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09/17/15 - Melbourne, City of Photographers (and Graffiti Artists) There were two things we noticed a lot of in Melbourne. First, there were a lot of weddings. This might have something to do with our hotel being across the street from the big cathedral and our stay covering a weekend. Still, there were a lot of people either getting married, watching someone else getting married or taking pictures of people getting married and watching people getting married.That leads to the second thing. There were a lot of people taking pictures of other people. Once again, maybe it was the weekend, but it wasn't just cell phones and selfie sticks. There was a lot of serious photographic gear out there as well. It might be that Melbourne, like New York City or Venice, is one of those photogenic cities where you can just point your camera any which way and photograph something interesting. That brings us to Hosier Lane, one of the many alleys in Melbourne's Central Business District, which doubles as an open air street art gallery and studio. Needless to say, all of this street art attracted spectators and, of course, photographers. Needless to say, we were among them. |
 Combining the two most popular activities in Melbourne, getting married and taking pictures - here in the middle of a major street |
 More mid-street photography, but with no apparent wedding |
 Hosier Lane photography |
 More photographers amidst the street art |
 The folks on the left were a group of street artists taking a break. |
 More street art |
 This looks like a video game screenshot. |
 Not all street art likes to be photographed. |
 Hosier Lane, another reason to visit Melbourne and bringing a camera |
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| The Great Ocean Road was built back in 1932. It runs along the coast southwest of Melbourne, and the stretch running from Lorne to Apollo Bay is both the most challenging and most beautiful. In many ways it resembles the Pacific Coast Highway in California. It is a twisty road hugging the rocky mountainside with spectacular views of the coast. Along the way there are overlooks to stop at and marvel and beaches to explore. There are also a number of inland walks, most following streams that have worn canyons into the mountains. |
 One of the beaches, chosen more or less at random |
 Another view |
 Eroded rocks and tide pools |
 More old rocks |
 One of the tide pools |
 Another tide pool |
 Green rocks |
 A typical view along the Great Ocean Road |
 Through our windshield |
| From Apollo Bay we headed towards Lorne and stopped to explore Cumberland and She Oak Falls. Cumberland Falls was just a short walk from the parking area. She Oak Falls was a longer walk, and we could have continued a fair ways past the falls if we had been a bit more energetic. |
 On our way to Cumberland Falls |
 The water |
 Old rocks and water |
 One of the many birds |
 Another bird |
 On our way to She Oak Falls, a view of the Great Ocean Road |
 Heading up and inland |
 She Oak Falls |
 More waterfalls |
 The trail |
 Another view of the falls |
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Our next stop was Mait's Rest, a magical place right off the Great Ocean Road in the Otways. Almost immediately we descended into a fantastic forest of tall beeches, flowering eucalyptus, cycads and ferns. It was dazzling, gem-like, and overwhelming. It was so true to our imaginings of what a rain forest should be like that there was an air of unreality.
The great trees, beeches and flowering eucalyptus, were too tall for us to see in their entirety. The latter are the tallest flowering plant in the world, The cycads provided a lower ceiling with their oversized fronds and fan-like appearance. Below were the ferns, the fungi and a host of other rain forest competitors. It was a short walk, but wonderful. |
 The trail descending |
 A nurse log, not common in Australia |
 Cycads above |
 More cycads |
 Even more cycads |
 One of the tall trees |
 A bit of a tall tree, larger than it looks here |
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09/13/15 - Great Ocean Road - The Otways Heading east from Port Fairy we stopped briefly at the Bay of Islands, but this time we skipped the more famous sites. We zipped by the Twelve Apostles amusement park, the London Bridge and the like. Our first real stop was one of the places we had missed on our last trip. We were looking for Moonlight Cemetery Road and nearly missed it. Unsealed, it led towards the coast. We took a short walk to the overlook for the views.Down below us, the sea washed the broad flat rocks, covering them and then lowering to let them drain in a lacy pattern of foam and water. It was mesmerizing. Pulling ourselves away, we walked along the Great Ocean Trail a bit. Our first stop here was the cinnamon fungus shoe washing station where we scrubbed the dirt from our shoes and then washed them in soapy water. We stepped on the metal plate as described and our feet sank below and were surrounded by soap bubbles. We were glad to do our bit for pest control. When not washing our feet, we enjoyed the scenery, the birds and the spring flowers. They aren't as flamboyant as in Virginia, but spring is months away in Virginia, and who can say no to the many orchids and, for us at least, exotic plants of southern Australia. |
 The Bay of Islands |
 Some birds |
 Some orchids |
 The scenery |
 More scenery |
 A lacy rock below |
 More of the view |
 A bit of the Great Ocean Trail |
 More spring flowers |
| We made it in to Port Fairy towards evening, so we took a walk down the sea. We followed the river where the boats are all moored and then the causeway in the fading light. We wound out up Merrijig Inn, which is simply one of the best restaurants in Australia. |
 Calm water |
 A sea bird in repose |
 Rocks and water |
 Silhouette |
 Sunset light |
 More sunset light |
 Cloudy sky |
 A view up the river |
 One of the many quaint houses |
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The road from Dunkeld to Port Fairy is part of the Volcano Trail. It runs between two volcanic sites, Mount Napier and Mount Eccles, and it passes over the great lava tubes running between those two sites. We stopped at the Byaduk Caves, part of Mount Napier Park, and took a look at the caves which are the collapsed openings of those lava tubes. The scenery was green and pastoral, with rolling hills, but those hills concealed hollow underground passages. It was magical in some ways. The park people had used the volcanic rocks littering the countryside to line the trails in the park. This made the park trails look like something from a fairy tale.
We returned to our rental car and had a panicky moment. The car started fine, but we couldn't move the automatic transmission from park. It was time to RTFM - read the manual. A brief perusal did not solve our problem, but it did mention that there was some kind of interlock between the automatic transmission and the brakes. That was our clue. One could not leave the park setting if the brake pedal wasn't depressed. Our next stop was Mount Eccles and Surprise Lake. We were just too exhausted to walk around the lake, but we did clamber up to an overlook, and on the way down spotted a koala in a tree. |
 Volcanic rocks in a pasture |
 Volcanic rocks arranged into magical passages |
 Entry into the underworld |
 Another way of getting into the bowels of the earth |
 Satan's hideaway |
 Lake Surprise |
 A Koala near Lake Surprise |
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09/10/15 - Climbing in the Southern Grampians With all our wandering in the Northern Grampians, we were rather exhausted when we finally made it to the Southern Grampians, so we decided to climb the gentlest hill near to our hotel, The Royal Mail, in Dunkeld. If nothing else, we had to work off our eight course tasting dinner and experiment in molecular gastronomy. We chose the unfortunately named Picaninny, roughly a 400' climb. Perhaps it is a tribute to molecular gastronomy, but we were surprised at how quickly we climbed and how energetic we felt back at the car. This called for a new challenge.We briefly considered climbing Mount Abrupt which loomed large in the area, but only briefly. Instead, we attacked Mount Sturgeon, perhaps an 800-900' climb. Once again we climbed past grass trees and through forest and when the trail opened up we had magnificent views of the area. Our original plan was to climb until we were exhausted, but we made it to the top and a fabulous overlook. |
 Grass trees on the Picaninny |
 An old grass tree, damaged by fire |
 One of the views of the plains below |
 Mount Abrupt - maybe next time |
 A rock wallaby |
 Blue flowers which we aren't even going to pretend that we are going to look up somewhere. |
 The view from Mount Sturgeon |
 Another view under the changing sky |
 A spider |
 Carnivorous sundews |
 The forest |
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09/09/15 - The Balconies - A Mystic Journey Our last stop in the Northern Grampians was at The Balconies, a spot famous for its magnificent views. The day was cloudy and the views limited by mist and rain. We checked out the view from the parking lot. It was good enough, so we followed the trail.The forest was shrouded with fog, but the rock formations and spring flowers kept us going. It wasn't a long trail, so we were soon at the main lookout. The view wasn't much better than the view from the parking lot, but it was still a magnificent sweep. |
 The parking lot view |
 A misty journey |
 Rock formations |
 Our mystic trail |
 Rock ledges at the main overlook |
 It was a northern wattle bird, we think |
 Possibly northern wattle fungus? |
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We continued to explore the Northern Grampians, heading off to see MacKenzie Falls. We had no idea what to expect. We hiked a bit through an exotic forest, found a small waterfall, and were reasonably impressed. Then we walked down the stairway. The staff was installing handrails, so we had a brief wait, but the falls were magnificent. There was a wonderful profusion of water falling down the aged cliff face.
We got lost on the way back, so we wound up getting another view of the falls from the far side. Even better, there were parrots posing in the bushes by the trailside. |
 Exotic forest |
 Exotic plains |
 MacKenzie Falls |
 More waterfalls |
 One of the parrots |
 Rock formations |
 MacKenzie Falls from across the way |
 A cockatoo |
 Even more falls |
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09/08/15 - The Grampians - Tales of the North Our first trail in the Northern Grampians started right in town. We walked from our cottage into the hills, and were soon walking through Australian forest - gum trees and wattles - with wonderful outcrops of old gray sedimentary rock. We followed Stony Creek and were soon at the Venus Baths, one of the most popular sights in the area, but we were stymied trying to climb over a bare rock face a ways on.We turned around and attacked Mount Cherub, taking a trail we had seen as a turnoff on our way to the pools. We were soon climbing and had wonderful views of the area. Later, we drove a short way into the park and took another trail along Stony Creek to a small waterfall known as Turret Falls. |
 Old gray stones |
 Venus Baths |
 Wet rock above the baths |
 The wonders of erosion |
 More erosion and a vista |
 All sedimentary rock here |
 Wattles in bloom - It's spring! |
 Wattles and eroded rock |
 Turret Falls |
 Another vista |
 Almost an ancient temple |
| We rented a lovely modern cottage with housekeeping facilities in Halls Gap, which is sort of the Port Angeles of the Northern Grampians, but much smaller. Here, surrounded by kangaroos, we settled in, weathered the storm, and made the most of the our limited kitchen facilities and the limited gourmet shopping in town. |
 The view from our window |
 The view from outside |
 During the storm |
 Our kitchen |
 Our smoked salmon scramble with peppers (capsicums) and onions |
 Kangaroos ... |
 … and more kangaroos |
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09/07/15 - Our Melbourne Mission We Kalebergs travel on our stomachs, so when we realized that Kookabura Restaurant would be closed on both of our evenings in Halls Gap, we panicked. As best we could tell, we would be leaving the food mecca of Melbourne for a food desert hard by the mist shrouded Grampians. We needed provisions, and Melbourne was just the place to forage for them.The first thing we did was round up an esky. That's what Australians call their cool packs for storing food. We found a Woolworth's in the heart of town and purchased a collapsable 20 liter unit, complete with its own cooling pack. Now we had to fill it. Our first stop was the Spring Street Grocery on, of all streets, Spring Street, not far from our hotel. We loaded up on cheeses, some triple cremes, some hard cheeses and so on. We needed to be prepared. Our fromagier sent us off to Phillipa's bakery to buy several loaves of bread: sourdough, rye, a baguette and the like. Those were our iron rations, but Kalebergs can't live on bread and cheese, we needed more. This meant exploring Smith Street, a colorful street full of little shops, mostly selling food and drink, but also offering vinyl records, computer repair, paint supplies and the other necessities of life. It was a lot like Clement Street in San Francisco before the most recent real estate boom. We quickly homed in on Alimentari where we picked up a supply of salamis and several prepared salads. All we needed now was coffee. We had some we had brought with us, but we still needed filters and a funnel. The barista at Alimentari understood what we needed and sent us off the main street to Proud Mary's coffee shop. Proud Mary sold coffee, but not coffee making gear. She sent us on to Aunty Peg's. Here they sold coffee making gear. They even had a lab bench with filters, presses, steamers and large coffee bean colliders for experimental purposes. We bought a Japanese coffee funnel and a pack of filters. We were all set for Halls Gap. |
 The cheeses of Spring Street |
 Smith Street, a colorful neighborhood |
 We bought some wine at Blackhearts and Sparrows |
 An interesting building |
 Alimentari |
 Aunty Peg's Laboratory |
 Woolworth's hollow above, but active down under |
 A bit of cheesecake and some anti-lawyer sentiment |
 Another hollow building |
 More colors at an artists' paint shop |
 Street scene |
| On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at a viewing area for a last look at Kata Tjuta. We could see Uluru in the distance. Each formation has its attractions, but, for us, The Valley of the Winds was the high point of our visit. |
 A hollow tree |
 A butterfly |
 More domes in the distance |
 From even farther |
 A far shot of Uluru |
| We passed through a high canyon, up and down and through a hidden bowl. We descended beyond to the desert floor, surrounded by mysterious rock formations. They were haunted by shadows as the sun moved through the sky. |
 Another rock formation |
 Tufted desert |
 Mysterious caves |
 Through a high passage |
 From the desert floor |
 A dome in shadow |
 More domes in the distance |
 The same domes, different light |
 A strange dry forest |
 Lichens and signs of water |
 In bloom |
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09/04/15 - Kata Tjuta - The Unsung Hero - Part 1 Everyone knows about Uluru. It's an Australian icon, a huge rock formation in the middle of the central desert, but in many ways it is boring. There, we've said it. It's a big round rock. Granted, it has a lot of history, cultural significance, and some interesting nooks and crannies to explore, but the real hero of the central desert is another rock formation, a more complex and interesting one, Kata Tjuta.They're both made of the same stone, but Kata Tjuta has eroded into not one dome, but into thirty six domes, separated by canyons and flat lands. Uluru fascinates at a distance, but Kata Tjuta draws one close and inside. It invites one to explore. We did a circuit of The Valley of the Winds, a passage between the rock formations and across the flat lands. It is higher than Uluru and has a bit more moisture, but it still presents the true desert experience. Kata Tjuta is truly the unsung hero of the region. |
 A dashboard shot of the Kata Tjuta |
 Rock formations |
 The forested floor, drier than it looks |
 A passage |
 Aggregate rock |
 Another passage |
 Twisted trees |
 Rock walls |
 An invitation to explore |
 More domes ... |
 … and more domes |
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09/03/15 - Uluru - Place of Water Like many mountain Uluru makes its own weather. Around its base is a place of water. Water collects when it rains, and it stays as open water or in the soil, even during severe droughts. If you know where to look, one can always find water around Uluru.We, of course, had signs and trails to follow, so we had no trouble finding water. We wandered around the rock, then into a canyon between two folds in the rock. Here we found water, fresh water from the recent rain, but the vegetation was green. This was a place of water. |
 Walking around Uluru |
 More of our walk |
 More amazing rock forms |
 A place of green? |
 Petroglyphs |
 A place of water |
 More water |
 The rock walls |
 Even more water |
 Blue sky and red rock |
 Lichens on the rock as a sign of water |
| From the distance Uluru is monolithic, but up close it presents many facets. There are caves and canyons and folds. There are even petrogylphs carved in the stone. The area around Uluru itself is surprisingly moist, a perpetual source of water and a place to gather. |
 Up close |
 Fresh water |
 Mountain forms |
 From up close |
 Shapes and forms |
 Vegetation and collapse |
 Caves and crevasses |
 Petroglyphs |
 More writing in stone |
 Green approaches the rock |
 Water tracks |
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Uluru, once known as Ayer's Rock, is a magnificent red stone formation in the heart of Australia's outback desert. We arrived during a light rain, so we saw the iconic rock covered with waterfalls and were welcomed with a bit of a rainbow.
Uluru itself is red sandstone, ancient and folded, shaped and smoothed by time. The land it around is flat and dry and made of the same sandstone, reduced to soil, as the rock. The plants are scrub and hearty and need little water. In many ways, the land appears much as we once imagined Mars, before the landers and explorers, and it is still a land of our imagination. |
 A view from the distance with the rain clouds passing to the left |
 A bit of a rainbow |
 The sunset |
 Another view in changing light |
 A flower growing in the Martian regolith |
 Another view, another sky |
 Uluru waterfalls |
 The dark areas are flowing water |
 Another view with flowing water |
 More flowing water |
 Vanishing rain sky |
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