After a short midday flight from Tasmania to Melbourne, I picked up a rental car – my fifth this trip – and trotted onto the Interstate heading into town. I thought I’d test the toughness of navigating through a city of three million while driving on the wrong side of the road in an unfamiliar car. But the Interstate was turning into a Turnpike. And travel vouchers needed to be prepaid – no cash accepted. Agh. I turned south on the Princes Highway and headed away from the city.
I screwed up in that I could have booked a room in the City for two nights, seen Melbourne, and then picked up a car to tour the coast for my last two days in Australia. But this part of the trip was not well thought out. I'm winging it. I'm simply going to relax and see what comes my way.
What came my way was the Great Ocean Road, a spectacular drive, the pinnacle of which is The Twelve Apostles. The road is known not so much for its beaches than its blowholes, arches and mammoth island monuments that jut out into the ocean. The stops and scenery are so spectacular that it took me six hours to drive the 30 mile segment from Princetown to Peterborough.
Following ocean-rama, I discovered I'd left my tourist book somewhere along the way and asked for advice from my hotel receptionist. She gave me magazines filled with hotels, excursions and the occasional hot spot article. One article talked of a World Heritage site. World Heritage Site? Where?
Naracoorte is a complex of caves just across the border from Victoria, along the Limestone Coast in South Australia. I toured Blanche, Alexandra, Wet and Victoria Caves. They're great limestone caves reminiscent of Sequoia's Crystal Cave. Should that give them world heritage status? No, but the 500,000 years of fossilized remains certainly does. It was my first experience in an active paleontology site. There were stalagmites, stalactites, marble flows and archeological digs. It was all fascinating.
My stays during this part of the journey were small towns - Port Campbell, Warranbool and Horsham - the largest of which is maybe the size of Auburn. They were all full of character and characters. As soon as they hear my accent, the conversations begin. This is the outback and they don't get many folks from America here. They're a friendly folk and always smile when correcting my mispronunciation of Gringegalgona or Konengwootong or Tarrayoukyan.
For my last full day in Australia, I'm headed to Grampians National Park and Halls Gap. There are Aboriginal paintings there and waterfalls and panoramic views. That's what my internet connection says. Who knows what I'll really find.
I screwed up in that I could have booked a room in the City for two nights, seen Melbourne, and then picked up a car to tour the coast for my last two days in Australia. But this part of the trip was not well thought out. I'm winging it. I'm simply going to relax and see what comes my way.
What came my way was the Great Ocean Road, a spectacular drive, the pinnacle of which is The Twelve Apostles. The road is known not so much for its beaches than its blowholes, arches and mammoth island monuments that jut out into the ocean. The stops and scenery are so spectacular that it took me six hours to drive the 30 mile segment from Princetown to Peterborough.
Naracoorte is a complex of caves just across the border from Victoria, along the Limestone Coast in South Australia. I toured Blanche, Alexandra, Wet and Victoria Caves. They're great limestone caves reminiscent of Sequoia's Crystal Cave. Should that give them world heritage status? No, but the 500,000 years of fossilized remains certainly does. It was my first experience in an active paleontology site. There were stalagmites, stalactites, marble flows and archeological digs. It was all fascinating.
For my last full day in Australia, I'm headed to Grampians National Park and Halls Gap. There are Aboriginal paintings there and waterfalls and panoramic views. That's what my internet connection says. Who knows what I'll really find.
No comments:
Post a Comment