Melborne

Adelaide turned out to be boring, so decided to continue on to Melbourne. The highway system gets pretty confusing in this part of the country, so we got a little lost on the way. This was lucky for us, because we had stumbled on to an amazing place that we otherwise would have missed. The area of Australia we were thrown into is famous for its caves, volcanoes and wineries. So of course we indulged in all three.





The first exciting stop was a short walk to the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean. We followed a sandy trail that led across a bird sanctuary to the ocean. Along the way we passed a large field, and as we walked by it a gignatic Emu ran out of the forest into the field. These are probably the dumbest of all birds. The emu ran full speed across the field and hid behind a tiny little tree. It waited there for a few seconds, realized that the tree was no good and sprinted again across the field in the direction it came from. It stood behind a bush, then ran off agin in another direction. This whole time Trevor and I were just casually strolling along the trail. The 6 foot tall bird kept running around like a maniac again and again with its hairy feathers flopping all around until we were both (me and trevor, not the emu) laughing out loud.




When we arrived at the beach we were startled to find that instead of sand, the whole beach was covered in seashells! Almost all of them were purple clam shells. There were also a few small conical spirls mixed in. But no frisbees.


As we continued our drive through the lush green countryside we stopped occasionally to sample some local wine. The lady who was working/living at one of the wineries had a hobby of raising kangaroo orphins. She hung them in a bag from the doorknob for nine months, then set them free into her backyard to play with the dogs. She invited us to go meet them.

The next city we arrived at was supposed to have excellent volcanoes and caves and crystal blue lakes. It turned out to be pretty hyped up, and all the caves were "closed" because it was after 5:00. Well if you know Trevor and I, you'll know that we don't really believe in closing a cave. So we waited until dark, hopped the fence and tried to find a way past the locked gate. Eventually we found a small passage behind some bushes by the main entry. Ten feet into the passage there was a small hole, barely big enough to squeeze through, and boarded up. With a few minutes of digging we were able to dig around the boards and wiggle into the hole. We wiggled deeper and deeper for about 45 minutes until finally reaching the main chamber of the cave. All in all the cave was largely unimpressive so we wiggled back, drove to a lake and spent the evening washing the dirt off of our clothes.

The next day was much better for caving. We found two more that were in a national park (not in the center of town, like the last one). There was a sign that warned that caves are very dangerous, and that they're best left to "experienced cavers". The sign had lots of suggestions on how not to be a dumb-ass. But sadly, these caves too were rather unimpressive. The best part of them was climbing into a sinkhole to gain access to the cave, not the cave itself.

We made the most of our caving, then completed the journey to Melbourne. That's where we are now. Trevor is trying to sell his car because he's leaving soon so we checked into a hostle. This will be the first time since we met up that I'll sleep in a bed, inside.

The plan is to stay in Melbourne until Trevor leaves, then head toward Sydney. I'll fly out of Sydney to my next destination, which I haven't yet decided upon.




(Big Lobster)