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 Well we survived the ten hour ride from Apollo Bay to
Portland. We stayed at the Portland Inn in Portland last night and we really enjoyed our
stay.
 Portland
is situated around Portland Bay and is the only deep water port between Melbourne and
Adelaide. The Portland Inn was built in 1841 and is the oldest building in Victoria still
on its original site. The owners, Elaine and Grahame McDonald, are two of the nicest
people you'll ever meet and they were extremely helpful. When we arrived last night we
were exhausted and all we wanted to do was relax. Elaine made a pot of tea and hot
chocolate for us and set out some biscuits (cookies) to munch on. Then she gave us the
number for the local pizza place, which luckily for us delivered. So we got to experience
Australian-style pizza. Andrea ordered a tropical pizza, which we know as a Hawaiian (ham
& pineapple) and I had to settle for salami (they didn't have sausage). Andrea thought
that the pizza tasted funny, but I really didn't notice any difference. At least we didn't
have the experience of another couple that are posting the experiences of their world tour
on the web. In one of the Eastern European countries they ordered pizza and were given a
pizza crust with cold tomato sauce, dollops of cheese, and pickles on top!So far I haven't seen any pickles on pizza, but I have
eaten a hamburger with a fried egg on top of it. Yesterday we stopped in at a sandwich
place called the Great Australian Bite for a hamburger and some chips (french fries). You
could either order a plain hamburger or a hamburger with the lot. The menu said that one
of the fillings with the lot was egg. I interpreted this to mean that they put egg inside
the hamburger and boy was I wrong. What they do is fry up an egg and put it on your
hamburger along with the usual condiments. Needless to say Andrea was pretty grossed out
by my hamburger. I thought it tasted pretty good, although I'm sure the fried egg doesn't
do much for the cholesterol count on a hamburger. One other thing about the burgers at the
Great Australian Bight is that they taste like pork, not beef. Andrea thinks that they're
taking the word ham-burger much too literally. I'm still giving them the benefit of the
doubt.
 After finishing our pizza we kicked back and
watched some TV (Age of Innocence) in the lounge. By ten o'clock Andrea was asleep and I
was working on yesterday's web page describing the trip from Apollo Bay to Portland, and
watching the movie. It took me until about 1 am to sift through all the photos I took of
the Great Ocean Road and post the best ones. When I get back home I'm going to post just
the pictures from our trip in a photo gallery for anyone who doesn't want to take the time
to read my writing ;-)
 Until then here's some pictures of the interior of
the Portland Inn and their flower garden. Andrea is already putting together a list of
gardening chores for me to take care of when we get home. Every garden that we see, and
there have been hundreds, just makes my list a little longer. Personally I think we should
astroturf the backyard like on the Brady Bunch or pave it and paint it green, but she's
not going for it. For all my friends and family in New Jersey here's a small bit of trivia
about Victoria. Both Victoria and New Jersey share the distinction of being the Garden
State. In Victoria's case it's because almost every town has a public gardens and also
because the state government encourages all its citizens to have a garden on their
property. They even offer official state recognition to many of these personal gardens. I
forget exactly why New Jersey is called the Garden State, but I think it had something to
do with all the farms that it once had.
 The following morning after a great breakfast at the Portland
Inn we took a short driving tour of nearby Cape Bridgewater. The cliffs on the west coast
of Cape Bridgewater are composed of basalt, and covered in dune limestone. Water drains
through the limestone, along the line of contact and emerges as springs along the cliffs,
resulting in fresh water pools.
 The volcanic rock at the base of the cliff is formed mainly of
basalt and scoria. Scoria is eroded more easily by the sea than basalt, and this erosion
has created the Blowholes you see here, that display spectacular spouts of sea spray
during high seas. Close to the Blowholes you can also see the petrified remains of an
ancient forest. There are many theories as to how this area was formed. One accepted
theory is that there was once a forest of Moonah trees which were smothered by a large
sand dune. Water seeping down through the sand formed a crust of sandstone on the outside
of the tree trunks, gradually increasing in diameter. This process decayed the organic
matter, leaving behind "petrified trunks". There is also a colony of Australian
Fur Seals on Cape Bridgewater that is a two hour hike from the information kiosk parking
lot. We didn't have the time to visit it, but we're told that it's quite a sight. The
trails around Cape Bridgewater are part of the Great South West Walk which is 250
kilometers of hiking trails that begin and end in Portland. Along the way it passes
through coastal forests, the Glenelg River, white sand beaches, and towering stone cliffs.
There's one other thing about Portland that I
have to mention. Every gas station in Portland sells bait. I'm not talking about Mom &
Pop gas stations here. BP, Mobil, and Shell all sell bait at their gas stations. It
reminded me of the Jersey Shore where I grew up. But on the Jersey Shore there are usually
bait shops with gas pumps, not the other way around. Well we've got a long ride to
Mininera in front of us, so I better wrap this up. See ya' tomorrow.
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Twelve
Apostles, Australia |
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Well we survived the ten hour ride from Apollo Bay to
Portland. We stayed at the Portland Inn in Portland last night and we really enjoyed our
stay.
Portland
is situated around Portland Bay and is the only deep water port between Melbourne and
Adelaide. The Portland Inn was built in 1841 and is the oldest building in Victoria still
on its original site. The owners, Elaine and Grahame McDonald, are two of the nicest
people you'll ever meet and they were extremely helpful. When we arrived last night we
were exhausted and all we wanted to do was relax. Elaine made a pot of tea and hot
chocolate for us and set out some biscuits (cookies) to munch on. Then she gave us the
number for the local pizza place, which luckily for us delivered. So we got to experience
Australian-style pizza. Andrea ordered a tropical pizza, which we know as a Hawaiian (ham
& pineapple) and I had to settle for salami (they didn't have sausage). Andrea thought
that the pizza tasted funny, but I really didn't notice any difference. At least we didn't
have the experience of another couple that are posting the experiences of their world tour
on the web. In one of the Eastern European countries they ordered pizza and were given a
pizza crust with cold tomato sauce, dollops of cheese, and pickles on top!
