Melbourne to Adelaide

About 70 degrees, windy and cloudy, quite a drastic change from yesterday!

Zipped back up from Phillip Island, around Melbourne on the highway, and headed west toward Adelaide.Most of our day was spent on the first half of the Great Ocean Road, a stupendously gorgeous route cut into the mountains hugging the southern shoreline. There are mile after mile of sandy beaches, deep turquoise water (Bass Strait), and white surf. We dawdled along, stopping at Bells Beach, where surfing championships are held; Split Point lighthouse; a cafe in the little town of Lorne; and on to Apollo Bay for the night. We've been staying in hostels the last three nights and they've been very nice.

Some things that I've found interesting:
Aussies appear to comply with rules that make things go smoothly - people pay close attention to the speed limit; stop at red lights without trying to beat them; cross streets using crossing lights; queue up to get a cab in busy places - the cabs also take their places in a queue to get customers and it's illegal for cabbies to approach potential passengers around airports.

Toll highways - if you're a local, you get something similar to our Easy Pass (or whatever it's called these days).  If you don't have a pass, you pay at the Post Office.  Your car license plate number is picked up by a camera when you get on the road.  You then have 72 hours to go to a Post Office, where they look up your registration number (called your "rego"), tell you how much you owe, and collect your money.(Expensive tolls!) No wonder car rental companies fine people for unpaid tolls!  It's not something you'd figure out without someone giving you explicit instructions.

A lot of visitors' centers are staffed by volunteers.  One visitors' center along a major road included a fresh fruit market.  Great idea!