Looking for Bathing houses...

We looked at the weather for the week- it was supposed to rain all week long- except Monday. We had a few things we wanted to see and Google maps indicated that the Melbourne bathing houses appeared to be within walking distance of the apartment, so we set out. It was about 2:15. We walked through Bayside and then through a very affluent neighborhood-LARGE houses, high fences, electronic gates- to the bay.

We took a right turn on the walk way- these go everywhere, there is usually a footpath AND a bike path and sometimes a bridge. They are very wide and well maintained.

So we walked, we talked, we had a pretty good time playing around. We found a kids park, we played a little.

We walked a little farther….We saw some cool things…

Then we noticed we had walked all the way back down to the Luna Park area- WHAT?

That wasn’t supposed to happen, that is about 3 miles down the bay??? So, we thought we just miss read the google map, we didn’t have the map with us, but we thought that surely the bath houses are just around the next blind spot in the bay… or the next one… or the next one. We kept seeing more interesting things… but we were pretty tired and hungry. So we got some gelato (hello to our Italian loving, gelato loving friends!) We got lemon sorbet, mango sorbet and mint chocolate chip. It was just what we needed and so we continued, ‘just a little farther’.

Then someone asked, “What time is it?” The answer: “Almost 4:30-that can't be right!” Since it was overcast, we had totally lost track of time. It would get dark in about 40 minutes and we still hadn’t found the bath houses! We called our Traveler… “What time are you planning to come home? Should we grab a cab back to the apartment?” He whipped out his cape (aka windbreaker), jumped on white horse (or in the blue minivan depending on which source you choose to believe) and came to our rescue! Here is where the rescue took place (This is true- The Victoria Hotel) doesn’t it kinda look like a castle??

Then he took us out to dinner. (And just for the record, he then went back to the plant and programmed until the wee hours of the morning... we feel grateful and loved).

Bath houses would have to wait for another day- And IN THE OTHER DIRECTION up the bay! Google map calculations estimate we walked at least 6 miles!

Moving in Melbourne

So, as is often the case when the Traveler travels, schedules change. The plant in Melbourne requested an extra week’s work, so we stayed another week. It offered us an opportunity to visit a really wonderful little church- Grace Community Bible Church. It made us miss our church family back home even more. They had a sweet fellowship, a solid sermon and wonderful music. Hello folks at Grace.

Then we moved. Yep we left our wonderful apartment and moved closer to the bay and downtown. I’ll tell about our new apartment/hotel room soon. But first, our day...we went to the market.

 It is a little flea market type of set up, with crafts and wares. I found a local clay artist (hi, to my clay spinning friend!) who makes koalas, kookaburras, echidnas, platypuses. They are really beautiful.
And we saw some beautiful silk scarves.. which reminded us our scarf painting friend and her family- hello G fam!)

There is an amusement park in Melbourne called Luna Park, apparently they have these all over Australia- at least on the Eastern seaboard. We passed on the rides(maybe because the entrance looked to ‘creepy’, ‘scary’, ‘disturbing’) but we did notice that the roller coaster operator rode with the paying customers-and he rode STANDING UP! No kidding! Beej totally freaked out!

We passed Luna Park on our way to Acland Street. When we were at Philip’s Island penguin parade, sitting in the freezing cold, we met a family from Melbourne. (They had a French exchange student living with them- Hi guys!). They gave us some tips about things to do in Melbourne… high on the list was Acland street.

“They have the best cakes in Melbourne, you have to get cake from Acland Street.”  So we struggled with the decision and  finally decided to go- HA!  Here is what we saw.....

Evidentally these bakeries have been here for more than 50 years(not the cakes, but the bakeries).  They sell whole cakes or just samples of incredibly yummy looking yummy stuff.  We choose the later and here is what we got….

Hazelnut fudge, Lemon tart, chocolate covered waffle (which was filled with a hazelnutish/coffee cream stuff that was divine!), and chocolate mud cake. We couldn't choose a favorite, or even list them in an order of liked the most to the least because they were all so delicious!

It was crazy crowded and we were all concerned that Essie would get lost in the crowd. Someone had a hold of her the whole time. It became a joke as we stopped every few minutes for someone to ask 'Whose got 'Essie'? We saw some interesting sites....

We saw this and it reminded us of our Harley loving friend… (Hi. Mr. N and the N family!! We miss you!)

We also took a little stroll along the bay's beach. It was much less crowded and very relaxing! I guess everyone here can go to the beach when it is warm, so they don't go when it is cool! It was wonderful!!

Great Ocean Road- the Beginning

We were well on our way before sunrise! 

This ferris wheel is in downtown Melbourne. It was built for some special event and then after a few years there was a very hot summer. Can anyone back home relate to that?  So, the 105 F temp. are very unusual here (and kinda hard for us to imagine) and caused the bolts to buckle. It has been in a state of renovation for quite awhile. 

We headed down the Great Ocean Road. It reminded us of the road along the coast of California! It was beautiful.  Some of us missed a large part of the beginning of the drive…

We made a few stops along the way. I will divide them up, so this isn’t a really long post. Here is the first stop... of course, FOOD! HA

And interesting little coffee shop call the Red Till. Yep, you ordered and paid at the red till. It has a really interesting incandescent light bulb ‘sculpture’ hanging from the ceiling.

The food was yummy- blueberry pancakes, eggs on toast and The Tall One order a smoked salmon omelet. Here are the Foodies….

And then, with tummies full, we ventured onward!

And were rewarded by seeing THIS: 

OOOHHH, AAAHHHH. It really was pretty and it ‘glowed’ in the winter sunlight. Can you see it?

So we stopped and went exploring! Yay! Between the lighthouse and the light bulbs at the coffee shop, we were sure it was going to be a very 'enlightening' day!! hee hee

Here we are....

And we took the nearby paths…

 .

Which led to ….a beach.

We looked at some shells, did a little ballet (not really), threw rocks into the ocean…

Did a little ‘rock climbing’….

It was an incredible view of the ocean.

We hiked back, climbed in the car and headed on down the road. Can’t wait to show you what else we saw!! SERIOUSLY COOL stuff coming!! Thanks for checking on us!