I wake early and take the elevator downstairs to the lobby to type and drink coffee. Three cups and an hour and a half later, I return to our room and wake John. We pack up, leaving one of our bags at the hotel and stroll over to Degraves Street and to Café Andalae. During dinner last night we noticed their breakfast menu and their gluten free crepes and eggs Benedict draw us back. Ordering coffee is a bit confusing but we opt for “flat whites,” similar to a cappuccino but without the foam. Breakfast is excellent and somewhat expensive at $35.00.
The taxi ride to Euro Rental Car is just $8.00; not much more than the price of two trolley tickets. I am anxious about driving on the left hand side of the road and John encourages me to purchase the full coverage insurance at an additional $37.00 per day. The three day economy rental car is already $156.00 and with the $114.00 additional insurance, the total for the car is $270.00. John is my co-pilot, navigating and reminding me to stay left. The signage is good and once on the freeway I relax and cruise steadily at 100 kilometers per hour until we reach the beach on the outskirts of Geelong. The beach is flat with golden sand and surfers paddle in anticipation of a significant wave. The surf is unimpressive and we jump back into the car, driving on towards the waterfront. I park mindfully, setting the brake and turning off my headlights while John purchases a two hour parking permit from a vending machine. It is late morning and the weather is intermittent sunshine and showers as we walk along the waterfront promenade. Reflections off the wet concrete and the ocean beyond wash away the surrounding colors. A pier pavilion, recreated in a 1920 architectural style and painted white is under construction at the end of the pier. The scene is very mono chromatic and I feel as if we have stepped back into time. Due to construction, the pier is closed off so we change our direction and walk uphill towards the business district.
A glassed in pedestrian walkway spans the street, connecting two halves of a great mall. We pop into the glittering shopping mall and spend an hour window shopping. We don’t frequent malls often, so this is a novelty for us and a warm alternative to the cold and damp outside. We eat at the food court, but even here, food is pricy. Our two wraps with a soda and water are $23.00. Returning to the car, I find that it will not start yet I am certain that I turned off the headlights. I try unsuccessfully to start it several times, eventually stepping out into the light rain to ask assistance from a couple parking next to us. He patiently allows me to use his cell phone and I call the rental car company who in turn instructs me to call the emergency road service number on the back of my contract. (A free service since I have purchased total insurance coverage.) Before I can schedule the road rescue, John manages to start the car. I simply didn’t have it in park before turning on the ignition.
Our next stop is at Lorne, a small beach side town. John jumps out to explore the skate park and the trampoline park while I set out to find the bathroom. By the time I have returned, John has made friends with a younger group of local kids all riding scooters. He has taken a ride on one of their scooters and wiped out on the wet concrete. His elbow oozes blood and he has scraped and bruised his back and hip. He applies “Deep Relief” essential oils to the injuries as we continue our drive. This coastal drive has many similarities to our California coastal stretch of Hwy 1 between San Francisco and Big Sur; breathtaking vistas with countless turn outs. We pull off at many of the view points, each vista more striking than the last and all with magical rainbows; their colors bleeding dramatically into the ocean beyond. The weather today has been three quarters sunny with intermittent showers, but rainbows are the reward. At some points the road winds high above the ocean and other times it drops down to beach level. Rocky tide pools stretch far out into the water and gentle waves break on the flat spans of beach.
We stop in Apollo Bay for “flat white” coffee. From here the road winds upward and inland and we drive through groves of back lit eucalyptus trees and hillsides lush with enormous ferns. I push on wanting to reach Lavers Hill before dark but when we arrive, we find that Lavers Hill it is just a junction with only one small motel and a roadside restaurant. I ask to see a room, which although quirky, is clean and offers all that we might need on this very chilly night. I pay the $93.00 and John and I share a pizza in the restaurant. John returns to the room to watch the 12” T.V. while I sit and type in the café until it closes at 7:30 P.M.
We leave our hotel at 7:45 and stop at a small non-descript café for coffee and egg and bacon sandwiches to go. I use the internet for 15 minutes, add a bottle of water to our bill and pay $28.00. The morning sun is low and blinding as I retrace our path back to Melbourne. Near Geelong, we take the turn off to Bells Beach, a famous surfing spot and watch the surfers for a few minutes.
I am determined to find the Serendip nature reserve that I have read about, but that none of the day tours include in their itineraries. I know that it is located near Lara, in the Little River area and I follow signs to Lara and ask directions at a gas station. The mechanic draws me a careful map and we are soon pulling into the reserve. It is indeed a reserve and not a zoo and there is no entrance fee. We follow the paths into a wetland area with multitudes of ducks and water birds. A “hide” is constructed over the lake so that visitors can observe without detection. We take a two kilometer trail across a dry river following a herd of emus. The kangaroos and wallabies are “caged,” but in a very large enclosure that we are allowed to enter to observe them more closely. The reserve is not exciting; but it is free and we are especially delighted with our emu encounter.
Melbourne is less than an hour away and after filling our rental car with gas, John navigates me back to the rental car return. We get seriously lost in a distant suburb of Melbourne, but eventually find our way back to the center of town; drop our luggage off at the Citigate Hotel and return the car undamaged. We have lost an hour in our unintended detour and grab hamburgers at the nearby McDonalds and catch a taxi to the Melbourne aquarium. The aquarium is built along the promenade of the river in the heart of down town. The cityscape along the waterfront is beautiful in the afternoon light, glass and steel sky scrapers reflected in the water and suspension bridges spanning the river. John and I are aquarium connoisseurs and although this one is decent, it is not great. The exhibits are a little dark and tired; although there are some wonderfully endearing fish on display. Naturally, the angler fish is one of my favorite and I take photos of this grumpy guy wedged down in a corner of his tank. We admire the impossibly ugly stone fish and the remarkable weedy and leafy sea horses. There is an excellent penguin exhibit and we end our visit watching both king penguins and a smaller breed of very playful and curious penguins cavort on the snow of their enclosure. The smaller penguins swim, miniature torpedoes in their pool that has a viewing section so that we may watch their underwater maneuvers.
John needs a new backpack and we pick one up on the walk back to our hotel. We freshen up a bit and walk out again in search of dinner. Directly across from our hotel is the main train station and we cross through it and over a bridge to a lovely waterfront shopping and eating mall. There are many upscale restaurants and John chooses an elegant Japanese one offering a theatre menu pris fix. We are under dressed, but are graciously seated by the window overlooking the sparkling river. Our two meals are excellent and it is the best meal we have eaten. [$60]
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