The "Loop" and The Great Ocean Road

(Guest Blogged by Bob)

We’ve spent a busy week here in Oz. Sorrento Beach and the Port Phillip Bay loop were our destinations on Friday the 27th of January. Leaving Balwyn, we headed south-southwest down the Mornington Peninsula along the east side of Port Phillip Bay through Frankston to Sorrento, stopping there for a couple of hours to enjoy the beach and the sites. Sorrento Beach is a great beach because of the really neat combination of sand beach, tidal pools, rock formations, overlooks, and tide. From the beach, we headed into Portsea for lunch at the Portsea Hotel. Most of the older hotels here have pubs in them that serve great lunches, suppers, and of course great ales! The Portsea Hotel has both inside and outside dining and provides a great view of the bay and is a wonderful location to stop for lunch if you’re on the loop. After lunch, we caught the Portsea to Queenscliff ferry, loading our ride, a Toyota Tarago, an the eight of us on the ferry with our destination, Port Lonsdale lighthouse. Port Lonsdale lighthouse provides another great view of the harbor, overlooking the “Rip” from the northwest side. The “Rip” is the narrow entrance to Port Phillip Bay from Bass Strait and is known for its’ strong and potentially dangerous rip tides. After departing Port Lonsdale, we headed for the Split Point Lighthouse further up Cape Carnot and the west coast of the bay, with a follow-on short stop in Portarlington to check out some of the shops and complete the loop back through Melbourne.

On Saturday, Jenny and Ben stayed behind, and we headed for a tour down the Great Ocean Road. We connected with the coast at Torquay, following it more or less, all the way to Port Campbell, with short diversions in Torquay, the Otway Range, the Otway “Fly”, Gibson’s Steps, The Twelve Apostles, and Loch Ard Gorge. We caught a flee market and lunch in Torquay, and Rachel had the opportunity to bounce some more (see Nov 2004 and the Great Ocean Road for previous pictures). Corla and I picked up a handmade wood and bamboo wind chime with a nodding bird, one of our great finds so far! Grandma and Grandpa discovered a few other odds and ends at the market with Grandma adding a few more on our travels during the day. The Otway Range contains forest stands of mountain ash, gum, and non-technically speaking, other just cool trees. The trees rise a hundred feet from the forest floor, straight as can be, with few branches between the tops and the bottoms. The forest floor has vegetation, with the neatest being huge ferns which resemble our fiddle head ferns back home, but on a gargantuan scale. The Otway Fly, is an aluminum catwalk system through a section of forest in the Otway Range, which takes you from the forest floor on a steady climb a hundred feet up to the canopy. Along the way are interpretive signs and lookouts, giving fantastic views of the forest and wildlife at various levels. This catwalk system claims to be one of three in Australia, the second of which is on our “to do” list when we visit Tasmania next week. From the “Fly”, we headed back to the coast to catch a glimpse of one of the first “apostles” at Gibson’s Step, a full overlook at the twelve apostles lookout, and then a surprise find at Loch Ard Gorge. Jake had passed by the gorge on prior trips, but hadn’t had the chance to stop in until this trip. Another “wow” as the lookouts on the trail system there provided great views of Loch Ard Gorge, the Twelve Apostles (from the west), the Razorback, and a “blow hole”. For a glimpse of some of the sights, see the images below. Next entries will cover our travels around Melbourne, to Churchill and Phillip Island, and to Cairns.

The "Loop" and Great Ocean Road Images

Lunch at the Portsea Hotel



Jenny, Ben, and Rachel amongst the rocks below Point Lonsdale Lighthouse



Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Beach



Uncle Bob, Aunt Corla, and Grandpa Jake below the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse



The Otway Fly and spiral tower


Looking out from the Otway Fly spiral tower



Grandpa Jake and Jake near the Twelve Apostles and Gibsons' Steps



Rachel and Grandpa Jake looking out over Loch Ard Gorge



Grandpa Jake and Grandma Margaret near Loch Ard Gorge



Looking out at the "Razorback" near Loch Ard Gorge



On a lookout over Loch Ard Gorge

Grandma & Grandpa Niesen Travel to Australia

(Guest Blogged by Bob)

Grandparents Jake & Margaret, Uncle Bob and Aunt Corla arrived on the 25th of January after an adventurous and prolonged trip from Minnesota via Tokoyo and Sydney. We were met at the airport in Melbourne and brought to Jake & Jenny’s home in Balwyn. After settling in and relaxing the first evening, we set out the next day to share some of the local area with plans later in the day to head for Melbourne and some Australia Day celebrating. Jake & Jenny are a block off of the main street through Balwyn where their friends John the Butcher, Mel the Travel Agent, and Anthony the Wine Merchant reside. We also visited their local Bakery and Produce Market. The vast majority of the shops in the area are family owned businesses with the owners working the shops. What a delight!

After spending a couple of hours walking the local area, we headed for Melbourne to join in the Australia Day celebration. Australia Day is the celebration of independence for the country and the Melbourne area had many events planned for the day. Being only a block off the Tram route, the eight of us hopped on and headed into downtown Melbourne. We hopped off at Alexandra Park and began a mini-walkabout. Soon after entering the park, we came across a collection of exhibitors including a gold panning set-up, a pair of gymnast/acrobats, music and dance exhibitors, and several vendors. Our first endeavor was gold panning. After getting some instruction from the resident miners, we set about panning for gold. Everyone had a "go" at it, with Jake getting the nugget; a piece of gold about and 1/8" long and a 1/16" in diameter. The rest of us collected a few miniscule flakes! All totaled, we couldn't have bought a glass of water with our proceeds!

We then headed on to the Queen Victoria Gardens and the Kings Domain. We just missed an antique car show, but were able to enjoy the grounds and stopped to watch some folks pack up a children’s petting zoo. From there it was back to the city circle tram with the "Docklands" as our destination. Melbourne was host to a stop on the Volvo Great Ocean sailboat race, so we took in some of the harbour sights before beginning a quest for some supper. Back on the city circle tram, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe-Melbourne, a couple of blocks from Nike Town, where we had an enjoyable meal. From there, it was back on the tram to Flinders Street to catch the fireworks display along the Yarra River. Wow, what a display! The fireworks weren't long like those in the States, but they were intense! A dramatic burst of intense color and sound from many locations along the park lighting up the entire stretch along the Yarra River.



Grandpa & Grandma Niesen and Aunt Corla at Harry's Cafe in Sydney



Grandpa & Grandma Niesen and Aunt Corla at the Sydney Opera House



The gang at the Docklands on Australia Day