My drive from Sydney to Melbourne was sunny and relatively fast as I was on a four lane highway the entire way, one of the best roads in AU according to one person I spoke to. The colored countryside of light green-brownish grass's reminded me of the western states in the US.
One of the first things I saw while driving on the major highway feeding Melbourne on my way to the Motel was these unseen to these eyes rectangular steel structures on each side angling over the highway. On one side was a very large single bright yellow structure and on the other side was an alined row of ~twelve smaller red structures. This was my first indication that the architecture here in Melbourne was anything but sedate. As I investigated the city later I came across very interestingly designed modern buildings, with non rectilinear shapes, visible structural space frames, different material combinations, etc. that really drew my attention. I had not seen this type of bold architecture anywhere in the states, though I'm sure with the proper civic attitude it exists somewhere. It seems here it's seen as a source of civic pride for Melbourneans as an attractive feature of the city. The added cost for public works projects must be a source of debate as some I spoke to wondered whether it was really worth the added cost. I'll admit though, it really made the city an interesting place to visit for me. The city itself has a European city like feel and layout so there are lots of older 19th century built buildings. It also still has trolley cars,(called trams here) that still run everyday as part of the public transport system. The older buildings standing side by side with the very modern ones is very stimulating visually. The Melbourne Botanic Gardens are also very beautiful, though I did not walk thru all of the Gardens. While in town, I decide to see an afternoon of the UCI World Track Cycling Championships at the Hisense Arena. I'm not into track racing but I figured what the heck, I had never seen this type of bike racing before, so why not see it. I was entertained by some very serous athletes who would average nearly 70 kmh(~43 mph)around a 250 meter banked track. They also have a sprint race where two opponents play a cat and mouse like game sometimes over 1-2 laps before they all out sprint to the finish line.
On my first full day in town, I book a tour of the Great Ocean Road trip on a smaller 21 passenger bus. I'm really glad I decided to do the tour because if I had drove my rental van I would have stopped many more times than the tour bus did and since the road was quite narrow and twisty in sections I would not have been able to enjoy the views at all while driving. I also would have arrived back at the motel hours later than when I did. We drove to Geelong, west of Melbourne and the start of the trip. The next day, the World Surfing Championships were being held at Bells Beach in the town of Torquay which we briefly stopped in for a break. It was obvious that a lot of people were in town for this annual surfing event which, of course, is huge in AU. We traveled to we came to the Twelve Apostles, a group of sandstone and harder rock spires running along the coast. The coast in this area is very steep banked, sometimes sheer cliffs similar to the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland (though not as high). The Twelve Apostles (only seven actually left due to the constant pounding by the ocean waves, but who's counting) provide a lovely scenic contrast to the very blue Southern Ocean and blue sky. The other natural stone formation we visit is London Bridge, which at one time looked like the Cornish-Windsor Bridge (W/O the roof) until one side crashed into the ocean. You'll recognize it in the pictures.
Unfortunately, my travels in Australia must come to an end for now. My tentative plans to visit Tasmania and Ayers Rock near Alice Springs, Northern Territory will need to be postponed to some future date. I've been told one could spend a few weeks in Tasmania alone and the scenery is like parts of New Zealand where I'll be going to next.
I've had a really great time here in Australia and the people are really friendly. It's a place with many natural and scenic wonders and one I won't forget anytime soon.
