So, despite not actually being able to get directions to where our hotel was going to be when we arrived in our next city, we are safely in Killarney and are loving our hotel and its location - we are right in the city center and are a 30 second walk from strings of shops, restaurants and pubs! We will try to post more later today - it's a very rainy, cold, windy day here, but we are going to try to venture out for a bit and see if we can brave the weather for a while. And don't worry, Daniel is using my hair elastics to hold his boot together. :)
You will be excited to see below that we have attached an album of Dublin!
Cheers!
-Beth, Daniel & Emily
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Mastering the phrase “Hit the Ground Running”….
(Click on the image below to see our picasa album of Dublin!)
After a somewhat crazed day of packing and repacking the suitcase, our friend (and neighbor!), Justin, drove us to the airport where we enjoyed a nice meal at Macaroni Grill and cleared security and rode the tram to our gate in less than eight minutes. Boarding was simple and we found ourselves in a center aisle row – but a row of three! Perfecto! And so our journey truly began…
First I must say a few things about our flight and flying in general. Daniel, Emily, and I have all agreed that after you have weathered the 15+ hour cross-Pacific flights (which are often paired with an additional five hours from LA to the East coast), a flight announced to be seven hours and ten minutes is not really very daunting. But that doesn’t mean that it’s fun. --Second, I have decided that flying when you cannot fall asleep or get comfortable and really would like to/need to is the ultimate purgatory/first or second level of Dante’s hell.
Highlights of the flight? We were served an Irish dinner – which was delicious and only made us more excited about where we were headed. Two – this was definitely Daniel’s time zone transition – a 7 pm flight where you really should go right to sleep? Getting up really early? Perfect for him. Emily and I cursed him many a time. Third – we arrived 45 minutes early – unheard of for many flights…and very unfortunate in this case, because instead of landing at 8 am Ireland time and THREE am Florida time…we arrived at 2:15 am East coast time after sleeping for maybe an hour and a half. Ouch.
My favorite part of the trip? I was desperately trying to get comfy to go to sleep. And so I hit the recline button on the arm of the seat that housed my controls for my in-flight entertainment. Evidently, albeit illogically, that was Daniel’s button and the sound asleep lucky one experienced the sensation of falling and was jerked out of sleep looking incredibly flustered and startled…the look on his face was…priceless. :)
After landing we cleared customs and reclaimed bags with ease and were quickly waiting in line for our rental car paperwork. We were then whisked in a shuttle van to the rental car parking lot with a driver that had a knack for making fifty pound bags go flying. We picked up our rental car – laughed as Daniel struggled to adjust his mirrors, seat, and realized that his boots were going to make it very hard to distinguish between the clutch, brake, and gas pedals. We arrived at our hotel without incident but were then struck with the struggle of finding somewhere to park. Our options were hoping to get lucky and score a Sunday spot on the road or paying 35 euros for parking (for one night!)… Thankfully at the last second we managed to get the first of those. We dropped our bags at the desk and were off to tour the city!
First stop: the Guinness Brewery. This was a wise choice for us for many reasons. By hitting it early we avoided the crowds. We enjoyed a fun self-guided tour of the brewing process and marketing campaigns through the ages and then enjoyed a very tasty “free” brew from the Gravity Bar on the seventh story of the building – which is the tallest building in Dublin and offers an awesome 360 degree view of the city. Very cool. And, then we were hungry for lunch and were able to go down to the Guiness restaurant and enjoy Guinuess influenced creations – extremely yummy.
Recharged, we set out to explore the city and see more than we did on our initial walk towards the brewery. We each had a problem. Emily didn’t pack a real coat and spent the afternoon searching for them on the main shopping drags. For me, the combination of my mutation (the extra bone in my foot), swelling from the plane ride, and being on my feet all of last week meant that my right foot turned into a full blown swollen mess – major kankles – the worst my foot has hurt since I’ve gotten my orthotics, so I was being conservative with my paces. By the time we got back I was disturbingly swollen. And then Daniel. Who chose not to pack two pairs of shoes like I asked him to,...so of course his eight year old pair of Timberland boots disintegrated mid-multi mile trek. With the sole of one of his shoes detaching two-thirds of the way….and Mr. Stubborn doesn’t want to buy a new pair of shoes… The broken shoe is currently tied together with many linked together hair ties I graciously supplied Daniel with…but this cannot be a permanent solution. Emily and I are fighting him hard.
Despite all of our adversities, the motley Hals crew stuck it out and still put in a full day in Dublin. After the Guinness tour we shopped on Grafton Street, checked out the Dublin Castle, and visited my mom’s recommendation – the historic Book of Kells, which is housed in Trinity College and is a phenomenal medieval monastic manuscript of the four Gospels dated back to around 800 CE – it’s known for being one of the most ornately beautiful, amazingly detailed documents of its time. We also got to see the Long Hall – a twenty + floor to ceiling library of beautifully old, treasured books. Ahh, the nerd in me loved the smell of old books.
We checked into the hotel and crashed for a bit and then ventured out for dinner. We managed to find a wonderfully delicious restaurant called “Kate’s Cottage” where I found amazing Beef and Guinness stew served on sourdough bread. Daniel got his standard order for Meg O’Malley’s from back home and affirmed that Bangers and Mash really are better in Ireland.
Overall we had a great day – despite some of our challenges. :) We are off to Killarney in the morning and are hoping for decent weather and that the flooding in the lowlands doesn’t interfere with our plans. We’ll see – it’s hard to tell.
But so far, we are loving this beautiful country!
Cheers!
-Beth, Daniel, & Emily
 |
| Dublin |
After a somewhat crazed day of packing and repacking the suitcase, our friend (and neighbor!), Justin, drove us to the airport where we enjoyed a nice meal at Macaroni Grill and cleared security and rode the tram to our gate in less than eight minutes. Boarding was simple and we found ourselves in a center aisle row – but a row of three! Perfecto! And so our journey truly began…
First I must say a few things about our flight and flying in general. Daniel, Emily, and I have all agreed that after you have weathered the 15+ hour cross-Pacific flights (which are often paired with an additional five hours from LA to the East coast), a flight announced to be seven hours and ten minutes is not really very daunting. But that doesn’t mean that it’s fun. --Second, I have decided that flying when you cannot fall asleep or get comfortable and really would like to/need to is the ultimate purgatory/first or second level of Dante’s hell.
Highlights of the flight? We were served an Irish dinner – which was delicious and only made us more excited about where we were headed. Two – this was definitely Daniel’s time zone transition – a 7 pm flight where you really should go right to sleep? Getting up really early? Perfect for him. Emily and I cursed him many a time. Third – we arrived 45 minutes early – unheard of for many flights…and very unfortunate in this case, because instead of landing at 8 am Ireland time and THREE am Florida time…we arrived at 2:15 am East coast time after sleeping for maybe an hour and a half. Ouch.
My favorite part of the trip? I was desperately trying to get comfy to go to sleep. And so I hit the recline button on the arm of the seat that housed my controls for my in-flight entertainment. Evidently, albeit illogically, that was Daniel’s button and the sound asleep lucky one experienced the sensation of falling and was jerked out of sleep looking incredibly flustered and startled…the look on his face was…priceless. :)
After landing we cleared customs and reclaimed bags with ease and were quickly waiting in line for our rental car paperwork. We were then whisked in a shuttle van to the rental car parking lot with a driver that had a knack for making fifty pound bags go flying. We picked up our rental car – laughed as Daniel struggled to adjust his mirrors, seat, and realized that his boots were going to make it very hard to distinguish between the clutch, brake, and gas pedals. We arrived at our hotel without incident but were then struck with the struggle of finding somewhere to park. Our options were hoping to get lucky and score a Sunday spot on the road or paying 35 euros for parking (for one night!)… Thankfully at the last second we managed to get the first of those. We dropped our bags at the desk and were off to tour the city!
First stop: the Guinness Brewery. This was a wise choice for us for many reasons. By hitting it early we avoided the crowds. We enjoyed a fun self-guided tour of the brewing process and marketing campaigns through the ages and then enjoyed a very tasty “free” brew from the Gravity Bar on the seventh story of the building – which is the tallest building in Dublin and offers an awesome 360 degree view of the city. Very cool. And, then we were hungry for lunch and were able to go down to the Guiness restaurant and enjoy Guinuess influenced creations – extremely yummy.
Recharged, we set out to explore the city and see more than we did on our initial walk towards the brewery. We each had a problem. Emily didn’t pack a real coat and spent the afternoon searching for them on the main shopping drags. For me, the combination of my mutation (the extra bone in my foot), swelling from the plane ride, and being on my feet all of last week meant that my right foot turned into a full blown swollen mess – major kankles – the worst my foot has hurt since I’ve gotten my orthotics, so I was being conservative with my paces. By the time we got back I was disturbingly swollen. And then Daniel. Who chose not to pack two pairs of shoes like I asked him to,...so of course his eight year old pair of Timberland boots disintegrated mid-multi mile trek. With the sole of one of his shoes detaching two-thirds of the way….and Mr. Stubborn doesn’t want to buy a new pair of shoes… The broken shoe is currently tied together with many linked together hair ties I graciously supplied Daniel with…but this cannot be a permanent solution. Emily and I are fighting him hard.
Despite all of our adversities, the motley Hals crew stuck it out and still put in a full day in Dublin. After the Guinness tour we shopped on Grafton Street, checked out the Dublin Castle, and visited my mom’s recommendation – the historic Book of Kells, which is housed in Trinity College and is a phenomenal medieval monastic manuscript of the four Gospels dated back to around 800 CE – it’s known for being one of the most ornately beautiful, amazingly detailed documents of its time. We also got to see the Long Hall – a twenty + floor to ceiling library of beautifully old, treasured books. Ahh, the nerd in me loved the smell of old books.
We checked into the hotel and crashed for a bit and then ventured out for dinner. We managed to find a wonderfully delicious restaurant called “Kate’s Cottage” where I found amazing Beef and Guinness stew served on sourdough bread. Daniel got his standard order for Meg O’Malley’s from back home and affirmed that Bangers and Mash really are better in Ireland.
Overall we had a great day – despite some of our challenges. :) We are off to Killarney in the morning and are hoping for decent weather and that the flooding in the lowlands doesn’t interfere with our plans. We’ll see – it’s hard to tell.
But so far, we are loving this beautiful country!
Cheers!
-Beth, Daniel, & Emily
Saturday, November 21, 2009
And we're off to Ireland!!!
Our bags our packed, we're ready to go! And this time we have Emily with us too!
The itinerary includes:
1 night in Dublin
2 nights in Killarney
2 nights in Ennis
and
1 night in Dublin
We will be home Saturday evening.
We'll post more soon from the other side of the pond! Here we go! :)
The itinerary includes:
1 night in Dublin
2 nights in Killarney
2 nights in Ennis
and
1 night in Dublin
We will be home Saturday evening.
We'll post more soon from the other side of the pond! Here we go! :)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
From Melb'n to Mel-burn :) A few things we discovered along the way...
Enjoy the picture albums -
Part I - LA, Sydney, and Cairns
Part II - Spirit of Freedom - our Liveaboard dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef
Part III - Daintree, Cape Trib, Port Douglas, Mossman, Brisbane, Australia Zoo, Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, the Otways, Torquay, Phillip Island, and Melbourne
Part I - LA, Sydney, and Cairns
Part II - Spirit of Freedom - our Liveaboard dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef
Part III - Daintree, Cape Trib, Port Douglas, Mossman, Brisbane, Australia Zoo, Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, the Otways, Torquay, Phillip Island, and Melbourne
A day in the other “Melb’n” -- Saturday 04 July 2009
The drive to Melb’n was a bit longer than I anticipated and luckily the directions I had were very straight forward, but when we arrived, we had to drive down to a parking garage at least a quarter mile away and then lugged our stuff back over the Yarra River and to our hotel.
Luckily, even though it was only noon, they allowed us to check in early. Our hotel was neat but tiny. Pretty much you could be in the bathroom – which had a glazed door which with the light on silhouetted whoever was using the toilet…, you could stand beside the luggage at the foot of the bed, or you could crawl onto the bed. …Pretty tiny. It reminded me of our cabin from the liveaboard.
However, tiny traded in for excellent location. We grabbed a map from the front desk and headed to the Queen Victoria Market – which really was pretty awesome. It was probably the biggest market I’ve ever been to and was an incredibly eclectic, ethnically diverse flea market that ran into a gigantic farmers market that ran into a huge meat and fish market that ran into a cobbled together, delicious food court. All of it was packed and full of men and women shouting in different languages selling their wares and it really reminded me of the images you see of the market streets in Asia and Daniel’s stories about shopping in Hong Kong. It was really neat. We managed to find the rest of the gifts for our family and had luckily looked at souvenirs enough to tell junk from decently legit and were able to pick our good deals. We also had a great Middle Eastern meal and I introduced Daniel to souvlaki and I enjoyed a really good falafel.
After hitting the markets, we dropped off our goods at the hotel and then headed out to explore some more. We walked the south bank along the Yarra and then cut back across the river to Federation Square – a city landmark known for its extremely unique and contemporary architecture. We enjoyed a drink on the square and then headed back to the room to pack before going out for dinner. We wanted to get the heading-home-packing done before it got late and wanted to go out and enjoy our last evening. So after wrestling with our bags and putting the hand scale Daniel’s mom got be for my birthday to good use, we decided we were actually going to be able to make it back with all of our stuff – and really, we did pretty well keeping luggage down on this trip.
So we headed back down to Southbank for dinner – I really wanted kangaroo steak and we had spied a restaurant down that way that had it on the menu. We had tried roo steak on the boat and really liked it and I was amazed at how tender it is – it’s really good. So we enjoyed our last meal and strolled back – the Crown Entertainment building (which was a massive movie theatre, bowling alley, casino, beer garden, and about eight other things) had these propane powered towers that did a fire show that was pretty neat to watch and the city of “Melb’n” was really pretty at night.
We decided we really like visiting cities – there’s so much to do and see and wander to and discover. And after a nice stroll back – and seeing that the bar in our hotel was offering a US Fourth of July special – that included Bud Lights, Hooter Shots (if you provide the hooters), and XXXX beers (which btw we discovered is the really gross cheap bud/miller version of Australian beer). The specials just made us laugh…and gain an appreciation of what they consider an American special. Kinda sad.
And with that we headed to bed – bracing ourselves for our eternal July 5th.
Luckily, even though it was only noon, they allowed us to check in early. Our hotel was neat but tiny. Pretty much you could be in the bathroom – which had a glazed door which with the light on silhouetted whoever was using the toilet…, you could stand beside the luggage at the foot of the bed, or you could crawl onto the bed. …Pretty tiny. It reminded me of our cabin from the liveaboard.
However, tiny traded in for excellent location. We grabbed a map from the front desk and headed to the Queen Victoria Market – which really was pretty awesome. It was probably the biggest market I’ve ever been to and was an incredibly eclectic, ethnically diverse flea market that ran into a gigantic farmers market that ran into a huge meat and fish market that ran into a cobbled together, delicious food court. All of it was packed and full of men and women shouting in different languages selling their wares and it really reminded me of the images you see of the market streets in Asia and Daniel’s stories about shopping in Hong Kong. It was really neat. We managed to find the rest of the gifts for our family and had luckily looked at souvenirs enough to tell junk from decently legit and were able to pick our good deals. We also had a great Middle Eastern meal and I introduced Daniel to souvlaki and I enjoyed a really good falafel.
After hitting the markets, we dropped off our goods at the hotel and then headed out to explore some more. We walked the south bank along the Yarra and then cut back across the river to Federation Square – a city landmark known for its extremely unique and contemporary architecture. We enjoyed a drink on the square and then headed back to the room to pack before going out for dinner. We wanted to get the heading-home-packing done before it got late and wanted to go out and enjoy our last evening. So after wrestling with our bags and putting the hand scale Daniel’s mom got be for my birthday to good use, we decided we were actually going to be able to make it back with all of our stuff – and really, we did pretty well keeping luggage down on this trip.
So we headed back down to Southbank for dinner – I really wanted kangaroo steak and we had spied a restaurant down that way that had it on the menu. We had tried roo steak on the boat and really liked it and I was amazed at how tender it is – it’s really good. So we enjoyed our last meal and strolled back – the Crown Entertainment building (which was a massive movie theatre, bowling alley, casino, beer garden, and about eight other things) had these propane powered towers that did a fire show that was pretty neat to watch and the city of “Melb’n” was really pretty at night.
We decided we really like visiting cities – there’s so much to do and see and wander to and discover. And after a nice stroll back – and seeing that the bar in our hotel was offering a US Fourth of July special – that included Bud Lights, Hooter Shots (if you provide the hooters), and XXXX beers (which btw we discovered is the really gross cheap bud/miller version of Australian beer). The specials just made us laugh…and gain an appreciation of what they consider an American special. Kinda sad.
And with that we headed to bed – bracing ourselves for our eternal July 5th.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Phillip Island – Friday 03 July 2009
I try to squeeze every ounce of good out of my vacations. But some days really just don't go as planned. Today was kinda one of them. The penguins were really awesome, but everything else was...well...
1. We woke up early, packed, and as we were ready to leave Daniel discovered he couldn’t find his wallet. After much searching I found it in his backpack – but he had already headed out in the car to search the restaurant which was the last place we had been last night and used it… and disappeared fora good forty-five to sixty minutes of hard core searching before returning to the hotel to discover I'd found it...oh if only for cell phones...
2. We had a 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Phillip Island. And I’m getting a little tired of being a passenger in a car. At least today was a lot of straight roads, but I’m getting a little antsy.
3. We arrived at Phillip Island and were all excited to see nice clear (still cold), but sunny weather, only to learn that our Seal Rocks boat tour was cancelled. Rough seas from high winds. Boo. I was really excited about seeing the seal-ies.
4. I was really excited about this hotel and it’s a complete opposite of what I expected…which happens very rarely. But it’s not a great one and I’m bummed. Okay…it’s pretty crappy.
5. We indulged in a tourist trap. It was a really bad tourist trap. But! We did go out and see the penguins! And we had great seats!!! The fairy penguins came up out of the water in “rafts” (groups) of 20-40 penguins…we saw four or five rafts of penguins come up on shore and waddle up the beach and past our seats where they then split directions – some going up the penguin-worn path hill to their different cubby holes, others up the main path to find other cubbies. They move pretty fast when they want to! Some took their time and even stopped in the spot light and groomed themselves. It was really neat and we were really glad Daniel splurged and got the “Penguin Plus seats” (eye roll on the tourist trap again). Kristina, you really would have loved it (minus that absolutely freezing part), they were really cute when they waddled up!!!
6. It was realllly cold and they don’t let you take pictures/video. We snuck a few, but still. Boo.
So today had ups and downs…it wouldn’t be as big a deal if it wasn’t the second to the last day of the trip – we woke up wanting to make the most of it, and things kept fizzling out on us… but tomorrow’s another day – hopefully a great one! We’ve had an awesome trip too! It’s just always a bummer when the things you anticipate aren’t quite what you expected.
Tomorrow we’re off to Melbourne and then we’re flying home!!! We leave at 10 am from Melbourne, Australia on July 5th and then gain our day back as we arrive in LA around 7 am on July 5th and arrive in Orlando around 5:45 pm on July 5th and hopefully make it back to OUR Melbourne by 7 pm on...again, July 5th… our July 5th is going to be like forty hours long!
We’re flying Melbourne to Melbourne! (close enough). We’ll post lots of photos once we return home. Happy Fourth of July to everyone – enjoy some fireworks for us!
Cheers!
1. We woke up early, packed, and as we were ready to leave Daniel discovered he couldn’t find his wallet. After much searching I found it in his backpack – but he had already headed out in the car to search the restaurant which was the last place we had been last night and used it… and disappeared fora good forty-five to sixty minutes of hard core searching before returning to the hotel to discover I'd found it...oh if only for cell phones...
2. We had a 3.5 to 4 hour drive to Phillip Island. And I’m getting a little tired of being a passenger in a car. At least today was a lot of straight roads, but I’m getting a little antsy.
3. We arrived at Phillip Island and were all excited to see nice clear (still cold), but sunny weather, only to learn that our Seal Rocks boat tour was cancelled. Rough seas from high winds. Boo. I was really excited about seeing the seal-ies.
4. I was really excited about this hotel and it’s a complete opposite of what I expected…which happens very rarely. But it’s not a great one and I’m bummed. Okay…it’s pretty crappy.
5. We indulged in a tourist trap. It was a really bad tourist trap. But! We did go out and see the penguins! And we had great seats!!! The fairy penguins came up out of the water in “rafts” (groups) of 20-40 penguins…we saw four or five rafts of penguins come up on shore and waddle up the beach and past our seats where they then split directions – some going up the penguin-worn path hill to their different cubby holes, others up the main path to find other cubbies. They move pretty fast when they want to! Some took their time and even stopped in the spot light and groomed themselves. It was really neat and we were really glad Daniel splurged and got the “Penguin Plus seats” (eye roll on the tourist trap again). Kristina, you really would have loved it (minus that absolutely freezing part), they were really cute when they waddled up!!!
6. It was realllly cold and they don’t let you take pictures/video. We snuck a few, but still. Boo.
So today had ups and downs…it wouldn’t be as big a deal if it wasn’t the second to the last day of the trip – we woke up wanting to make the most of it, and things kept fizzling out on us… but tomorrow’s another day – hopefully a great one! We’ve had an awesome trip too! It’s just always a bummer when the things you anticipate aren’t quite what you expected.
Tomorrow we’re off to Melbourne and then we’re flying home!!! We leave at 10 am from Melbourne, Australia on July 5th and then gain our day back as we arrive in LA around 7 am on July 5th and arrive in Orlando around 5:45 pm on July 5th and hopefully make it back to OUR Melbourne by 7 pm on...again, July 5th… our July 5th is going to be like forty hours long!
We’re flying Melbourne to Melbourne! (close enough). We’ll post lots of photos once we return home. Happy Fourth of July to everyone – enjoy some fireworks for us!
Cheers!
The Great Ocean Road – Wednesday and Thursday 01 and 02 July 2009
Day 1: Warrnambool to Port Campbell to Apollo Bay
We woke up in Warrnambool and enjoyed a nice, relaxing, slow morning. In Europe we were a lot less bound to schedule and had missed that freedom many of the mornings of this trip, so we indulged and took our time and had a breakfast of Rice Bubbles and milk (Rice Crispies…with Snap, Crackle, and Pop on the box…just called Rice Bubbles instead) and were on our merry way.
The weather was not fabulous, but it wasn’t raining every minute, so I bargained with the rain fairy and told her that if we could get some pauses in the storms when we reached the lookout points along the Great Ocean Road then we could still be friends.
First stop was Logan’s Bay, the nursery area for the Southern Right Whales…only after standing around for over half an hour and getting colder and colder, we gave up. From there it was nearly lunch time, so we decided to start our Great Ocean Road drive and to visit “Cheeseworld” when we came to it…a cheesy name I know… ha. So as we reached Cheeseworld, storm clouds were brewing and we visited the local wine and cheese shop as we waited for lunch to start being served. After we ordered our food and sat down at our table a torrential downpour with very high winds hit and we were most glad to be inside, warm and cozy, and not in the rain. It’s been in the 40’s and low 50’s and is very wet and extremely windy. Gross weather.
After Cheeseword, we left with a small scoop of ice cream (for me) and a sizeable chocolate malt milkshake (for Daniel) who had not anticipated how large the milkshake was going to be – it tasted like pureed whoppers and was delicious…but I thought the boy was going to jump out of his skin after he drank it he had such a ridiculous sugar rush…he had some funny rain man impressions and was very entertaining for a good hour as he coped with his sugar surge…
And finally, we reached some of the look out points along the Great Ocean Road – which was absolutely beautiful. The rocks are made of a softer kind of rock, sandstone, clay, etc and jut out of the water, but are steadily being worn away –some of the bases of the rocks are teeny tiny and you can tell the whole tower jutting out of the ocean will soon topple. Sometimes the water carves out arches, sometimes caves, sometimes it just eats away at the base – but it’s all very pretty because the ledges have distinctive layers and coloring. The wind was extremely high and the seas seemed very powerful, cold, and menacing. My favorite two views were the Bay of Martyrs and the London Bridge. The way it works is you see a brown sign, you pull off, you walk the marked trail to the lookout and then can enjoy your view and take pictures. You strongly acknowledge and believe the signs that say “wandering off the path is dangerous and sudden subsidence may occur” or the ones that say “cliffs may crumble without warning, stay on marked path” -- the wind is gusting, the sea is mighty and swelling with fury, and on the other side of the ledge you’re standing on is Antarctica – you’d listen to the signs too!
So we spent several hours doing the following routine – we’d see a sign and pull over, we wait and see what the rain looked like, if we thought we had time we’d make a break for it, we’d take lots of pictures, brace ourselves against the wind, enjoy the view, scurry back to the car, and then try to gently wipe all the salt water from our lens.
Now the wind. At some of the stops the wind was really really STRONG. We talked to the guy at the lighthouse yesterday and he said that there were sustained winds of 120 kilometers during the afternoon – not including the wind gusts – there was one walk we did that was ridiculous – we fought the wind the entire time and avoided one of the trails because the wind was picking up mist from the water and drenching one of the walking paths. The Twelve Apostles is the most famous of all of the lookouts – and there was a wind tunnel like experience there. I’ve never been in winds so strong…there were times when we lost balance trying to walk towards it and walk the boardwalk ledge! We took some video to try to illustrate the strength…it really was impressive. We really had a lot of fun ducking in and out of the lookouts and enjoying some of the amazing views - it really was a great day!
The Twelve Apostles was the last major stop we had, so from there we drove through Great Otway National Park and the Otway ranges and made our way towards Apollo Bay, a pleasant, sleepy town on the water’s edge. Our accommodations were very pleasant and had a very nice “order breakfast to your room” option that came with a ten dollar credit. It was nice and cozy and we found a great restaurant just down the road that had a delicious Mediterranean chicken dish and kangaroo steak.
Day 2: Apollo Bay to Lorne to Torquay
We had another lovely, lazy morning in Apollo Bay and enjoyed our “room service” breakfast. After that we doubled back a bit and went down to Cape Otway to visit the lighthouse – which is where we were assured that the previous day was a pretty windy day, but were also told that in really stormy weather they had recorded gusts of 180 and 190 kilometers. Crazy.
After the light house we started our drive northeast on the Great Ocean Road – this time instead of high cliffs with lookouts that had land that was falling away at the edges, we saw lots of hard rock ledges that were lower to the water and great surfing swells. We stopped at a few of the lookouts and enjoyed the view, but again were playing the dodge-the-rain-game. We had initially planned to go into the forests and hike and then do the vineyard at Otway Estates – but one, it was really cold and rainy and would have been an absolutely miserable hike and two, Otway Estates would have been a four hour plus detour. (It’s a lot easier to figure out things once you’re actually there). So, we ditched those efforts and enjoyed the Great Ocean Road views instead.
We stopped for lunch in a little town named Lorne and I got a great pasta dish and Daniel enjoyed a nice lamb curry. We also found a bookstore where I could pick up another Janet Evanovich book to keep me occupied on the plane trip home. (What better way to pass part of the 20+ hours of flight time home, right?) I actually feel MUCH better knowing I have the book to read on the way! From there we hit the road again and after many winding, curvy roads and beautiful rocky beaches, we made our way to Torquay. (Pronounced Tore-key…almost like turkey)…and Warrnambool is Wah-nah-bool. While we were on the live aboard I asked the girl from Melbourne (Mel-bun) how to say everything so I didn’t embarrass myself too much. That seems to be the rule of thumb in Australia – point at the word and ask a local. Daniel’s been drafting a rules of pronunciation, but it’s getting pretty complicated. Q’s and R’s have a lot of rules it seems…
So, we reached Torquay and discovered that our hotel was another B&B – we didn’t like the last one, so we cringed, but this one was woooonnnnderful. We loved it – very nice, not overbearing people, a heated Jacuzzi (thank God, because I was freezing), beautiful rooms and very comfy bed, billiard room, fire place area, view of the water from some of the rooms – much nicer. And, we had robes to wear to the Jacuzzi, fresh tea and coffee in the room, and fresh biscuits in a jar waiting for us. (BTW – Australia is very British…biscuits are whatever you would have with tea – brownies, cookies, etc.)
We crashed in the room and thawed for a bit and then went exploring. We shopped a bit in the downtown area and then ate at a nice restaurant named Growlers. We had a bunch of starters and called it a night. We hit up the Jacuzzi and I finally got warmed up (there’s a car conflict with the AC versus nothing versus low heat) and spent a nice relaxing evening back at our hotel.
We woke up in Warrnambool and enjoyed a nice, relaxing, slow morning. In Europe we were a lot less bound to schedule and had missed that freedom many of the mornings of this trip, so we indulged and took our time and had a breakfast of Rice Bubbles and milk (Rice Crispies…with Snap, Crackle, and Pop on the box…just called Rice Bubbles instead) and were on our merry way.
The weather was not fabulous, but it wasn’t raining every minute, so I bargained with the rain fairy and told her that if we could get some pauses in the storms when we reached the lookout points along the Great Ocean Road then we could still be friends.
First stop was Logan’s Bay, the nursery area for the Southern Right Whales…only after standing around for over half an hour and getting colder and colder, we gave up. From there it was nearly lunch time, so we decided to start our Great Ocean Road drive and to visit “Cheeseworld” when we came to it…a cheesy name I know… ha. So as we reached Cheeseworld, storm clouds were brewing and we visited the local wine and cheese shop as we waited for lunch to start being served. After we ordered our food and sat down at our table a torrential downpour with very high winds hit and we were most glad to be inside, warm and cozy, and not in the rain. It’s been in the 40’s and low 50’s and is very wet and extremely windy. Gross weather.
After Cheeseword, we left with a small scoop of ice cream (for me) and a sizeable chocolate malt milkshake (for Daniel) who had not anticipated how large the milkshake was going to be – it tasted like pureed whoppers and was delicious…but I thought the boy was going to jump out of his skin after he drank it he had such a ridiculous sugar rush…he had some funny rain man impressions and was very entertaining for a good hour as he coped with his sugar surge…
And finally, we reached some of the look out points along the Great Ocean Road – which was absolutely beautiful. The rocks are made of a softer kind of rock, sandstone, clay, etc and jut out of the water, but are steadily being worn away –some of the bases of the rocks are teeny tiny and you can tell the whole tower jutting out of the ocean will soon topple. Sometimes the water carves out arches, sometimes caves, sometimes it just eats away at the base – but it’s all very pretty because the ledges have distinctive layers and coloring. The wind was extremely high and the seas seemed very powerful, cold, and menacing. My favorite two views were the Bay of Martyrs and the London Bridge. The way it works is you see a brown sign, you pull off, you walk the marked trail to the lookout and then can enjoy your view and take pictures. You strongly acknowledge and believe the signs that say “wandering off the path is dangerous and sudden subsidence may occur” or the ones that say “cliffs may crumble without warning, stay on marked path” -- the wind is gusting, the sea is mighty and swelling with fury, and on the other side of the ledge you’re standing on is Antarctica – you’d listen to the signs too!
So we spent several hours doing the following routine – we’d see a sign and pull over, we wait and see what the rain looked like, if we thought we had time we’d make a break for it, we’d take lots of pictures, brace ourselves against the wind, enjoy the view, scurry back to the car, and then try to gently wipe all the salt water from our lens.
Now the wind. At some of the stops the wind was really really STRONG. We talked to the guy at the lighthouse yesterday and he said that there were sustained winds of 120 kilometers during the afternoon – not including the wind gusts – there was one walk we did that was ridiculous – we fought the wind the entire time and avoided one of the trails because the wind was picking up mist from the water and drenching one of the walking paths. The Twelve Apostles is the most famous of all of the lookouts – and there was a wind tunnel like experience there. I’ve never been in winds so strong…there were times when we lost balance trying to walk towards it and walk the boardwalk ledge! We took some video to try to illustrate the strength…it really was impressive. We really had a lot of fun ducking in and out of the lookouts and enjoying some of the amazing views - it really was a great day!
The Twelve Apostles was the last major stop we had, so from there we drove through Great Otway National Park and the Otway ranges and made our way towards Apollo Bay, a pleasant, sleepy town on the water’s edge. Our accommodations were very pleasant and had a very nice “order breakfast to your room” option that came with a ten dollar credit. It was nice and cozy and we found a great restaurant just down the road that had a delicious Mediterranean chicken dish and kangaroo steak.
Day 2: Apollo Bay to Lorne to Torquay
We had another lovely, lazy morning in Apollo Bay and enjoyed our “room service” breakfast. After that we doubled back a bit and went down to Cape Otway to visit the lighthouse – which is where we were assured that the previous day was a pretty windy day, but were also told that in really stormy weather they had recorded gusts of 180 and 190 kilometers. Crazy.
After the light house we started our drive northeast on the Great Ocean Road – this time instead of high cliffs with lookouts that had land that was falling away at the edges, we saw lots of hard rock ledges that were lower to the water and great surfing swells. We stopped at a few of the lookouts and enjoyed the view, but again were playing the dodge-the-rain-game. We had initially planned to go into the forests and hike and then do the vineyard at Otway Estates – but one, it was really cold and rainy and would have been an absolutely miserable hike and two, Otway Estates would have been a four hour plus detour. (It’s a lot easier to figure out things once you’re actually there). So, we ditched those efforts and enjoyed the Great Ocean Road views instead.
We stopped for lunch in a little town named Lorne and I got a great pasta dish and Daniel enjoyed a nice lamb curry. We also found a bookstore where I could pick up another Janet Evanovich book to keep me occupied on the plane trip home. (What better way to pass part of the 20+ hours of flight time home, right?) I actually feel MUCH better knowing I have the book to read on the way! From there we hit the road again and after many winding, curvy roads and beautiful rocky beaches, we made our way to Torquay. (Pronounced Tore-key…almost like turkey)…and Warrnambool is Wah-nah-bool. While we were on the live aboard I asked the girl from Melbourne (Mel-bun) how to say everything so I didn’t embarrass myself too much. That seems to be the rule of thumb in Australia – point at the word and ask a local. Daniel’s been drafting a rules of pronunciation, but it’s getting pretty complicated. Q’s and R’s have a lot of rules it seems…
So, we reached Torquay and discovered that our hotel was another B&B – we didn’t like the last one, so we cringed, but this one was woooonnnnderful. We loved it – very nice, not overbearing people, a heated Jacuzzi (thank God, because I was freezing), beautiful rooms and very comfy bed, billiard room, fire place area, view of the water from some of the rooms – much nicer. And, we had robes to wear to the Jacuzzi, fresh tea and coffee in the room, and fresh biscuits in a jar waiting for us. (BTW – Australia is very British…biscuits are whatever you would have with tea – brownies, cookies, etc.)
We crashed in the room and thawed for a bit and then went exploring. We shopped a bit in the downtown area and then ate at a nice restaurant named Growlers. We had a bunch of starters and called it a night. We hit up the Jacuzzi and I finally got warmed up (there’s a car conflict with the AC versus nothing versus low heat) and spent a nice relaxing evening back at our hotel.
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