Australia- Brisbane to Melbourne

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Hi everyone!

After saying a final farewell to South East Asia, we were now extremely excited to be heading down under. Our first task having arrived in Australia, Brisbane - was collecting our new home for the next month. This being a 'Wicked Campervan", as some of you might be aware, this particular brand of campervan is renowned for their controversial slogans and interesting decorations. At a glance we were initially relieved that our van seemed to have been spared the obscenities of others in the car park - it seemed we had come off lightly with our Arctic Monkey sign down both sides- but on further inspection we soon realised they had saved the best for the back of our van. As you can see from the photos it was worse than we'd hoped!

Having reminded ourselves of how to actually drive a car, as it'd been a fair while for both of us, it was time for us to head to our first campsite in the centre of Brisbane. Although driving the van was no problem, it seemed that navigation did not come as naturally to us! We were infact lost within minutes, and Jeni in particular was missing her satnav!

We decided to spend 3 days in the city, which gave us enough time to see much of the city centre including King George Square, the Botanical Gardens, City Hall and the South Bank. Strolling along the river offered some impressive views, but to our surprise we soon had to find shelter in a coffee shop due to the chill in the air. The next day we took ourselves off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. This was the first time we had seen Koalas close up and we also got the chance to stroke Kangaroos and see other animals such as Dingoes and Wombats. We had a brilliant time and would've loved to take at least on Koala home with us.

Another sight in the area was Mt Cootha Reserve. It offered great views over Brisbane from high up viewing points and had a particulary beautiful scenic tourist drive. As we were keen to go to the well known Frasier Island and the next day we headed up to a convenient jumping off point called Hervey Bay. Along the way, we took the opportunity to stop off at the impressive Glass House Mountains and incredible Rainbow beach, which certainly puts Frinton to shame! after a long drive we eventually arrived in Hervey Bay, and to our dissapointment soon realised that visiting Frasier Island would cost a small fortune - and with OZ already putting a strain on our budget, it was just not an option for us. Instead we decided to explore Hervey Bay and checked out Ankarra Lagoon, the marina, beachfront and more. Despite our dissapointment, we made the best of it and managed to have a really pleasant few days afterall.

First thing the next morning we were off to Byron Bay which is further down the East Coast; of course with the obligatory stop off. This time it was Noosa, famous for its Boutique shops, coastal scenery and national park. While in the national park we were lucky enough to look up just in time to spot a wild Koala in the tree tops and enjoyed the many walking trails through the rainforest and along the coast. It was just as we were about to leave, while Jeni was visiting the little girls room, Richard recieved a knock at his window, where a short stumpy women (armed with a camera that any Paparazi would be proud of) stood. Having rolled down the window to see what she wanted, he was met with a thick Geman accent asking "are you in zee band?! To his great dissapointment he was forced to day no he was not a member of the Arctic Monkeys. Also on the way the Byron Bay we made another unplanned stop to see what can only be described as a big Pineapple! They have big models like this all over Australia ranging from Bananas to oysters.

So after an eventful journey, we eventually arrived in Byron Bay, which proved to be one of our favourite places to date. Near to our campsite, there was the famous Byron Bay Lighthouse, which we visited on a our first morning there, along with captain Cooks lookout point. We had also heard on our travels, that we were situated a stones throw away from a nudist beach, which naturally we were keen to visit and get involved with. Unfortunately however our excitement was short lived as we were greeted with one lonely pair of boobs. The surrounding beaches were gorgeous though, its a shame that the weather was just a bit to cold to take a dip in the clear blue sea. Many surfers near to us were not deterred by the breeze however and were in and out of the water all day.

Next on our agenda was to make our way to the Myall National Park which is located on the North New South Wales Coast. As the drive was quite lengthy we decided to make a few more stop offs including Belingen, a small villiage situated in picture perfect countryside and Wingham where we got to se Ellenborough falls, the 2nd highest in Australia.

On arrival at the national park itself, we first of all checked out the huuuuge Myall lake, which seemed to go on for miles and was surrounded by miles of woodland. We decided to leave after lunch and push on to Seal Rocks coast. The coastline had many coves, beaches and clifftops (and dead whales which rich discovered whilist exploring, According to Rich it looke like it had beached itself on porpoise!) and felt similar to some parts of cornwall.

We were particulary excited about our next stop on our Australian adventure, The Hunter Valley wine region. Its fair to say that there was ample opportunity to get involved with wine tasting as we were literally surrounded by hundreds of vineyards. We choose wisely however and headed straight to the Peterson Chanpagne house, up the road. The staff there were very bubbly and all had sparkling personalities! After being allowed to try many different varieties of sparkling wine, we finally decided to really treat ourselves and purchase a lovely bottle of Cuvee. While in the area we thought it only fair that Rich got to visit the local brewery too. This great fun and surprisingly educational. Having learnt about the beer making process it was time to try some. As Jeni was driving, Rich was happy to recieve double rations, which tasted even better than normal, as the brewer took pity on our small budget and gave us everything for free.

Before we knew it we were heading for Sydney and couldn't wait to explore the city. Due to high prices, we decided to stay in campsite a few Km's out of the centre - but after a short train journey we were soon marvelling at the world famous Opera House from the harbour front. After that our first port of call was an area called The Rocks - home to Sydneys most histroric sights. This was the perfect place to view the Harbour Bridge up close. After we enjoyed some long awaited fish and chips on the harbour front , we strolled around the tranquil Botantical Gardens and soaked up the atmosphere. On our second day in Sydney we were keen to visit Darling Harbour and Hyde Park and we made the most of the sunny (yet chilly) weather.

After a great few days, we decided to head up to the Blue Mountains. We planned to stay overnight, but the arrival of a pretty heavy hail shower soon changed our minds. Instead we took in the stunning views from numerous lookout points throughout the day and then headed back down the mountain to warm up. Next up on our road trip was Jervis Bay, a large sheltered bay, considered one of the most stunning spots on the South Coast. As money was a little tight at this point, we decided to live on the edge and give campsites a miss, the side of the road was good enough for us. It was also the ideal spot for us to catch an early morning sunrise. While in Jervis Bay, we decided to give Rich's old workmate Mitch a call as we knew he lived in the area. Having decided to meet the following day at his house in Burril Lake, he showed us all the best local sights, including an early morning vist to Murramurang national park, where we caught up with some wild Kangaroos and a visit to Rainbow Pie shop which produces the worlds best pies, Fact. His family were also very hospitable - not only did they put us up for the night and treat us to a lovely steak dinner, as we were leaving his mum was being extremely generous sending us off with a packed lunch and wine. She even tried to give Rich some of her son's old clothes, we were worried we'd literally be leaving them with nothing so thought it best to say farewell.

Before we knew it we were off again - this time to Australias capital - Canberra. Its safe to say the city has a strange feel to it. Having said this, it does has everything you need in a city, except people. While we were there, we decided to make the most of it and check out the tourist sights, including the Botanic Gardens, Black Mountain, the excellent War Memorial and the Museam of Australia. After a weird few days we drove to Mallacoota a small town surrounded by Croajingalong national park. After a bit of searching, we found a perfect spot to camp for the night (despite the fact it said no camping that is). It was right on the coast and allowed us to spend a pleasant afternoon strolling along the beach.

It was then nearly time to head to Melbourne, but along the way we thought we'd pay a visit to the Lakes District. This was an extremly picturesque location, but relentless rain saw us shelter in our van most of the time. On arrival in Melbourne, we promptly headed to our campsite where we rustled up yet another tinned meal and settled down for the night. We woke up early the next morning and hopped on a tram into the city centre. As lonely planet suggested the best way to see the city was on their provided walking we thought we would give it a go. It was a pleasnt 5Km stroll starting a Federation Square, and guiding us past some impressive sights such as, St Pauls Cathedral, Parliament, Flinders Street Station, GPO, and you guessed it more Botanical Gardens. Although we enjoyed our time in Melbourne we definitley felt Sydney was our favourite city overall.

After 3 days in Melbourne we were looking forward to our up coming drive along the the Great Ocean Road. Billed as one of the most spectacular roads in the world, we'd have to agree - it certainly didn't dissapoint. As this was the end of the road for our time in Australia, we felt this final trip was extremely fitting.

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Comments

[Moira & Dan]

G'day!
Hi you two, great to hear from you and read yet another excellent blog page - looks like you really made the most of that eye-catching camper van. Perhaps you should have tried selling a few tickets for the Arctic Monkeys' next Australian tour! Super pictures too, seems like the local wildlife has taken to you both. Have a great time in New Zealand and remember to keep in touch - we were beginning to think you'd gone walkabout! Loads of love from Mum and dad xoxoxox