Melbourne!

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Our first trip in Australia is done and it sure was an incredible (but stressful) one.

We left for Melbourne (or how Aussies say it, Melbin) late Thursday night and before we even took off we had named this "The Trip from Hell". We already had some issues before the trip that I would rather not mention, but the troubles continued when we got to the airport and found out my plane tickets had not been confirmed. You read that right folks. My plane tickets, which I thought I ordered three weeks ago, did not get confirmed. My name was not on the list of people on the flight. And I did not get an email, a call or anything telling me this before. So I found out when I walked up to the check-in desk for our airline. Needless to say I had a melt down. What was I going to do? Take the hour and a half train back to Wollongong and miss out on the only time I'd be able to go to Melbourne? Heck no! I could hear my bank account crying as I bought my new plane tickets (which were twice as expensive as the ones I thought I had originally bought). But boy am I glad I did. Once we were through security we made our way to the gate. About fifteen minutes before we were supposed to take off, they announce that our plane will be a half hour late. Lucky for us, the airport Wi-Fi also was not working and we got there a good two hours before hand, oh and all of the shops were closed. Yay!

Things started looking up when we finally landed in Melbourne and took the some what expensive but expected cab ride to the dorm where we would be staying for the weekend. The next day Aliska and I woke up bright and early to catch yet another cab into the city to meet our tour bus for the Great Ocean Road!! We thought the troubles were over, but oh no, trouble does not care if its 6 in the morning. Not only was our cab late, but we also almost missed our tour bus because they put the wrong pick up time on our itinerary. Wooh!

We did make it though and that’s when the troubles ended! Finally!!!



The Great Ocean Road should be placed pretty high on everyone’s bucket list because its one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. It is a coastal road with various stops along it of gorgeous cliffs, beaches and lighthouses. There is also an animal park where you can pet kangaroos, wallabies, and emus! The first view we went to called Addis point was breathtakingly beautiful. Every view we stopped at through out the day got more and more beautiful. The most incredible view though was one called “The Twelve Apostles”. These are pieces of cliffs that had been attached at one point I’m assuming, but over time the land has collapsed leaving these big pieces of cliff stranded right off the shore. The last place we stopped was called London Bridge, which is exactly what you would assume. It used to be two arches jutting out into the ocean, but the one connecting to the land collapsed leaving 30 people stranded on the farther arch. A helicopter rescued them, so no worries! It was such a lovely, but long, day. Definitely a must for any one coming to Australia!



The next day we woke up early to get a head start on our day in the city! We took the tram and the train to Flinders Station, a beautiful train station in the heart of the city! We took a tram to a very cute beach town called St. Kilda! We ate brunch at a vintage café, then walked down a pier where some penguins live. They only come out at sunrise and sunset, but we were lucky enough to look in some rocks and find one hanging out 😊 We also saw the Australian black swan! (see pictures on facebook). We then had to figure out a way to make it to Brighton beach, the beach with all of the beautifully painted little shacks are! Which is another thing on my bucket list! We couldn’t find a bus so we took a cab (ugh not smart) to Brighton where we saw the beautiful boxes! We couldn’t stay long though because we were planning on going to the Queen Victoria market, but by the time we got back to the city it was too late. Instead we walked to Hosier Ln. This alley is covered in incredible graffiti art. Its not the usual tag marks at all, its actual art (see Facebook pictures). After this we walked to the lock bridge, which started last year. Here people put locks on this bridge with someone they love and throw the key away. Just like the famous one in Europe. Melbourne is such a beautiful city. I wish we could have explored more, but that just means I will have to come back some day



In two weeks the trio is heading to Cairns! Home to the Great Barrier Reef and The Daintree Rainforest!



Stay tuned for more travel stories!





-A



P.S. soorry its gets less and less detailed. Im running on like 4 hours of sleep so I got lazy.

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