We landed in Melbourne late Friday afternoon and drove to our hotel in the city. Saturday and Sunday morning did not give us enough time in this capital city for the State of Victoria, which is a very happening city of 4+ million. Melbourne reminded us of Toronto (although it’s been a long time since we walked around in downtown Toronto on a Saturday evening). Of course it was a bit of a rest-up and do-laundry stop as well so not the stuff of excitement, but we had a good stay nonetheless.
We had two nights in Melbourne
at Hotel Charsfield
Our mini-tour of Melbourne started with
a tram ride around the City-Centre
From the tram: 
State Government
And a long way from Lake Lure…
Then we walked, ate, walked, ate and walked.
Below was another reminder of home…
“Cookie” is a Thai restaurant, and purveyor of
some very good Victoria-made beers.
Beer geeks: Click to enlarge below; the
“Wolf” was incredible.
And the food was excellent as well.
Melbourne’s China Town reminded us of Kowloon:
A friend of Ted VandeWoude recommended
Bar Lourinha, another winner:
The Melbourne Train Station at night as we
passed on our walk back to the hotel:
Sunday morning we walked the Botanic Gardens…
Janet looks at needle of a different
sort on this Bunya Pine
Fern Garden
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The Great Ocean Road
On Sunday afternoon we headed south from
Melbourne to explore the Great Ocean Road.
Didn’t take long to find surfers.
When looking through a camera lens one can be
surprised by a wave that approaches
further than others. No dryer required.
We stopped by the Split Point Lighthouse at
Aireys Inlet, built 1890.
Kind of funky house next to lighthouse
At our Sunday night destination, the Motel Marengo,
we were caught up in a Parrot Convention…
Meanwhile, it seems that back home our dog Sasha is
getting plenty of attention. We wanted to crop Dan out
of this and focus on Sasha’s new friends but decided to
leave him in, even if he looks a little jealous.
On Monday we continued on the Great Ocean Road. We
had breakfast at Apollo Bay and went across the street
for our morning walk.
After a fairly short drive we found Johanna
Beach. Had to stop for Johanna.
Then the main event as far as the Great Ocean
Road is concerned – The Twelve Apostles…
Not far past the Apostles we pulled off for a different
view and found a little apostle of our own…
More driving and then we stopped when we saw a
sign for “the Arch”. What could that be?
And off the Ocean Road but more scenery:
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Barossa Wine Region
Tuesday was largely a driving day as we headed north from the coast up into the Barossa wine region.
While the land awaits winter rains, it is much greener than the stereotype image of Australia based on the Outback. Throughout this day’s drive we saw vast and mostly beautiful farms. Certainly we will always associate Barossa Valley wine with lamb from now on!
As of Monday night we have been in the State of South Australia. Like Newfoundland, time is off by a half hour, for whatever that comparison is worth. Even before getting to Barossa, through much of this region one sees grape vines. The grapes have been harvested now with the leaves turning to reflect fall colors.
There are miles and miles of vines at some places
Before reaching our hotel in Nuriootpa we stopped
near Angaston at the Yalumba Vineyards, just on the
dividing point between Eden Valley and Barossa.
After Jan drove the rest of the way to
the hotel, Nick took a nap.
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The Vine Inn in Nuriootpa was reasonably nice and
had a great view out the back
Wednesday was busy. When visiting Yalumba Vineyard
on Tuesday afternoon they mentioned that they were
holding their festival the next day so we started
Wednesday morning by returning to their vineyard.
Above, playing Music at Festival
Below, playing at Festival
Honestly, Jan made me do it!
I hadn’t even had a glass yet.
Janet hanging out with a dummy.
(I heard that!)
Above, Janet with tea. The bricks were hard and
sun warm so we invited ourselves to join a local
couple with a table and an umbrella…
…and stayed for lunch.
We then went to another winery that is an old
favorite. Some of you might remember the case of
2005 Shotfire Ridge we had in the cellar several
years ago, from this Thorn-Clark vineyard.
Their marketing folks liked the day and the setting
so much they were doing some photography of their own.
At 1:30 we were back for a third time to Yalumba
Vineyard, this time for a Cooperage demonstration. We
got carried away a bit with video here but anyone
interested can watch below. We have a couple more
that were too long for this blog site that are quite
interesting for any fans of this ancient brewing/winery
art so let me know if you want to see the rest.
Some Short Cooperage Videos:
First Hoop
After Steaming and Bending
Drying & Charing
The End – 1
The End – 2
The End
We also stopped at a little cheese-making shop
and got some very nice sour-washed-goat-brie for our
lunch on the next day’s drive. A little philosophy for you;
click on photo to read:
Then off to another good winery – Whistler. The
wines were fine but not sold in the US. We really
went there for the wildlife:
…and a few videos for the grandkids:
Roo-1 / Roo-2
There is another, longer video (too long for the site)
with more about the barking dog. Dumb dog kept
bringing Janet little sticks to throw. OK, I guess
maybe we are missing Sasha.
We did not intentionally neglect our brewing brethren…
…but unfortunately the tasting room at
Barossa Valley Brewery was closed.
You may have heard of Penfold’s, which
we passed on the way back from the brewery.
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Thursday we started north into the
Outback, camera in hand…
One of many “road trains”
Salt lakes, left from an ancient inland sea…
We had started early in order to arrive at our
day’s destination by about 3:30. After all,
there was a birthday to celebrate.
The destination was Coober Pedy,
truly a unique town…
Our museum tour started in what can only
be called an under ground cinema.
Below is an example of early miners’ below–ground
dwellings. Opals were discovered here in early
1915 but little mining took place until soldiers
returned from duty at the front. With dreadful
flies and 45c summer heat, they returned to
living below ground, as they had in the war,
with the temperature always at 22-24c.
Here is the 1960’s version…
Vent hole…
Down in the mine itself…
All about finding that seam full of opal…
The museum, like every place in the town,
does sell opals and had been recommended
on Trip Advisor, so Janet did wear opals at
her birthday dinner. Then it was off to our
“motel”, a real hole in the ground…
Above, the entry hall,
below, our room.
Without the limitations set by exterior walls,
if you need a bit more room for the shower,
you just take it.
Not surprisingly, if someone wants to build
an addition to their home, they select the location
carefully. While there is no mining allowed
within the town limits nowadays, there’s no law
against drilling out the addition along a promising
seam. Opals have been found by such “accidents”.
Leaving Coober Pedy on Friday morning
Opal Mining as we headed north:
And on the road again, heading to
Ayers Rock or Uluru to the Aborigines 
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We had eight hours on the road Friday but
late in the
afternoon we arrived at the
town/resort/natural
phenomenon of Ayers Rock,
or as more commonly
referred to now, Uluru.
This name reflects the
ancient importance of
the site to the Aborigine
community for whom
it is considered sacred.
We found the resort/town and eventually
some
dinner, including kangaroo, emu
and crocodile.
It was grill-your-own so away we went.
Back at the hotel, is this a truck or a bus?
(Click to see better)
Saturday morning we did a walk of a couple
kilometers along the base of the rock in the
area considered most interesting, or at least
most accessible to tourists.
There is a long tradition of climbing the rock
and you can see people carefully making their way
down in several of these pictures. The administrators
discourage this and will probably prohibit it within
a few years. No problem for us as it looked very steep
and people fall and die every year doing the climb
There are many caves and crevices, a number
of which are considered sacred. Visitors are
encouraged to stay on the marked trails in order
to avoid snakes, plant damage and cultural faux pas.
On some sections of the trail we are asked not to
take pictures because of the cultural sensitivities.
One of the caves marks the spot where
an ancient massacre is said to have occurred.
This is the “Man Cave” and the victims
supposedly still dwell there and can be seen in
the stone shapes on the wall of the cave.
(Click on above for the story)
Then there is the teaching cave where the
walls were used as a sort of blackboard.
Later on Saturday we went out to Kata Tjuta, about
45 km from Uluru. This is less well know than Uluru
but even though none of the rocks are as
large, we found the formation more interesting.
Damn flies, they’re everywhere
For sunset we were back at Uluru
Sunday morning we did laundry and struggled
with wifi to update the blog. We checked out of
the hotel about 11:00 and headed to the airport
where their “free wifi” again frustrated efforts
to work on this blog. WiFi is very consistent here,
consistently difficult! Still we caught our flight
to Cairns for the next leg of the trip.
Leaving the state of Northern Australia…
…with a final view of Kata Tjuta
and the Outback desert
