Third time's a Charm?

(I've had significant trouble posting this; I'm hoping this does make it now that I've removed all the pictures - I'll try again on those tonight.  As we speak it's only 6am - and we've been awake an hour already!)  ;)

So, this is Day 2 – officially – and I am pleased to announce that I have had absolutely zero jetlag!  * whew *  I had thought that I’d be dragging my butt I slept fabulously last night, woke up at a reasonable hour this morning, and am now completely switched over for the timing.  Brilliant.  Let’s hope it goes so smoothly going home. 

The weather was a little hit and miss today – a few minutes of rain, though mostly just cloudy skies and 16 degree weather.  It was warm enough that I was ok in capris and a tshirt but to see people here, you’d think it was 5 degrees – there were many big, bulky jackets. 

Yet again, I have confirmed that the search for food will be the bane of my existence here.  We have found that indoor dining is near-impossible to track down, never mind the fact that once you do find it, you tend to pay in excess of A$15 for breakfast (per person), not including coffee.  We did eventually find a little café off of Burke where we were able to have a yummy and only moderately over-priced breakfast, but the food dilemma has been ongoing, and somewhat stressful. Tomorrow we will seek out a grocery store as to hopefully not endure too much more of this ‘last resort’ dining. 

The other mini-crisis today was in regard to hotels.  It was looking rough; we’d booked accommodation for the first night, but because we are so prone to just picking up and going off on our own, it seemed ill-advised to book too far in advance. 

Of course, by this afternoon we didn’t know where we’d be sleeping, and the recent discovery of Melbourne being SO expensive suddenly was cramping our hotel-style.  We looked at a million different offerings, or at least it felt like that, but nothing was in the right price range for what we wanted.  The things that were in the right price range were … rather disappointing. 

So, that’s how we ended up in Geelong tonight, at a rather funny Comfort Inn.  This is a piece of retro chic heaven, complete with brown-plaid wool covers (that you find only after you peel off the vinyl-condom that covers it to make it look like an oversized ottoman) and wood paneling.  The detail of actual brick walling (making it look oddly like your room has been turned inside out) only adds to the 1970 flair.  Ever seen Psycho?  This room could actually be used to tape the remake (of the remake?) were it in America. 

Geelong itself is like something from 1970 America, which is actually quite enjoyable.  The main drag by our hotel is lined with stores that haven’t been renovated in the last thirty years, and that were entirely shut.  Sunday evenings are apparently not big business times here.  There’s a shop that sells religious paraphernalia, and an antiquated laundry. 

A few doors down from our hotel is also rather unique private establishment that I’m fairly certain is a brothel.  That would be entirely all too progressive for Geelong, though not surprising judging by the goings-on.  I will report any further discoveries of such sketchy places, should we uncover more in the next few days. 

Not much further down, we found dinner at a roadhouse/diner called Hog’s Breath.  The girls wore t-shirts that said ‘Hogstar’ and looked vaguely Hooteresque (it was recommended to our hotel proprietor, a rather stout man who smiled sweetly and gave us free internet) Food-wise, it was very yummy, and the most reasonably priced that we’ve encountered so far.  It also solved the debate as to how to order coffee in this country, as they detailed the difference between Long Black vs. Short Black, as well as flat white.  I’ve taken the necessary notes as to be well prepared tomorrow; this morning at breakfast, I was delivered three separate beverages before getting my coffee.  There may have been some confusion. 

So, as I type, we’ve turned on the ‘Logies’: the Australian version of the Emmys.  This is a very strange way to spend the night as the actors are far too eager to flog each other’s programs and talk about their vasectomies.  Seriously.  Well, plus they have K.D. Lang as an international celebrity to entertain their soap actors.  I’m so very confused by this. 

Jayne is working on our itinerary revisions for the next few days, and then we’re going to relax a bit.  We’re still not running at full capacity as of yet, but tomorrow we should be able to hit the ground running and get a fair bit accomplished.  We’re out to the ocean road to snap some pics and of course to explore a bit more.  

The internet in this questionable hotel is hit and miss - so right now I can't post pictures.  I have SOOOO many, but today just isn't the day.