Victoria - The Place to Be

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Day 14
Check out early and had breakfast before heading to the airport. Lots of waiting around as we were super early. Short flight to Melbourne then start to follow the instructions Nicola has given us to get to where she lives in Brighton. Shuttle bus, train then NIcola picks us up from the train station. We sit down for a lovely stew dinner with Nicola, Luke and his friend Max from Perth, then we head to watch Luke's band "How Now" play at a nearby bar. great night, the band are great playing lots of variety of music. We meet friends of theirs who were all lovely and friendly. Even got a shout out from the band! Felt very popular. Afterwards we head home for more drinks where we party with the band!

Day 15
We all go shopping then Nicola shows us around Brighton, Church Street and Hampton Street. Stopping for a nice hot chocolate, then a Blonde beer at the Brown Cow. Dinner is again cooked for us by Nicola, a lovely roast chicken followed by a cheese platter and wine. Yum.

Day 16
Caught the train to the city centre only takes about 10 mins. Go into the Tourist information across from Flinders Street station to browse at some leaflets, then catch the free city loop train. We jump off at the Old Melbourne Gaol. Walk around the old gaol ((Jail) in and out all the cells learning about some of the characthers imprisoned there including the very famous Ned Kelly who was hanged there. We joined a tour of the watchman's building where prisoners were detained before sentencing. You are taken by a "Sargent" and treated like a prisoner. We were each given our cards with your name, address and why you were arrested. Very fun experience, locked in a cell then the lights put out! As the building was only closed in 1994 all the graffitii is original. We walk back down Russell Street to the station. Then back home for some french onion soup followed by Luke's pork stir fry! TIDY.

Day 17
Back into the city to visit Cook's Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens. Captain Cook discovered Australia and his parents house was brought over here and rebuilt. Wander around the beautiful gardens and see the fairy tree which is carved with elves, pixies and goblins alongside australian animals. We also visit the Tudor Village - miniature replicas of authentic tudor building gifted to Melbourne from the citizens of Lambeth. Next stop the City museum where we learn about the history of melbourne.
Homeward bound and Luke cooks us chicken kievs. This is the life. We are being looked after so well could get used to this!

Day 18
Quiet day, make some bacon and brie baguettes for lunch then zip into town to book our Great Ocean road tour. back home to watch a dvd. Again Luke treats us to a lovely lamb dinner, these people are spoliing us!

Day 19
The rain is pouring down for our girlie day out in town! Nicola takes us to the Shrine of Remembrance which is a beautiful big building dedicated to remembering those who fought in the war. We catch a short ceremony of light followed by a minutes silence. There is a massive british flag signed by the POW that worked on the bridge over the river kwai. It was quite surreal to think that we had seen the graves of those australians mentioned here back in Thailand. Very moving place.
We walk past the arts centre and down to the South Bank to have a look at the Crowne Casino, very fancy and they have a smart light/fountain display. Head for lunch down a lovely little side street cafe.
At night Nicola and Luke take us to their favourite Italian restaurant Fazio's. We try calamari for starter which is gorgeous. Then we try 4 different kinds of pizza absolutely fab. We return home and one glass of wine turns into another and before you know it we're dancing around the kitchen with a tamborine and playing the bongo drum when the sun comes up.

Day 20
Us girls sleep in late then at night time we all head into town to Lygon Street which is full of italian restuarants. We sit outside under the patio heater cant do that in scotland in the winter!. Have a lovely meal and wine then head back to the Birdcage for a night cap where we catch a feww song from the live jazz/blues band.

Day 21
We have another long lie and Nicola and Luke take us to a gorgeous beachside cafe for brunch. The weather brightens up we go the the beach for a stroll, there's a massive row of beach boxes (you can see them in the start up in Neighbours) all brightly and individually painted, and you can see the tall buildings in the city. Nicola takes us on a beach road drive and then we go for coffee then some shopping. Dvds at night then Nicola and Luke return from a 60th and we drink until the wee hours.

Day 22
Off to St KIlda sunday market, browse along the handcrafts on sale at the row of stalls. We then take a wander around Lunar Park a really old retro theme park. We stop for fish cakes (potato fritters to you and I) Them we head to South Melbourne Market to pick up dinner. Jen tried Oysters and enjoyed them, I was feeling a bit too rough to put a bit of snot in my mouth so will try later! On the drive home Luke took us past a house that had Pamela Andersons face as the entire front. Some people are weird. Then took us round the track where they have the Grand Prix. Its used as normal roads just now but he pointed out where they closed it off and where the pit stop and grandstands are.
Oysters and lamb curry for tea, I try the oysters which are nice but the texture is still offputting. The curry however was fab thanks Nicola.

Day 23
We head into town to the Melbourne Aquarium which was cool, managed to see feeding time that was entertaining, the divers go in and feed then fish by hand. We have our packed lunch by Yarrea river then head to the Rialto Tower. 55 floors up there is a viewing platform with 360 degrees views of the city. we point out everywhere we have been and take in the views for a bit. Dinner made for us again a nice stew.

Day 24
DAY TRIP! The Great Ocean Road
Get up at 5.40am and Nicola drives us to the train station (bless) Train into town then wait for our mini bus to pick us up.Hop on the bus is full and Ash is our tour guide for the day. First stop is Bell's Beach at Torquay we see kangaroo's in the wild from the bus. The beach is lovely, its a national park for surfers, only surfing allowed here as its the best for waves in Australia, this is also where the film Point Break was filmed, starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. Ash provids us with tea/coffe and biscuits. Hop back on the bus for the start of the Great Ocean Road. We travel along the gorgeous coastline and head to Split Point Lighthouse there is amazing scenery and a beautiful rainbow forming over the coastline. This is where childrens tv classic Round the Twist was filmed. Next stop the bridge that "officially" marks the start of the ocean road, it's a monument to the guys who built it and the men who died in the war, take a few pictures here. Next stop is Lorne for the views of the coastline. We hit the road again and head to otaway to see Koalas in the wild and feed some lurakeets. Lucky for us there is a koala sitting really low in the tree, it takes a lot to resist picking it up and giving it a cuddle but we do as this is illegal. Ash provides us with bird seeds to out in our hands and the birds are so comfortable wih humans they fly onto your hands and eat the seeds, they were also a bit partial to landing on our heads. Great giggle could have done this all day. We go to Apollo Bay for lunch. Have our packed lunch and have a wander along the beach and town. After lunch we went to the Cape Ottoways for a 20 minute walk through the gorgeous ancient rainforest. Travel for an hour and a half then we reach the famous 12 Apostles. These natural landmarks take your breath away although 12 is now 7. We walk along all the viewing points taking in the stunning scenery. We get the oppotunity to take a helecopter ride over the Apostles for only $60 so we jump at the chance.We got dropped off at the centre threw our life jackets on and hit the sky. The views of the coastline were spectacular, it was unbleavable hovering over the ocean with pilot pionting out different landmarks on the way. It was fantastic! We got dropped off to meet the rest of the group at Loch Ard Gorge anouther stunning place famous for the many shipwrecks that happened there, we walked down to the little beach and had a look round the caves taking loads of pictures. The last stop was London Bridge A huge piece of rock that used to be attached to the mainland by a bridge of rock that collapsed leaving tourists stranded. We took some fab photo's then back on the bus for the journey home stopping only for a quick bit to eat on the way.

Day 25
Still exhausted from the day before we decided to have a lazy day, watched a movie and chilled out. Luke made us a lovely dinner then we had an early night.

Day 26
Got up early as Luke was going to drop us off at the Botanic Gardens which were beautiful. We spent some time wandering though them before heading to Collins street for lunch at the sherlock homes pub We then headed to the free police museum which was really interesting and had some of Ned Kelly's gangs armour hanging up. Then onto the city circle tram to tke us to st Patricks Cathedral which is a beautiful building then back on the tram to Flinders Street. We went to a few souveiner shops then to the opal museam with fossilled opals and really expensive ones you can buy.
In the evening we went back to Fazio's for another fab pizza and pasta.

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Photos

How Now
Luke's Band performing

Hollie
The Old Melbourne Gaol

Jen
The Old Melbourne Gaol

Jen
beside Ned Kelly's armour

Hollie
looking petrified in a cell

Jen
admiring the lovely toilet in a cell

Nicola and Hollie
enjoying the rain

wall of medals
at the Shrine of Remembrance

Comments

[Arlene]

Australia
As per usual, you girls sure know how to enjoy yourselves. It's great catching up with your blog. Australia seems a bit more civilised than Thailand - although there are probably just as many poisonous bugs, fish etc in Australia. Anyway, keep safe and keep having fun. We have had really sh*tty weather lately. Can't remember a day when it hasn't rained at some point. Bet you're glad you're over there and not here. xxxxx