We visited Blue Lake. The name given was not in vain as it has the most glorious blue color. We learned that it stays that way for all but a couple months a year and changes for no known reason! We continued on and past a sign for the Portland Bay Lavender Farm and Lynn very willingly pulled in so I could investigate. Well!!!!! It was a dream. We walked in and initially weren't sure if it was open but I could hear voices so I looked around. The shop was like a storybook. A young gal came in and then told me that the owner would be down in a minute as she was just finishing with a luncheon upstairs. The owner, Dawn Baudinette, came in and met us. We exchanged details of our love of lavender and she was thrilled to hear we were from America and that Sequim, WA was a lavender growing area. To make this even more exciting, here we were, we had traveled around the globe to find one lavender farm, totally by accident and this lady is the past president of the Australia Lavender Growers! Before we knew it, there were ladies everywhere and we were among them.

The next thing I knew I was looking at a wombat!!! Dawn had one as a pet. I sat myself on the floor there in the shop and started playing with her .."Kahlua". She weighed 52 pounds, was about the stature of a pot-bellied pig, and was furry and so sweet.

We began our trip toward the Great Ocean Road passing through many little towns. The cities and even tiny little towns of Australia take a back seat to none for beauty, cleanliness and charm. There is not a dead leaf, let alone a tiny piece of litter anywhere. Towns compete for the Tidy Town Award and Lynn and I agree that we would not want to be a judge. Yards are perfectly manicured and flowers are so perfect that they could pass for artificial.

We got to the Ocean Road and it's a wonder our eyes didn't fall out. The scenery was massive cliffs, fabulous rock formations, crashing waves, green, green pastures, acres and acres of sheep and cattle, birds of every hue, parrots, magpies, gulls and finches. We saw more tree varieties today than I knew existed. Ferns that were 6 ft. tall and evergreens and multitudes of gum trees.

That evening we pulled into Apollo Bay. We had dinner at the Crawfish Bistro. Lynn had kangaroo again and I had ½ crawfish. In Australia it's crawfish, in America lobster ... the Granddaddy ... it was huge and I ate every bite. We still are continuing our quest to find the best Aussie beer.

We traveled just a short distance toward to Geelong after making several photo stops along the coastline. It was impossible to take in all sites as there was something spectacular in all directions and the scene changed around each road's bend. On one side there were green hills with some knock out gorgeous foliage, rolling hills with sheep and cattle or homes built with views only thought of in dreams. On the other side were azure blue waters with crashing waves, sandy white beaches and cliffs with rock formations of every size and description. We made a stop at the Aires Inlet Lighthouse and took in the birds' eye view. It was, we were told, unseasonably warm and were able to confirm that when told that it was 40C or 105F. Yikes ~ too warm for folks from Washington State.

Geelong is a fairly large town along the coastline and we took a tour of the Wool Museum. This is a must for anyone interested in the history of the area. It is well presented and well worth the $7.00 admission. It takes a visitor through the raising of sheep, the various breeds, the workers and shearing, the processing of wool into yarn and dying, displays of both old and new machines and even has a carpet loom.

At Ballarat, we visited Sovereign Hill. This is a historical theme park centered on gold mining in this area. It consists of streets that depict the era from 10 years after the discovery of gold in 1851 and when Australia came to life. Shops are run in the period setting, brass works, iron, candle and soap making, confectionery, and even a coffin builder. We toured the gold mine, watched the pouring of gold, stamping coins, talked to the time period characters and had a wonderful time. The day we visited, we shared with several groups of school children - all in uniforms and hats to protect them from the sun's rays. We thrilled with the manner and poise exhibited by such young people.

Our travels took us on to Melbourne where we visited a long time dear friend, Gwen Haslar. She is the past editor of Caravan World and an avid travel writer. Needless to say, she had the pointers on "must-sees" in Melbourne as well as stories of days past and cultural history. We spent several days with Gwen as she escorted us through Melbourne and the Dandenongs.

Although this is a metropolitan city and diverse in cultural, athletic and shopping and rich in history it was the outlying areas that grasped our interest. Less than an hours' drive from Melbourne is the beautiful forests and the sites of the Dandenong Range. This is one of the major tourist areas in Victoria. Probably the major attraction is the bushlands with tall forests and interesting fern areas that create spectacular scenery. The area provides a wide variety of vegetation types in a sub-temperate rainforest. The birds and animals are a plus.

At Phillip Island, we visited the home of the Penguin Parade; we visited the fairy penguins at the seal rock and had the most wonderful Tasmanian Salmon lunch...even better than the stuff from home.