Thursday, April 20th: Rick was up early again, and off with Geoff to pick up our rental car (a flaming red Mitsubishi Lancer with less than 5000km on it). We had reserved an automatic for a few extra dollars a day so that we wouldn't have to deal with shifting left-handed in addition to becoming conditioned to driving on the left side of the road. Following Geoff back to the apartment made it a bit easier for Rick to get used to the "mental switch" without having to worry about where to turn. Geoff, keeping on eye on his rear view mirror, noticed that Rick put his wipers on only twice on the way back (instead of his turn signals). This would happen several more times during the day.....We loaded the trunk with our packs, sheets and towels for the house, warm jackets (see Penguin Parade below) and an umbrella (rain was predicted) and set off for San Remo and Phillip Island. Rick was glad he didn't buy a pre-paid toll ticket for the City Link tollway as the City Link became the M420 freeway and we never had to pay a toll!!

Geoff's directions were perfect and we got to San Remo before noon. Their house is charming: all brick and pine inside, with multiple levels, overlooking each other. First order of business: get the fire going. It had gotten windy and cold and had begun to rain, so a fire was just right! After getting everything out of the car, we were ready to explore Phillip Island. We crossed the bridge from San Remo onto the island, and stopped at the Tourist Center to buy tickets for some of the attractions: Penguin Parade, Koala Sanctuary, and Churchill Island. We decided that the Penguin Parade alone, would satisfy our touristy needs, but since the weather was so miserable, we decided to wait to buy a ticket. They're only good for the date purchased--no refunds! Back on the road we took a left at a sign for Willamai Beach 2km. What a sight!! The car park overlooks the cove. The weather was raw and the wind driven waves were exploding violently against the rocks that defined the cove. The beach looked to be pale brown powdery sand and, of course, there wasn't a soul on it. We drove on to the Penguin Parade Center and decided that since that was what we came for, and we had only one night, we'd buy tickets and take our chances. We bought the "Penguin Plus" tickets so we could sit with a small (150 vs 4000 at the main viewing area) group and get a closer view of the little penguins as they marched up out of the sea to their burrows. There are four levels of tickets, ranging in price from A$17 to A$60. Our choice cost A$27. Groups of penguins come ashore every evening at dusk and the estimated time of arrival was a little after 6:00pm; This was thirty minutes earlier than the night before due to the weather causing the sky to be darker than usual. After buying our tickets and looking around the center a bit, we continued along the same road to the end of the Island and the Nobbies: little rock islands in the Bass Straight, home to a colony of seals. By now it was past 3:00pm and we wanted to stop in Cowes (the main town on the island) to buy some groceries and get back to the house to change clothes (and add layers) for the Penguin Parade.

What we hadn't counted on was Rick's leaving the keys to the house on the kitchen counter. We were locked out!!! Rory was expecting Rick's normal reaction: "cursing and panic". She got neither. Instead, Rick started thinking about ways he had managed to enter houses in the past under similar circumstances. Finding no unlocked doors, Rick called Lorraine to see if there was another set of keys anywhere. (Our Aussie mobile phone has come in handy several times already.) No answer. A stroke of brilliance (or maybe just a recall of all the spy movies he's seen): Rick tried the old credit card trick on the back door. Voila!! Just as the door opened for him, Lorraine called back to tell him where he could get another set of keys. Rick was pretty proud of himself, and Rory had to admit she was impressed as well. OK, time to dress for the penguin parade. It was very windy (so it felt colder than it actually was) and would probably rain on and off all night. Rick put on a pair of nylon pants under his jeans (they wouldn't fit outside which would have been preferable), his windbreaker with a hood, and one of the down coats we brought from the apartment (we think it was Lorraine's, but no matter). Rory had on six layers of tops (4 shirts and two coats, including the second one from the apartment (Geoff's?), two pairs of socks and two pairs of pants (nylon pair on the outside). We were ready!! Oh yeah, we had the umbrella as well.

We arrived at the Penguin Center about 5:15. People were already arriving, including 54 scheduled tour buses. The Penguin Parade occurs every night. These are the smallest penguins in the world, measuring about 33cm (about a foot) in height and weighing about 1 kg (2.5 pounds). Their backs are dark, appearing almost a metallic blue-black when wet; their bellies are white, and their beaks are black. They spend 90% of their time in the water, searching for food and resting on the surface of the water. They return to their burrows about every 15 days, with bellies full to feed their young. Somehow they know where to return; and they do so each time. We were huddled up under our umbrella, sitting on a wet wooden platform, in the front row, in the rain, maybe 10 feet from where they would waddle by. We sat there for about 45 minutes and, at 6:18pm by Rick's watch, the rain stopped!! and the first raft (group) of penguins popped out of the surf, clammored onto the rocky beach, and made their way past our platform to their burrows in the dunes. There were about 30 or so of the little birds in this first group and several of them stopped to take the measure of the small group of us staring at them in awe and amusement. The next raft was larger--about 60 of them; waddling past us or up the grass-covered dunes in front of us, where several had burrows and, surprisingly, "families" sitting outside their burrows waiting for their return. Unfortunately this was the last raft to come ashore this evening, although several stragglers showed up in the next 20 minutes. We decided to follow a couple of them as they made their way home. We'd been out in the weather for more than an hour, and only at the end did we realize we might be cold. A hot cup of cappucino for Rick and a steaming cup of tea for Rory helped get the chill out of our bones and a great dinner at Taylor's Seafood Restaurant (recommended by Geoff and Lorraine), topped off a pretty incredible day. Being able to witness the return of these little penguins was truly a once in a life time event for us. We returned to the house; got the fire going once again, and hit the sack.

Friday, April 21st: We've been in Australia two weeks now; seems like much longer. Rick awoke during the night to find live embers in the free standing fireplace, added a couple of logs to keep it alive, and went back to bed. It rained heavily on and off during the night, and continues to do so this morning, but there are large patches of blue sky breaking up the slate-gray cloud cover. We straightened out the house and phoned Lorraine to say goodbye and thank you! Rory had wanted to explore a shell beach about a thirty minute walk from the house, but it was windy and cold and raining again. We set off for the car ferry in Sorrento that would take us directly to Queenscliff and save us from driving all the way back through Melbourne. After filling the gas tank (A$1.36 per litre!!!!), we arrived at the ferry 10 minutes before its 1pm departure. The trip across "The Rip" took 45 minutes and soon we were on our way to the Great Ocean Road. The GOR has been listed by Conde Nast Magazine as one of the 20 greatest drives in the world. It supposedly compares to the Amalfi Drive in Italy and the Pacific Highway in California. We shall see!

The GOR begins in Torquay and we stopped at the Torquay Tourist Information Center for, what else?, information. We got a list of the sites in the order we would encounter them and were advised that we should plan to stay in Lorne tonight. Without wireless capability, we were unable to use the laptop to check for accommodations, so we had to get to Lorne before 5pm when the tourist office there closed. First stop: Bells Beach, the surfing capital of the world. It was obvious from the surf why this part of the GOR is known as the Surf Coast and a pro surfing tournament had ended yesterday. However, based on the air temperature, the wind chill factor and what Rory guessed the water temperature might be, she found it hard to believe that there were actually people walking around in barefeet and wet swimsuits let alone surfing in wetsuits. We stood on a cliff overlooking the beach and the turquoise, purple, and aquarmarine Bass Strait which connects the Pacific and Great Southern Oceans. Next stop: the Anglesea Golf Club, home to over 1000 resident kangaroos. One of the fairways paralled the road, and sunning themselves on the edge of the green, as a golfer putted out, were two kangaroos!! They seemed to enjoy the short grass in the area around the greens because when we parked next to the 18th green we saw three more!! Rory did a bit of bird watching and spotted a red wattlebird. She's checking off the new birds she sees in her Field Guide to the Birds of Australia. On to Lorne, after short stops at Point Addis (more views of the surf) and the Split Point Lighthouse at Aireys Inlet. We got to the Lorne tourist office in time, and chose the Sandridge Motel. Accommodations are expensive here--probably because it's a tourist and vacation haven. The desk clerk, Derek, had worked in Miami for two years, which was a good enough excuse for him to upgrade the room for two Floridians!! Our room had everything: good heat and hot water, a fridge, TV, VCR, dishes and utensils--AND--a view of the beach!.We were more than satisfied. About 6:30 we walked down the street looking for a place for dinner and settled on the Arab Restaurant. Back at our room, Rory went down to the motel office to get a video, returning sometime later after being "held captive" by a talkative Derek with the film;'Don Juan DeMarco' (Marlon Brando, Faye Dunaway, Johnny Depp).

Saturday, April 22nd: Rick was up early and out to find some fruit juice and a local bakery, returning with an herb and cheese croissant and some OJ. After checking out, we wandered down to the beach in Lorne looking for shells, but there wasn't much. Our destination today is Port Campbell, only 170km away, but there are several noted sights to visit, and untold others. First non-scheduled stop at a wide rocky beach. An older couple and their dog, Jake, were walking on the beach and we stopped to play with Jake (or maybe it was the other way around). We found lots of interesting shells, including some Rory didn't recognize. On their way back, the couple stopped to chat again, and the man gave Rory a type of cowry shell rarely found here and not found on American beaches (at least on the East Coast). At Kennett River we turned off the GOR and walked up an upaved road looking for koalas. Sure enough, we spied several in trees along the road, one of which was so close we could have reached out and touched it. This was our first sighting of koalas in the wild. They just sit up on a branch, sometimes wedged up against the tree trunk (or another bigger branch) and sleep. Occasionally they wake up, take a look around, scratch themselves and eat eucalyptus leaves. They move so slowly that they are easy to photograph; they seem to be posing, knowing how cute they look. If you're not careful, you can take a hundred photos! Along the same road, Rory spotted a crimson rosella (type of parrot). It's still amazing to see these birds (that are expensive to buy as pets in the states), flying free from tree to tree. Back on the GOR, we headed for Apollo Bay, supposedly a good place for lunch. The town was in the middle of a three-day music festival and overly crowded with the main street closed to vehicular traffic. We took the detour around the blocked off center of town, and continued on to Mait's Rest, a rain forest area. Mait's Rest has a well-defined footpath through the rain forest and we walked the circuit in about 45 minutes. The tree ferns were huge and the Myrtle Beech trees were so large in circumference that we were able to walk right through hollows in several of the trunk bases. It was quite an impressive place and very quiet. We were astounded by the density of the foliage and the size of the trees. There was a prehistoric feel about it.

We had hoped to stop at the Otway Fly, a walk on a metal bridge high above the treetops, but the weather was cold and windy and just as we arrived in Laver's Hill, it started to rain hard. Since we'll have another shot at a treetop walk in Walpole (in Western Australia), we opted to stay dry and have lunch instead. The cafe we chose had large bird feeding platforms, viewable from the dining room. While we were sitting there, several king parrots came to feed, despite the rain. These are predominantly bright red birds with blue and green patches.. The next two sights on our way to Port Campbell were the Twelve Apostles (large tower-like rock formations in the ocean along the coast) and Loch Ard Gorge. When we reached the apostles, the weather was so ugly (windy, rainy, cold) we decided to continue on to Port Campbell, find a room for the night and come back later. Stopping at the Tourist Information office (the "i"), we chose a "flat" at Summers Rest. For A$70, we got a large room with full bath, queen bed. plus bunk beds (we didn't try them), a fridge, microwave and kitchen utensils. The best part for Rory was another bed with an electric, dual-control, heat pad. After unpacking the car, we headed back to the Twelve Apostles area. The rain had stopped, but the wind was still pretty severe. We took the paved walkway under the GOR and out to the coast. There are only 8 apostles still standing, but the sight of them juxtaposed against the steep sandstone cliffs was pretty impressive. Rory braved this one, but the weather was too much for her at Loch Ard Gorge, so Rick took a short walk to photograph the natural formations in the water and, again, the steep sandstone cliffs which envelope the cove beaches. Since there are three separate walks through the gorge area, we may go back in the morning if the weather permits. We drove back into town, bought groceries for breakfast, stopped in a couple of shops and identified a potential restaurant for dinner. We never made it to dinner, opting for fruit, cheese and wine in the room. I think we were asleep by 9:30!!

Sunday, April 23rd: We awoke to another overcast, chilly day and decided not to go back to Loch Ard Gorge, but rather to continue west along the Great Ocean Road. We have to be in Adelaide on Monday, so putting some kilometers behind us now is a good idea. Fortunately, the GOR out of Port Campbell takes us past several lookouts and observation sites including The Arch, The Grotto, and London Bridge. The latter was a huge double arch extending out into the ocean perpendicular from the mainland cliffs. The pounding surf gradually eroded the sandstone connection of the first arch to the cliffs. One day in August, 1991 the the first arch (closest to the mainland) collapsed, leaving the farthest arch standing alone in the ocean, along with two people who had trekked out onto it that morning. They were rescued by helicopter several hours later. We wondered what must have gone through their minds when the arch behing them collapsed, leaving them stranded high above the turbulent ocean on what had abruptly become a new island. The Grotto was even more spectacular because the wooden path that led us to the outlook also took us to steps allowing us to descend into the Grotto itself. All of these sites and many others were formed by the ocean waves crashing against the soft sandstone cliffs.

Back on the road in the town of Allansford we passed the "Cheese Factory and Museum". Presuming it was a 'cheese' museum, we had to stop and check it out. It was not a cheese museum---a good thing or bad thing, depending on your point of view. As it turned out, the museum housed mostly old machinery and household items. In Warrnambool, we detoured to Logan's Beach Whale Nursery, hoping to see whales. We stood on the overlook above Logan's Beach, but saw no whales..... In Mount Gambier, we stopped at the "i" to get some advice on where to spend the night. Based on assurances from the man at the Tourist Office that all offices were open until 5pm and we could make it with time to spare, we picked Robe, a beach town on Guichen Bay. We gained 30 minutes by crossing into the next time zone from Victoria into South Australia. What's with the 1/2 hour? We arrived at 4:40 to find the office had closed at 4:00!! Robe is a town of slightly less than 1000 people and a seemingly equal number of places to stay. Our requirements for lodging along the Great Ocean Road have boiled down to: good heat, an electric bed pad, private bath, and a small fridge. The Guichen Bay Motel met those requirements quite well and we booked in for the evening. A stop at the local market and a nice dinner at The Gallerie restaurant completed our day.

The Great Ocean Road was a great driving experience, a combination of the aforementioned Amalfi and Pacific Coast drives. It combines the narrow road and sharp turns of the Amalfi Drive with the sheer cliffs and sheltered beach coves of the Pacific Highway. As a driving challenge, it's about midway between the two, with Amalfi being the toughest test.