Because of my postponed flight I arrived at Melbourne Airport at about 2 pm on Monday. Customs went alright – they weren’t even interested in seeing my printed visa. But they were very interest in Ebola-related information and a declaration that NO organic material whatsoever (shells, sand, food, drinks, wooden objects) entered Australia. If you do not answer truthfully to their questions the fine will be enormous! That is why I had sent anything organic that I wanted to keep home earlier and could answer NO to all of their questions. I took the skybus to Southern Cross Station (the hub in central Melbourne) and it even provided a free ho(s)tel-shuttle for the city. But I realized quickly that I was no longer in la-la-land but in a quite expensive country (not that I had not known this before…) The skybus cost 18 AUD$ for a 20 min-ride and the hostel cost around 35-40 AUD$ per night in a 6-bed dorm! It was a little more expensive because of the Australian Open held in Melbourne at the time, but still: come on people: a DORM bed and you pay more than 25 EUR…? I mean… (I have obviously stayed too long in Asia… where it’s 6-7 EUR…) The hostel – Home at the Mansion – is situated in the very old former Salvation Army training building. The stairs were making charming creaking sounds and everything seemed to be made of wood. My first 24H in Melbourne (meaning the first evening and half of the next day) consisted of turning up at least 4 times at the mobile/internet shop and other shops looking for desperate help in getting internet. My borrowed WIFI-device was definitely not working and nobody could tell me why (probably because it’s from Europe) and so I couldn’t use my already purchased SIM-card. So finally I bought a new (locked of course) wifi-device. I am really curious what will happen later in New Zealand. It will also not be working, because it’s locked. But YES, after feeling I seriously needed to hit somebody at stupid-internetshop (which employees were all seriously stupid and not helpful!), it finally worked. As if all this trouble was not enough I got stomach problems, which made even shorter walks a little unpredictable. In search of a bathroom I landed myself in the Public Library where I discovered that everybody could use 15 min internet for free AND I visited a free exhibition about Melbourne’s Bohemians (including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds). The next morning I had subscribed to a free bicycle tour around the city center. This was sheer luck, as the bike company was just starting up and making promotional tours for the hostels in town. A usual tour like this would normally cost 45 AUD$. It might not be that much worth but it was really good, especially as I had not seen much of the city until now and my attempts to use the circle tram line number 35 would be fruitless until the last day. Steve of the bike company gave us all special 60s-style bikes with female names on it. They were all famous Australians under which Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett. Mine was Dawn Fraser, a famous swimmer. We first went to the Old Exhibition Hall, the Parliament, saw the tennis courts (Austr. Open!) from a high bridge, went to Federation Square with its summer seats and the big screen for the Open, rode along the Yarra river until the Docklands and back stopping at 1-2 parks over a lot of hills, which really killed me as it was 35°C… After a definitive needed relaxing I was on the move again to see the first Richard Avedon exhibition in Australia (or so it said there). His photographs are mighty impressive!!! And the one of Elizabeth Taylor wearing a feathery thing around her head from the ad at the bus stop was not even the most impressive! I loved it! In the hostel I met a German girl at dinner that I chatted to a lot (we didn’t even exchange names…that happens a lot on a trip, you just chat and that’s it – nobody asks the name as there is a moment when it feels almost too late). She and a French guy and me went to the park next to our hostel when it was dark and we met some really cute possums (not opossums). In the dark they looked like tiny kangaroos. They were coming toward me, sniffing at my (very worn) sandals and one even behaved like he was wanting to climb me. The French guy commented: “She is not a tree…” At first Thursday was not quite spectacular. I tried the circle tram again – it didn’t come and the sun was burning down on me, so I decided to just return to the hostel and relax, prepare something to eat and be done. When it was around 5 pm I tried to leave again. It was still too hot but I figured I’d go to St. Kilda beach and there would be a sea breeze – and so there was. I had a tonic at a bar with a cute French bar guy and then checked out the beach: it was very crowded. But as I didn’t want to go swimming but visiting the Twilight Market I headed onwards. The market was just starting when I arrived but they had some nice little stands with all sorts of alternative and organic stuff as well as food from all over the world. I walked a round and then sat down and did some people watching. When it was time for sunset I headed off for the pier for some penguin watching. The little guys let me (and 100 more people) wait for a long time. At first one little guy appeared and walked up and down in front of us at the very tiny beach strip. He didn’t want to go home into his rock nest it seemed. Another little guy a while later did the same. He just stood there, one meter away from me, looking a bit lost and every now and the shaking his little wings. He was sooo cute! When I was walking back I saw several more penguins between the rocks. They must have returned on tiptoes, because O hadn’t noticed. The next morning I had to get up very early to catch a bus to Avalon airport (which is 50 min from Melbourne and only serves Jetstar, a low-cost airline). I left the hostel at 6 am and was ready to get my rental car at 8 am at the airport, but nobody was there. All booths were empty and it seems that local people here just turn up when they have finished breakfast and not when office time starts. But anyway, I got a blue Micra, which looked practically new. My first hour (or so) was pure stress. Keeping to the left of the street was not the big problem, as I had practised that in Bali on a scooter. But trying to manage the indicator without instead hitting the window wiper function was difficult and also putting in the gears on the left side drove me mad, as I never got the 2nd gear right: I nearly always hit the 4th, which made the car go slow on practically every traffic light. The map I had of the Great Ocean Road was not very detailed, so I had to follow my instincts and the few signs that were there, but safely reached the road for Colac. I had decided to take a normal road to the end of the Great Ocean Road and then do most of it the next day, but just reaching Colac, enjoying a coffee and scones with jam there I decided otherwise. So I just took the inbetween-road from Colac (which is halfway to where I originally wanted to go) and turn south. Like this I would do a small part of the ocean road twice, but I could just do the recommended stuff (e.g. the Twelve Apostels) this day already. The way from Colac to Lavers Hill took me through very different landscapes. It was a mixture of the Great Plains of America, the German Black Forest and rainforest with some silver leaf forest in between. I followed a sign to the Triplet Waterfalls carpark. Again the landscape just switched from fields to rainforest – quite special. The car had to stay and I walked the 2 km down and up a lot of steps until the waterfall, which was quite spectacular and huge. I lingered a while before heading back to the car and further until Lavers Hill and westwards. When reaching the coast I could and did stop every 2-5 minutes for another spectacular rock formation or cliff beach, under which the Gibson Steps (which lead to a beach), the Twelve Apostels – 12 cliff rocks that have slowly been crumbling away until they were left standing in the ocean for themselves, Loch Ard Gorge and the London Bridge, a flat big rock reminding the viewer of the actual bridge with an arch underneath it. It was quite exhausting climbing and running around, but it was totally worth it! In the meantime I had reached Port Campbell, where I had booked another hostel bed for the night. I claimed mine and headed on westwards to see more until the sun set. The next morning I saw my first kangaroo. It was sitting next to the road and looking innocently at me before it turned and hopped away into the bushes. My first destination for today was an old lighthouse. On the way there would be koalas promised my map - and there were. Real very cute koalas, hanging around in the trees, one mummy grabbing her baby, just 1m above me. I didn’t want to leave and they made me sooo happy! The lighthouse itself would have cost 20 AUD, so I skipped it. I had seen enough cliffs and sea for free the day before and would be today. Although the hillbillie-guy at the counter gave me some quite useful tips what not to miss on my way. I stopped at the Maits Rest, which was a quite easy 1km-tour through rainforest with huge trees, which were several hundred years old. Unfortunately I slipped and hurt my ankle (not the first time, they can be pretty weak), but was not sure if I could finish the round through the forest. But I just walked on, not listening to my stupid foot. Then another thing made me quite uneasy. I had been experiencing major problems with my stomach the last days and I needed a bathroom as in NOW… so I quickly duck behind one of the huge trees… I really had to see a pharmacist and I promised myself I would in the next bigger town of Apollo Bay. There the pharmacist listened to my story and told me she would rather I’d see a doctor. She insisted and so I went around the corner to Dr Lawless (yes: lawless!). It turned out the doctor was around 100 years old. I asked her what she would charge me and she said: 100$. To which I answered: Wow, that’s quite expensive. She: Okay, 50 $. Finally she told me I would be rather cheap off with my 50$... I still found it quite expensive and am really curious if my travel insurance covers anything, as Dr Lawless gave me a handwritten(!) paper in which she stated what I had and that I just paid 50$ in cash to her. I can’t really read it so I doubt my insurance can. But I got some antibiotics and it seems to be working. The next 150 km on speed 50 to 80 km/h along the coast were not quite spectacular apart from the great ocean views and it was of course sunny. I didn’t stop much, because I was a bit on a tight schedule now. I did go to the Anglesea golf course where there were a bunch of kangaroos known to hang out – and they really were, lazing on the grass. After that I enjoyed 20 minutes of famous Bells Beach’s surfers and on my last meters, as is typical, I got a bit lost because I was pressed in time. How could one ever imagine that an airport is not hugely advertised on signs. I had to find the way on my own then, as well as a gas station before handing over the car. The plane was off course late – Jet Star again - but this time luckily only 20 minutes. So – off to Sydney!
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