Oz On the Road - Day Nine

Countryside between Warrnambool and MelbourneFinished my drive today. Beautiful weather (wouldn't you know!). Left Warrnabool about 10:00 and meandered around the countryside for a few hours sinceI didn't have to be in Melbourne until 4:30 to drop off the car. Wonderful country, rolling hills in the distance and miles of fields with, surprisingly, most of the farms given over to dairy and not to sheep. That has been true pretty much for my whole journey; certainly sheep farms to been seen but for the most part, cattle and dairy. Picked up a pound of Warrnambool aged cheddar to bring home so will be interested to try.

Took the fast track to Melbourne but poked along as slowly as I could to make it last and just enjoyed the sun and the day. Not much in the way of pictures but took a couple of shots just to keep my hand in. Arrived at Hertz Melbourne bang on 4:30 and did a complete once-over of the car to make sure nothing left behind. Won't surprise me if I discover something later since yesterday morning when I left the motel in Lorne I realized that I couldn't find my bag with my passport and important papers. Turned the room and the car upside down but couldn't be found; just ready to call V and ask her to get in touch with the embassy to issue an emergency passport when I thought that I'd better unpack my luggage which I did in the middle of the parking lot; better than hauling everything up a flight of motel stairs to my room. Of course my passport bag was packed in the bottom of my suitcase??!! This morning I read my emails on my iPhone, had my shower and dressed and looked for my phone; couldn't be found anywhere. Turned the room over for 20 minutes then looked under the bed. It was there. How??

Am at Mark and Jane's at the moment. Had a fun dinner (bouillabaisse which Mark had made) with the family and then sat in front of the fire with a glass of good wine and visited with Mark and Jane. Started fading about 8:30 and excused myself and am typing up these notes before I crash for the night. Hope that my next communication will be from Sydney tomorrow night.

Signing off for tonight.