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Published: March 19th 2008
Firstly, apologies for the lateness in this blog, I know that we are letting down our dedicated readers by not writing about places until ages after we've left them. On that note, you'll no doubt be surprised to hear that we've left Sydney, been through Melbourne, took a short break in Tasmania, drove to Adelaide and are now in Perth.
So, starting at the beginning of all that, Melbourne, we drove there from Sydney so had a car for the first few days. This meant we didn’t actually see much of Melbourne at first as there wasn’t much point having the car and staying in the city. On the Friday (4th), we drove to Phillip Island, about 3 hours from Melbourne, and saw our first real experience of wildlife. On the way down we saw the road kill variety, then when we got there, and stopped at an animal sanctuary, we saw the real live variety. In the sanctuary we fed some kangaroos (apparently they eat fish food pellets), saw koalas and wallabies and loads of other things besides. After we left here we continued onto the island proper and waited for the penguins to come out after nightfall. It
was quite exciting watching the penguins struggle out of the surf, then get dragged back in by a wave, then struggle to get out again only to then be faced with a flock of seagulls as soon as they'd cleared the water. Groups of penguins waited until the best moment before making a dash for it up the beach to relative safety. Only to have to go through the whole process tomorrow.
The next morning (5th) we made an early start for our drive to the 12 apostles and back. As this is a 9 hour round trip, we didn't make many stops as the Great Ocean Road flew by beneath us. The 12 Apostles are a group of rock formations (of which you'd think there'd be 12 but there's not) sticking out of the ocean. They are very impressive, but the impressiveness was slightly dulled by the prospect of having to drive all the way back to Melbourne in the afternoon.
The following big day, and possibly the biggest day yet, was Monday (7th), otherwise known as Neighbours Day. In the afternoon we went on a tour of (possibly) the most famous street in the world, which
Koala
At an animal sanctuary near Phillip Island, Victoriais much smaller than you'd expect and real people live in the houses so you can't go in, or even near really. After a quick game of cricket we continued the tour round to Erinsborough High (or Blackburn Language School as it’s actually known), then on to Lassiters and Carpenters Mechanics and Grease Monkeys. After all this excitement we were taken to a mysterious car with blacked out windows, the crowd of (mostly British) tourists tensed up in anticipation, the door opened, and out steps ......(classic neighbours cliffhanger)....... Janelle Timmins!!!
In the evening we are to once again meet up with Janelle and a host of other cast members for the official neighbours night. This time we were so determined to win the quiz that we mostly ignored the stars as they wandered round posing for photos and answering questions. Although we probably wouldn't have noticed many of them anyway without being told they were stars (we had no idea who Steve Parker was at the time). Obviously it worked as we walked away with $500. Well, actually we walked away with almost nothing, $500 doesn't go a long way when there are 6 people celebrating a victory.
The next day (8th) was to be Laura's last with us as she was flying to Alice Springs to see a big rock. However, the thought of leaving us was obviously too distressing as she only made it as far as the airport before coming back. A massive hangover may also have had something to do with her missing the flight. On Wednesday morning, she finally did leave and the two of us were left to fend for ourselves again.
On the 10th Rosie's brother and his friends joined us for a wine tour of the Yarra Valley, very good wine, average food and the discovery of such a device as a cork holder (used to hold corks while you drink the wine don't you know) meant it was a good day all round. Although at 41 degrees, water was probably the better choice of drink that day.
A few days later (14th) we took a trip to Tasmania, again with Rosie's brother Nick, and his friend Marie. On the first day we flew into Hobart and went for an afternoon in Salamanca Square and the harbour around there. We had heard bad things about the nightlife in
Phillip Island
Where the penguins come out at night Hobart, mainly that there wasn't any, so at lunch we asked about the closing times of the restaurants. Apparently they normally close at about 9pm, but if it’s busy they might have a late night and stay open till all of 9:30. Thankfully we managed to find a restaurant that had found a niche in the market, mainly by staying open after 9, and ate there before heading to our accommodation. Getting here proved to be more difficult than anticipated, at one point turning into an episode of challenge Aneka with keys in envelopes, maps with X's and gates that simply wouldn’t open.
The next day we drove up to Coles Bay, sat by the sea in the afternoon before driving into Freycinet national park and seeing some of the many interesting things here (of which I can't remember the names). The following morning we saw wineglass bay before driving further up the coast to Bridport, which is where Marie is from (kind of).
On our final day in Tassie (17th) we drove into Launceston, probably the 2nd biggest town in Tassie and had a quick look around, including walking around Cataract Gorge, before catching our flight back
to the mainland.
In the evening after our flight we went to a night session of the Australian Open tennis which had started while we were away. We didn't see much tennis that evening as we turned up too late for most matches and were mostly in the bar anyway. However, the next day (18th), we spent the whole day at the tennis and saw loads of matches including the Williams sisters in the doubles.
We were due to leave Melbourne in a few days and realised, with horror, that we hadn't really had a proper night out in the whole time we'd been there. On Saturday (19th), this was rectified as we were taken out by some Australian friends we had met in Vietnam. We met them in a bar in Fitzroy before moving on to a bar hidden down an alleyway (as most in Melbourne are), which seemed cool, but was slightly let down by the weather. This was our first night out in Melbourne, and the first night it had rained since we got there, and we were taken to an outdoor bar. Thankfully that didn't spoil the night and we were soon moving on
to a much dryer, indoor, bar, then to another place, and so on and so forth, until 6am and Kebabs washed down with Ouzo in a Greek restaurant before stumbling home to bed. Predictably the next day was spent mostly in bed.
On Monday (21st) we left Melbourne in a Campervan on our second, and hopefully much less rushed, Great Ocean Road trip, the first port of call along said road being Torquay. Probably much better than Torquay in England (having never been there I can only speculate), this is where most surf brands were created and, not surprisingly its one of the best places in Australia to surf. After stopping there overnight we continued along to Lorne, via Split Point Lighthouse, better know as the lighthouse from Round the Twist. After Lorne we continued along to the end of the Great Ocean via some waterfalls and London Bridge (surprisingly enough not the real one). After this we cut inland and headed north in the direction of Adelaide, stopping en route at Mt. Gambier to see Blue Lake. In the evening we arrived in the Barossa Valley, 50km from Adelaide, and probably Australia's most famous wine growing region (Jacob's
Janelle Timmins
Meeting the Stars on Neighbours night Creek is from here).
The following day (25th) we hired bikes and acted very cultured, cycling from vineyard to vineyard, sampling many a wine as we went. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were a little tipsy (hence the bikes, no drink riding laws), and deciding which wines were our favourite was proving rather difficult. All we can say for sure is that they just kept on getting better and better, which is why, the next day, we went back and bought a few bottles mainly from the last place we'd been the day before.
Later that same day (26th - Australia Day), we drove into Adelaide, then back out the other side and parked up by the beach, intent on having a few snags on the barbie. As this was our last day before heading to Perth we decided that we should at least see some of Adelaide itself while we were here. So, the next day, before our flight, we drove into the city, drove around it, and then drove back out again. This is probably more of Adelaide than most people bother to see.
Anyhow, I hope that keeps you
all happy for now. Don't expect another blog for a bit as we won't really be doing anything any time soon.
Next Stop Perth
Neil and Rosie
xx
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