Brisbane - Bendigo - Melbourne - Sydney - Brisbane

Here's the play-by-play from our Christmas trip

Day 1 – Brisbane to Dubbo

We spotted 17 dead kangaroos on the way to Dubbo, as well as two enormous dead warthogs, or so we thought. Since our return, everyone we have told this to has replied, "Ah, yeah. That'll be wild boars." The highway was no more than one lane in each direction for most of the way, and Saturday seemed to be the day for wide-load transportation.

We ended up behind a gigantic mining truck bed being driven by a trailer escorted by two cars and a police car. Many of the trucks coming toward us had a cabin where the driver sat enclosed on a sofa. Toowomba is Australia's tidiest town, and Coonabarabran is the home of astronomy. We drove on either side of the Great Dividing Range, the hills a constant in the backrground.

We stopped for lunch in Moree, an aboriginal town with nothing much but a hotel, a few shops and very decent burgers.

The country opened up – wide blue skies and green pastures. Every now and then, a skeleton of a tree broke appeared on the horizon. Cacti the size of full-grown beech trees appeared on the roadside, a few of them wearing bright pink flowers.

The Quality Inn Dubbo International was appalling – bugs at night, a filthy pool and verandah, worn-out furniture, and a bathroom from the 70s. Cobwebs covering all of the outdoor furniture, dirty wine glasses, and the manager's daughter who helped herself to the breakfast sausages and ate them on the way out of the restaurant without a plate. We will be getting vouchers for a free stay in another Quality Inn. Take-away from the Thai Rose Garden was excellent, but would have been more enjoyable had we been able to eat at the table on the verandah.

Here's the bathroom standard at 220 bucks a night!! And, no, the Choice Hotel chain did not give us a voucher but did admit that the standard in Australia differs from Europe and the US. No kidding.

DAY 2 – WESTERN PLAINS ZOO

We got up for breakfast in time to beat the last replenishment of the breakfast bar at 9, or so we thought. There was no one left in the dining room, and no more food was coming out of the kitchen. The cold buffet consisted of one sorry croissant. I asked if they would be bringing more out, and the woman apologized and said no, they closed at 9.30. I looked at her incredulously and said, yes, it says you refill at 9, so we made it here before that. She said she was sorry, but there were no more pastries. So I went back to the table and mumbled a bit more about the Quality Inn Dubbo. We were a bit skeptical to the Dubbo Zoo after the disappointment of the Quality Inn, but the zoo was wonderful. The animals all had plenty of space, and we had a great walk around seeing elephants, a Sumatran tiger, lots of Australian wildlife and then toward the end of the trip the most enormous turtles any of us had ever seen. The park is unpretentious, the rangers know exactly what they are doing, and the animals seem to be treated with dignity. We jumped in on the ranger's talk about the hippopotomus, and I looked at my watch and thought it was strange as that was not supposed to start for another hour. I checked the program. Ah. Daylight savings time in New South Wales.

That explained breakfast. We were actually an hour late and had arrived 10 minutes before closing, 20 minutes after the scheduled last replenishment. Woops.

We had dinner at the BBQ Barn: beef and pork ribs, and Erik had a steak on top of his ribs. He finished it off with a marshmallow pavlova. We spent the night worried about bugs landing on top of or under the sheets, but got up in time for breakfast and headed off to Bendigo.

DAY 3 – DUBBO TO BENDIGO

The Newell Highway stretched out before us – two long, straight lanes in the rain. We passed plenty of one-horse towns, signs urging is to revive and survive, as well as signs for the Big Strawberry and Australia's Largest Playable Guitar. These were some of the poorer places we had seen in Australia, and it is difficult to imagine life in this part of the country. We took a detour to visit The Dish in Parkes. It has featured in a movie with Sam Niell and is run by the Australian equivalent of NASA. It is HUGE, and there is a nice little visitor's centre stuffed with nerd paraphernalia. We got a mug that says, "I need my space" for a certain member of the family. To which another certain member of the family commented, "That just works on so many levels for him."

Stopped at the Outback Cafe for a pizza piled high with ham, pepperoni and cheese. Had to drive back to the rest stop to use the toilet. Then continued into what was really the town, and onward through nothingness, then Shepparton and on to Huntly where we met Jenny and Terry.

The kangaroos were already in the paddock waiting to great us. Nice welcome.

We had a nice chat with Jenny and Terry and then went to bed. We slept better than we had in months, with the window open and the cool Bendigo air.

DAY 4 – BENDIGO

We had a wonderful day in Bendigo, a very charming city famous for its gold. The Deborah Gold Mine was a definite highlight, with stories of gold being smuggled out in shoe heels, teeth gaps, bicycle handles and in the same style as coke is smuggled today.

Jenny toured us around all of Bendigo's famous buildings, and we walked up to the top of the poppethead to see a beautiful view of the city and surrounds.

Lunch at the historic Shamrock Hotel, a beautiful building. Lovely evening with a pre-Christmas dinner made by Jenny, timed with a gorgeous sunset, and a fluttering of birds, and then another great night of sleep.

DAY 5 – ECHUCA

Jenny's neighbor knocked on the front door this morning, and led Jenny out to the back gate. He was having a water tank brought in, but the delivery man was having trouble getting it up his driveway. So, the trees got a trim and two hours later the tank had been delivered.

On the border between Victoria and New South Wales, on the Murray River, lies the port town of Echuca. It looks like it has come right out of the pages of a Western, with paddle steamers, book stores, pubs, fudge shops, and the wonderful Beechworth Bakery where we had traditional meat pies and a taste of the Bee sting, the Australian version of Fastelavns boller.

Back to Jenny's where she had an album with a photo of my Grandad. It is like trying to grasp sand slipping through my fingers. There was a woman in the photo, and I was not sure if it was my grandmother or my aunt. She was beautiful. I think there was also a picture of my mum when she was about three. I think I've seen this picture before, my mum with a goat.

After dinner, we went out stargazing. The stars in the south matched the clarity of the stars we see from Soegne or Hovden, but the constellations are different. The sky seems to go on forever, and the wide open spaces seem to be the true Australia.

DAY 6 – Bendigo to Melbourne

It was sad to leave Jenny and Terry, and I forgot to get a photo of them outside of their home. We saw so much and learned so much just by talking to them. It's amazing to have family on the opposite side of the world.

The drive to Melbourne went quickly and the Rydges was a fantastic hotel, a converted hospital with a great view of the city. There were separate bedrooms divided by a bathroom in the center of the room. We crisscrossed the city, seeing Chinatown, eating lunch in the city centre, and then heading down to the Docklands and the Victoria Market.

The market was unfortunately closed, so we walked back to South Bank, had a snack and took a cab back to the hotel. We were pretty tired, but we needed some food and water so Reidar and I walked to the nearest grocery store, a Safeway about 15 minutes away. When we were there deciding how much we could carry we realize that we could have just driven the car. We're so into the habit of not owning one, it hadn't even occurred to us to take the car that distance. We'd been walking around Melbourne for 6 hours. We agreed not to tell the kids we had walked.

DAY 7 - MELBOURNE

The next day, we made bacon and eggs and then headed back into Melbourne to the Queen Victoria Markets that had been closed the day before.

We took the train, which cost the same as the tram but took about 25 minutes. The market was big, but not yet crowded, and there was a good variety of clothes, leather and food on offer. After the market, we walked back to Federation Square and had a very light lunch. The girls headed out to visit my mom's cousin Peter's wife, Rosalie. By coincidence, we were staying just 10 minutes down the road from her. We had wonderful conversation and a fantastic Indian take-away. It was great to see her, and I am so happy that we made the trip out to visit her. The boys also had Indian, so we had a little competition about who scored the best meal, and we all think we won.

DAY 8 – CHRISTMAS EVE - THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

Christmas Eve started out overcast in Melbourne. We stocked up at Safeway in case we were to run into store closures. We had decided to open one present at every stop along the Great Ocean Road. We seemed to be gradually driving into better weather. We stopped in Torquay for tapas and a stroll down to the beach, and then again in Lorne, a lovely seaside village where it was completely impossible to book even a day's accommodation over the Christmas holiday. We wound along the Great Ocean Road and through the Otways until we came to the scenic overlook at Laver's Hill where we took a few photos. Comparisons to the Coastal Road in California are inevitable, as are comparisons with the road to Bergen and on to Trondheim, but I think this is just a different kind of majestic. Many of the signposted rivers were dry. Eventually, we wound around to Gibson's steps, where we saw the first of the twelve apostles and wrote GOD JUL in the sand.

The weather was clear and the light beginning to be quite beautiful. The Twelve Apostles was the next stop, and the light and weather couldn't have been better. At this stop, our daughter presented us with her “zine” which she had worked very hard on at school. She had also given us a beautiful painting before we left Brisbane. The next stop was Loch Ard Gorge, which is perhaps even more amazing than the Twelve Apostles, but words don't do it justice. Nor do pictures. The kids were amazed, and I was so happy to see that they were so taken with the sight. It was getting late now, so we needed to head to Warrnambool to avoid kangaroos on the road at dusk. We caught views of the Bay of Martyrs and London Bridge from the road, but had to push through to Port Campbell where we had dinner (we had been postponing and postponing and were basically starving now, having just had eggs for breakfast). When we arrived in Warrnambool, we had missed reception hours, but found the key in a drop box. It was a nice suite with a loft, a little warm, but very cozy for Christmas Eve. We called the relatives in Norway, who were really happy and surprised to hear from us from so far away.

CHRISTMAS DAY IN WARRNAMBOOL

We had a late start, but left ourselves plenty of time to get to the restaurant we had booked for Christmas dinner. Warrnambool is laid-out very nicely, with parks leading on to one another, plenty of room for casual cricket matches and a variety of playground apparatus, including a maze and a rip cord. The parks run along the beach, which has rough surf, but a sheltered bike path that you can walk along, breathing in the salt air and feeling the sand blow across your face. There were two people out kiting on the surf, and lots of family gatherings in the parks to play cricket. It was strange to think that it was Christmas. It felt like the fourth of July, particularly that fourth of July that I spent at the beach.

The dinner was delicious, but it had its little quirks. The waitress had trouble seating us, they served seafood but no water bowls, and there was no offer of a wine list. They seem to often be missing the last polish here.

First course oysters and shrimp

Antipasto plate

Roast meat and veg

Quite possibly world's best Christmas pud.

We went back to the hotel to rest, and then took a nice long walk along the beach and into town and back before making a little snack for dinner. It was the strangest Christmas we have ever had. It didn't really feel like Christmas, but it was nice, and we will remember it for a long time.

BOXING DAY – WARRNAMBOOL TO GEELONG

We drove the inland route from Warrnambool to Geelong, just making a short stop at the Otway Winery for a light lunch. We picked up some wine, beer and cordial, but there wasn't so much to see on the way and we were very disappointed by the hotel in Geelong. The bright point was that we had changed our original booking from 6 days to 2. Geelong was not as charming as I had remembered it. It seemed quite artificial, but fun and laid-back enough.
At this point, we really just needed a break, so it was a bit sad that our hotel was as dull and basic as it was. The really annoying part about it was that reception could not find my reservation, so I was made to feel very lucky that they had a room that I could get for just 60 bucks more than what I had already had confirmed. So, Choice Hotels is not looking very good.

We had a walk along the esplanade and found a nice Indian restaurant for dinner. When we returned, we were welcomed to Marg's birthday. The restaurant had been booked out. Coincidentally, there was another Indian restaurant across the street and we had a delicious meal there, which may have saved the whole experience of Geelong. We decided that we were glad we hadn't moved there. Brisbane had been looking better and better, all things considered.

27^th DEC – GEELONG

We had breakfast on the waterfront, and the girls did some shopping while the boys read their books. I also walked out to explore Pakingham and the West, but none of it was too exciting. Mexican for dinner and then some TV-watching. Noisy neighbours not ideal for the sleep situation before another long driving day, but not much to be done about that either.

28^th DEC – LAKES ENTRANCE

Beautiful scenery between Geelong and Lakes Entrance – rolling hills similar to the German countryside, but much less housing. The cattle look healthy and glossy. Signs to wineries are frequent. We were horrified to find that the hotel I had booked was EconoLodge, an even lower standard than Comfort Inns, for even more money. There was no indication that the Absolute Lakes Entrance Motel was a part of the EconoLodge chain. The room was not so bad, but the walls were just concrete blocks that had been painted, and we had to ask for fly spray on arrival. Still much nicer than the Quality Inn, but then again it was quite a bit more expensive. Lakes Entrance is like the Australian version of Blackpool. Not a decent restaurant in site, so we bought a couple of steaks for the BBQ. It was a production getting that lit manually by reception. It was all looking a bit dire, and then the sky started turning pink.

The sunset was quick, but amazing. I am so happy that I went out to witness it. I am shocked that the hotel owners have not improved the facilities and made it worthy of the goldmine of a location. The prices of hotels here are so out of proportion to the quality that I don't know where to begin other than with emails to Choice hotels.

29th DEC - Narooma

Narooma was a beautiful place. Here, we would stay at our cheapest hotel yet, with a pre-paid voucher from Agora, and so became quite frightened when we couldn't find it along the highway. We drove back and forth a couple of times, and finally spotted a very faded sign for the motel. We were staying off-sight, in our own little apartment just down the road. It was perfect for us - three bedrooms, a living room, dining area, kitchen, bathroom and laundry. We got there early enough to have a nice long walk around, to the beautiful beach and along the golf course.

Then we bought groceries and made the Hard Rock salad that I shamelessly copy, chilled in front of the TV and slept before the long drive to Sydney.

30th DEC - SYDNEY!

The Sydney Opera House is worth all the hype. It is a tremendous building. So kind of the Danish man Jorn Utzon to plant it there. The city itself is also stunning. The Marriott at New Year's Eve is the most expensive place we have ever stayed by a long shot, but the rooftop pool with view did not disappoint, and the location on Hyde Park was perfect. The first day, we walked up to Circular Quay for a glimpse of the Opera House, had lunch at a pub in The Rocks, took a dip in the pool and just relaxed.

New Year's Eve in Sydney

The day started out rainy and overcast and I was beginning to wonder why I had spent so much money on a weather-dependent event. We walked up to Darling Harbour, took the ferry over to Circular Quay, with great views of the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and all of the people camping out for a good view of the fireworks. The weather started to clear. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner (shocking how old all of the clientele is - oh, wait. They're the same age as me) and then walked toward Barangaroo where I had bought tickets for fireworks viewing. Bought, yes. Brought with us to Sydney, no. They were unfortunately left on the desk in Brisbane, and as we walked toward the gate we realized trying to argue our way in to a fully booked venue without tickets was futile. Everyone but me seemed relieved to be walking away from the crowd toward the rooftop swimming pool.

We stocked up on champagne and snacks and headed up to watch the family fireworks at 9, not knowing what kind of a view we would actually have. It started well with some skywriting, and when the fireworks started we could actually see two of the barges. No Harbour Bridge view, but no Harbour Bridge crowds either. We decided the venue was good enough for midnight as well. 

Strange to not be freezing while waiting for fireworks. It does take a lot of the agony out of it! And cool to be on the starting edge of the fireworks around the world. New Year's Eve came to Norway while I was having my champagne and strawberry breakfast (yes, free champagne at the breakfast buffet - what was I to do?). The fireworks were a tad more professional than Soegne or Hovden, but each have their charm. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience I will never forget.

1 JAN 2012

We had booked a tour of the Opera House, and walked through the Botanical Gardens to get to there. The Gardens are beautiful, with lots of wide open spaces for lounging around, fantastic trees and plenty of wildlife (notably, again, bats!). We picked up the tickets and then walked along the harbour to Mrs. Macquarie's Point. This would have been the ideal place to view the fireworks, for sure.

It was beautiful the next day as well. The tour was excellent. We got the full story of the creation of the Opera House, from the selection of the design to the challenges of building it, the drama, the cost, etc. etc. It's an amazing story of the realization of a vision: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House

We finished off our stay at the Sydney Tower Eye revolving restaurant. The view was clear and beautiful, and I decided that Sydney was even better than Bergen. Favorite city in the world. With a view like that, expectations for the buffet were not very high, but the food was great. A wonderful start to the New Year. 

2 JAN 

Another long drive. Sydney is now my official favorite city, but realistically speaking, I wouldn't want to live there. It took us 50 minutes to get out of the city through the traffic, so the commute would kill me. I don't reckon I could afford to live in the city center. Then, we hit beach traffic the whole way to Port Macquarie, so all we had time to do there was eat and sleep. 

3 JAN

We tried to start off early to beat the beach traffic, but the sat nav had overheated the day before and would not start. With just my Google maps to go on, we drove for 20 minutes when I realized we were heading in the wrong direction, then turned and drove another 10 until I realized it was really the right direction. Then we ended up on the wonderfully scenic (ready twisty and turny) Oxley Highway, which wove us through beautiful terrain at the speed of 40 km per hour with no gas stations for about 2 hours. We just made it to a town in time to fill up. We made good time the rest of the way, but my husband will seriously consider engaging in the planning of driving routes for future trips. Or take the train.

It was great to be back in Brisbane. When we opened the door to our apartment, it felt like coming home.