so, in our forays around adelaide, payton drove gg; dad sat shot-gun; mom sat between two toddler car seats in the back; and lauren, adam, and i sat hip to hip in the jump-seats-meant-for-two in the WAY back. so much fun did we have, and as near to comfortable as it was, someone in the back seat (i think it was me) piped up that with luggage on a rack on top, we could easily sit like this on a THREE DAY ROAD TRIP along the great ocean road from adelaide to melbourne (from where lauren, adam and theo would eventually fly out). well, whitehursts all cheered enthusiastically, payton silently told himself he would be damned if anyone else thought they were driving then acquiesced out loud and adam, i'm afraid, was shocked so far in to silence that he wasn't able to get a word out in protest until we had finished the john denver sing along three days later and were considering retracing some of our tracks to go see a lighthouse we missed along the great ocean road. it was communally agreed we should press forward.
but i jump ahead. we loaded up with a huge blue-tarped luggage burrito role on top and managed a whopper of a seven hour (!!!) day on that first leg. let's recap: eight people (two toddlers), one car, seven hours. wow. we drove through the coorong, a coastal embayment and wetlands framed by the younghusband peninsula (a very straight, very long strip of land that payton opines is very...descriptively, if not subtly, named). around lunchtime, we excitedly burst out of the car to empty bladders and stare agog at the giant metal and plaster lobster, fondly called "larry" by the locals. this was our first giant icon viewing (payton, as mentioned before was a seasoned veteran having basked in the glory of tamworth's giant golden guitar). shockingly, larry the lobster's visitor center was closed in this one-gas-station town, so we were deprived of the opportunity to stock up on t-shirts, pencils, hats, mugs and small replicas of larry. lauren and i promptly marched across the street to the filling station and bought a couple of magnets. after lunch, we stuffed ourselves back in to gg and made it to the old whaling town of port fairy where we stayed the night. this and many of the other great ocean road coastal towns we passed through were fascinating and had a lot of interesting history. as with so many of the places we visited, we could have spent days more exploring each area. but we had kilos to go...
thursday, we passed through the most well known section of the great ocean road - the twelve apostles (of which there are only eight) The "apostles" are huge limestone towers formed from persistent waves carving the presenting cliffs into arches that eventually collapsed and left the structures standing out in the ocean. it is an incredible sight with the evening light illuminating the cliffs and the open southern ocean expanding to the horizon... you are standing on a shore pounded by waves that have no impediment from the edge of antarctica to the beaches at the bottom of these cliffs in south australia. lot of ocean out there. not much else. oh, except WHALES! yes, our luck with nature-viewing continued and we watched a few southern right whales, who come here to calve in winter. very exciting. we continued onward to apollo bay. the kids (and adults) began to get restless, so john denver was fired up on the ipod and we had a good ol' whitehurst singalong (which usually involves a lot of out-of-tune singing and misunderstood lyrics belted out at full strength in a small space). we sing loudly and we sing every song on the album. it is SO fun. i don't recall payton and adam hitting the high notes of "rocky mountain high" but i might have just been enjoying myself too much. still, we had a magical john denver moment when, at the crescendo of "high calypso", payton drove us around a corner and into a pull-out that overlooked the southern ocean and south australia's cliffs basked in evening light with sprays of white waves pounding the shore. i cannot even describe the happiness or cheesiness of the situation. it was awesome. i will never listen to "high calypso" the same again.
we made it to apollo bay that night, had hell getting babies to sleep and woke the next morning to a quality winter downpour that blows umbrellas inside out and sends rivers of rainwater down the street. but the weather cleared and we had a beautiful drive along the coast - the road is called the great ocean road, but this section is the most coastal - with morning sun burning off the rain and mist. we saw bell's beach, a surfer's paradise for the big guns and spent some time in torquay (pronounced "tor-key") - a small surfing town at the end of our scenic drive. finally, we hopped on the highway and made it to melbourne on friday afternoon. gg was a champion, we all love family, but it was time to get out of the car.
before leaving the road trip, i just have to mention one thing. australians are very focused on the safety of highway travel. we frequently saw signs along the highway that read: "drowsy drivers DIE" and "rest, revive, survive" and my personal favorite, "love her? divorce speed!" yet, the highest speed you'll see is 110... kilometers per hour. that's about 68 mph. and everyone knows that back in the states, five miles over the speed limit is acceptable; so most people go ten over. well, you can imagine my shock when i got a bill in the mail (sadly, i got my hopes up because at first, i thought it was the rebate from our washing machine) that turned out to be a $146 (!!!) ticket for going 7 km (that's 4 miles, people) over the speed limit!! i won't say lesson learned yet, because i am who i am - i have speeding lineage, both parents - but, you know, ouch!
ah, melbourne. the first two people i chatted with and told that i was living in adelaide for three years looked like i'd just slapped them in the face with a dirty sock. i'm not sure if they were offended FOR me or BY me... adelaide?! why adelaide?! (melbournians and sydneysiders love their cities and think little of adelaide. they don't know what they're missing.) undaunted, we set off to the mcg - melbourne cricket grounds. site of the 1980-something (?) olympics. they have a fantastic sports museum - with lots of space devoted to cricket and footy. we went on a lovely walk (i.e. baby naptime) through the botanical gardens, through the city and eventually ended up back at the hotel. lauren and adam have a friend who's brother (who's uncle who's classmate who's second cousing who's...) is the chef at a very hip restaraunt called "fog". so, again, the heroic grandparents kicked the kids out the door and put the babies to bed so lauren, adam, payton and i could have a delightful, last-night-out-before-leaving dinner together.
well, no one told me that business casual was required. my entire life, everywhere i've lived, jeans without holes and a clean shirt counted as "dressing up". i couldn't believe i would actually be denied access to a restaraunt because i was wearing jeans. apparently, fog had/has a dress code and can deny entrance to a potential patron if they are not properly attired. well! fortunately, my sister dresses a lot nicer than i do and was able to clothe herself appropriately while providing me with a brown skirt, shirt and tights. only thing was, my nicest (and only) pair of shoes were my rossi boots - ankle-high, elastic-sided, slip on, leather boots... it's a work boot. not fancy. i'm not going to say we were the best-dressed gals in the restaurant, but we got in. i actually went to the bathroom at one point and felt like i'd walked into the wrong room - it was full of giggling, curly-haired blondes covered in sequined skirts that hemmed at their necks, blouses with neck lines that dropped to the waist, stilettos that came up to my knee, and jewelry that cost more than your car. me and my work boots were backpedalling so fast to get out of there (lest i be kicked out of the bathroom for not being properly dressed), we almost ended up in the men's room. realizing that my outfit (and general being) would feel no more comfortable in there, i was reduced to waiting awkwardly in the hallway until the fashion sheilas were done powdering their noses. even the passing waiter had a glance at me and seemed to wonder if i was there for dinner or to fix the plumbing. i had the right shoes on for the job.
ah, melbourne. the first two people i chatted with and told that i was living in adelaide for three years looked like i'd just slapped them in the face with a dirty sock. i'm not sure if they were offended FOR me or BY me... adelaide?! why adelaide?! (melbournians and sydneysiders love their cities and think little of adelaide. they don't know what they're missing.) undaunted, we set off to the mcg - melbourne cricket grounds. site of the 1980-something (?) olympics. they have a fantastic sports museum - with lots of space devoted to cricket and footy. we went on a lovely walk (i.e. baby naptime) through the botanical gardens, through the city and eventually ended up back at the hotel. lauren and adam have a friend who's brother (who's uncle who's classmate who's second cousing who's...) is the chef at a very hip restaraunt called "fog". so, again, the heroic grandparents kicked the kids out the door and put the babies to bed so lauren, adam, payton and i could have a delightful, last-night-out-before-leaving dinner together.
well, no one told me that business casual was required. my entire life, everywhere i've lived, jeans without holes and a clean shirt counted as "dressing up". i couldn't believe i would actually be denied access to a restaraunt because i was wearing jeans. apparently, fog had/has a dress code and can deny entrance to a potential patron if they are not properly attired. well! fortunately, my sister dresses a lot nicer than i do and was able to clothe herself appropriately while providing me with a brown skirt, shirt and tights. only thing was, my nicest (and only) pair of shoes were my rossi boots - ankle-high, elastic-sided, slip on, leather boots... it's a work boot. not fancy. i'm not going to say we were the best-dressed gals in the restaurant, but we got in. i actually went to the bathroom at one point and felt like i'd walked into the wrong room - it was full of giggling, curly-haired blondes covered in sequined skirts that hemmed at their necks, blouses with neck lines that dropped to the waist, stilettos that came up to my knee, and jewelry that cost more than your car. me and my work boots were backpedalling so fast to get out of there (lest i be kicked out of the bathroom for not being properly dressed), we almost ended up in the men's room. realizing that my outfit (and general being) would feel no more comfortable in there, i was reduced to waiting awkwardly in the hallway until the fashion sheilas were done powdering their noses. even the passing waiter had a glance at me and seemed to wonder if i was there for dinner or to fix the plumbing. i had the right shoes on for the job.
nonetheless, dinner was fantastic - oysters, wine, lamb, seafood.... and a southwest inspired appetizer that actually had chili sauce and blue corn chips... yum. a delightful time indeed.
and then, on monday... payton took an early flight back to adelaide to go to work and lauren, adam, and theo boarded the plane for the long trip home. the only word theo said all morning was, "airplane"... so we guessed he was pretty excited to get on the plane. sad sad to see them go, but it was SUCH a wonderful trip. after teary waves good-bye, mom, dad, nova and i hopped in gg and drove all the way back to adelaide in 10 hrs through some heavy wind and rain. we saw the giant koala from the car window at 100 km/hr, but i still think it counts. perhaps i can order a magnet online... nova watched the entire "horton hears a who" movie, and was, as usual, a champion traveller.
good to be home.
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