The Land of Oz

Disembarking, getting our luggage, clearning customs and finding a rental car was as tireing as we predicted it would be. The change machine ate my only dollar bill, the telephone swallowed our phone card and we became competely lost trying to find a place to camp. On top of all that, it hasn't stopped raining. We've come to this land full of glorious sun in an apparent freak storm. It's been either cloudy, pouring or both. Yesterday the rain was on hold but the clouds were unrelenting. We've started our drive along the southern coast to Adelaide, but after looking at some brochures of all the things to do and see along the way, we're not sure we'll get all the way.

We're in Otway National Park on the Southern Coast of Victoria right now. We stopped and took a walk through a rain forest of giant myrtle trees and then pitched our tent in the park at Blanket Bay. Supposedly Koala bears hang out in the trees all around here; but earlier we went on an hour's hike into the trees to no avail. We did see parrots though in bright red, green and blue. The birds here are gorgeous. A Superb Fairy Wren with a bright neon-blue head just hopped over to the tent.

Unlike New Zealand, Australia is hopping with animal life. The only land animals in New Zealand were rabbits, road kill possums, deer on deer farms and sheep. Here there are all sorts of weird cries and calls in the night. We haven't seen any wallabies or roos yet. Seeing a roo is a must. Maybe they're hidding from the rain.

Melbourne, our entry point, is a big city. We didn't spend too much time exploring because, as we've come to learn after seeing so many, a city is a city is a city. Also doing anything in the city first assumes you can get around the city. (I wonder what engineer designed these traffic patterns?) We got lost for an hour just trying to get on a highway which we could see, but couldn't enter.

From Melbourne we drove to Geelong, smaller (but still big by New Zealand standards) and stayed overnight to do laundry and wash. (Our rush to leave New Zealand after selling the car left us with bags of dirty laundry to transport.) But our rush to leave, luckily, didn't prempt buying Youth Hostel cards at the airport, and now we were glad. Torrential rain in Geelong drove us indoors. But all that is behind us now and we've begun our drive down the Great Ocean Road. The rain has temperarily subsided and left in its wave collosal waves along the coast.

Torquey, where the waves seem to be the highest, is a surfer's haven. We stopped to watch the more adventurous ride them and to watch sea-foam, so thick that we could scoop it up, blow up the cliffs and onto the road. Driving on through it, we felt as though we were in the midst of a snow storm.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Twelve Apostles, a variety of sea-stacks formed years ago when the ocean cut away at the limestone cliffs. Along the Shipwreck Coast there are formation called London Bridge, The Grotto and Loch Ard Gorge. All of these look great in the brochure photographs. Of course, unless the weather breaks, our photo session set against dense clouds, may not produce nearly as good results.

"Ah yes," John just brought me a steaming cup of Camomile tea. Looks like my journl entry is finished. Drinks and computers don't mix.