Our Coastal Journey to Melbourne

After good-byes to Bethany, Carol and Peter we began our coastal drive to Melbourne. Starting out we learned hotel options along the coast were going to be limited due to the long Easter holiday. But as usual, it all worked out with suggestions from a few information sites along the way.
First day we stopped in a cute, German town of Hahndorf where we enjoyed their famous schnitzel and beer. The terrain changed to sand dunes (picture 1) as we approached our last stop of the day - the small, picturesque beach town of Robe. We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast hosted by a lovely couple Ann and George Murphy who filled us in with lots of information about the area.
The next day included a couple of stops in the town of Mt. Gambier where we saw the Cave Gardens inside a huge sink hole (picture 2) and the Blue Lake (picture 3) formerly a volcanic crater now filled with crystal blue water which supplies water to the town. We finished the long driving day at another wonderful, quaint beach town of Port Fairy. We found a terrific, modern apartment off the main street where tasty gourmet eateries awaited us.
On our third road day with the sun shining bright, we stopped to enjoy a charming maritime park at Port Campbell (picture 4). As we continued, we were totally overwhelmed by the beauty of the limestone coast as it unfolded before us. Every few kilometers another lookout/walk area with another amazing view including miscellaneous chunks of limestone protruding out of the blue, sparkling waters (picture 5), the Grotto (picture 6), the Arch (picture 7), and of course the famous 11 (used to be 12) Apostles (picture 8). Other stops along the way included a large lighthouse overlooking Cape Otway (picture 9) and then we stopped to watch the wild koala bears (picture 10) in the eucalyptus trees along the highway. They were just so cute and fun to watch as they climbed, stretched and just hung out - looking at us, looking at them.
Since the crowds of the weekend were beginning to swell, hotel options were tight but we got 2 nights at the beach town of Lorne. While the ride on the Ocean coast road was spectacular- similar to Big Sur (picture 11) - unfortunately the overly expensive Comfort Inn 'deluxe room with an ocean view' was in fact not so 'deluxe' and our 'view' was the back of a bar between us and most of the beach. But since our options were none, we made the best of it. Once out of Lorne, we detoured to watch wild kangaroos (picture 12) off a golf course in beach town of Angelsea.
Finally we arrived in Melbourne. What a wonderful city! So much to see and so easy to get around. Some of the sites and activities we enjoyed included the 360-degree observation view at sunset (picture 13), the Art Center (picture 14), the GPO (old landmark postal office transformed into an upscale shopping mall) with a wonderful purse sculpture outside (picture 15), the free City Tram (picture 16), Yarra River with restaurants and retail shops (picture 17) and of course the wonderfully delicious Victoria Market (picture 18) where we enjoyed fresh produce, deli and bakery delights.
The days flew and before we knew it, we were off on our flight to Hobart, Tasmania.