Nearing the End of the Yellow Brick Road in the land of Oz

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Part 22
April 30 Picton

One of the tricks to having your trip work out well is to ignore things like weather and alarmist advice. Our plans to bike the Queen Charlotte Track were delayed by not being able to get bikes for the kids. One guide told us he would be being "irresponsible" to rent his kids bikes for this endeavor as the track was so difficult. When I tried to pin him down about the dangers, the most specifics I got were that it was "boggy" in spots, "greasy" in others. Some others also told us the track deteriorates quickly when wet, and the 5+ inches of rain in the last week certainly hadn't improved conditions.
So we delayed our start one day while we found someone else with kids bikes and decided to skip the first section of the track that was most "boggy." Predictably, the day off was dry (perfect for some fine mini golf) but right at dark, the skies opened up for a lashing downpour that lasted all night. At sunrise, it was still pouring and we considered bagging the bike plans, but given our luck with the rain on Abel Tasman, we figured our big concession would be to ride the road route this first day instead of the inevitably swamped trail. Our two hour delay to wait for clearing was to no avail and we were surprised to find 6 other intrepid souls joining us on the water taxi across the sound out to the track.
As the boat bounced over the white capped swells, I puzzled over whether Kiwis think we were admirably hearty or just some more wacky tourists for ignoring the stormy weather all around. After dropping off hikers, delivering newspapers for the resorts, and picking up soaked vacationers abandoning their cabins, we finally were dropped off at the dock at Punga Cove, ready for a fine day of riding. Conveniently, a few mud covered bikers rode off the Queen Charlotte track just as we arrived, so we got their generally positive report that it was at least passable, although the next section required, according to one, "a non-trivial effort" (900 meters of climbing over 27 km). As much as I was tempted to ride the track since these other guys were, prudence suggested we stick to the road plan of earlier in the morning.
We had joked that the road route was on the leeward side of the mountain and hence would be sunny and dry. While not exactly sunny, the rain let up just as we crested the Kenepuru saddle and dropped down the road to Kenepuru Sound. This was gorgeous farm country--castle, sheep, deer, lots of pasture, and a lovely road that hugged the sound as it gently rose and fell along each inlet.
Before 3, we reached the Portage Bay Shop, where we had reserved the family room. Hopping up the stairs above the shop, we were led to a spacious apartment complete with TV, a huge bathroom (with a bathtub and shower), about 8 beds, fully stocked kitchen, and wraparound windows that looked out onto the water (and all this for an extra $30NZ more than staying in a cramped and dark backpacker dorm). Any ideas about a little extra bike exploring up the track were quickly put to rest by the return of the rain and the warmth of our less than humble abode. For dinner, we waltzed over to the fancy resort restaurant next door for a quite civilized dinner (although like most of our restaurant meals here, less than inspiring).
Today took us to the dreaded trail, starting with about 600 meters of climbing to the high point of the whole track. This mainly involved pushing the bikes under misty skies (only a super strong and skilled rider could have rode the whole thing even in dry weather). While a tad slippery in parts, it was hard to tell where the big hazards were--maybe further on? After about an hour, with the last 15 minutes in a cloud that made us imagine how good the views must be when clear, we reached this high point and started down the switchbacked descent.
While not exactly dry or completely smooth, this track would qualify as one of the better surfaces in Vermont. The worst section was actually the one grassy downhill that threw Koby and Elaine for a slide seconds apart. One other section was mud and one needles that clogged up the tire treads. Maybe we had missed all the terrifying sections earlier on, but nothing we saw in the 20+ km we rode would qualify back home as anything to raise an eyebrow. Maybe when I get home I will send some pictures of real mucky conditions for the folks here to see.
After the first hour of pushing, the rest of the ride was pretty pleasant--nice views of the sound beneath the clouds, gentle climbs and downhills, convenient wooden bridges over the wet spots...Koby was in his element racing the last 5 km and Manya was a real trooper in what is not her favorite activity, going so far as to impress herself with her riding skills by the end as she zipped over roots and rocks with aplomb.
As we pedaled into Anikiwa, our water taxi waited at the pier, and soon enough we were back at the Toot and Whistle enjoying a celebratory Guinness for me and fries for the kids.

May 4 Melbourne
New Zealand felt like a real vacation--or holiday as they call it here. Everything was so easy--just roll into any town and there was an I-Site ready to helpfully take care of all your needs, find accommodations, arrange rentals, book tours. In some towns there were even other competing "information" centers, full of brochures and ideas for how to spend your time and money. And half the time, there was a DOC (Department of Conservation) office with even more detailed information about outdoor activities.
It was hard to tell if these were government subsidized or if they were self supporting. The I-Sites kept 10% of the costs of all t hey booked, so this may have paid their way. The personnel at all of these were amazingly well informed and good natured, although it would seem answering the same questions over and over would lead to a bit of sarcasm, or at least minor eye rolling.
There is also a $25 departure fee (a cool billion or so a year for the government), so this may help finance tourist services.
Anyway, all these services helped us pack our time, finishing off with a day of (unnecessarily but pleasantly guided) sea kayaking on Marlborough Sound on the clearest blue sky, calm seas day we had seen in weeks. With Koby and Manya captaining the double kayaks, we crossed paths with small blue penguins and seals that showingly jumped in the water to pose for us passersby.
Our boats took us to the secluded Eco Lodge at Lachmara Bay, a labor of love and lunacy with paths scattered in the bush leading to 35 hammocks, hordes of shiny eyed "Punga People" carved into the bark of fern trees, rope swings, apiaries, purebred sheep from the time of Captain Cook, glowworm gully, and various artwork produced by the annual artists retreat that we were lucky to drop in on when we arrived. Like virtually every accommodation in NZ we saw, this came equipped with kitchen facilities so Koby enjoyed his long awaited breakfast in bed before we went for a kayak in the bay and then took a water taxi back to Picton.
Our last day in NZ we drove down to Kaikurra, where we saw a big fur seal colony just off the road (complete with seal crossing road signs and barbed wire fencing to keep the seals off NZ major North-South (two lane highway. The young pups played on the rocks in what looked like seal pre-school, while the 100 or so adults lounged in seaweed beds among the rocks.
Finally, we stopped at the impressive Antarctic Centre near the airport for a few hours of learning a lot about life and science way down under (although only a couple thousand miles away from this site which was the major staging site for all Antarctic research programs). An excellent museum with a great deal of information, and a few kitschy features like the simulated arctic storm (high winds blowing through an ice filled room at -5 celsius while the tourists donned not so well insulated parkas and rubber galoshes (over shorts and sandals for our kids)) or the Hagglund snowcat ride over steep manmade hills, simulated crevasses, and through a small pond.
Now we are in Australia for the very final leg of our trip. It still feels to me that we left home just yesterday. Maybe being away so long, I forget what I miss, but life on the road remains enjoyable and it will be will some regret that this will come to an end all too soon for me (although still not soon enough for everyone else who seem pretty ready to head home).

May 5 Melbourne
At least on first impressions, Melbourne may surpass Sydney as a city to visit (this would dismay Sydneysiders who see Melbourne as their big rival). First of all, there are loads of free things to do here--a free tram for tourists that circles the CBD (Aussie speak for Central Business District), a free bus for tourists that goes even further afield near most major sites, free museums including the Australia Center for the Moving Image that somehow could pay for more staff than visitors. Other activities are reasonably priced, and even our hotel was a mega bargain at $65 when booked at the airport (twice as much when booked in town for some odd reason).
Melbourne is set along the Yarra River, offering both a boon to modern commercial office and entertainment development and recreational paths including a slew of rowing clubs right downtown. It is walking distance to the sports stadiums for the Australian Open Tennis, the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, and a few other sporting venues, and all this is surrounded by green grass parks and accessible by cute little trams if walking seems too much. And there has to be more Sushi restaurants here than anywhere in the world--kind of like coffee shops in the US, with one on virtually every block (they all seem to sell sushi rolls for $2 apiece, saving money by not chopping up the roll into cute little slices but still being just as tasty).

May 7 Kennett River, Great Ocean Road

RV City! Passing countless campervans in New Zealand, Koby continually lamented our misfortune to be carbound, so we have rectified this here with a Toyota HiAce Campervan. He, and all of us seem endlessly amused by this mode of travel, even if it is a tad crowded inside for cooking, dinner, and writing time. But it is also pretty cozy and remarkably efficient use of space. In our little van, in addition to 5 seats, we have a microwave, two burner stove, fridge, table, pots and pans, table settings for 4, portable shower, broom, a fan, lights galore, 4 outlets, a propane tank, sink with 45 liters of water, two double beds, a closet, loads of underseat storage, and various other little features that make this almost like home.
So we have a week to drive about Victoria, then back to Melbourne to visit our friends from India who live here and then one day in the city before flying back to LA. Our few hour drive out here today was close enough to the outback for me, with small segments of dull colored flatland stretching endlessly in the distance. The rest of the drive was much more scenic, passing by Torquay--surf city where Quicksilver, Ripcurl and a bunch of other surf clothes companies began, Bell Beach--home to the oldest surf competition in the world, Anglesea Golf Club--where 1000 kangaroos live on the course (with the warning sign that the due to danger of kangaroo attack, the course is only open to golfers(?)) and here where we saw koala bears right in the campground.
Did up Melbourne pretty well while waiting to get the camper--science museum, tram out to St Kilda beach in pouring rain (not great for the beach, but okay to wander the streets and stop in the overflowing cake shops and dine at the funky landmark of the Vineyard (with Johnny Cash serenading on the jukebox)), Victoria Market, Melbourne Museum, three shows at the comedy festival, dinner at Stalactite (Melbourne's best and most popular Greek restaurant), and some nice runs along the riverfront. Now if we can get to the MCG for a "Footie" match and dinner of some fancy "Mod Oz" cuisine, we can feel we did pretty well in the Melbourne experience.

May 10 Ballarat
It's not too hard to get the feeling that Australia is big and empty. Even along the coast, there are long, empty stretches, but head inland just a bit and vast flat fields stretch out endlessly for sheep and cattle, and then further along, for kangaroos and emus and wallabies.
Unusually strong westerly winds buffeted the camper van for three days, as we worked our way across the Great Ocean Road and then up to the Grampians, with cold wet rain pounding down on and off each day. Once at Grampian National Park, noteworthy for the blocky granite cliffs angling up its length, we saw the proverbial heaps of kangaroos. First there were about 50 in a field near the road, then 5 boinging near our parked van, then hundreds along the dirt road to Stapylton Campground, and finally about 20 grazing in the campground and not a bit concerned by our presence (or that of the 100 high schoolers populating the otherwise out of the way and empty campground). We think we saw wallabies too, but being Yanks, we are little weak on our marsupial identification. More sure was our sightings of emus, the other national symbol (Australia being the only country that eats both its national symbols), but far fewer in number than roos.
This morning finally dawned without rain clouds, so I ran/hiked 6 miles over Mt Stapylton to Mt Zero, where the family met me to hike the cave hugging track up Hollow Mountain (Mt Wudjub-guyun in the aboriginal language). By afternoon, it was cold and wet (13 degrees celsius, what they call winter here), and we drove the couple hours here, past the Australian Pyrenees (misnamed tiny hills) and this region's wine country.

May 13 Healesville
Only two days until we return to the US, so we forego the extra few hour drive further south to (maybe) see some penguins. We have had enough excitement, or at least interesting and pleasant time, visiting Sovereign Hill at Ballarat and Healesville Sanctuary (and making our way between these spots and enjoying campervan life comfortably out of rain and cold).
Sovereign Hill is one of those historical reenactment villages (a but more rare in Australia than in the US) that focuses on the goldfields of Ballarat that were world famous in the mid 1800's. Although it crosses the line between historical experience and modern day commerce (almost every shop, from the confectionery to the millinery to the general store had souvenirs for sale), the insight into the goldmining period (surprisingly easy to find then apparently) was captivating. Particularly interesting was the underground mine tour, the operation of steam powered machinery, and the highlight of the day, goldpanning in the creek (that is seeded each morning with tiny gold flakes) where we managed to find a goodly number of flakes (worth probably very little but somehow exciting for the element of the hunt).
From there, it was across to the east side of Melbourne (where our efforts to find a camper park turned up caravan parks that specialize in long term rentals for new immigrant workers but refuse one night visitors. So we happily pulled into a convenient parking lot and set up shop there for the night).
Getting to Healesville took us through scenic horse and wine country (very Napa valley like). The Sanctuary, run by the Melbourne Zoo, is a well laid out ground to see Koalas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Dingoes, Emus, Platypus, Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, Echidnas, and some other hopping animals (hopping uses less energy which is important in this dry, barren land). We also saw a slew of the many colorful birds that are amazingly common in Australia--parrots, cockatoos, lorikeets, parakeets, ibis, herons... The Sanctuary also houses a multimillion dollar animal hospital, and here we saw veterinarians (and volunteer caregivers) giving extraordinary care for injured baby kangaroos, hawks, and echidnas.
After most of the day here, and lunch cooked in the campervan in the parking lot, we thought of heading down the road, but then everyone felt more drawn to just relaxing in the campervan. But, as the camper park had the best bargain golf course in the planet ($2 for 4 people to play the 7 hole chip and putt (with challenging sand and gravel 'greens')), this drew us outside til dark for a little round on the links.
So on to Melbourne, fly to LA for 3 days, 3 more days in Wi., then home late the 22nd. It feels like we all will be ready to be home by then.

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Photos

Seals Out to Play
Seals come to show off while we sea kayak alongside

Off Road
Koby heads off the trail

Cycling Queen Charlotte Track
Manya and Elaine high above Marlborough Sound in a moment of dry weather

Camper Van Living
Koby enjoying lunch in the comfortable surroundings of our campervan

Kangaroo
Yes, Australia

Koala Bear
More wildlife