Police Story

When we opened the curtains at the front of our cabin this morning, we looked out to see a kangaroo eating the grass; a nice sendoff for us!

We hit the road a little before nine, taking advantage of a short-cut our hotel owner David had given us. It saved us from having to drive up and over the mountain to get to the highway that would take us to Adelaide.

We had been on the highway about 15 minutes when we saw flashing lights coming up right behind us. I was being pulled over by the cops. We were in the middle of nowhere. I hadn’t been speeding. What could it be?

“Good morning, officer!” I said in my cheeriest voice and with a big smile on my face.

“Good morning,” Senior Constable Mick Ryan replied, as his partner came around the passenger side of the car, scaring the daylights out of Roslyn. Constable Ryan was also smiling. “How ya’ going? Where are you from?”

“Atlanta, Georgia.”

“Atlanta? You should be there today,” he said, referring to the Super Bowl.

“Oh no, I’d much rather be here in Australia today,” I told him.

“May I see a driver’s license,” he asked.

“Certainly,” I said, fishing it out and handing it over.

“Have you had anything alcoholic to drink today?”

“No,” I scoffed in my best “as if” tone.

“Good! Have you ever used one of these,” he asked, producing a breathalyzer.

“No, sir!”

“Well, you just blow into the tube like you were blowing up a balloon, until I tell you to stop.”

I did and he did.

“Very good. Now I’ll just enter this into the computer so I can show I talked with you.” With that, he walked back to his car. Roslyn’s blood pressure was quickly falling back into the normal range.

He came back and handed back my license.

“Was this just a random stop?” I asked.

“Well, we saw your car had rental car plates. Drug smugglers often use rental cars between Melbourne and Adelaide ‘cause they think they’re less conspicuous.”

“And are there really people who’ve been drinking at 9:45 in the morning?” Roslyn wanted to know.

“Usually it’s when they’ve had a big night,” he answered, implying some drivers who’d been out late drinking might still be over the legal limit at 9:45 a.m. Constable Ryan wished us well and we were on our way.

David, who had given us the shortcut to the main highway, had also warned us the drive to Adelaide was one of the most boring he had ever driven. He wasn’t exaggerating. Miles of nothing but flat beige fields and the occasional tree, reminiscent of the oppressive monotony drivers must endure on I-70 from central Missouri to western Kansas, I-16 from Macon to Savannah, or anywhere on road in Indiana.

About three hours into our drive, we crossed the state line between Victoria and South Australia. Our time changed, moving not a full hour, but just a half-hour earlier. Why a half-hour? When Australia originally adopted time zones, South Australia, in the Central Time zone, was an hour behind the east. But in 1899, Central Time was moved to only half-hour behind the East, after lobbying by businesses who wanted to be closer to Melbourne time and cricketers and footballers who wanted more daylight to practice in the evenings. The common international practice of setting one-hour intervals between adjacent time zones.? Fuggettaboutit. Attempts to correct these oddities in 1986 and 1994 were rejected.

We made it to our hotel in Adelaide without further incident. We walked around to stretch and enjoy the nice weather, had a very nice meal at a nearby Italian restaurant, and repaired to our hotel for the evening.

We did see on a local newscast a report on the Super Bowl, which had begun from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., depending on where in Australia you are. . As Senior Constable Ryan indicated, at least some Australians have at least a passing interest in the game. Which is just a little more than Roslyn and I had in the game.

In the Grampians

We wanted to get an early start today in order to beat the heat, but we weren’t in any big rush when we got up. Our cabin has a kitchenette. We had gone to the grocery store for some milk and a box of Raisin Bran, which is sold here as Sultana Bran. I had poured myself a bowl and took it to the front porch of our cabin to eat breakfast in the very pleasant morning air.

I was chomping away when suddenly, I had company. My uninvited guest was hanging off the front of the roof, and looking at me and my breakfast.

That’s a sulphur-crested cockatoo, and they’re as common in these parts as starlings, blackbirds and sparrows are where you live. This one was just a few feet away, which is as close as it got to me and my Sultana Bran.

After breakfast, we drove up to our first hike, McKenzie Falls. It took maybe a half-hour to get to the car park. Before starting out, Roslyn stopped in at the restroom near the trail head. There was some minor commotion coming from the ladies room, on account of this:

To say Roslyn doesn’t like spiders is a bit of an understatement, so props to her for getting this picture!

The hike to McKenzie Falls involves going down about 400 very steep and deep stairs. The stairs take you right to the base of the falls.

Of course, once you’re at the bottom, you have to get back to the top. Those 400 steep and deep steps are no bargain. The app on Roslyn’s phone that counts steps and things like that told us after we got to the top and we had climbed 15 flights of stairs. The sun was up now,the temperature had climbed to the low 90’s.

Still, your intrepid explorers had the wherewithal to take on another of the park’s most popular hikes, to a spot called The Balconies. We made the short drive to the parking area, and then the one kilometer walk on level ground to an interesting rock formation.

Those fellows you see at the edge of The Balconies aren’t supposed to be there. They climbed a fence and walked through brush to get there. If a rock broke off or one of them slipped, it would have taken a helicopter and some rappellers to recover the body. But, hey, why not?

When we got back to the car, the digital readout on the dashboard informed us it was 37 degrees. While I was doing the Celsius-to-Fahrenheit conversion in my head, Roslyn said, “37C is 98.6! I remember that from nursing school!” We drove back into Halls Gap, and had lunch and ice cream. Then back to the cabin for rest.

A few hours later, Roslyn looked out or front door to see

A mom and her joey. Pretty darn cute. We had dinner at a restaurant a short drive from here. We had a window table, with a view of a field. In the field were maybe 100 kangaroos, munching on grass, drinking from a stream, hopping around as kangaroos do. Then a large flock on cockatoos flew across the sky, on their way to roost for the night. Toto, we are not in Kansas.

I’m sorry to be leaving the Grampians so soon. But that’s been true of most of the places we’ve visited so far. Tomorrow is a travel day; we make the six-hour drive to Adelaide. Maybe we’ll be able to find a radio station here carrying the Super Bowl (it starts at 10:30 a.m. local time). Maybe not.

Wildlife

Our day began with a short drive from Port Fairy to the Tower Hill Nature Reserve. It’s an area formed about 32,000 years ago by volcanic activity. The volcanoes are long dead, but the area now teems with life., including koalas. I got a few very nice shots of some colorful birds, but you’ll have to wait until I get home and add them to my website (www.darrylkonterphoto.com) to see them. I will show you a picture of a very large, but not very colorful bird we saw.

This is an emu, the largest bird native to Australia and second in height only to the ostrich. They’re found throughout the country. He or she wasn’t afraid of us, but neither was he or she interested in getting close. Fine with us. I don’t want to upset anything that’s bigger than me.

We were walking a trail there when Roslyn saw an iPhone on the ground. She picked it up and turned it in at the visitor’s center. A few minutes later, it’s owner called asking about it. Roslyn’s good deed for the day.

We left Tower Hill to make the roughly 90 minute drive north to Halls Gap, a town situated in the heart of Grampians National Park. The village we left this morning, Port Fairy, is the closest city of any size to Halls Gap. We are out among nature. Our lodging is a nice little cabin. I’m delighted to inform you that it has air conditioning; delighted because it was 93 today and will be over 100 tomorrow. We plan to get our hiking in early!

Roslyn had laid down for a little nap and I was checking out my photos from this morning when I looked out our front door and saw this:

Roslyn had fallen asleep for a nap, but I didn’tthink she’dmind me waking her to see this kangaroo, 30 feet from our front door, munching on grass without a care in the world. He stayed there more than an hour, then went hopping away.

For dinner tonight, kangaroo was on the menu at our restaurant. I ordered it. Very lean meat. Not bad.

The 12 Apostles and The Shot of the Day

We packed up last night so that we could hit the road right after breakfast. Our goal was to make the roughly 90 minute drive to the 12 Apostles site before all the tour buses got there. We arrived about 10:15 and although people were already there, it wasn’t yet crowded.

photo credit: Roslyn Konter

This collection of limestone stacks up to 150 feet high was formed by erosion. The erosion that formed the 12 Apostles has also claimed four of them; there are now only eight apostles remaining. But it remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in Australia. Get there after about 11 a.m. on any given day during the Australian summer, and you’ll find out the hard way just how popular.

While I took a long flight of stairs down to the beach to get a few shots from a different angle, Roslyn stayed up top, and wound up getting the shot of the day.

Photo credit: Roslyn Konter

Feast your eyes on the Superb Fairy Wren. There are about a half-dozen birds here classified as fairy wrens. One is named the Splendid Fairy Wren. There are also Lovely and Red-winged Fairy Wrens.

After leaving the 12 Apostles, we stopped briefly at another seaside spot along the Great Ocean Road, the Loch Ard Gorge. Just another stunningly beautiful site; this one named for the ship that wrecked on the reef nearby.

We continued on our way toward our destination for the night, Port Fairy. On the way, we came to the end of the Great Ocean Road. Back on the highway, we made good time to Port Fairy. The welcome sign wants every passing motorist to know this coastal village of about 4,000 to be the most livable city in Australia. I’m in no position to dispute that claim. It is, indeed, quaint and charming, filled with nice restaurants and artists’ shops. The nice lady who operates our hotel recommended several dinner choices. We chose Coffin Sally, a pizza joint. I had the buffalo mozzarella with cherry tomatoes and basil. Roslyn had the Too Much Spinach, which really had just the right amount of spinach, along with lemon. Both were delicious.

The weather has been cool the last two days; highs in the 60’s, with a steady 25 mph wind that made it feel colder. That ends tomorrow, when we travel about an hour and a half north of here to Hall’s Gap. The high is forecast in the mid-90’s tomorrow and 100 for Sunday.

Cape Otway Lighthouse

We had a big breakfast,then walked two blocks to the local information center. Once again, we found an incredibly friendly and helpful person, eager to give us local knowledge to help us plan our day. I’ve never been in a friendlier country.

Our first stop was about 15 miles down the road, the Cape Otway Lighthouse. Its keepers proudly proclaim it to be Australia’s most significant lighthouse.

The lighthouse really is important in Australia’s maritime history. We learned quite a bit about it from a staff member named Pam. A lifetime of work in the Australian sun made her skin look like a pair of my old Earth shoes; we guessed she was in her late 70’s. She’s actually in her early 60’s. Wear sunscreen, people.

One of my favorite cool facts about the lighthouse is that it’s an artificial boundary. Australia has decreed that the water to the west of the lighthouse is the Southern Ocean, a branch of the Indian Ocean. The water to the east of the lighthouse is called the Bass Strait, part of the Pacific Ocean. If this becomes part of a Final Jeopardy question and you miss it, you can’t blame me.

We ended our tour of Cape Otway by indulging ourselves with a cream tea in the cafe. The scone was warm and moist, the clotted cream sweet, and the strawberry jam delicious. The hot tea was a bit substandard; a tea bag and a paper cup instead of proper tea in a pot. But no matter.

We then drove about 45 minutes to Triplet Falls. The last few miles were over a bumpy gravel road. We had to drive it at about 15 mph. It was a 45 minute hike from the car park to the falls, and I’m sorry to report that the juice was not worth the squeeze. It hasn’t rained in more than a month in most of Australia; you may have heard something about triple digit temperatures and raging brush fires. Neither is a problem here, but the lack of rain has reduced the waterfall to mild splash.

Seeing that was enough to deter us from going to any of the other waterfalls that had been on our agenda. We instead went to a short loop through the rainforest called Mait’s Rest. It was cool and dark, with majestic trees and ferns spreading wider than a beach umbrella. We heard lots of birds, but only saw one. A tiny thing; I have no idea what it is.

Having splurged on dinner last night, we opted for fish and chips tonight. Walking to the restaurant, Roslyn noticed that one of two young fellows walking toward us dropped something.

“You dropped a piece of paper. Is it something you need?” Roslyn said. One of them ran back and picked up.

“My ticket! Gonna need that!” he said by way of thanks.

“Good on ya, miss!” said the other fellow.

And good on ya, Apollo Bay. We’ve enjoyed it here, but we’re off after breakfast tomorrow, when it will be February in Australia.

The Great Ocean Road

We said goodbye to Melbourne this morning. Roslyn found the bakery our friend Annette had told us about. She said it made an almond croissant that was the best ever. They were huge,so we each bought one and planned to eat it for lunch on the road. We picked up our rental car and made our way south and west for the Great Ocean Road. I thought we might be driving too far west, so we pulled into an information center. A gentleman named Stephen greeted us, gave us maps and made notes on them about places of interest. Cost: $0.

Stephen put our minds at ease and made sure we were headed straight for the Great Ocean Road. It runs along the southeast and southern coast of Australia for about 150 miles. It was built by World War I veterans and is dedicated to those who didn’t come home, making it the world’s largest war memorial. It hugs the coastline, twisting and turning like California’s Highway 1.

You can’t make great time on the Great Ocean Road, but why would you want to? The views are stunning.

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We stopped at Aireys Inlet to eat our croissants. They really are the best we’ve ever had. If you’re ever in Melbourne, find the Agathe bakery and get some croissants. Tell ‘em Annette sent you. We also saw the lighthouse at Aireys Inlet.

We arrived at our destination for the day, Apollo Bay, late in the afternoon. Checking in at Captains at the Bay, we encountered more warm, friendly and helpful people, of which Australia seems to have an endless supply. They helped us get settled and recommended some dinner spots. We chose La Bimba, where we enjoyed oysters and paella while looking out over the bay.

Lost in the Lanes & Penguin Parade

Tuesday was a long, wonderful day. After breakfast we took Melbourne’s free tram down into the heart of the CBD and started wandering. In addition to its busy main streets, Melbourne’s Central Business District has lots of sidestreets and alleys, filleLd with interesting shops. cafes and take-aways. They’re generally called lanes, and the driver who had picked us up at the airport had suggested spending some time getting lost in the lanes. We did and we loved it.

After a few hours, we went back to the hotel and get our gear together for the excursion to Phillip Island. It’s about 90 minutes from Melbourne,and it’s where people go to see the Penguin Parade. The island is home to a large colony of Little Penguins, so named because they’re the smallest of the 17 penguin species. They also have blue rather than black feathers on their backs.

A national trust controls this part of the island, and they’ve set up grandstands and a visitors center. The money goes to the conservation effort, and the place is packed every night during the breeding season. Parents take turns baby-sitting and going out to get food. So one parent and its babies spend the day sleeping in their burrow or box. The other parent is out at sea from before dawn to dusk catching fish to bring back. Soon after sunset, when predator birds have gone to roost, the penguins return from the sea en masse. You can hear the babies crying hungrily for their moms or dads, and the naturalists say the penguin parents can tell which kids are theirs. But some of the hungry babies will go up to any adult who comes on to the dunes, and we watched one baby penguin get pushed away several times by adults who weren’t his or her mom or dad.

My one regret: you’re not allowed to take pictures of the penguins coming ashore. A camera flash could seriously disorient or possibly even blind one of the penguins. That could have lethal repercussions for both that penguin and his family. But you can take pictures in the hour or so while you’re waiting for night to fall. I didn’t know that, so I had left my camera gear behind. I took the picture above with my phone.

If you go to the Penguin Parade, spring for the higher-priced “penguin plus” seating. You get to sit much closer to where they come on to the beach, and you see a lot more.

It was midnight when we got back to our hotel. We were whipped. But we’d had a great day!

Planes, trains and automobiles

We had the morning to enjoy Brisbane. Because Australia Day fell on a Saturday, today .was a public holiday. The result was downtown Brisbane was as dead as downtown Savannah, GA on a Sunday morning in 1962. We walked about 15 minutes to Roma Street Parkland, a gem of a park in the middle of the Central Business District. It has playgrounds, botanical gardens and open space. We were enchanted.

This was the end of our time in the state of Queensland. People here seem to pride themselves on being just a little different from other Australians. Geographically, it’s the northeast quadrant of this country, sort of like New England and the mid-Atlantic states combined. But Queensland is the only one of the three states in the Eastern half of Australia that doesn’t do daylight saving time. You know how so many news stories of weird events begin with the words, “A Florida man…”? Substitute Queensland for Florida, and you get the idea.

Anyway, it was time to say goodbye to Queensland, so we got into our rental car for a drive to the airport. I only missed one turn. We had allowed plenty of time, so we were still plenty early to the airport for our two-hour flight to Melbourne.

Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, in the southeast corner of Australia. If the U.S. didn’t have the Florida peninsula, Savannah would be about were Melbourne is for Australia.

Roslyn took this picture from the balcony of our hotel room. We took the free tram down to the Southbank area, a promenade along the river filled with restaurants and other attractions. Lots people, lots of energy. Very nice. The public transit seems to cover a healthy part of metro Melbourne, but riding it within the Central Business District is free. Atlanta, please take note.