Finally. Melbourne!
From Alice Springs I caught a flight south to Victoria and more specifically Melbourne and to my friends. This was the whole point of the trip really. But, if you are going to fly 9,009 miles you might as well spend some time seeing all the bucket list things. Which is what I did for the first part of the trip. The last half of the trip was a chance to get to visit with my friend and his family. This is a friend that I have known for more of my life than not. We started as penpals back when people still wrote letters. And there’s a really good chance I still have the very first letter he sent.
So my friend and his wife greeted me on arrival at the gate. Remember when we used to do that in the US? And then we were off. The plans were to spend the weekend in Apollo Bay and to follow the Great Ocean Road to visit the Twelve Apostles. Disclaimer here. Apparently there are not twelve there are nine now and there never were twelve but the Nine Apostles doesn’t sound as good. It doesn’t matter how many there are it’s still some of the most stunning views I’ve seen. And the drive, it turns out is considered the most scenic drive in Australia.
On our way to Apollo Bay we made a side visit to a lighthouse and I got my first view of the southern ocean and some beautiful waves and amazing cliffs. At this point I’m already on over load for the beauty of it all. I do love the ocean and unfortunately since I’ve been in Charlotte I’ve spent entirely too little time visiting one. So the sights and sounds were food for the soul.
We made another side trek to visit the rain forest. There are two in Australia. The the tropical rain forest up in Queensland which I visited earlier in the trip. And there is one in Victoria that is not tropical but still a rain forest and still beautiful. And while the climb down to where we could see the waterfall wasn’t too bad, I thought the climb back up just might kill me. Or at least make me pass out. It was worth it though.
The only thing that didn’t go as planned on the trip was a balloon ride that was scheduled. The weather forecast for the day of the ride was expected to be rainy with poor visibility. So I wasn’t surprised on our drive to Melbourne at the end of the weekend, that we got rained on. I was pleasantly surprised that we got into town just in time to visit a musical instrument store whose inventory I had been ogling off and on for the last year. They have new and mostly used instruments. Some quite collectible and some not so much. At one point I’d been eyeing this cool looking Burns guitar in a green and black burst. My friends made a special stop so I could check out that place. And to my joy I found a Burns hanging on the wall and was allowed to play it. It’s got a nice punchy sound that is a bit of a cross between a Telecaster and a Stratocaster.
Since the balloon ride was cancelled and my friend had the day off we took the train from the suburbs into the city center (CBD) and visited some of the arcades and a couple of chocolate shops. And a couple of cool book stores. One just had a lot of books. The other was a bit more specialized. It had a lot of art type books and books on design and art movements and the like. Turns out to be a particular treat for my friend who is a graphic designer. I enjoyed it very much as well. I loved seeing such a collection of books of that style and subject matter. We also visited a fun CD and vinyl shop that was in the basement of the building. They even had a stage. I posted a photo on Instagram about it and they responded that they have musical performances there on record shop day. How cool.
And as a topper, we visited the National Gallery of Victoria. That was fascinating. It was amazing to see so many works by Australians or that featured Australia or its people as the subject matter. It was also interesting to note the similarities of how Aboriginals were depicted in relation to how the slaves or Native Americans were depicted. It was also interesting to note a few of the water color paintings for their richness and the difference in the water color technique. Yes. We did all that, and had breakfast, in just that one day. And I have no regrets about not going on the balloon ride. I think my time was well spent as it was.
I did have one more excursion. The next day I was off for a gourmet tour of the Yarra Valley. This is the wine region of Victoria. I first had to ride the train back into town to be at the pick up point. Which was part of what the day before had been for. It was a trial run to find my pick up point and for me to know how to get there. The weather was beautiful. Nearly clear skies and not too cold. Yes we had wine before 10:00 am. And it was good. We had specialty cheeses and nice fruits and we had a lovely lunch. Then we had more wine. As well as a lesson in wine tasting and bit about wines in general and what is popular and why. It was really educational and fascinating. And then we topped the trip off with a visit to the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie. Yes I did bring some home. No it did not last very long.
The next day I was due to leave Australia. But first a visit up to the mountains outside of Melbourne where we could view more beautiful scenery and get a view of the city. It was a bit hazy that day but I still tried to get a picture of the city where you could just see the CBD through the haze. And then off to the airport for the trip home. I went there thinking, that at this point in my life it would probably be the only time I would get to go there. As I said farewell to my friends at the airport I found that I had changed my view on that. Instead of this being the only time I would make it to Australia, I was thinking, you know I could come back. And I would. I don’t need to try to see all the things I did on this trip. I’ve seen them. I’d do it differently. I’d make more time to explore in Sydney and Melbourne. I’d try to see a few places I missed, just because. And I’d choose different things to focus on. I loved every minute of the trip. Even the walks and hikes I thought were going to be the end of me. Even the sinusitis that hit me in Sydney and plagued me the rest of the trip. I’m so glad I went.
The most challenging part of the trip was not even getting back to the states. Or customs and immigration. It was getting from San Francisco to Charlotte. And then it was the jet lag. I honestly did not expect it to be as bad as it was or to take as long as it did to feel like I was all in one piece. For a least a week to 10 days I felt like my body was one place, my stomach in another and my brain in yet another place. But once everything caught up with each other I found I have a little different look on things. I couldn’t give you specifics. And it doesn’t matter. Travel like good art and good music is meant to touch you, open your mind and your heart to new sites, sounds, feelings, and ways of thinking. Mission accomplished.
Enjoy the pictures. I chose a few from the last half of the trip that I think really show off the beauty of the coast.
