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Published: February 11th 2007
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Was really looking forward to getting to Melbourne as I'd heard glowing reports from so many other travellers and was ready to explore a new place.
When my flight landed, I headed down the plane steps and was bombarded with a boiling hot breeze - pretty similar to being blasted with a hairdryer; at first I thought it was just the hot air from the engines but by the time I'd made it half way down the tarmac I realised that that was the air temperature!!I'd arrived in 42 degree heat and the most uncomfortable bit was yet to come when I had to make my way to my hostel via a 10min walk and a 15min tram journey walking/standing all the way with all my stuff. By the time I'd arrived at my hostel all I wanted was a very long, very cold shower and some clean clothes.
The following day I met up with Justin, one of my travelling companions from the West Coast and he offered me a bed at his shared student house in Carlton for the rest of my stay - result, what a star 😊
Thursday saw me venturing to the Australian
The 12 Apostles
Looking very "atmospheric" in the mist! Open clutching my ground pass as if it was made of gold. When I woke up it was spitting with rain and felt very reminiscent of Wimbledon!My pass gave me access to the Vodafone Arena and this allowed me to sit two rows from the front and cheer on Andy Murray at the top of my lungs 😊 Also saw Sharapova easily win her match and an aussie hopeful, Alicia Molik, win her match too. The atmosphere was electric and the weather turned out gorgeous so by the end of the day I was exhausted but v.satisfied! The only bad thing was the absence of strawberries&cream and Pimm's. Bring on Wimbledon 2007!!
On Friday, I joined a tour and headed off to explore 'The Great Ocean Road' - supposedly one of the most beautiful scenic coastal routes in the world. Unfortunately the weather was not particularly great which made some of the views less spectacular but it was still stunning. We stopped at The 12 Apostles (- 12 pillars made of rock that are just off the coast although there are no longer 12 because of the constant pounding they get from the waves), Loch Ard Gorge (- the
Me and Tara, the baby wombat :)
Cute, eh? And the wombats quite sweet too!! Was sooooo excited about this cos was one of my aims/dreams for my oz trip. Sad, huh?! site of a shipwreck in the early 1900's where there were only 2 survivors, a sailor and his true love.Awwww!) and London Bridge (- a bridge that used to have 2 arches and was connected to the mainland but in the 90's, the arch closest to the coast broke off leaving 2 poor idiots isolated on the remaining 'island'!).
The next big thing was my trip to Phillip Island to witness the nightly 'Penguin Parade'; every night just after it gets dark a colony of fairy penguins waddle their way up the beach and back to their burrows and their waiting young. First we stopped at an animal sanctuary which was home to all sorts of orphaned, abandoned or injured native wildlife including an extensive collection of orphaned wombat babies (of varying ages). It was here that I was to tick off one of my remaining 'must do's in oz' as I cuddled Tara, a 10 month old Wombat 😊 It was a great experience although was a little scared when our tour guide said I looked quite maternal with her!Was seriously contemplating wombatnapping her though but didn't think I'd make it through Heathrow with her in my rucksack!!
A Fairy Penguin
This little chap had the right idea, sheltering from the wind under the boardwalk. Then it was swiftly on to Phillip Island where we stopped to admire the stunning coastline but nearly got blown away in the process. One of the other girls on the trip did manage to spot one of the fairy penguins hiding under one of the boardwalks so he soon became the star of his own personal photo session with us all lying/crouching on the lower boardwalk to pap him with lots of accompanying ooooohing and ahhhhhhing!
The penguins that feature in the parade only appear on the beach under the cover of darkness so we headed to the viewing platforms but waited until about 9pm before we caught our first glimpse of them approaching the beach.We then sat mesmerized as we saw small groups come out of the water and then dart back in because they were too scared. Once one of them plucked up the courage and started to go for it, they were at once joined by the rest of the group who waddled at superspeed up to the dunes - v.cute to watch.
Also decided that it was essential whilst I was in Melbourne to go and check out the real Ramsay Street so went
The real Ramsay Street
Well, everybody needs good neighbours and who better could they ask for than me! on the Official Neighbours tour! Here we got to see Erinsborough High, the back lots of the studios were they have some of the sets and Ramsay Street itself (known in real life as Pin Oak Court!). It was really odd to drive into the road because everything immediately became familiar and it looked like what you see on the programme but with small differences!Everyone got rather excited and snap happy - you should have seen some people when the tour guide pulled out a Ramsay Street sign to use as a prop!
My last few days were a mixture of taking in some culture and meeting up with people. I visited the museum, art gallery and war memorial in the city centre with Lexi (one of Justin's housemates). She also took me to some quirky little boutiques and vintage shops where we both limited ourselves to window shopping.
On my second to last day I woke up with no plan but by the time I had finished my breakfast I had a chockablock day! First I met up with Zelda, my dive buddy from Cairns, and her son for a spot of lunch and to catch up on
Angie and I
We had a lot to catch up on after 10 years of not seeing each other. each others news from the last 5 months. Then it was into the city to grab a coffee with Richie, one of the guys from the terraces who has been living and working in Melbourne for a bit. From here I did some last minute things for my nz trip before heading home and making myself some dinner. My last "date" of the day was with a girl who has always lived down my street at home and I was friends with in primary school but lost touch with soon after that! Angie's mum and mine are still friends so had exchanged are email addresses and forwarded them and it just so happened we were in Melbourne at the same time. So we went out for drink in the city and had a good old natter about old times and what we'd both been up to more recently and on oour travels!
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Sarah
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Wombats, Tennis, Neighbours+Old Friends
Once again you've given us an action packed blog. I fear that a return to the UK is going to leave you bored and also very chilly after such warm temperatures in OZ. Love the cute photo of you and the wombat. I'll see if I can sort out a way to butter up security at Heathrow for the wombatnapping.Safe travels in NZ.Sxx