Surprises and challenges

Ann & Harry Grynberg greeting us in Melbourne

View of Melbourne

SuperVegan Restaurant in Italian Qtr

Koala Bear by the roadside

Otway Tree Top Walk

Twelve Apostles

The surprises began way back on the first day of our trip but have we found ourselves in the midst of of reality T.V."s "Survival" or "Race"? More below.

Between Shavuot and Sunday, we tasted the great surprise which is Melbourne, with a population which has tripled in the last 30 years to 3.4 million and amazing architecture, ultra-modern juxtaposed to grand Victorian in a glorious mix. Lunch at a superb vegan restaurant in the Italian quarter; wandering through a wetlands forest in a museum; being introduced to the meaning of Aboriginal art, amazed by the variety of Australian trees and shrubs in the beautiful Botanical Gardens, and saddened by the contents of the impressive Shrine to Australia's lost soldiers over the generations. We found ourselves at a bat mitzvah ceremony (Friday night) in one shul and a barmitzvah next morning in another (Ann and Harry Grynberg's nephew, for those of you who remeber them) and joined some of the Grynberg clan for the National Theatre's simply superb "Richard III"-modern dress, sms- texting messengers and video flash-backs to "HenryVI"!

Then came the challenges as we drove down the Great Ocean Road, reached via the Mornington Peninsula and a ferry. The scenario: Darkness falls before 5.30pm. The information office in Apollo had assured us there was a vacant room with micro-wave in an isolated motel in a forest area we needed to pass through, but this wasn't the case. The owner off-handedly directed us to the only other accomodation in the area-16 kilometres distance. (By now it was pitch black on a winding, hilly road .) This turned out to be derelict pub-"we close at8.30p.m. and re-open only at noon"-with one gruesome room to let, smelling strongly of mould. Thank goodness for Supersol's instant soup-there was a kettle.

A day or so later, we were presented with our next challenge-to consume 6 mandarins, 3 apples, a cucumber and a raw potato in 10 minutes!Why? Because suddenly road signs loomed stating that all fruit and vegetables would be quarantined before the border between Victoria and South Australia.Quickly we stopped the car, ate everything except the potato and mandarin peel, which we deposited in the quarantine bin!

Fortunately the pleasant surprises are outnumbering the unpleasant challenges. As we sit in an Adelaide internet cafe, we remember the abundance of natural surprises all the way down The Road. We were forever "oohing' and "aahing" as wonderful views flashed by, but we had to keep to our schedule. We thrilled at the Otway Tree Top walk, learning about the layers of this ancient wetland forest. The Twelve Apostles and othe rock outcrops are far more impressive than we had expected. Walking on pristine sand in the early morning is always a joy.

Thanks to all of you who have been sending emails.Replies will have to wait till we get to Maurice's cousin's in Alice Springs.