Melbourne (cont), Great Ocean Road and Adelaide!

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So, going back to Weds 9th April...We went to the immigration museum and then the National Museum of Victoria for a bit of culture. The immigration museum was interesting, all about the different reasons why people have ended up here in past years. Made me think about Great Aunt Win (Or was it Great Aunt Flo? One of Grampy's relatives) who did the journey over here many years ago. The National gallery was ok, but seeing as I appreciate nothing artistic, the only one thing I liked was a wax sculpture of two old ladies by Ron Mueck. Amazing!

Thurs 10th April -didn't do much except mooch around Target with Heather. Got a new black hoodie. Ha, Australia hasn't changed me THAT much!

Fri 11th April - We got the free tram around the city in order to look for DFO (the discount factory outlet) except we missed it, haha, so had to go round twice. I was slightly freaked out by an over excited weirdo who had his crotch stuck in my face the whole journey :o(
DFO was good though. Our friend Joan from the farm came down and we all went out to Transport Bar. It was ok but such a meat market and annoying guys trying to hit on you. Nice to catch up with Joan and meet her friends though.

Sat 12th April - No idea what we did in the day but we went for Thai food in the evening - $8.50 - fab!!! I had Chicken Pad Thai and it was soooo good! Can't believe I never used to eat anything like that!!!

Sun 13th April - Went to the Neighbours set!!! As they weren't filming, we got to see loads of the set - we went to Erinsborough High School, the outdoor set (Lassiters Lake, the front of the coffee shop etc), and the street itself (Pin Oak Court). It was so weird to see a normal man living in Harold Bishops house!!! So weird, it didn't seem real. Damien picked Heather up when we got back, so I was let loose to go shopping on my own (bad idea) - I spent $100 on a book and tons of makeup! Ha. Fun though.

Mon 14th April - our last day in Melbourne!!! Mike and Oli went to the Gaming Museum and Clare and I lazed around in the hostel room. I spent a while playing with my new makeup and testing out colours. When Heather got back, we had to wait for the boys and then we all went off to Brunswick Street for dinner (Pizza at Bimbo's). They had cool lanterns and fairy lights! Pizza wasn't amazing but hey ho. Everyone decided to get drunk that night (bad move, EARLY BUS!) and so nobody got any sleep cos everyone was stressing about not getting up on time/being hungover/if Heather would make it back to the room.

Tues 15th April - We got on the bus at 6.30 to start our Great Ocean Road tour - met Emily at St Kilda - and guess who else was in the queue - Ffion!!! Hadn't seen her since Sydney in Oct! She was on our bus which was so fab!!! Our driver, Karl, was pretty cool. We basically drove, stopped at a lot of lookouts, and listened to random music, including Xavier Rudd, and Rolf Harris! Seriously. Kind of fitting though. We stopped off at Ottway treetop walk. Was ok. Best bit was at the end when a bus load of people had stopped for a cream tea, but left loads - we managed to get on in there before the waitress cleared away. Cream and jam scones all round! Hurrah. (Hey, it's pikey but we're backpackers!!!) We stopped at the 12 apostles on the way (apparently now only 11) and looked at the rocks and watched the sunset which was nice. All of our group (plus Jen and Christian from the bus) decided to recreat the apostles pose, haha, so we have a good photo of that! Felt like we were starting to get to know the group. We stayed overnight in a place called Princetown (Population 6 - and at least 2 of them worked in the pub). It was a nice place, bit small but very relaxed. I was sharing with some American girls and they seemed ok. Heather, Ffion, Otavio (Portuguese guy on our bus) went to the pub with Gwen and Paul. They are the funniest couple! Gwen complains about everything, but not in a moany way. Aussie chocolate, the price of a drink, toilets in China, non-standardised dress sizes, Macdonalds...all have been the subject of many a complaint. Lol. But they are the coolest couple ever, and they make us laugh! Early night.

Weds 16th April- Took a helicopter flight over the apostles!!! SOOO cool! I've never been in a helicopter and it only cost $60. Heather (being the littlest and lightest) sat in the front (thankfully she showed enough self restraint not to touch the controls!) and Mike, Ffion and I sat in the back. We flew over the apostles and other rocks and the sea...it was so cool! I loved it when the helicopter dived and turned. Went for a knackering hike in the afternoon (only 7k but very rocky) and felt like I might die - views were good though. We stayed at an ATA owned dorm place which was fab! We cooked our own dinner (well, Gwen and Paul did, helped by Karl and some others) which was nice (spag bol). That night we stayed up and played drinking games - and people were not kind to Delbert! Lol. They kept nominating me to drink, haha. Needless to say I was in bed earlier than the others, having gotten very loud and shouty and screechy and laughing lots. Hehe. So nice to hang out and have a laugh with everyone - we have such a great group!!!

Thurs 17th April - Our last day of this bit of the tour! We went rock scrambling today which was amazing - the views from the top of Mount Zero were breath taking. Felt like I was on top of the world!!! Emily and Clare didn't make it up (too hungover!) but I'm SOOOO glad I did it! Was kind of dangerous though - if you'd slipped at any point you could have broken a leg. The rocks were steep!!! Slightly annoyed that I have no photos cos the others had used up all my battery the night before on my camera! Luckily Ollie and Mike were on hand. Hehe. We arrived in Adelaide at about 6.30pm. Seems like a nice place. We met the rest of our group (minus Gwen, Paul and Marina - my smoking buddy!) at Cannon Street backpackers bar - it was jumping once the whole group was there!!! I totally love everyone in our group - they were the best!!! Especially Jen and Rach. So gutted they aren't coming up the middle with us!!! It was a fantastic night! I tried Absynth (didn't make me do anything crazy, but the barmaid did comment that my volume level had revved up a few decibels, haha). A few jaegerbombs later and I was hammered and couldn't stand up, so Ollie took me back to the hostel (sorry Ollie).

Today - well, that was a long recap, lol. Heather and I went to Glenelg to the beach today - nice day. I even braved a bikini, hehe. We got the tram back and then shopped - nothing much else really!!!

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