Morning broke early as there was a call for a round of tennis from Colin and another liberal soaking in the pool by Alex. Check out was at 10:00 am but before that Colin managed to beat Mom 5-4 at tennis and Allie and Dad did about 48 pencil dives, 17 throws, and several trips to the spa (whirlpool). We managed to get it all in as well as few tasty croissants, a long black for dad and a flat white for mom. And then we were off, headed for Merimbula about 4 hours away.
Linton had created an itinerary that would allow us to travel along the coast seeing as many picturesque towns and beaches that we could find. We also wanted to break the driving into bite size pieces for the kids and 4-5 hours is about their maximum before their wheels, not the car’s, fall off. Therefore our route placed us on the one and only two lane highway that travels the coast between Melbourne and Sydney - the Sydney-Melbourne Coastal Drive. It takes drivers through an area known as Gippsland that is just south of some of Australia’s ski country and the area known as Snowy River where they shot the movie of the same name. It is beautiful, feels remote, and there isn’t more than about 10 kms that are straight!
We first stopped for a 5 minute photo op overlooking Lakes Entrance. This is the place where the sea tumbles in behind the Ninety Mile Beach to form the various inland lakes where Metung is located. Then we were off to Orbost, a centre for forestry in Victoria and apparently still a place where loggers and environmentalists clash. This would also be the place where the constant movement of some very twisty roads and Alex’s fixation on his Nintendo began to clash with his inner ear. Thankfully we made it to a supermarket to load up on lunch supplies before his nausea got any worse. He was still looking green as we headed back toward the ocean in search of a beautiful view.
We found one in a place called Cape Conran Coastal Park. Apparently a mecca for scuba divers with a good reef and a few wrecks, we parked the car near a beautiful beach as the waves crashed around a spectacular point. Egg salad sandwiches and Tim Tams hit the spot, though Al was still not eating. We should have taken this as a sign…After lunch we decided to explore a boardwalk trail that wound its way around the point and had us crossing a few rocky beaches as the waves tumbled in. This was gorgeous and really felt like we were exploring the country together as a family. As we turned one corner with Colin in front we were also quickly reminded of what country we were exploring. First Colin spotted an echidna, Australia’s answer to the porcupine, foraging beside the path. Very cool and our first “big” wild life. Then, not 5 minutes later he saw a large black snake slither off the path in front of him. Yikes! That gave us all more than a little bit of a scare and forced us into beating a hasty retreat. Whether venomous or not weren’t interested in finding out.
Back at the car we loaded up and headed back to the highway eager to make up some time for our extended lunch. And speaking of lunch, it seems Alex had not really recovered from his earlier bout of motion sickness and once we were back on the twists and the turns of the Coastal Drive his stomach finally revolted. Now Australia’s roads do not have a lot of shoulder space, especially when you need to pullover immediately. So while I was looking for a car’s width of shoulder at 100km/h, Linton was leaning over the front seat trying to aid Alex with Colin looking on in horror. Once we were pulled over in the middle of nowhere we set about cleaning up. This involved, among other things, stripping Alex naked and doing a fairly thorough wiping of Al’s side of the backseat. Thankfully the upholstery was thoroughly Scotchguarded! The flies were tremendously bad and our work was hastened by their interest. Colin was a trooper throughout even managing to ask if his brother was okay which was cute in spite of the circumstances.
Back on the road we managed to get to a place called Cann River without further incident and decided to fill up with gas. From there we were headed toward a place called Eden which is famous for its history as a whaling harbor. However, before reaching Eden there were two more road related events that would make this a day we would not soon forget. First of all, Allie lost his lunch again which necessitated another high speed pullover and backseat clean up. Then, without a word of a lie, I was forced into my best Young Drivers of Canada defensive driving manouveres as a 5 foot Goanna or monitor lizard (pictured) slithered out in front of our car! Now, I once had a moose trundle out in front of my car in the middle of Algonquin Park, but he clearly knew what he was doing, travelled in my direction, and had no intention of getting hit. Next on the size metre for large animals in my way was this lizard and he had no idea. Had he kept going, he might have made it, but upon getting halfway he decided to double back and there was nothing I could do. Pumping the breaks madly I pointed toward the shoulder hoping to squeeze around him before he got too far but once I had two wheels on the limited, gravelly shoulder I realized that was not a good plan and headed back in the direction that Mr. Goanna was coming from…I hope it was painless.
With our hearts pumping wildly and in sheer disbelief for what had just happened, Linton and I could only laugh. With a snake, two pukes and a very dead lizard behind us, the road seemed to be taunting us and daring us to actually try to enjoy the trip. What else might happen, one could only imagine, but as we once again coasted through the gorgeous coastal towns of Eden and on into Merimbula, the beauty slowly began to overtake the chaos. Parked cozily in our Best Western hotel room and gnawing away on some decent takeaway Chinese food we relaxed, licked our wounds and realized that now, we were truly living an Aussie adventure.
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