beach at sunrise.  A great way to start the day.  Outside the Post Office in Apollo Bay there is a memorial to another shipwreck.  The SS Casino had made 2,500 voyages in the treacherous waters between Apollo Bay and Melbourne.  It was due to be celebrated on its 50th anniversary when a week before it ran over its anchor, punctured its hull and sank off Apollo Bay with the loss of the captain and 9 crew members.  There have been a lot of shipwrecks on that piece of coast.  The waters must be quite treacherous.  

Cape Otway Lighthouse

We left Apollo Bay and drove north.  We took a detour to the coast to visit Cape Otway lighthouse.  The lighthouse is the oldest working lighthouse in Australia and it has been in operation since 1846.  We climbed up the 90 or so steps to the top of the lighthouse where there was an outside gallery with wonderful views of the coast below.

In the cafe associated with the lighthouse, we had a great latte (of course, it’s Australia), and a great scone with jam and cream (very decadent).

An injured Wallaby

Driving further on we came across a wallaby beside the road.  We stopped and looked at it.  It was our first real close up view of a wallaby.  When it didn’t move at all, we realized it had been injured, likely hit by a passing car.  The poor thing looked quite pathetic just sitting looking at us and not moving an inch.

Two of the Twelve Apostles

We then approached Port Campbell National Park where the 12 Apostles are to be found. The 12 Apostles are the 12 rock towers near to the coast that are a picture postcard sight that is in every guide book, tourist poster, picture book of Australia. 

Twelve Apostles

We first went down the steps to the beach just south of the main site.  This took us to the beach where we walked along to get a great view of 2 of the Apostles.   The surf was very dramatic and powerful. Then we climbed back up to the top and drove a little way north to a fairly large parking lot that was teaming with cars and buses.  From the parking lot there is a road to a viewing platform on the top of the cliffs where you can see the other Apostles.

It was so crowded.  Obviously this has become a must see location for anyone visiting Melbourne or Adelaide.  It was surprising to see that at least 90% of the visitors were Asian, likely Chinese.  There are droves of them visiting Australia. 

Twelve Apostles

We walked around the platform and took way too many photos.

London Bridge

Next stop, just north of the Apostles was another coastal rock formation, London Bridge.  This is a natural rock arch.  Before 1990 it was more impressive with two arches.  One of them collapsed in 1990 leaving just a single span.

We drove further on through more magnificent coastline - the Bay of Martyrs and the Bay of Islands.  Eventually we arrived in Allansford, the end of the Great Ocean Road.  From there we headed inland towards Hopkins Falls.  One of the guide books said that the waterfalls there were worth visiting.  I guess the autumn was not a time to see them, there was barely any water flowing.

Our Port Fairy Hotel Cottage

That evening we stayed in Port Fairy.  A small coastal town which in 2012 was voted as the world’s most livable community.  It has nice wide streets with many old buildings.  We stayed in a small hotel just on the outskirts of town, the Clonmara Country House - collection of small cottages in a nice grassy park area.  In the evening we went into town and dined at an old pub, the Oak and Anchor.  When we left the pub at 8:00 pm the streets were pretty much deserted - not a lot of night life there.

Griffiths Island Lighthouse, Port Fairy

The next morning we drove into the town took a walk around the small island, Griffiths Island, adjacent to the town.  We again saw a wallaby who posed quite nicely for us.  We talked to some birdwatchers that helped us to identify some of the birds.  They told us about the nickname for the White Ibises that we had been seeing - they call them Bin Chickens.  A most pleasant walk for a couple of miles.

Some ladies we met on the walk told us about an area we didn’t know about called Tower Hill.  Apparently there we could see lots of Koalas and Emus.  It wasn’t on our itinerary but after we aborted our attempt to drive into the Grampian Mountains (it was too far and would have taken too long) we decided to take a look.

Koala at Tower Hill Preserve

Tower Hill Wildlife Preserve is situated in a basin that surrounds a now dormant volcano.  We drove down to the bottom and parked the car.  Then immediately we saw people looking up into a nearby tree.  Right there in the parking lot was a koala bear sleeping in a tree.  Then we spotted another and another.  Then on the ground there were a couple of emus walking around, scavenging off the nearby picnickers.

Emu, Tower Hill Preserve

We walked around one of the lakes in the Preserve, looking for more koalas.  They are pretty well hidden and they certainly don’t move much so they are hard to spot.  We eventually got our eye in and we knew where to spot them.  We must have seen 9 or 10 of them.  One or two were munching on eucalyptus leaves but most were sleeping.  They sleep for 20 hours a day and eat leaves for the other 4 hours.  They are quite cute but you wouldn’t want to mess with their claws, the claws are quite scary.  

We left the preserve and drove on to Portland our destination for the night.  Portland is a larger town, part industrial part touristic.  We booked our lodging in a lighthouse cottage about 10 miles out of town.  As it was getting late we drove out to the lighthouse.  When we got there, there was no sign of anyone to let us into our room.  Fortunately there was a light in one of the other cottages and I went and knocked on the door.  A friendly chap (they are all friendly) answered and told me that we needed to go back to town and inquire in Mac’s Hotel for our key.  So it was back to town again and, sure enough, Mac’s Hotel was managing the keys for the lighthouse.  We actually dined in Mac’s Hotel before heading back out to the lighthouse.

Cape Nelson Lighthouse 

It was now late at night so we drove extremely slowly in case we encountered any wildlife on the road.  Fortunately we didn’t.  However when we reached the lighthouse and walked into the garden area there were two kangaroos grazing on the lawn outside our door.  They weren’t really bothered by our presence.  They watched us for a while and then continued eating the grass.

Our Lighthouse Cottage, Cape Nelson

I looked out of the door several times throughout the night and they were still there munching on the grass.  We got up when the sun came up and they were still there outside our room.

This was a great place to stay.  The cottage was very well equipped - TV, WiFi, Washing Machine, Fireplace. Bedroom, Bathroom, Lounge, Kitchen and reasonable well stocked fridge.  We would definitely stay there again.

Wallaby, Cape Nelson

In the morning we walked around the lighthouse and out for a while on what was the Ocean Walkway Trail - a hiking trail along the coast.  We found a wallaby by the trail who was quite happy to pose for pictures for us.  Not at all worried by our presence.

We drove north from Portland to Mt Gambier.  We had seen a lot of road kill in Australia.  Certainly we had seen more dead wallabies and kangaroos than live ones.  Until the drive to Mt Gambier we had not seen a dead koala, but this morning we did.  They don’t move very far in the 4 hours of activity each day and this poor one happened to move into the road and get killed - most unlucky.

The area we were driving through to Mt Gambier was primarily a conifer plantation.  Acres and acres of land planted with rows of coniferous trees.

Umpherston Sink Hole, Mt Gambier

In Mt Gambier we visited the Umpherston Sink Hole, a sink hole in the limestone rock that had been curated and planted with various plants and trees.  Sort of interesting if you like plants and Diana certainly does like them.

Blue Lake Volcanic Crater, Mt Gambier

From there we went to the Blue Lake Volcanic Crater.  This is a round crater filled with water.  The water appears different shades of blue depending on the calcium content of the water which varies with the season.

We went into the center of Mt Gambier for our usual mid-morning coffee and cake.  There was an art gallery across the street from our cafe so we went inside for a look around.  Not a very noteworthy gallery I am afraid.

Naracoorte Caves

From Mt Gambier we headed over to Naracoorte through the Coonawara wine country.  In Naracoorte there is a UNESCO World Heritage Fossil Site, the Naracoorte Caves National Park.  There was a small exhibit of the various fossilized animals that have been found at the site and one of the caves was open to explore, the strangely named Stick Tomato Cave.   The cave was relatively impressive, for a cave that is open for the public to freely walk around.  

From Naracoorte we drove to Robe where we were staying for the night.  We stayed in the very basic but quite adequate Robe City Motel and dined down the street at the rather nice Sails restaurant where we had garfish, another first for us.

Flinders and Baudin, Robe

The next morning, a Thursday, I was up early for a run around Robe.  There were some interesting things there - busts of Matthew Flinders and the French explorer Nicholas Baudin, the Customs House, the Marina, the Robe Obelisk, a very unimaginative sculpture called the Encounter Signal, the ruins of the old Gaol.  I finished my run in a light drizzle.

Customs House, Robe

During the 1850’s the government of Victoria imposed a 10 pound landing tax to deter Chinese miners.  Instead some 16,000 Chinese miners landed in Robe and walked the 200 miles to the goldfields of Ballarat and  Bendigo.  It was known as the Robe Walk.

For breakfast we visited a bakery near the hotel - a great meat pie, a great chocolate croissant, and as always a great latte.  I do enjoy Australian food.

Larry the Lobster, Kingston

We drove on towards Adelaide.  Past the Larry the giant lobster in Kingston, through the sand dunes and salt flats of Coorong National Park.  

The German Arms Hotel, Hahndorf

Just outside Adelaide we stopped in the very touristy German town of Hahndorf.  The busy main street was full of German bakeries, Sausage and Beer restaurants, and gift shop selling all manner of German trinkets.  We walked the length of the town, had a bite of lunch and a piece of Apple Strudel.  

Southern Brown Bandicoot, Mt Lofty, Adelaide

On the outskirts of Adelaide we went up to Mount Lofty, a park area on the top of a hill with nice views of Adelaide below.  The city doesn’t look that impressive but on Mount Lofty we did see a Southern Brown Bandicoot, and a beautiful Superb Fairywren.

We drove down the eucalyptus covered hills into Adelaide and our hotel, the Vibe Hotel.  After checking in we took the car back to the Europcar office in the city.  Somehow we had received a small scratch on the back bumper.  I noticed it but thankfully the Europcar guy didn’t.

Adelaide Arcade

We explored a little of the city walking though the old Arcades, Diana looked at Opals but didn’t buy,

Adelaide Railway Station

We checked out the main station where we expected to pick up our train to Alice Springs only to find that the train to Alice is too long to fit in the Adelaide station so they use a purpose built station out of town.  It was a good job we found that out before our departure.

There was a protest against Israel’s treatment of Palestine going on outside the government building near the train station.   A modest group of peaceful protesters with signs and a small number of police quietly observing.

Adelaide Central Market

On Friday morning we took a walk into town and went to the Central Market.  This was very much like Melbourne’s market but not quite as big.  Great produce of every kind and of course wonderful coffee and cakes.

National Gallery of South Australia

We walked on to the Art Gallery of Southern Australia.  Not quite as impressive as New South Wales or Victoria’s Art Galleries but still very good and, of course, free to enter. 

Pig sculpture on Rundle Street Mall

We walked back through the Arcades again and along the Rundle Street Mall, the main pedestrian street and then returned to the market to buy some supplies (persimmons and fougasse bread).  

Diana returned to the hotel and I walked around a little more.  Adelaide has a central business district and old center that is surrounded by four terraces - a North Terrace, East Terrace, South Terrace and West Terrace.  This makes the downtown area easy to navigate.

St Xavier’s Cathedral

I went around the St Xavier’s Cathedral.  A nice Catholic Church, one of many churches in Adelaide.  I then walked west to Hindley Street.  Hindley Street has a completely different vibe, it is full of bars and massage parlors, and it all looks a bit seedy and shabby.

An early Holden - South Australia State Library

Back on the North Terrace I went in the South Australia State Library.  There was an interesting exhibit there about the Holden car company.  Holden started making saddles in the 1850’s and from there advanced into making carriages, car bodies and then complete automobiles.  Interestingly the stopped making wooden car bodies some time in the 1930’s and they sold off their woodworking equipment to their employees enabling them to start furniture companies.

A quiet evening dining back at the hotel.

The next morning, a Saturday, we went to the market for breakfast, coffee, cake and Diana’s favorite bread, fougasse.

Aboriginal Art - Museum of South Australia

We then went to the Museum of South Australia - again free to the public.  They had an interesting large collection of stuffed animals that was surprisingly good and really helped with the identification of the marsupials down there.  There was also great aboriginal art along with a great collection of minerals, especially opals which of course is what central Australia is famous for.  I particularly liked the exhibit on the expeditions to the South Pole.  The exploits of Mawson (who we had first heard of in Hobart) were fascinating.  He was quite the heroic figure in Australian Antarctic exploration. 

Adelaide Botanical Gardens

A bit of shopping on a further visit to one of the arcades, then a walk out to the Eastern Terrace and into the Botanical Gardens.  The gardens are quite beautiful with all manner of exotic plants and trees.

Back at the hotel for Happy Hour wine - McClaren Vale Shiraz was the favorite.  We stayed at the hotel to dine and prepare for our departure on the train to Alice Springs the next day.