RoundTheWorld

Hiking in the Grampians

Monday, June 28

Today the birds came to breakfast, and what birds! Beautiful red and blue crimson rosellas (both adult and mature), magpies of course, and one sulphur crested cockatoo. B got the corella to eat out of his hand. It was very cold this morning, but the birds didn't care. The kangaroos in the paddock in the distance were also not bothered by the cold. As we watched, several hopped up the gully and through a gap in the fence to a nearer paddock. And a couple of the kangas didn't bother with the gap -- they jumped right over the three-strand wire fence!

We head out early to get in a hike in the Grampians before we drive to Adelaide. Bill has to go to work tomorrow, poor fellow. We find the trailhead for the Pinnacles without difficulty. The way is a wide, well-maintained path, alternating with large chunks of granite. Anywhere that one might slip, there are sturdy metal rails. This surely cuts down the chances of slipping when the rock is wet.

Today is dry, clear and sunny, but cold. We head up the trail to the "Grand Canyon", then around a corner and up the rocks and steps. We pass a small falls, Bridal Veil Falls. Then on up and up to the Pinnacle , where there is a sturdy railing to keep one from falling off.  It is very windy at the top, so we don't linger. We take an alternate route down, avoiding Grand Canyon and the many hikers (including many children) whose voices we hear echoing among the rocks.


We stop at two other lookouts briefly, and then at Mackenzie Falls, where there is a resident kookaburra.  We weren't going to hike to the falls but decide we might just have time. It's a nice wide fall, and the path is totally paved. There are, however, lots of steps. We get warm on the way back up.

 Our trip back to Adelaide is long; it is after 6 before we arrive at Kay and Bill's. It is dark and raining off and on. We meet the cat, MacCavity, who has been staying with another family while we were gone. He's re-establishing his territory as I type these words -- he talks a lot.

Today's pictures start here.

Ballarat

Sunday, June 27

We spend most of our time on this clear and cold day in Ballarat, visiting the Gold Museum and Sovereign Hill. The museum opens at 9:30, so we go there first. The displays begin with an exhibit on the Kelley Gang, outlaws who roamed the state of Victoria in its early years. Then we get to the gold, and there are some H-U-G-E nuggets on display. We find out later that most of the believeably large one in the main area are real (fancy, and no security guards in sight) but the humongous ones at the entry are  replicas.

The museum is fascinating. One section displays large and exceptionally clear photos of the town of Ballarat as backdrop to an explanation of the history of the town. Another section deals with life on the land, following one sheep station through multiple owners, complete with interesting artifacts like the log books and notebooks kept by the various owners. Prints and illustrations by contemporary artists depict life on the gold fields. Another section deals with coinage, including the difficulty of keeping currency and coins in the Australia colony in its early days.

Unfortunately photographs are not allowed in the museum. I follow the rules, although the busload of Asian tourists who run through the displays, snapping photos of each other, don't seem to understand. Oh, well.

Then we head across the parking lot to Sovereign Hill, a reconstruction of a gold mining town like old Ballarat. This is a lot like Williamsburg or Sturbridge Village. The streets are packed mud, and a team of horses pulls a coach up and down the streets. A duo of musicians plays on a bench outside one of the buildings, a wood fire in an iron barrel keeping them warm. There are bakeries and restaurants and stores of all kinds. There are also some interesting displays.

We wander through the "battery", the stamp mill. One set of stamps is working, powered by a steam engine; belts and wheels and pulleys transfer the motion half across the large building to power the stamps. We decide to watch a gold pouring demonstration, but fill in time until it starts by visiting the lolly shop. Turns out this is fun -- there is a gent here making boiled sweets, cranking long rectangles of tacky flavored candy through what looks like a pasta machine. We get to taste the lemon drops; yum.

We head back across the street and watch the gold pouring. The most amazing thing is how quickly the gold ingot cools when it is immersed in water. It's always impressive, of course, to see $100K worth of gold held in one hand. Then it's back across the street to the lolly shop, where we watch the construction of humbugs from beginning to end.

Next we choose to visit the wheelwright to see how wagon wheels are made. But we have a bit of time, so we head downstreet to a bakery and pick up hot pasties for lunch. These we consume as we make our way uphill to the wheelwright's barn. Here we are treated to a demonstration of the latest (circa 1880) machines that are used to make the parts of the wheel, reducing the cost of same to such a degree that transport by beast and wagon becomes practical for almost everyone. And the machines? They come from America. At the end of the demonstration, the sun comes out behind us, and we are standing near one of the big wood fires in a barrel. Warm at last. It feels wonderful.

Then it's down the hill again, to watch the redcoat soldiers march to the central square, where a proclamation is read. The soldiers fire their muskets in sequence -- 6 shots. Loud. The soldiers spoil the illusion just a bit -- they remove their earplugs after firing. What's the proclamation? Don't know -- couldn't get close enough to hear.

We decide to treat ourselves to a coffee before we head off. There is lots more to see here, but we need to get a good start today on our journey back to Adelaide. Kay and Bill have scones with jam and cream; wow, it looks good. But B and I are good, sort of -- we share a cookie.

From Ballarat we drive west and a bit north on back roads. We're going to make a stop at Sally's Paddock winery, which Kay and Bill visited years ago when they lived in Melbourne. We do find it, and very much enjoy tasting their wines, although the winery building is really cold. And the Sally's Paddock cabernet sauvignon lives up to everyone's memories. It is still very good wine.

Now it's on west to Hall's Gap in the Grampions. We arrive here after dark, but manage to find a motel and a place to eat dinner after we enjoy our now-customary bottle of pre-dinner bubbly wine. Tomorrow we will get just a taste of the Grampions, making a brief foray on one trail before heading back to Adelaide.

Today's pictures start here. Kay has a new modem, and it's very fast. So .. you now have pictures with this post!

Apollo Bay to Ballarat

Saturday, June 26

It rains in the night. It rains in the morning. It rains while we hike. But that's OK. We get to enjoy the beachfront view from our room for a few minutes before we set out on our way.

We drive from Apollo Bay down the coast, then inland, to find the trailhead to Sabine Falls, billed as the tallest falls in the Otway National Park. We turn this way and that, and drive through areas where timber is being harvested. We pass the picnic area with the trailhead, and have to backtrack. The trail leads from this picnic area down, steep in places, to a  viewing platform. The first half of the hike is benign, although we squelch in the mud from time to time. The second half really isn't bad either; the trail fairy has been at work putting 2x4's across the path and building up shallow steps. We take our time and reach the platform after only 40 minutes.

The lower part of the falls is visible and running fast. The upper part of the falls is obscured by the trees. We linger a while, trying to get a good picture or two, then start up. The return trip takes little longer than the trip down, but the rain begins again. We get really wet. I have my fleece tied around my waist; the part that hangs out under my rain jacket gets wet. The rain jacket does its job, but it's going to be hard to get it dry. My jeans are soaked at the bottom, and wet in the front from mid-thigh down. Oh, well, it was a good walk.

We head down the road and back to the Great Ocean Highway for a short while. Then we turn inland once again, and head for Ballarat. We are distracted by a winery sign: Gosling Cellars, cellar door open. We decide to visit, and it is a fortuitous decision. Not only do we score a bottle of sparkling Shiraz ffor tonight's pre-dinner treat, we are also invited to dry out in front of a nice, warm space heater, and to have out picnic lunch at a table in the winery building. Such a blessing. I stand in front of the floor heater, my jeans steaming, as I dry out. I was sure I'd end up hypothermic.

Our hostess is a very nice lady. She grows the grapes and evidently runs the tasting room; hubby is the winemaker. They raise cattle; that's their money crop. They have only a few vines. She speaks of the winery as "spending the kids' inheritance". She leaves us in the winery building to picnic, tells us where to find a bathroom, and even invites us to help ourselves from the open bottles on the counter. We don't, of course, but are awed at her trust.

Then it is on to Ballarat, through on and off rain. We stop at the Eureka Stockade at Bakery Hill, where in the 1850's, during the Gold Rush here, a group of miners faced the army in a dispute that started over the fees for mining, but expanded to to larger issues; the right to vote, the right to representation to name but two. It is Australia's only armed insurrection, and it obviously looms large in their history. An information site and a small cafe share a building with an exhibit dedicated to the miners and the incident, on the original site.

We close the place up at 5 p.m., and go in search of lodging. We don't have to go far, and find spacious rooms at a Best Western near the downtown area. Later on we walk out to find dinner, trying a chain steak house that used to be good but now serves gigantic portions American style. We end up in an Indian restaurant and enjoy our dinners very much.

Today's pictures, not too many, start here.

Port Campbell to Apollo Bay, Great Ocean Road

Friday, June 25

It's a drizzly day, and the forecast is for worse. But the rain holds off long enough for us to have a spectacular morning, and even the afternoon isn't too bad. B feeds the magpies some cereal; there are a couple here that is used to being fed by the motel owners. B only has cereal, but they don't object; the male will take food from one's hand.

 We start the day with a stop at Loch Ard Gorge. We stopped here briefly yesterday. There were several bus-loads of tourists, so we gave it a quick look and moved on. Today we virtually have the place to ourselves.The Gorge is named after a clipper ship, the Loch Ard, that was wrecked here in 1878. The accounts of the ship's attempts to escape the cliffs are chilliing. Only four bodies were recovered. In these days of GPS and side-steering jets, the chance that ships should run aground in these waters is remote.

The scenery is wild and magnificent. The ground cover here, large bushes of several varieties as well as clumps of grasses, is well established, and grows to heights of 4 feet and more. The sandstone cliffs, eroded over many years by wind, wave, and rain, are spectacular. We walk to the headland, to the cemetery; to view Muttonbird Island, where short-tailed shearwaters, the cousins of the shearwaters that nest on Griffiths Island, nest here in the summer. These amazing birds migrate on a circular path from Down Under to the Kamchatka Peninsula and Alaska. We spend a couple of hours roaming the paths and enjoying the views.

Next we head for the Otway Fly, a treetop walk for which we bought tickets yesterday. The walk leads through a cold climate rainforest, past nicely done displays of small-scale dinosaurs that children would surely like. We come to the treetop walk, one of three all-metal such walks constructed in Australia. The walk leads us gradually upward; soon we are 15 meters off the ground.

We don't see a whole lot of wildlife; all seem to be sleeping on this cold, wet day. It is exhilirating to be up above the trees. Perhaps the only native we see is a carnivorous snail, that eats worms and smaller critters. He's all stretched out on the path, and moving only slowly.

We finish our walk still dry, and fetch our picnic things to the outside tables of what must be a fantastically busy cafe in the summertime. We enjoy our lunch, then move inside to have cafe latte all around before we head east. Just as we finish eating, the rain begins in earnest, bucketing down while we sip our hot drinks before the gas fire. The rain relents as we head for the car.

We head toward Apollo Bay, thinking to stop and hike. The weather continues wet and wild. We drive a bit beyond the town, to Mariner's Lookout. A ten-minute walk brings us to a spectacular view over the town; this is evidently also a site where hang-gliders launch. I can believe it.

We head back to town and stop at the local information site. From there we head for the tasting room of a local winery, the Apostle Bay winery. Turns out the wines are not necessarily local, but they're palatable. We buy a bottle of bubbly for pre-dinner drinks. Then we go in search of a motel, and book into a Golden Chain site, with views over the ocean. That is, there will be views in the morning when the sun comes up. Now it's dark!

Settled, we enjoy our bubbly, and set out the few blocks into town. We end up at a cafe which is, fortuitously, run by foodies. We enjoy the fruits of their labors; my leek, potato and celeriac soup is excellent.

Today's pictures start here. I am pleased; there are a few good shots today.        

Port Campbell, Cape Otway and the Great Ocean Road

Thursday, June 24 

Today we linger a bit over breakfast. We're staying 2 nights at Port Campbell, so there's no need to pack and load the car. We start out at a reasonably early hour, down the Great Ocean Road, bound for Cape Otway and the lighthouse, some 85 kilometers away. Our first stop on the way, however, is at the Twelve Apostles. Here men and machines are working on the plantings in the large parking lots, plucking bunches of grasses out by the roots with a digger, and loading them into a dump truck. We are rerouted around the work to a parking area, and proceed past the closed visitor center and under the highway to the viewing areas.

We have arrived with the best of the morning light. We see only two other couples while we are here. It is bitterly cold, but beautiful. We sample several different points of view before we return to the parking lot, where we have to exit the wrong way to avoid the workmen. It all works out.

The drive to Cape Otway is mostly inland, to our surprise. One expects the Great Ocean Road to hug the shore. Not so. We drive through farm country, and then over a winding section that takes us up and over a ridge. Then through more farm country, mostly cattle, but a few sheep here and there. We turn right on the road to Cape Otway.

It seems a long way to the Cape, but the drive is worth it. And partway in, there is a huge surprise -- koalas. First we sight one, then two. Kay and Bill are much better at spotting the round, sleek silhouettes of the koalas than B or I. Before we are done, we have seen 8 or more koalas on a very short stretch of road. As we get back into the car and start down the road again, Kay spots a koala actually descending a tree. There are four Asian tourists clustered at the bottom of the tree, having their pictures taken. I scurry around them, trying to get a picture of the animal at the bottom.

The koala crosses the road in a four-legged lope, and chooses another gum tree to climb. He climbs up in short order, using those powerful claws. A first rush takes him out of reach of any human. Then he goes a bit higher to a comfortable fork. There he proceeds to vocalize in a grunting/croaking call, and is answered by others in the surrounding trees. We spot a couple that we might not have seen otherwise as they answer him.

Bemused by the plenitude of koalas, we continue our journey. We pay the entry fee to the park and enjoy our visit immensely. The first stop is the former Telegraph Station, where the first undersea cable connecting the mainland to Van Diemens Land or Tasmania was laid in 1859. There are photographs and information here; one interesting detail is that the last lighthouse keeper lived here in the 1960's, and the family had 10 children. They successfully petitioned the state to reopen the primary school. 

Then it's on past to the lighthouse keeper's cottage, a later addition to the site, and to the lighthouse itself. We climb the steps to the top; round and round, and then up a ladder. We spend a considerable amount of time on the outside deck, looking for whales. It is actually quite warm here, and almost windless, a real surprise; but still no whales. The docent spotted two earlier this morning.
 
Inside, we talk to the docent. He gives us some of the history of the light, and as a special treat turns on the rotation system for the giant Fresnel lens. It rotates smoothly, with very little noise. The idea of so many pound of mercury suspended above our heads to float the lens, however, is eerie.

Down the ladder we go, and then down and down the circular staircase. We visit the new GPS light that replaced the light in the tower in 1994, a sad contrast to its ancestor. In the cafe cum gallery, we watch a movie put together by the light's supporters on the occasion of its 150th anniversary in 1998. The tales of shipwrecks, both preceeding placement of the light and those thereafter, are horrifying.

We wander our way back to the car park, where we enjoy a tailgate picnic. There is no picnic table, but the view is terrific and the food tastes wonderful in the fresh air. Then we head back toward Port Campbell.

We take a side trip to the G.O.R.G.E. chocolate shop (Great Ocean Road Gourmet Experience). The owner is not in residence, but his folks, down from the Territories, are watching the shop for him. We taste and buy most unusual combinations of licorice and dark chocolate, plus a couple of caramels for tomorrow's lunch. Our hostess allows as how stocks are getting low; when sonny gets home he'll have to cook (chocle?) madly for a few days.

Then we find the Apostle Whey Cheese factory. These folks have a herd of 250 milk cows, Fresians and now some Guernseys for added cream. Some of their milk goes into the cheese; the rest they sell to the Warrnambool cheese and butter factory.

We have a cheese tasting, this one not at all rushed. The specialty here is soft cheeses; brie and camembert styles, plus a havarti style and a nice blue. They are very good. We come away with a couple of cheeses for our picnics, and Kay and Bill buy cheese to take home to Adelaide. As we taste, we watch the "moo-ternity" herd heading uphill to the milking barn, moving apparently of their own volition.

The light is fading, so it's time to head back to some of the places we skipped yesterday, west of Port Campbell. We drive through town and on to The Arches. Here we encounter three tour buses full of people. Such a sharp contrast to the rest of our day. The arch rock formation is  impressive. We see only a small part  of all there is to see here; we will come back tomorrow.

So it is on to the London Bridge overlook. Here we see the remains of the formation. Its link with the "mainland" collapsed some 20+ years ago, leaving 2 people stranded on the brand new island. They were rescued by helicopter. It just illustrates how fragile the cliffs here are. Luckily, this was in January and not in June! Just as the apostles have eroded from 12 formations to the current 8, the cliffs all along the shore are eroding. Soon there will be new "apostles".

Now it's back to Port Campbell. Kay and Bill visit the local market to buy juice. We have a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc to share, and some chutney and chocolate caramels for tomorrow's lunch. After our pre-prandial snack, we walk down to town where we have a good dinner. I have calamari with a rocket salad, and it is excellent. B has lamb tagine. Kay and Bill share a humongous seafood platter. We all enjoy the "local" pinot.

The USA won their game against Algeria with a Landon Donovan goal in stoppage time. We're first in the bracket and advance to the Round of 16. Hurrah. We play Ghana on Saturday. Bafana Bafana won their game against France, but still won't advance; South Africa should, however, be proud. 

Today's pictures start here.

Port Fairy and Warrnambool

Wednesday, June 23

We start our day in Portland by driving to the Lion's Club Fauna Park to see the white kangaroos. As we approach the fence the emus and the chickens (yes, chickens) come running. People must feed them! The white kangas were a bit more elusive, but we did eventually see them. According to the lady at the information site in town, these are specially bred and they have blue eyes; they are not albinos. They are rather startling to the eye -- really, really white. Attempting to take pictures through the fence was challenging; a male emu had much rather we pay attention to him. He pecked at the cameras and grunted at us, pacing us inside the fence.

Down the road at Port Fairy (the town used to be called Belfast and there's still evidence of the name) we stop at the information center. There are lots of historic buildings in town, and another day it would be interesting to buy the guide and take a walk through town. Instead we opt for a walk on Griffiths Island. This is a really pretty walk, past drifts of paperwhites and stately Norfolk Island Pines once planted by the lighthouse keeper. There are wallabies here, but they are quite shy. The sea shows a beautiful blue as it breaks over the reefs.

Our next stop is Tower Hill preserve, between Port Fairy and Warnambool. The setting is spectacular; one drives right down into an old volcano crater; over the lip and down in past the weathered rock. It's a big cr ater; some parkland, a large wetlands area (although it's rather dry just now), and distant grasslands where the emus graze. Here we have a choice of walks, and choose one that traverses the wetlands on a boardwalk. Here we see wallabies again, this time not quite so shy, and one copperhead snake. Fortunately the snake is in a bush and not on the boardwalk. We hear lots of birds, but at this season, with the wetlands reeds all withered and brown, we don't see many. There are, of course, the ubiquitous magpies.

Lunch is another great picnic, this time in the deserted picnic area near the car park. We visited the bakery in Portland before we left this morning, so we have a fresh roll each as well as two passion fruit and white chocolate scones to accompany our cheese, sausage, and apples.

After lunch it is on to Warrnambool, where we decide to take a pass on a reconstructed historic fishing village. We drive out to the breakwater, a prominent feature of the town's harbor ... and exceedingly ugly. Nonetheless, we take a walk to the end and back, looking for whales. According to the visitor's center, two were sighted earlier today. These should be, likely, Southern right whales at this time of year. We meet a local out walking his dogs, who tells us that the whale nursery at Logan's Beach on the other side of the bay is a more likely spot. We try that, too, but still no whales.

As consolation, we go in search of the Warnnambool cheese and butter factory. Here there is a museum and a "cheese cellar" and a restaurant. The factory wins awards for its cheddar; they have what's called "vintage" as well as aged. We get a cheese tasting (3 plain cheddars and 5-6 with added flavors -- pepper, garlic and herb, etc.). It is late in the day and the lady administering the tasting is in a hurry, so we gulp our chunks of cheddar rather than savor. An exhibit shows how  the flavors are added; regular cheddar is finely shredded and tossed with the extra ingredients, packed into molds; pressure and heat are applied to form the flavored cheese. We  all agree that the garlic and herb is the most pleasing of the flavored cheese.

On our way to Port Campbell we pass quite a few interesting view points. We can't resist a couple of quick stops, the first at Bay of Islands, where the declining sun gilds the many small rocky islands battered by surf. Tomorrow we will have to come back this way and investigate some of the others. It is spectacular coastline.

At Port Campbell we find very congenial lodgings. As has become our custom, we meet for a pre-dinner glass of wine, then head down the road to inspect the opportunities for fine dining. We follow the locals to Room 6, where the portions are of heroic size. Oh, dear. I will have pumpkin and leek ravioli for breakfast!

After a post-dinner stroll down to the harbor (are there really boat tours of the Twelve Apostles?) we retire for the night. Tonight I sleep, finally. And in the morning, not only am I refreshed, but the USA has won their bracket and will advance to the round of 16. Hurrah!

Today's pictures start here.

The Sea, Kangaroos, Wallabies, and One Fur Seal

Tuesday, June 22

We started our day with a visit to the largest sinkhole in Mt. Gambier, converted long ago to a garden, and a visit to the famed Blue Lake. The garden in the sinkhole is impressive even in the midst of winter. Established and maintained through long years by volunteers, the garden and the park that surrounds the sinkhole are maintained by the city. We walked the well-maintained steps and paths to the bottom of the sinkhole, and peered into the depths. Nothing much there.

Back in the city itself, we visit the smaller sinkhole that is right in the middle of town. Not such an elaborate garden, but this one still shows water under the overhanging cliffs. "I wonder where that goes," Kay muses. I shudder. And we visit the famous Blue Lake, a lake in a volcanic crater much like Crater Lake in Oregon (although some smaller). This lake is the town's water source, and pumping causes the water to be completely replaced in about 10 years. Evidently its name is justified in summer, when the lake is truly blue. In this winter time it is a dull gray green. No one is quite sure what causes the color to change.

Now it's on to Portland, and the true start of the Great Ocean Road (actually we're not quite sure from our maps just where it does "really" start). As yesterday, we drive through farm country; sheep, beef cattle, dairy cattle, all grazing in luscious green fields. It rained a bit last week, I gather, and the fields have greened up quickly.

We spend a great deal of our day on Cape Bridgewater. We decide to hike out on the Cape to the seal colony, a non-breeding colony of some 600 Australian fur seals. The path takes us first to a boat dock (no tours today, all locked  up) and then along the cliff top. The large windmills of the government wind energy project loom on the horizon.

We hike out to the colony, and see exactly, from a great distance, 1 seal. The seals live in great caves worn into the rock below the cliffs where we hike.
We walk out to the tip of the Cape, and look back at the caves. No seals. Perhaps they are all out fishing? We do see a small group of kangaroos close beside the path, and a couple of wallabies near the point.

 Kay has packed a picnic for us: crackers, cheese, apples, and sausage with us. We backtrack to the place where we first saw the kangaroos beside the path, and spread our picnic on the bench. The wind, which we thought we had left nearer the cape, has followed, but we enjoy lunch nonetheless. The sky is overcast, and we would guess it later in the day than it really is.


Now it is nearly 2 p.m. We drive to the blowholes parking area, and walk the few yards to the blowholes coast. There are quite a few here, carved into the overhanging cliffs. Even though we are not here at high tide, the display is impressive. It must be noisy when the tide is high. We take the path to the "petrified forest". It really does look like a forest, although these formations are like tufa in reverse, forming from the surface down into the soil;  acidic water pools around the base of a plant, and then sinks into the limestone, forming 3-4 meter tubes. Wind and water wear away the surrounding soil, leaving the tubes exposed. They do resemble tree trunks.

Now we drive around Bridgewater Bay, to Cape Nelson and the lighthouse. This is a lonely location, as most lighthouses are. The cafe in an old stone building near the light is closed on Tuesdays, worse luck; we could have used a nice latte.

We arrive in Portland, our stated destination for the day, in the dusk. We try several motels before we find rooms; it is surprisingly busy in this small town. A little rest, a bottle of sparkling wine shared amongst us, and a short walk to a restaurant close the day. I have salmon on a bed of rosti potatoes and grilled vegetables with asian sauce. It is quite tasty.

Zach has reached California at last; he texts me on arrival, sometime in our afternoon. What a nighmare journey he has had. I'm trying to stay up to watch a bit of the soccer, but may be finally acclimating successfully to local time. We're in Victoria now, not South Australia, so time has jumped ahead a half hour. In LA it is 6:21 a.m.; here in Portland it is 11:21 p.m. Must be time for bed.

Today's pictures start here.

Mt. Gambier, South Australia

Monday, June 22

We're going to drive the Great Ocean Road in New South Wales with Kay and Bill. This morning we packed our gear (not all of it, but enough) in the back of their SUV and headed east. It will take us a day to get to the start of this lovely coast drive. In the end, we don't get as far as we had planned, but we had fun along the way. We drive east from Adelaide, through a fine morning. There is fog in the valleys. I am jet-lagged and doze most of the way.

We make a stop at Padthaway Estate. Kay and Bill stopped here some years ago and there was no one on the grounds; they walked around the historic house, even looked in the windows. Today we find the tasting room open and a sign advising us to lift the receiver on the phone to speak to someone. So we do.

And so we have perhaps the most unusual wine tasting any of us has experienced. Our host and the owner, Craig, lines up 12 bottles on the bar. A sign on the front of the bar requests that we not touch the tasting bottles. We listen and sip as Craig introduces each wine, notes on taste and aromas interspersed with is philosophy of wine making. 5 sparkling wines, 3 whites, a rose, and three reds. All of the wines finish dry, and are designed to accompany food. Our host clearly enjoys cooking -- he suggests dishes that we might serve with the various wines. And he seems very concerned that we keep our glasses sorted; wouldn't do for B to drink from my glass.

It is a polished performance. We wonder how long it has taken him to perfect his presentation. He tells us he has owned the winery for 7 years. Today we can't see the house, as there is a big government meeting there. He tells us the menu they have selected -- uninspired fillet steak and chocolate pudding. It is very cold in the old stone tasting room, and by the time we finish more than an hour has passed and our feet feel like ice cubes. My nose is also cold, but the rest of me feels just fine. We buy a couple of bottles of bubbly, one a sparkling shiraz that is surprising in the extreme (finished with port), to have as we wind our way along the Great Ocean Road.

We continue east through Coonawara, one of South Australia's great wine regions. We stop for the night at Mt. Gambier, short of our planned destination of Portland, arriving in the dusk on this shortest day of the year here in the southern hemisphere. We get a glimpse of the famous Blue Lake, and will go back in the morning when the light is better.

South Africa to Australia

Saturday, June 19

We take our time getting up, and have a leisurely morning. I have time to show Jyoti a little bit about Picasa, as I promised earlier. We leave for the airport at 1, taking leave of our host family, who have been so good to us.

At the Joburg airport, we learn that Z's flight is delayed by 3-1/2 hours -- aircraft is here but waiting for a pilot. He only has 4 hours layover in Dubai. And he's at the airport early. We get everyone's bags checked and head for the shawarma stand. A elects to get a Subway sandwich instead -- none in Japan unless you go to the base.

We leave first for Perth. Our flight is uneventful, and about 8 hours long. We have a long bus ride from the international terminal there to the domestic terminal, where we catch our flight for Adelaide, some 2-1/2 hours more  in the air. Kay and Bill pick us up at the airport.

Z misses his connection in Dubai. They rebook him on a 2 a.m. flight (he arrived in Dubai at 5 a.m.) and put him in a hotel. And of course he has to rearrange his flight from New York and his airport pickup, and let his boss know he's going to be a day late. An international travel nightmare.

Adieu, Cape Town

Friday, June 18

Today we get a leisurely start. B and I walk up to town to reclaim our laundry, and buy a bottle of tabasco sauce as a parting gift for Johan. Back at the Cape Town Palms, as our guest house is styled, the boys are up and ready for breakfast. It's such a nice day that we walk down the the restaurants by the golf club again.

The golf club, restaurants, and quite a few upscale homes are on Woodbridge Island. One crosses the bridge from the main highway.  Table Mountain is clear in the distance. The housing community is gated, so no walking there. But we stroll by the cafe, Bang, and their menu appeals. I have eggs benedict (ok), Z has a french toast with bacon and mozzarella sandwich topped with smoked salmon and hollandaise, B has a bacon tomato sandwich on ciabatta, and A orders a pizza margherita. We sit outside at a picnic table, on thick pads fastened to the benches. It is a pleasant brunch.

Now we are relaxing. Johan will be here at 2:30 to take us to the airport for our 5 p.m. flight. I take a picture of the coffee table here in the living room. The large oval table has beneath it six small tables, quarter-circles and squares, that one can pull out and use to hold a drink or a cup beside one's seat. What a clever arrangement.  The carving on the table appears to be Asian, not African.

Cape Town has been much easier to get around in than Joburg. Staying in Milnerton hasn't been bad either, as taxis are cheap and plentiful. Sharing a house, however, has its drawbacks. We have maintained a very small footprint, confined mostly to our rooms. The rest of the house shows the disorder attendant on five guys who don't much care for housekeeping. The cleaning lady comes only twice a week, so between times things get a bit seedy looking.

Typing the title for today's post makes me think. No one has tried to teach me words in any of the native languages. We don't even really know what "Ayoba", the South African rallying cry for the World Cup that the actors shout in all the TV ads, means.  I reflect that this is probably because there are so many languages to choose from. Surely there is some common polyglot language or pidgin? Hmmm.

We are back in Johannesburg in plenty of time to watch the England battle Algeria to a 0-0 draw in the 8 p.m. game, and a replay of the US-Slovakia game (2-2 draw, but we were robbed). Next Wednesday will be interesting.