June 15, 2016. Trek to the Grampians National Park

LOCATION:  House-sitting outside of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Sunny. Highs in 50s

Since we still have the rental car, we decided to visit the Grampians, about 2 hours away.  Armed with maps and suggestions of places to visit, we hit the road.

There are some backroads that lead to the Western Highway, our route west to the mountains.  As I was fiddling with the GPS, George missed a turn, and suddenly we were in the middle of nowhere.  No farmhouses, no other cars, just a very narrow road and lots of sheep.  Finally, I got the GPS working.  Twenty kilometers to the next town.  For some reason, I asked how the gas tank was looking,  George's response: "Empty".  "What??!", I shrieked.  I kept thinking of  a 40-kilometer round-trip hike to bring some gas back.  Then, 30, then 20, etc., until we thankfully arrived in town, coasting on fumes.  Whew!

In the foothills of the Grampians is a lovely "wine village".  They are famous for their Sparkling Shiraz, a superb bubbly unique to Australia.  The pourer was a super friendly expert.  We learned about the history of the wine region.  The grapes date back to the 1850s.  We went to another cellar door where we went on a tour of their underground cellars.  Really old stuff.....

Once in the mountains, we stopped for a picnic lunch and a hike.  Here I am, enjoying the view....

Not!!  !  I would be scared to death to do that.  

We drove back on the scenic route, passing by kangaroos basking in the late afternoon sun.

Another fun day!

DINNER: Using the leftover cassoulet. I added rice and more meat to make "Leftovers Supreme".  It tasted very good, but looked king of ugly on the plate.  It will never be a contender for Master Chef Australia which we, like most Australians, watch religiously on TV.   

June 14, 2016. Another wine region!

LOCATION:  Housesitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cool and sunny. High about 50

Today, we drove about 30 minutes to a town called Beaufort.   Nice day for a drive, through farms dotted with sheep and their baby lambs.  So cute!

Beaufort is on the Great Western Highway which goes to Adelaide (500 kms) and points west.  There were a lot of campervans. There are a lot of signs on the highway to remind drivers to keep alert.  It is a long stretch to drive.   Perhaps the campervans  were folks returning to Melbourne after the long Queen's Burthday Weekend, or perhaps they were Grey Nomads, like us.  That is what Australians call people like us who follow the weather and camp all around the country.

In any case, Beaufort was lovely.  Our first stop was a winery that our homeowners had recommended.    The tasting room (called cellar door) is a massive building where the wine is stored and where the winemaker works.  They were cleaning up after an extremely busy Queen's Birthday Weekend Sale.  Lucky us, the sale was still in progress.  The server gave us wine glasses, and encouraged us to roam around the cellar, tasting from any open bottle.  It was like a kid in a candy shop!  

Here, the winemaker is talking to some customers.

We bought a few bottles...

The clerk suggested a cafe for us for lunch in town.  One of the things I'm going to miss in Australia are the fabulous cafés in small towns.  They usually serve gourmet coffee, local wines and unusual gourmet food.  We had a delightful bowl of pumpkin soup and a sausage roll filled with a pork/fennel combo. And a glass of wine from the region.  Wow!

We strolled around the town, and bought bread from the bakery (something else I will miss).  

Another thing that Australians do brilliantly is to provide excellent bathrooms.  All the restaurants/cafés/pubs we have visited have super clean, very modern, ample toilet paper-equipped bathrooms. Also, clean public bathrooms are readily available, like this one in Beaufort.

I love how the Aussies call them toilets, rather than skirting the issue with names like rest rooms (does one rest in one?), or bathrooms (bathe there?) or ladies'/men's room.  They call them what they are....toilets!  Call a spade a spade!

I must be getting nostalgic about leaving.  We only have about 2 more weeks in this great country. :-( 

Back home, it was cool and sunny.  We did some yard work, which was good exercise.  

DINNER:  Grilled hamburgers.  Tasty!  A nice change of pace.

 

June 13, 2016. A day to relax....the Queen's Birthday

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Cold!  Below freezing in the AM.  Highs upper 40s.  Nice and sunny

Today is the Queen's birthday, a public holiday, so we decided to just rest most of the day.  Quite a few businesses  are closed.  We awoke to frost on the ground.  The homeowners have a beautiful back deck, which was white with frost this AM.

 

We read books, munched on popcorn, and cuddled in front of the fireplace.  One of those days I used to dream about when I was busy working!  

We got up enough energy to walk around "our" little town.  Many of the homes have explanatory plaques in front of them, describing their history.  Most were built around 1850, in the gold rush heydays.  We stopped at the little general store. 

We heard from our friend who is visiting Australia.  After our busy Great River Road weekend, she left for Australia's Outback.  She is going to Alice Springs, Uluru (Ayer's Rock), and Coober Pedy, a town built underground to keep out of the Outback heat and sun.  Quite different from here.  That is what we love about Australia,,...the diversity. 

Speaking of visiting places, I think we have done quite well during this Down Under trip.  My guidebook "1000 Places to Go Before You Die" lists 8 places in Australia.  We have done:  

* Freycinet  National Park/Wineglass Bay

* Blue mountains

* Cape Tribulation National Park 

* Fraser Island 

* Margaret River wine country

* Great Ocean Road 

The 2 we missed are Heron Island and Lizard Island, luxury resort islands near the Great Barrier Reef.  Next time!  

DINNER:  Leftover lasagne.  

June 12, 2016. The Great Ocean Road!

LOCATION:  Traveling the Great Ocean Road along southeastern Australia

WEATHER:  Partly cloudy. High around 50

We got an early start for a full day on the Great Ocean Road.  Our plan was to drive about 200 kms along the prettiest places.  

This is considered one of Australias's "must-do's" for tourists.  You can tell a lot of international tourists visit.....

The rugged coast is majestic.  This is one of the most famous stops....The Twelve Apostles

These formations are created when the part of the coast breaks away. Our friend Heather....

It was a bit windy!  They call this part of the Southern Ocean Road "Shipwreck Coast".  The name says  it all.  

About halfway to our end  point, we stopped for refreshments....

 

We had local olives and a favorite Australian  appetizer called Dukkah.  It is made of different spices, seeds and nuts.  You dip a piece of bread into olive oil, then into the Dukkah.  Tasty!

Once we reached Lorne, we headed inland, and made our way back home through beautiful rain forests, then farmland.  

Back home after dark.  Great day!

DINNER:  Cassoulet from my brother's special recipe.

June 11, 2016. Starting the Great Ocean Road trip

LOCATION: Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Rainy start, nice PM. Highs in 50s

Today's plan was to drive to the coast to start the ocean drive trip.  The drive is listed in the guidebook "1000 Places To Go Before You Die".  We left Ballarat in rainy weather, and drove about 2.5 hours southwest to the coast.  As we got close, this rainbow appeared.  An omen?

Our first stop along the coast was a small fishing town called Port Fairy.  We lucked out  and found a great lunch spot right on the Sourhern Ocean.  We watched surfers as we chomped  down on garlic prawns.

Then, a hike along the beach.  Pretty flowers...

  Another windier section of the beach was a popular spot for wind surfers.

A very friendly lady at the visitors' station loaded us up with plans for tomorrow.  She also recommended a little stop for this afternoon on our way to the hotel.  It is the site of a crater hole from centuries ago.  Animals have stayed  here because it is too steep for them to  climb  up.  This friendly emu approached our car, then turned a bit vicious when we did not feed it.  I rolled up the window fast!

We stopped to taste some wines at a winery in an Irish settlement,  Irish flags all over; potatoes by the roadside for sale; and farms with names like Glenbae. Neat!

We are spending the night in Warrnambool so we can get an early start for the drive tomorrow.  

The hotel reception gave us vouchers for the local RSL Club (Returning Servicemen's League Club).  We see them all over Australia.  They are something like a VFW.  They are popular with locals as they serve inexpensive food  and drink.  We had drinks there, then decided to find something a hit more adventurous for dinner. 

We found an Asian restaurant.  We shared Japanese octopus balls, Japanese curry, and Vietnamese noodles.  All delicious.   

June 10, 2015. Wine-tasting in the country

LOCATION:  House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  Light rain most of the day. High about 50

We picked up our friend Heather in our rental car in Ballarat and took her around to little villages in the area.  Our first stop was a small town with a fabulous patisserie.  It was like being in Paris!

We bought a baguette for dinner and a croissant to munch on.  Next door is an amazing cheese shop. We sampled some delicious cheeses, all local, and bought several kinds.  

George picked up a kangaroo pot pie for Heather to sample.

Next was lunch.  We found a neat winery that serves grilled meats.  We started with house-made chicken pate, then shared a meat platter.  Fabulous!  The wine and roaring fireplace sure gave me rosy cheeks!  

After lunch, Hearher and I made our way to the ladies' room via the wine cellar....

Another stop at a cidery.  We shared a flight so that we could sample different styles.

We stopped at one more winery that is really off the tourist route.  The winemaker invited us to sample his wines and  to share a chunk of cheese.

What a fun day!

DINNER:  Lasagne,  with the baguette, of course,

June 9, 2016. Terrifying first-time car driving in Australia

LOCATION: House-sitting near Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

WEATHER:  On and off rain. Highs in 50s

George is happy to be wearing a new sweatshirt that our friend brought him from the USA.  It is a hand-me-down from our son-in-law who lives near her.

Notice the beautiful door.....the homeowners used a lot of period furnishings when they restored this house.  Also, the Uggs boots are keeping his tootsies warm.

We drove into Ballarat to pick up our rental car.  George drove Old Smokey, the owners' utility pick-up into town.  The plan was for me to drive the rental home, and George would drive the truck back.

First, though, was lunch.  Ballarat has a ton of coffee shops with great looking food, ethnic places, and gourmet restaurants.  We went to a pizzeria  recommended by the homeowners.  It is in an old brick warehouse-type building with a huge wood-fired pizza oven.  We shared a yummy pizza.

We walked around Ballarat a bit, then drove to Hertz to pick up the car.  I was so nervous that I almost made myself sick.  I haven't driven for about 8 months, and have never driven on the left.  And, it is always scary driving an unfamiliar car!

The Hertz man painstakingly scrutinized the car and  documented every little scratch and bump for the record.  Why bother?  I thought I'd be sure to wreck it thoroughly.

We decided that George would lead, and I would follow him, to a brewery where he wanted to buy some beer.  He turned out of the Hertz parking lot into traffic, and I immediately lost him.  There are a ton of white pick-ups on the road that are identical to the one he's driving.  I was supposed to take the round-about around to essentially make a u-turn.  That didn't work......I just went round and round a few times.  No sign of George.  But.....I have the GPS, and it was set to go to the brewery, so I just followed the directions,  I figured he would find it on his own, and we'd meet there.  Ballarat seems to have a LOT of roundabouts, which are especially tricky driving on the left.  I made it through 2 or 3, and started feeling a bit smug, until an angry driver behind me started honking and flashing his bright lights, then gave me the finger as he passed me.  Hmmm.....guess I wasn't handling the roundabouts as well as I thought!  

About 20 minutes later, after several u-turns with the GPS lady "recalculating", I made it to the brewery, but George wasn't there.  I waited about 30 minutes until it started to rain hard.  I didn't want  to be driving in a storm, so I set the GPS for home, figuring George had given up on the brewery and would just go home.   I set off again, only once forgetting about driving on the left, and a kind semi-truck driver paused while I got out of his way!!!   After several unplanned detours and another 30 minutes, I happily entered our driveway.   But.....no George.  I had to wait in the car as I was locked out of the house.  I began to think he had had an accident, or that the truck had broken down.  No phone, no internet.  What to do?  After about another 30 minutes, just as I was planning a drive back to Ballarat to visit the police station and hospital, he pulled in.  What a relief!  He had tried to find me in Ballarat along the route, then he got lost trying to find the brewery, then he had to wait to be served at the brewery.  (Yes, he did buy beer),  

We realized that we should have had some contingency plans.  

I celebrated my survival with a glass of wine.  George had one of the beers he had bought at the Red Duck Brewery. 

We hired the rental car so we could make some longer trips.  Tomorrow we are going to visit some nearby villages, then on the weekend, we are going on a drive along The Great Ocean Road.

DINNER:  Chicken, navy beans and veg.