Advertisement
Published: December 11th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Tuesday 7th Dec -We flew into Melbourne from Adelaide, slightly delayed while they wound the plane up, nerve wracking one hour flight ! Discovered on landing that England had won the Adelaide Test by an innings and 70 plus runs,we actually flew over the ground while they were playing. Barmy Army, Barmy Army ! We were followed the next day by the England Team who were playing their next game in Melbourne against Victoria (not Tonge !).
We ate at a Spanish tapas restaurant called Movida, to rival El Rincon De Rafa in Manchester ! Movida was recommended to us by a Melburnian Doctor we met in Alice Springs ! Local knowledge is always the best. The street where Movida is situated is famous for its street art legalised by the local government and controlled by the local artists.
Wednesday 8th Dec – It rained all day !! We chilled out and then we made our way to the Sidney Myer Bowl to see Jack Johnson, it continued to rain all evening so we took refuge in the beer tent until Jack came on stage and joined in with the Melbourne singalong...the wholeplace was a sea of different coloured
ponchos ! We enjoyed the concert and being British we didn’t let the rain put us off ! They are very restrained at concerts here nothing like Oasis in Heaton Park ha ha!
Thursday 9th Dec – Happy Birthday to Joanne x Raining again ! We were up early today, hired a car to drive the Great Ocean Road, a mere 500k round trip ! The Great Ocean Road winds through some of the most dramatic scenery in Australia and is a journey of contrasts with a magnificent vista around every corner from massive rock formations to the stunning beaches and ancient rainforests. We went over the Gellibrand River(near enough!), named after a notorious solicitor, and made our way to the Twelve Apostles located in the Port Campbell National Park. These iconic symbols of Australia have been formed over millions of years where strong waves have eroded the huge limestone headlands, creating huge rock stacks. We visited Loch Ard, a narrow gorge named after the ill-fated clipper Loch Ard, which was dashed against the rocks in 1878. Only two of the 54 people on board survived. Tom Pearce, a crew member only 18 years old and Eva Carmichael, a
passenger of the same age, who was eventually washed into the gorge and saved by Tom.
Back on the road and we were passed by a yellow Lamborghini. We subsequently found out that it was Kevin Pieterson having a day out speeding on the Great Ocean Road, he was caught by the police and it was all over the press the following day ! En route back to Melbourne we stopped at all kinds of familiar places such as Anglesey and Torquay ! These are local resort towns on the coast, its a bit like Manchester and North Wales instead of Abersoch being Wilmslow on Sea its Torquay being Melbourne on Sea.
Friday 10th December – The Oprah Winfrey Show rolled into town ! Oprah was due to appear in Federation Square at 4pm, and as this was just around the corner from our digs we went to see what all the fuss was about ! We got a top spot right where the motorcade arrived containing the Premier of Victoria Ted(somebody or other), the Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the great lady herself ! They were 15 minutes on stage before they all made their way back
in the media scrum ! Rumours were rife that Jon Bon Jovi was going to make an appearance as Bon Jovi were playing Melbourne that evening but he didn’t show – much to Vicky’s disappointment ! Oprah had been paid $3m dollars by the Australian Goernment to come over from the States with 300 of her audience! Julia Gillard was definitely upstaged.
There is certainly plenty going on in Melbourne!
Friday night in Melbourne is very busy and we struggled to get in anywhere, so we went back to Movida ! Luckily they accommodated us and we enjoyed the great food, wine and service....many thanks to Danika x
Saturday 11th December - it was a nice day (wasn’t raining). We walked the five miles from Melbourne city centre to St Kilda Beach to Donovans Restaurant ,a chic and trendy restaurant right on the beach we recommend it to any of you visiting Melbourne. Beautiful restaurant, fantastic food. We had some great Rose wine and staggered the five miles back to Melbourne!
Sunday 12th December - Leave Melbourne today for the 3.30pm flight for our ten day tour of Tasmania.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0525s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb