Day 2: Melbourne to Wallace

Thanks for coming back for day #2. I really do appreciate it considering that day #1 was little more than sitting on a Jetstar flight and watching a movie.

Day #2 and here we are in Victoria!

We started the day at Barb’s house in Coburg with our final destination for the day being Wallace – about 100km (or 1 hour by MG) west of Melbourne. West of Melbourne – remember that …

So we had a quick breakfast and coffee, loaded up the car with suitcases, and pulled away from Barb’s house and headed … east.

Barb had not only looked after Maddie for one night that turned into 12 nights, but when we left she provided us with a travel pack (chips, Tim Tams, chocolate, fruit, and sandwiches) and sent us on our way. Enough food that we wouldn’t need to come back for several days … hmmm, maybe that was the plan? 🙂

First stop for the day was the Brighton Beach Boxes – one of those things that we have always wanted to see but never had the opportunity.

Unfortunately the route to get from Coburg necessitated all of those pesky things that we had managed to avoid up until then – driving through the city centre, navigating multiple tram tracks, and being forced to do one of those crazy hook turns where you turn right through the red light from the far left hand side of the intersection.

What psychopath came up with that idea?

And of course, all of this with the windscreen wipers going flat out because some other psychopath installed the wiper controls and the indicator controls the wrong way around!

When we were planning the trip (admittedly only a few days ago), the forecast for Melbourne was a high of about 14 degrees and rain. When we got here we had a high of about 22 degrees and blue skies … but that’s Melbourne.

After visiting the beach, we got back on the road and crossed the Westgate Bridge and headed west towards Ballarat, with a quick stop for lunch and coffee.

Fortunately Wallace (home for tonight) was on the way to Ballarat with only a minor detour off the highway, so we located our Airbnb, got back on the freeway and headed into Ballarat for a couple of very important tasks.

Task #1 was to pick up some additional groceries for the next few days. We found a Woolworths, checked in and did a quick shop.

Task #2 was to get a COVID test – a mandatory requirement before being allowed to check-in for our return flight and request a Queensland border pass.

I have to say – and I say this very sincerely – that having a COVID test would be one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life! Having a cotton-tipped swab shoved into the back of my throat gave me a false expectation that maybe it would all be OK, but then having the other end shoved so far up my nose that it almost touched my brain was truly unpleasant.

And the best part? When we get home and go into home quarantine for 14 days, the only reason that we are allowed out of the house is to get it done again. Three times more!!

Loaded up with groceries and with watering eyes, we headed back the 15km or so from Ballarat back to Wallace to check-in to our Airbnb.

Wallace is a delightful – and tiny – township with a population of 187.

We are staying at The Old Wallace Shop B&B, and it is a beautifully restored and comfortable building right on Bungaree-Wallace Road but – as you will see soon – there is no traffic noise because there is no traffic.

After unloading the car, checking in and possibly having more coffee, we went for a quick spin in the country to Buninyong and then back through Dunnstown.

Buninyong was another pretty little place with a curious chocolate shop that not only had absolutely no mechanism for checking in, but the patrons and shopkeeper were all mask less. When we went outside the shop we found that there was in fact a QR code for scanning, except that it contained links to websites where you can read all about how COVID vaccinations cause your DNA to change, cause you to become magnetic and sterile (and I don’t mean sterile in a “I’ve just sanitised my hands” kind of way), and possibly have a GPS tracker inserted so that Scott Morrison can personally track your every movement.

Interesting.

Dunnstown on the other hand was a “blink and you just missed it” kind of place, with absolutely nothing noteworthy except … except … actually, nothing noteworthy at all. But it was a very pretty little place in a very beautiful part of the world.

Home to Wallace, dinner, and I went for a quick walk down the road to have a look to see what there is to see and take some photos … and to burn off some of the coffee and Tim Tams 🙁

You can see from the above photo that the Bungaree-Wallace Road is pretty quiet. You may think that I had to wait for a break in the traffic, but to be completely honest I could have laid down on the road and had a nap and not been at any risk of being run over.

I had hoped that I may have bumped into one of the 187 locals here in Wallace, but I didn’t see a single one of them. In fact I saw more rabbits (hares??) hopping around the place than I saw people. In fact – and at the risk of overstating this fact – I didn’t see a single car or person in the whole time I was out walking.

Back to the Old Wallace Shop, coffee, chocolate, and I’m thinking about wrapping this up, having ablutions and heading off to the land of nod.

Tomorrow is planned to be a trip down towards the Great Ocean Road. I’m not sure how far we will get, but this time tomorrow you’ll be reading all about it, I guess.

Ciao

#BringMaddieHome2021