Day 10 - Wilson's Promontory and Phillip Island

We woke up to a clear blue sky on our last day of riding the bike. We had to be on Phillip Island that evening, and we calculated it to be only a short ride of 350-ish kms, so we decided that we'd take a bit of a detour from our mapped route and check out Wilson's Promontory.

The first part of the ride was pretty average; we can ride straight roads through farm country in Canada. We stopped in Yarram for coffee and scones, then took a walk down the main street to stretch our legs a bit. It seemed like a pretty prosperous town, and I get the feeling that other than the names on the store fronts, not much has changed in Yarram in quite a while.  

We came across this place in our travels:

I looked up Federal Coffee Palace on Wikipedia (hey, you know me and coffee - a coffee palace would be my fairy tale come true), and found that they were hotels built throughout Australia in the 1880's that served no alcohol as a response to the Temperance Movement. (file under: I learn something new every day.)

From Yarram, we kept heading along the South Gippsland Highway and then on to Wilson's Promontory, a huge park in the south of Australia. 

The day got hotter, and so we pulled off at Darby River. It was a 1km walk to the ocean which seemed to deter the vanload of Americans, but it was absolutely worth it. The beach was deserted save for two surfers trying to get something going.

Path to the ocean.

360 panorama

Honestly, the hour spent exploring this beach was too lovely for words. But stomachs grumbled and told us it was time to keep moving. We headed to the end of the road at Tidal River since there we'd seen a sign for a cafe, but we turned back when we saw how crowded it was - the campground was full and included a few school groups. 

The rest of the ride to Phillip Island was pretty uneventful except for the clench moments as we got close to the island and a pretty strong cross-wind blew up. Nothing like being on a loaded, 2-up heavy motorcycle and feeling yourself be blown a half-meter across the lane like you're a feather.

Luckily the wind died as we got on the island and we found our motel in Cowes easily. We dumped our stuff and went for a stroll along the Esplanade and had dinner at a great Thai place with a fabulous view.

The reason why we were on Phillip Island was to take in the world-famous Penguin Parade. 

Juliette advised us to upgrade to the Ultimate Tour. For $35 more, we got to go to a private beach on the other side of the island rather than watch the incoming penguins from the main bleachers. It was absolutely worth it! They cap the Ultimate Tour at 10 people, and you get a great info session with a park guide then get outfitted with non-reflective suits, headsets and night vision scopes. The ten of us sat on the beach and watched the penguins come up from the water, as close as 3 meters away. The penguins chirp to each other as they come up the beach, noisier than I expected. It was unbelievably cute.

We encountered lots of penguins even on the walk back from the beach, and went past wallabies who just stared at us. You'll have to take my word for it that it was amazing - they have a strict no photo policy, as some people don't know how to turn off the flash which can distract the penguins from their route, or harm their vision. 

Day 9 - Great Alpine Road & Lakes Entrance

(Note: Day 8 was a travel day - there is nothing interesting about highways.)

Don’t ask me what I was expecting on the Great Alpine Road. Guardrails maybe? Sigh.

We left Myrtleford and set out to see how curvy a few roads were before we hit the Great Alpine Road, going through Tawonga and then across the Tawonga Gap. We stopped at the summit of the Gap for a coffee and had a long conversation with a man who lived close by, and rode this road whenever he could. We took some photos across the valley below:

Yes, I did walk to the end of the look out. I felt so brave!

But not for long. The rest of the ride heading south up to Mount Hotham was a challenge to my vertigo and agoraphobia. The scenery was stunning, but there were few places to pull over and take photos as the road was narrow and very twisty as it climbed in elevation.

I did my best, but when we were about 2-3 kms from the summit, I made Keith pull over. We were above the tree line, so I could clearly see the road carved out along the saddle of the ridge and around the next peak, and it was enough to bring on a panic attack.

This is not my photo. I was too busy freaking out.
Photo by SplaTT

The panic attack wasn’t pretty, but when are they? I couldn’t form words…all I could do was whimper and point to the ridge. I think it was a lot like Beaker from the Muppets. Keith gave me space until common sense backed the panic back into the corner; we couldn’t go back, so we had to go forward. I got back on the bike behind Keith and looked where-ever the drop wasn’t while singing Monty Python’s Always Look On The Bright Side of Life inside my helmet.

It was about 15 minutes before we got to the ski resort at the top of Mount Hotham, but it felt like much longer. We stopped to take some pictures and so I could catch my breath.

Trust me, this is high up.

The ride down was perfect; obviously that’s the road that people use to get to the ski hill in winter. Lots of gentler curves without the steep and sudden drop-offs of the other side.

We stopped in a former gold rush town called Omeo for lunch and had a hamburger from a snack counter. Here’s something to remember if you ever come to Australia – they like to put beetroot on a hamburger for some odd reason. It’s easy to pick out, but the juice gets everywhere. It’s kind of nasty/odd to my North American tastes. Even the dog that so patiently waited by the picnic table for our scraps wouldn’t touch it.
From Omeo we headed to Lakes Entrance on the coast. A pretty typical ocean holiday town, it has a long strip of motels, mini-golf and pizza places. It was around dinner, so after a walk on the near-deserted Ninety Mile Beach we headed to a restaurant called Miriam’s for some seafood and a well-deserved cocktail for me.

Playing with the Slow Shutter app on my iPhone

Beach hut in silhouette.

They call it a Raspberry Bluff; I call it delicious!

More photos from this day are here.

Soon

As soon as I can get to wireless that's stable for more than 2 seconds, I'll upload the posts I did in LiveWriter.

Australia has a lovely quaint idea towards internet access. It blows my mind that I could get free wifi at a truckstop 60 kms from the bloody Arctic Circle, and yet have to practically stand on my head in the hotel lobby to get it in Sydney.

Having such a great time, so much so that Keith is getting tired of me saying "I don't want to go home". Off to see La Traviata tonight as a birthday present from Jules, and then off to the airport tomorrow for the long journey home.

Here's a picture until I can post more pictures:

Yes, we rode camels. Not even close to the most touristy thing we did,

Day 7 - Great Ocean Road (aka back the way we came)

We woke up in Warrnambool to a forecast of sunny weather which cemented our decision to head back along the Great Ocean Road. After breakfast of espresso and hot cross buns, we hit the road.

First stop was the Grotto and the Loch Ard Gorge, not far from the 12 Apostles. There's something about the formations along this stretch of limestone cliffs that defies words.

The Grotto

Panoramic shot, looking east from Loch Ard Gorge

Looking east.

After wandering around there for an hour or so, we hit the twisties again. We shot some video from a camera mounted on the front of the bike of parts of the ride through the Otway National Park - will get that uploaded soon. 

The ride through the forest was spectacular. At one point Keith pulled over at a turnoff for a lighthouse and said "Wanna go look?". I just said yep. What followed was a stretch of great road with a really interesting historical park at the end, with said lighthouse, telegraph and radar stations. Even better, on the way we saw koalas in the wild, and a kangaroo jumped across the road in front of the bike.

The beginning of the koala butt jokes.

We walked around the park, taking in the performance of some actors portraying characters from the lighthouse's past. Climbing to the top of the lighthouse seemed like a good idea until I got to the top and looked out (it was a tad too high for my vertigo). 

Cape Otway Lighthouse

Killer view from the top

The next stop was at Apollo Bay where we had lunch, watched some guys fish in the surf, and chatted with a lovely woman who told us much about the area and wanted to sell us her motorcycle with sidecar. She mentioned Tasmania, and we played with the idea of a side trip until we found out it's like going to Newfoundland and involves a long overnight ferry ride.

The rest of the ride was brilliant, and we ended in Anglesea. We will no longer think about how much we paid for out motel room, but the dinner at the Italian place behind it will always remain in our memories.

More pictures from Day 7.

Yum.

ooops

Between the lack of wireless in motels and 4 days of hanging out with Jules and Graham in Melbourne, I've kind of forgotten about posting. I'll catch up tonight when we get back from our Melbourne walking tour. In the mean time, here's a few pictures:

Cape Otway Lighthouse

90 Mile Beach

Omeo

Healesville Sanctuary

Great Ocean Road to Warranbool

The weather was not the greatest today, but even the few showers we rode through could not diminish just how fabulous a drive the Great Ocean Road is. So fabulous that they are afraid you're going to forget which side of the road to drive on:

There were a couple of moments when the anxiety kicked in but it wasn't as bad as it would have been before the cognitive behaviour therapy. I may never be completely comfortable with the combination of heights and open spaces.

The bike we rented is incredibly comfortable and handles quite well. It feels odd to be a passenger; I can't see where we're going but I have the freedom to look around more than if I was on my own bike.

We stopped many times along the way to look at lighthouses, make coffee and see the Twelve Apostles. And while it was a great day, we think we're going to do it again tomorrow in the sunshine.

Sunrise

I woke up early and said the words I thought would never cross my lips:

"let's go watch the sunrise."

Location:Surf Beach Dr,Torquay,Australia