World Australia Victoria Melbourne

Kangaroos are Not Kosher - Howie & Debbie Down Under

The Long & Winding Road Oct 22, 2009

Thursday October 22, 2009 – The Great Ocean Road

The Long & Winding Road

Long drive? Leave early. 8:00 am sound reasonable? Yes, until you remember that this is the absolute peak of rush hour morning traffic. We made it to the M1 from our hotel in St. Kilda in just under an hour (it takes about 5 minutes otherwise) and so we kind of had a slow start to the day. So what, I’ve got nothing but time!

To prove it, our first stop today: The National Wool Museum in Geelong. Pat & I absolutely insisted we pay it a visit. Debbie & Elaine were pretty much against it and were far more interested in seeing the display on Aussie Rules Football (Geelong Cats – Grand Finals Champions last month!) but they went along for the tour anyway.

Just so you can understand our excitement, here’s an actual quote from the brochure: “Fascinating tales: Stories of life on the farm or of working in the textile industry are told by our Honorary Staff as you explore the Museum. Each has a different ‘yarn to spin’”. Honest – that’s what it says.

I now know far more about sheep than any person should. And I think it all goes down-wool from here.

Meantime, Debbie & Elaine have purchased enough wool to pretty much coat the entire back of the minivan. They have a little knitting circle going on back there. The wool string things are everywhere. I think Debbie is knitting a noose for me. At least the colours will be pretty.

The Great Ocean Road (“TGOR” for short) starts at Torquay and ends at Warrnambool. Many of you will recall that Torquay is where Basil & Sybil Fawlty had their Towers. They were not in when we dropped by.

Our first actual stop on this 400km stretch of winding and windy highway at the bottom of Victoria State was the Split Point Lighthouse near Airleys Inlet. The dramatic cliffside views (and sheer drop) there was indicative of pretty much the entire coastline for the next two days of our drive along TGOR.

TGOR driving is slow due to the numerous turns; many of them hairpin. Think “Road to Hana” in Maui and you’ve got the idea. The fact that there was nothing but net between us and the ocean on many of the turns added to the ‘riding the brakes’ phenomenon. Then throw in that driving on the left hand side of the road thing on top of it all and I think you get the idea.

Lucky for me, I got to drive. Unlucky for Debbie, Pat & Elaine; they got to ‘anticipate’ the turns without really being able to do anything about it. For some reason, every time I pointed out a gorgeous view I got a chorus of “Keep your eyes on the road” from 3 different directions. Curious.

Rabbi Drelich has his Lunch ‘n Learn program but it’s got nothing on Lunch in Lorne. Our picnic by the ocean in Lorne was lovely. The food sat quite well (for me, anyway) as we twisted our way on to Cape Patton and then into Apollo Bay, our pit stop for the night, at the Great Ocean View Motel. It was.

We did some beachcombing in Apollo Bay. I came out of the surf with an interesting metallic-green nautilus shell, which now must survive the next 10 weeks of travel before finding its way onto the tchatchka shelf in my office.

Side note: Mottos on Australian License Plates:

New South Wales – no motto

Victoria – The Place to Be

South Australia – The Festival State

Northern Territories – Outback Australia

Queensland – Sunshine State

Western Australia – no motto

Tasmania – Explore the Possibilities

ACT Canberra – The Nation’s Capital (ooh, how original!)

We enjoyed a lovely Thai meal at the Monsoon House restaurant. We had to say that – the Tom Yum soup was $16/person. I think each bowl was meant for 4 (they were big). Maybe that’s why the waitress was so surprised that we each ordered a bowl? No matter: Soup for us but no tip for her!

Final thought: When we talk to Lizzy she keeps asking Debbie if she’s killed me yet. Debbie says that so long as I’m driving I’m safe. Meantime, Debbie loves all the sheer drops. She is always asking me to lean over and take a picture. I’m wary.

Frankly, I’m a bit worried about what happens when we get on the Ghan Train to Alice Springs next Wednesday. She loves those murder mysteries and I think she’s plotting something for sure. I can just see the headline now: “Husband a goner on the Ghan”.