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Published: April 6th 2007
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90 Mile Beach
on... and on... and on... Claudia's brother Hugo made the long journey from Brashfield to come and visit his siter for 2 weeks. And what better activity than a road trip!!
Hastily, maps were consulted, routes planned, accommodation booked, car hired... and easier than playing the piano, away we went! Our trip was to take us South of Sydney, 1042km along the coast, all the way to Melbourne.
The journey to our first stop in Mallacoota didn't hold many highlights, apart from the scenery of course, viewed from the comfort of our automobile. Mallacoota was a one restaurant town, set among wetlands and National
Parks, unfortunately we didn’t have the time to take too much of it in - as there was plenty of driving ahead of us. On our way out of Mallacoota we came across our first true bit of roadkill I felt the need to capture, what at first we thought might be a possum, but at closer inspection and at the realisation that the dead creature was actually the size of a small Labrador, we realise our departed friend was in fact
Skippy where are you?
Kangaroo, Claudia, Hugo a wombat. Apparently it's insides would have been removed by hawks and the such like.
Next the push on to Melbourne. With a brief stop at the 90mile beach - the second location where i had lugged my surfboard down to the beach, only for the sets to be "closed out"* The beach literally was 90 miles long, 90miles of pristine sea and sands - a pity it wasnt too hot and we didn't have too much time. Just short of Melbourne, we stopped in to a wildlife park, where Hugo got his fill of native australian wildlife. Emus, cockatiels, wallabies and of course kangaroos. After seeing the "roos" in their enclosures, we were a little unimpressed, it was hot, and they were chilling out in the shade, not all that exciting. as we walked past the enclosure, revealed to us were the kangaroos which had either a) sought freedom and succeeded or b) been deemed as not too dangerous! Any which way, this gave us the chance to ge tup close and personal. Too personal apparently, as one of the Marsupials became quite "excited" whilst It was nibbling at my palm -
Surfer Poser
Hugo, Claudia, Me! a source of huge amusement to Claudia and Hugo.
There is a fierce rivalry between the cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Both think they are better than the other, and ironically, both think the respective inhabitants are pretentious. My perception of things is as follows: Melbourne is a little more trendy/hobo-styly/grungy than sydney. You definitely get this vibe when arriving in Melbourne; however the pretentiousness is certainly evident. Personally, I am a sucker for the ocean. Whilst Melbourne is situated on Port Phillip, it's not the same as having surf beaches - there was a lack of beach culture in Melbourne. Mainly for this reason Sydney wins my vote.
After a night of much needed rest, it was on to the set of Neighbours. For those not in the know, Neighbours is an Australian soap which has been going for at least 20years, and is the staple diet of the tv viewers of the UK. It's on after work/school/college, and is very much an institution back home. So, every year hundreds of thousands of Brits flock to see "Ramsay street" and Erinsborough High.. earning some lucky bugger a truckload of easy money. Claudia being a big fan, couldn't
Everybody needs good......
outside Harold's house... he wasnt home unfortunately. come to Australia and not see the set, so off we went for 3long hours on a minibus. It did what it said on the tin, and for those die hard fans, we were informed of future, marriages, deaths and departures to Darwin!
The tour finished with plenty of time left to head out with a picnic to the Yarra River and grab some dinner at a trendy/boho/grungy Italian restaurant. The rest of the trip was thoroughly forgettable. To return to Sydney, we took the Hume Highway at only 850km.. done all in one go = 9.5hours! We stopped at a really nice hotel* for lunch And the only other occasion of note, was Claudia getting caught speeding! To be fair it was an unmarked police car, so very unlucky. All in all a top trip.
P.S. i've added a few people to the mailing list time round - feel free to unsubscribe! Also feel free to check out other blogs from my trip... i am particularly proud of the shark diving video!!!
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Dave
non-member comment
shock!
MARSUPIAL MURDERER!! i know you have proclaimed your innocence, but thought that there should be some kind of exclamation....