Southern Tour day 14: Journey home

 

 

By the numbers

4.68 kms

6,204 steps

 

I had to get up in the early AM as is 4am to catch the 5am bus from Southern Cross station to the airport. The plan changed slightly as I found myself on the 445 bus to the city and it was raining. One of the reasons I wanted to be at the airport so early was the same reason Sydney was having trouble with people in the airport. I didn’t want to get stuck in long lines and end up being late for anything. All was good as I printed off my bag tag only for the bag drop to reject the bag as I was 10 mins early for the bag drop. I had to wait another 10 mins and then try again. This time the bag was rejected again, not once, but twice as the conveyor belt had issues. The first time I had jinxed it when talking to the Jetstar lady. The second time I said I wasn’t going to jinx myself. The bag did go and I was worried because of the issues the bag would not reach its destination.

 

The line for the security was long, but moved pretty smoothly and wasn’t long before I was through and getting something to eat for breakfast. I had ordered something on the plane, but still wanted to eat before my flight and I had 40 mins before the gate opened. I waited until it opened and it was gate 12, which wasn’t far at all. Turns out once we boarded the plane it was a bigger aircraft heading to the Gold Coast with a centre row. It wasn’t that long of a flight from Melbourne to the Gold Coast and I was happy once I had landed. It had been apparently raining when we walked off the plane and into the terminal. At that stage it was dry.

 

There did seem to be changes at the airport and the Gold Coast airport was busy, but I didn’t really notice many changes just yet. We had to walk from one end of the terminal to the other just to get to baggage claim. That was a long walk. There were two Jetstar planes on the list for the baggage to come round and I became worried as I seen a guy with a green bag just like mine with the tag in a similar place. The only difference was there had been no NZ customs dog tag, and his flight was likely Sydney. I very nearly stopped him, but didn’t. Turns out it was the best idea I have ever had as more bags came round and my one wasn’t that far off. Outside the terminal doors, it was raining like nothing ever happened.

 

The end of one trip means there is another one planned for August where I will head to New Zealand for two weeks. This time with family, so I don’t know what will happen just yet.

Southern Tour Day 13 Walking Brighton Beach to St Kilda

 

By the numbers

21,869 steps

16.53 kms

The last day of my journey had come and I had an idea what I wanted to do evben though I tried to sleep in and ended up moving off a little later than I should have as I was happy to eat breakfast and read a book. My kindle has come in handy and has made my bag lighter and sometimes I have had no problems having the device in my pocket. The plan for today was meant to be an hour walk according to Google maps that would take me straight from Brighton Beach to St Kilda.

 

I had thought I could catch the train that terminates at Sandringham and I had the impression it begins at Southern Cross, but the information I looked at said Flinders Station. I headed there part way by tram, although I don’t think I was tapping on correctly as I was tappiung the screen, not the base of the machine. My bad, but I did learn. The train was departing from platform 23 and I had to find it as I ended up at one end of the station and seemed to walk so far into another end of Flinders Station without changing direction. The train turned up after a couple of minutes and it said terminating at Flinders, so I then confirmed what I had found online had been correct. That made me happy, I hadn’t been rushing from Southern Cross to another station. I did learn there was a middle Brighton just before Brighton Beach.

 

I hopped off the train and unsure as to where to go I went down a street, though I had turned around to look behind me at something and I could see the Port Phillip Bay, so I knew I should have been looking properly I headed to the water and then came across an old Tram tunnel that had been built in the 1800s and that was now covered up with a road going over it. You would never know it was there. Nearby I came across an info panel that told me the stones they used on the foreshore came from old Melbourne Goal and some of the stones had names carved in then including one Ned Kelly. What I had come for were the bathing boxes that were meant to be famous here. There were quite a few of them and the council were doing work on the foreshore to  sort out the erosion issues and I was wondering where I could get back onto the concrete as the sand was compact, but I would need to move on soon enough. I thought that was interesting. I just took my time following the coast from Brighton to St Kilda. I stopped for coffee at Middle Brighton and had a bird crap on me, I came across a rat, but I don’t think it was native as it sat near my foot before running off into the bushes as I ate lunch.

 

The day became warmer and I had my jumper around my waist as it was a cape that didn’t do much as I became sunburnt. I noticed the beaches were becoming more occupied the further towards St Kilda I walked and there were plenty of ladies bathing on them. The area of Elwood seemed to have better beaches, but the city council seemed to have spent a bit of money of the coastal footpath and cycle track as I found it pretty easy to use. There was something about the local surf club that said it wqas the first in Victoria, I think. Though it was a surf club. I came across an arty building and before I took a picture I found it was a toilet as someone walked out of it. I got several good photos from the nearby lookout. I realised the hour long walk I was meant to be doing was taking longer than I thought it would. I could see bits of Luna Park from the vantage point, but I wasn’t sure at the time of what I was looking at. I did however walk through the St Kilda marina looking at the boats that were moored there and others that were in storage. I decided to wander over to Luna Park and found it to be closed even though there was the sound of a roller coaster going round. I had to sit in the shade for a little bit and charge the phone so I would have enough battery until I got back to the hostel.

 

Once I was rested a touch, I wandered into Brighton and wondering why the officials for the trams were at two stops. That would be important later. I ended up walking to the St Kilda Peir when I should have been heading back, but I wanted to at least check that one out. Turns out they were spending money on that too. I found the nearby monuments to James Cook and the WW1 memorial. Though I ended up watching the stunt planes flying around as I thought the racing would start over the weekend. I headed back to the tram station and found that there were delays and the one I was after wasn’t running, so I jumped onto a random tram going to Melbourne University, but I had no idea where the stops were. Google maps helped as the tram filled up with the people who had been watching the racing. I could have gotten off an explored more, but I had to eat and then pack my bags properly or else I would be stuck as I was leaving early in the morning. I made it back after getting two trams back to the hostel instead of the one, but I didn’t mind that at all. Though I do know I got sunburnt from being outside.

 

Southern Tour Day 12: Great Ocean Road

By the numbers

9.76kms

13,019 steps

 

The day started at the crack of dawn as I was wanting to walk to the location of the bus that was picking me up for the tour of the Great Ocean Road. I woke up well before my alarm and decided the time was to move. I ended up at the meet up location within half hour of having to be there. I had bought food with me so I could eat while waiting. Right on time the tour guide turned up and offered me the front seat as I had at first thought I was the only one on the tour. That has hjappened before in the past where I was the only one. Nope, I was the only single person. The guy was from Brazile and had been here for 6 years. The others turned up except for one who was late. At that point I would have left without the person. Apparently the person had gotten lost and was in tears when the driver was talking to her. So he was nice and picked the lady and her husband up at the travellodge. We were around half hour late, but it didn’t really matter that much.. We were off on the road.

 

The plan was to take the back road to the Great Ocean Road where we would pop out around where the 12 Apostles are located and work our way back. I didn’t realise just how far Geelong was actually from the city. It just seemed to take forever to get anywhere near it even though we were not going through the city. Apparently the city grew due to the gold and tons of gold was sent offshore on ships. Our first stop was at a cafe in Winchelsea as it was a fair hike. We did see some bits of the country and some people were shocked with towns being blink and you miss them. The first two stops were at the 12 Apostles and there were several locations to go. The first carpark meant you could actually walk under the road to see one lot and another area nearby was the Gibson steps that you take to head down to the beach. Luckily the weather wasn’t too bad. We could have walked the entire way as the Gibson steps were not far away. After that we headed to several other lookouts like Loch Ard Gorge where there had been a shipwreck with two survivors in the 1800s. Then it was onto Londonm Bridge where you could once walk all the way until part of the arch collapsed in the 1990s.

 

From London Bridge we headed into Port Campbell for lunch. We had put in an order on our way in as that would save on the waiting time as the town is short staffed that it could take too long to get your food order due to the pandemic and lockdowns. The  Fish and Chips were nopt exactly what I was expecting as it was a full on meal. It meant I would just have sandwiches for dinner instead as I don’t want to eat too much and I can survive on sangas. I had a wander around town while I was waiting to get back on the tour bus. It did seem there were boat sinkings in the harbour as at least one boat had sunk from what I read near the jetty and there was also a cliff rescue squad. It was a nice little town regardless of its history. The plan was for us to head back from the Shipwreck Coast to the Surf Coast.

 

The roads themselves were pretty interesting as they were simple one lane roads and due to them being built where they were they had a isdsue with corrosion due to the soft rock, so there were roadworks along the way.We had to stop in Angelsea for the reason someone, noty me needed to use the loo. I went anyway. We made our way to Lorne where we headed up to a look out where it was windy and on the mountain side of the randge it looked like it was wanting to rain. Nearby we went koala hunting and had found 5 of the animals as they were easty to spot once you were looking for them.

 

By the time we left Lorne, it was starting to get late and we had to keep moving. The tour was opposite to what the bus tours did as they visited the 12 apostles last and then made their way back. I did see 9pm as the time they returned. Still it was good they way we did it as the weather had been warm in the morning. We headed towards Geelong where we would turn off before we got near Bells Beach as thats where the surfing comps are.. The last stop on our route was a chocolate factory shop where they made chocolate on site and sold it as well. I had a look around and couldn’t decide on what I  wanted and there were books too, but they were too heavy. The traffic was building up as we got closer to the city and then the driver threw out suggestions of locations to visit and I found out why I couldn’t extend my stay til Sunday. The car racing was on in the city and everything had been booked out. I was happy to be leaving the city though.

 

I will make plans for what I want to do in the morning or before bed to see what happens. I know I will have to pack before an early start on Saturday as I fly home. We got dropped off at the state theratre near Flinders Street station and I needed the loo, so I used my card to swipe myself into the station so I could use the loos and walk out again.  When there is a need you sort out that need. I thought it would be easier to walk back to the hostel as it wasn’t that far away. I did get my sandwich, but being around 7pm there wasn’t much of a selection.

 

Southern Tour Day 11 Melbourne Fingerbuns

By the numbers

11,361 steps

8.52kms

I could hear the trains in the early morning, although it was like an alarm clock waking me up anyway. The alarm clock that rumbles past and with an added ding ding of the tram. At least that stopped not long after midnight had to make it myself at the convenience store, but it was a small coffee so it didn’t matter. Once I had something to eat and drink I was off again to catch a train to Oakleigh to meet up with a Melbournite friend.

 

I was meeting up with Margie and Chris from the city as I had known them for quite a while and when I arrived in the suburb of Oakleigh, I stopped off to buy some shorts I had noticed at Lowes. I ended up buying two pairs and when trying them on walking through the store in my socks though I put my shorts back on. Same brand two different sizes as the sizing didn’t match and it was weird. Not long after I found fingerbuns at the bakery and all was well with the world. Of course I ended up with one for the road as they are Fingerbuns.I soon met up with Margie and Chris though I didn’t have any plans for the day. The good thing was that my plannless day had a turn of events that included coffee, meeting a strange woman in the male toilets washing her hands, although I was shocked I never questioned her. She was at least wearing a mask so that was something.

 

While catching up with some coffee, we decided to check out the Brighton cemetery, though one place we looked up Ripponlea turned out it would be a touch expensive, but at least the entry to the cemetery was cheap. There were some people of note to the area and while wondering who they were, I started Googling their names and turns out they were noteworthy people including the owner of newspapers, a secretary of a travellers association and a few others who had come from far and wide in society. After a little time in the cemetery we ended back on Oakleigh for coffee where we ended up having an interesting conversation with a Greek guy who was a blast from the past for Margie. He was interesting and had an interesting moustache, but being a Greek in a Greek community I had to think of the guys in the movie ‘My big fat Greek wedding’, just Windex wasn’t mentioned at this stage of the relationship, but someone with a Greek accent swearing was funny. Mind you I couldn’t quite tell if I heard him swear, but he did.

 

Not long afterwards we parted ways with me staying in Oakleigh fore a touch longer to visit the heritage precinct to see the old cemetery now park. I had to walk through the cafe area with music going full blast and you could tell the people were locals except for me as I stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn’t wander around the park for very long as I wanted to get back to the city before the peak hour kicked off and I wanted to visit a certain shop in the city. It didn’t take long to get back into the city via the city loop, and I had to drop my shorts off before jumping onto a tram for the journey to where Minotaur pop culture store was located. Its an institution in Melbourne and I always visit for interesting things. Once I had looked around, I was off back into the part of the city I was located. Along the way I found the cross walks to light up when telling people to cross or not with the usual colours just in case you were not paying attention. I have to remember DST is finished so it gets dark quicker than usual.