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Melbourne, 12 Apostles and The Yarra
Entry 71 of 88 | show all | print this entry |
Sun Nov 14th Day 201
In a country that has turned ordering a beer into a mensa memory test for the flit about traveller (there are 3 standard glass sizes, known by different names in each state:- a Pint, a bobby, a glass, a beer, a six, a seven, a ten, a pot, a handle, a middy, a schooner or a jug for the really thirtsy) it's no big surprise to find the time differences equally confusing.
There are 3 time zones:- Western standard time (WA) is GMT +8, Central standard tme (NT, SA) is GMT + 9 1/2 and Eastern standard time (Tas, Vic, NSW, ACT, Queensland) is GMT + 10. That's all easy enough except Broken Hill in NSW is on Central Time. A few weeks ago in Sydney (Eastern standard time) we were GMT +9, because BST (British Summer Time) means GMT +1, now BST is over and its just GMT, but NSW, SA, Victoria and ACT have switched to daylight saving time which is Eastern standard time +1. Tasmania switches to EST + 1 a month later but NT, Queensland and WA dont bother. How mad is al that!
Anyway we left Perth at 11.30pm for a 3 1/2 flight to Melbourne, which touched down smoothly at 6am, a 3 hour time warp.
It was cloudy, showery and cold at 13C which we certainly felt after yesterdays 28C in Perth. Not as cold as Saturday though when Melbourne was hit by storms and 5m hailstones and the nearby mountains had a day of snow. They've had 120mm of rain in a week. Matthew will be delighted.
Matthew, under the shallow pretence of presenting a paper at a conference, has wangled himself a week in Melbourne and a week in Hong Kong. A world class piece of work shy foppery that would be tough to beat. But Rene and I are doing our best and poor old Mattews reward is sharing his hotel room with a pair of free loading grunge monkies for a week.
Having saved a nights accomodation with our overnight flight and with Mathew not arriving until tomorow it made sense to try and book into his hotel. So we did, and even managed to book Matthews room, which was handy.
Lack of sleep rendered us useless for most of the day, we managed an energyless walk to the visitors centre and a ride on Melbournes free tram. Our batteries ran out completely at about 4pm.
Expenses (A$2.5/pound): Bus 26, tea 4.40, inet 3.60, lunch 13.90, snacks 7.95, acom 104
Mon Nov 15th - Day 202
For Aboriginal people the place now known as the state of Victoria has been home since the beginning of time. Ancestors of todays remaining communities would have witnessed volcanic eruptions of Mt Napier, hunted kangaroos and worried about rising seas caused by the end of the last Ice Age.
So with over 40,000 years of history behind them it's estimated that between 20,000 and 60,000 Aborigines of Kulin clan, speaking over 30 languages, were living peacefully and prosperously throughout Victoria in 1835.
Then Batman arrived. But John Batman was no super hero, he exploited the Aboriginals who had no concept of buying or selling land. In exchange for blankets, flour and axes he acquired 593,000 acres of tribal lands, afectively dispossessing Aboriginies living in what is now the Melbourne area.
A victim of his own excess, Batman died in 1840, but by this time European settlement was unstoppable and had reached over 10,000. John Pascoe Fawkner was the driving force behind much of the new early settlement.
This was an incredibly violent period of Victorias history, most of which is glossed over in all the tourist pamphletts. The rapid colonisation resulted in a devastating loss of lives, languages and tradition. Savage and brutal murder, rapes and poisonings forced families off their land and into missions where they had to conform to Christianity and Western ways.
Melbourne was proclaimed a city in 1847, and the state really forged ahead with the discovery of gold near Ballarat in 1851. Prospectors focked to Victoria from all over the world and the population quadrupled inside a decade.
The city was known as 'Marvellous Melbourne' and the prosperity lasted until the great depression at the end of the 1880's. But by then Melbournes character, with its Victorian era buildings, strets and parks was already established.
Budget restraints ($26 each to airport and back) and the fact his plane touched down at 7.15am, meant we weren't at the airport to meet Matt. We did however manage to make it to reception just as he pulled up in his taxi. It was great to see him, and there were tears al round when we realised he had a 300 pound expense budget.
Matthews in Melbourne for a design conference entitled "Futureground", where somewhat bizarrely he's presenting a paper on '1950's London coffee shops". With this in mind we took him for breakfast at 'Pellegrinis', a 1950s Melbourne coffee shop we'd discovered yesterday. But he was too busy wolfing down his apple strudle to notice the original black and white marble floor, formica and bar stools.
Another original feature in Melbourne is its trams, which have rattled round the streets since the 1880's, and thanks to enlightened city planners they still remain an integral part of the public transport system. Having boarded one of the restored original W-class trams which provides free transport round a city loop, we jumped off close to Rialto Tower, the cities tallest building. Matt paid the $12.50 that took him to the observation deck on the 55th floor and offered 360 degree views of the city and Port Philip Bay. The skinflint twins didn't.
By late afternoon Matts jetlag was starting to take its toll (he got no sleep on the plane) so we made our way back to our room via the bottle shop. The room is 5 star luxury for Rene and I, there's plenty of room for the 2 double beds, a large bathroom and a small kitchenette with a sink, fridge and microwave. Oh and a big TV with Foxtel, which meant I was able to watch Newcastle v Man United at 3am this morning, although I wish I hadn't bothered.
Expenses: Water 2.5, wine 6.95, accom 16, smarket 29.05, epilady 54.95, dinner 40.
Tuesday Nov 16th - Day 203
Being a parent has removed Matthews ability to lie in, so he was up and out early in pursuit of a Melbourne breakfast at one of the hundreds of small coffee shops. Flotsam and Jetsam of chocolate pancake formed a tidemark on his chin when he returned at 8.30 and Rene and I forced oursleves from our comfy bed.
We'd decided to hire a car for the day and drive the Great Ocean Road, reputedly one of the worlds most spectacular coastal drives. Rene's driving licence has now run out so with thanks to our mums my new one arrived with Matt.
I'd never driven an automatic before, and it's a little strange at first, but after a couple of attempted gear changes resulted in a sudden and violent stop I got the hang of it. It was a day of under and perhaps overestimating. We underestimated the distance from Melbourne to the Twelve Apostles, which is towards the end of the Great OCean Road and therefore spent most of the day driving. We also overestimated how much of the drive would be within view of the Ocean. The stretches that did run close to the coast were stunning, with mile long rolling breakers thundering onto the reefs. At Bells Beach, which is a world class surf beach, the waves were big and the sea was dotted with shark biscuits (surfers) patiently waiting their turn.
To fully appreciate the size of the waves we made our way down steep steps to the beach. The sand was coarse but sinky, and when one of the larger waves surged up the shore, we only just man aged to outsprint it. Large waves, riptides and rocky reefs meant once again that this ws no place for a casual swim and a mess around with a lilo.
Apollo Bay provided a quality fish n chip lunch (thanks Matt) then the road headed inland for 2 hours as we skirted Cape Otway National Park on the way to the 12 Apostles.
The Apostles are individual rock stacks left stranded by the retreating sheer cliffs of limestone and resembling giant termite mounds. And although only 7 of the 12 are visible from land they are a spectacular sight.
Even the hordes of people weren't too offputting. The car park and visitors centre were about a quarter of a mile away with a subway path under the road leading to a series of interconnecting wooden boardwalks along the clifftop.
Having taken over 5 hours to drive as far as the 12 Apostles, we decided to take the faster inland route back to Melbourne.
The Yarra River winds through Melbourne dividing it in half before emptying into Port Philip Bay 5km downstream. Port Philip is a vast natural inlet which is protected from the seas of the Bass Strait by the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas.
Although the hotel was on the Southbank of the Yarra, the otherside to the city centre, we were still very close. We were right next to the Southgate development with its riverside walkways and three levels of restaurants bars and cafes.
Expenses: Water 2, snack 1.95, acom 16, car hire 71, dinner 25.
Wed Nov 17th - Day 204
About an hour NE of Melbourne are the wide, green rolling expanses of the Yarra Valley, home to dozens of quality wineries.
When visiting Melbourne its not only rude but also illegal if you dont sign up to a wine tour, so having been well brought up, we did.
For some unknown erason, Chris, the coach driver abd guide wanted to know and write down everyones first names before we set off. He was new to the job and obviously hoping he'd be able to remeber all 15 or so names by lunch. However his hopes were dashed when he hit a pocket of half a dozen Japanese and three Swedes, one of the Japanese names contained 9 letters, all of them vowels, he had no chance.
Clear skies and a 31C big sun made a mockery of Melbournes 'four seasons in one day' reputation, it was scorchio. It was a tough day. Not everyones cut out to sit under the shade of a beautiful tree tasting wine after wine. But Matthew, Rene and myself found that we were. We swirled, inhaled and in order that we didn't compromise our appreciation of the wines to follow, we spittooned. That's all true except the spittoon bit, an eclectric cattle prod to the back of the neck wouldn't have prevented us swallowing the delicious wines.
The last thing needed for a wine tour lunch is nouvelle cuisine, don't get me wrong it was lovely food, but even Nan with the appetite of a budgie would have asked for more. The chef needed to spend less time on presentation and more time filling his trolley at the supermarket.
Visits to two more wineries after lunch meant we glowed all the way back to Melbourne. Matthew just made it back in time to attend the opening of his conference and Rene and I managed a snooze. As I said it was a tough day.
Expenses: water 2, car park 11, acom 16, tour 170, wine 26, inet 5.30, dinner 21.50
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