November 8
Rutherglen to Melbourne
Very little sleep. It was hot outside and I felt queasy - either too much food last night or too much food for the last ten days. On the dot of 8 am, I bade farewell to the lady at reception and returned along the long, straight and quiet roads towards Melbourne. The weather forecast was horrific and violent storms were already being reported across the state.
After 40 minutes, I reached Glenrowan, a small place, who's only claim to fame is that Ned Kelly's last stand was here.
There was the usual range of museums etc but most of the tourist operations seemed to be on the market. The town has definitely seen better days, probably when Kelly was around.
A small cafe provided a wildly unhealthy breakfast, probably the answer to last night's woes, and I sat and ate it whilst watching the wind increase steadily outside.
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The drizzle started as I drove back towards the Freeway. It turned to rain but nothing worse. By the time I had reached Euroa, just over an hour later, it was dry again. The town was bigger than I expected and had an adult education centre which advertised internet access. The nice lady let me collect some emails and didn't charge me anything.
As I neared Melbourne, the weather improved considerably and there was even a slight glimpse of sunshine. The temperature outside the car was starting to rise.
I navigated my way onto the Airport Freeway and then through the roadworks into the airport, itself. I even managed to find the petrol station without any untoward excitements.
After that, however, there was a slight hiccough. I was already feeling tense and my palms were sweating. I selected the wrong one of five lanes and ended up in upper floors of the airport multi-storey car park. The only way out again was to pay the $3 parking fee. On the next lap of the circuit, I found the right lane, entered the Hertz part of the car park and handed over the car. A nice young man gave me a receipt from a clever machine and assured me that I could depart without any more formalities.
The airport bus was on the other side of the road so I bought a ticket, queued for a few minutes and was then whisked quickly into the city. The hotel is a five minute walk up the hill, which I managed reasonably well in spite of the weight in my bag. The receptionist welcomed me and I was soon ensconced in a posh room on the 10th floor.
I immediately left, decided that Spencer St was the same as ever, and meandered through some of the back lanes, passing the catering college and lots of lunch type places before finding a bar on William St, which sold expensive but cold beer. Almost opposite, I spotted a very grandiose building, with several large Royal crests on display.
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This turned out to be the old Mint, now converted into the Hellenic Museum. It was a charming place, featuring an impressive collection of model boats including galleys, triremes, Viking longboats and galleons. There was also a small room dedicated to the history of the Greek immigrants to Australia, with lots of wonderful photos and lots of "wonderful" English in the captions.
From there, I wandered fairly aimlessly through the legal quarter - lots of people in wigs and gowns who I didn't dare photograph lest they did me for contempt - and down Queen St. I looked for places in which to have dinner but didn't feel particularly enthusiastic about any of them.
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I eventually collapsed in a cafe on Collins St for a coffee and a biscuit before walking back to the hotel.
With last night's lack of sleep, starting to take its toll, I decided to put my feet up for a couple of hours.
I fell fast asleep, then awoke and decided that I had better set off for another meal - as I had only eaten a biscuit since 9.30. Next door to the Hellenic Museum I had spotted a restaurant which looked OK. I walked the couple of blocks slowly and found it to be more of a wine bar.
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The outside area would have been nice but it had already been commandeered by lots of smokers so I perched on a high chair inside, ordered a Fat Yak and then some food. Not knowing how large the portions would be, I might have ended up with far too much. Time will tell.
There wasn't quite as much salad with the grilled haloumi as I had hoped - it was meant to be a healthy option. The cheese was brilliant. It tasted great and held its shape just as haloumi should. I managed to discover that it was Australian. None of the New Zealand versions that I have tried have been remotely as good.
The Stony Peak Chardonnay, from somewhere in Victoria, was the cheapest wine on the list but was very drinkable. The prawns were excellent and salved my conscience a little by having both olives and water melon as an accompaniment.
I should have said earlier that the road outside was partially closed and the noise got louder and louder as more and more men and machines arrived to conduct their nocturnal construction activities. The sun had appeared with a vengeance and was blasting through the window over my shoulder.
The clientele contained a very large percentage of "suits" of both sexes. Probably not surprising given the bar's proximity to the legal offices. It must be a favoured after-work watering hole.
The belly pork was also good and included lots of salad and a garden pea puree. All in all, it was a very good meal.
I walked back to the hotel again & collapsed in bed.