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Published: February 25th 2009
So, following the end Sydney's festivities and whilst most were still nursing hangovers...I slipped away on January 2nd....'but where to?'....I hear you groan....
Melbourne Only the sporting capital of Australia, no less! And as I checked into yet another hostel that I felt too old for, I found that Melbourne Victory were playing against someone (it didn't matter who) at home. So after dumping my rucksack it was off to find what locals call.....the 'Telstra dome'.
And what a great stadium it was too, a 50,000 seater stadium, equipped with fantastic views, a retractable roof, great atmosphere and......meat pies (I hadn't eaten one since leaving the UK - beat that Reevesie...oh you can't...). Anyway, back to the teams.. In the blue corner we had Melbourne Victory who boasted Kevin 'the Cat' Muscat and the response from Queensland Roar came in the shape of...Danny 'the t**t' Tiatto. Ding ding, game on then.
No score at h/t but it wasn't long before the MV raced into a 2-0 lead. The second goal was a bit like I used to score on Fifa '98 on the PS1, but sadly (for me) I couldn't share this with anyone at
the ground. Despite a late rally from QR, the home side held on to all 3 pts and went top of the league. Hmm, where do I get a shirt from..?.
The following day saw a kick around in the park with my hostel room mates Gav (Oz) , Niels and Boudewijn aka Bou (Hol) before hatching a plan to do the famous Great Ocean Road with the latter two as a self drive. As any trip to Melbourne (the sports capital of Oz) wouldn't be complete without a trip to the MCG so it was a case of 'when in Rome (again) as I headed down there....the MC what?.
The MCG The world famous Melbourne Cricket Ground then with a 100,000 seating capacity, amazing boxes and hospitality suites but strangely incorporating the wrong shape pitch (for footy anyway). As there were no games on that day I opted for the tour. It was pretty cool and we were shown round the changing rooms, function rooms etc etc. also got a good view of 'Oz Open' tennis courts. Inside there was a huge piece of tapestry with the 100 most famous Aussie sportsmen woven into
to as some form of commemorative piece. Surprisingly Kevin Muscat featured on there....in what can only be described as a total gutter for Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka.
Prior to doing the Great Ocean Road we took a cheeky trip to St Kilda where we watched the penguins coming in at dusk, altho something not in the travel guides is that there are actually more water rats coming in at dusk.
The Great Ocean Road So, the Great Ocean road, then and yep it's a coastal road with a series beaches and rock formations that you can stop at along the way. The most famous feature and by far and away the best is the '12 Apostles' - a series of stacks and stumps that have remained resilient to the erosive power of the waves (well the bits that are still standing anyway, not the gaps).
A cool way to see the area is via helicopter so Niels and I thought 'when in Rome' and hopped on. Great views as expected, especially for Niels as he won 'paper, rock, scissor' and got to sit in the front. Then back down for sunset. Then
off to find our hostel. The latter being the more tricky of the two.
The following day we took in the Bay of Martyrs, Bay of Islands, Beach Bay,and just to make sure we saw some places without 'Bay' in the name we took in 'Loch Gorge' and 'London Bridge'. Back via a National Park which we rushed thro in order to get the car back before the deadline and the flight to Tasmania. There was time for a cheeky drink with ex FP Marie (Oz) before the airport shuttle too, altho I can't find the photo I took..
The Big Taz The often forgotten 'bottom bit' of Oz then, famous for the Tasmanian devil and (a lesser known fact) that some places are a bit like 'Deliverance', anyway irrespective of it's claim to fame it would in fact be my home for the next 6 days. Well 'home' insofar as living in hostels out of a rucksack and sleeping in a bunk bed.... but the big question was 'would I actually see a Tazzie devil?' On arriving I soon found out they are timid, nocturnal creatures so the chances were slim.
First off
we went to the capital Hobart. The capital city then, bright lights, busy streets, sirens all night long...? Wrong, the capital city where pretty much everything shuts at 5pm. Luckily we found a 'late night' supermarket that didn't shut at 5pm and it was over the masterchef Bou for 'pot noodle surprise' for tea.
Next up we needed to find a camper (none available) or a cheap car (none available) or an expensive one....er please? (still none available). So over to Plan B which incorporated sorting some tours out before we risked staying in Hobart for 6 days which, if you'd seen our weird little hostel ,would have been a bad idea trust me. With the tours booked, Bou and Niels went off to a (gay) wildlife park the following day whilst I headed to (cool) Wineglass Bay
Back to the Tazzie devil then and on this tour we saw lots. Sadly all on the road....and flat (sadly)..... as I also discovered that despite being timid, they sadly didn't steer clear of the roads when they did come out. But they weren't the only ones as we also saw possums, wombats and other stuff and I mean lots...
this place really was roadkill central, not that I'm selling this 'Tazzie place' to you too well, but it has to be said. Or maybe it doesn't, especially if you're eating..
Wineglass bay then, and guess what kids?... it gets its name cos it's shaped like a......wineglass. It's quite a long way up the east coast so got some cool stops on the way there, and (inevitably) more roadkill. When we got there and walked to the top we got a great view over the said bay and were given the choice of walking down to the beach or going back to the van to check out some smaller beaches. After having gone all the way to see it I thought 'when in Rome' and trotted down to the beach for a ham sandwich. It was class (the view, not the sarnie).
Next day and we all headed off to Port Arthur, one of the most infamous prisons to house those sent there from the UK. It was used to house the more troublesome convicts therefore it was deemed to be the harshest. When I say troublesome I mean that they may have originally been sent to Tazzie
for something as minor as (drum roll) stealing a loaf of bread but by trying to escape they could have been sent to Port Arthur.
We got to walk round a museum thing where you got given a playing card (which represented a real convict) and had to follow the signs to see what your crime was and how you got on in the prison. I was 5 of spades and I was whilst being a petty thief I didn't really learn a trade in prison, unlike Niels who excelled at carpentry whilst Bou just kept getting in trouble for starting fights.
Saturday morning in Hobart is Salamanca market time, a highlight according to the Lonely Planet. It was a pretty cool, arty market however the highlight was one trader reading from a children's book like he was commentating on the grand national. I think he was on day release. I video'd it and will try to stick it on youtube or FB.
Launceston The third trip was a place called 'Cradle Mountain' and as I was sat next to the guide in the van I started chatting to him about stuff. It transpired
he did LOTS of hikes,.....although I couldn't help noticing that had been attacked by the old podgemeisters which I put down to a slow metabolism or something. Prior to reaching our destination we stopped off at a cafe to buy lunch etc. As I was stood in front of him in the queue and as I didn't know what to buy (ie how long the walk would be, when the next food stops would be) I asked what he recommended. He replied 'a sandwich, drink and fruit, but get fruit from supermarket as it will be cheaper'. No sooner had got my food and change, he went and ordered 'a bacon & egg roll, ham sandwich, coke, and a slice of cake'. It seemed that the 'slow metabolism' was more likely to just be 'being partial to a bit of cake' then.
After walking to the top, the view was great and was made better due to the weather (see photos). We got to see a wild roo at the bottom which was scared away by a chap from Peru who wanted just one too many close up photos. We also got to see a wild Wombat too, these
Cradle Mountain
Niels, moi and Boucreatures are the best.
Niels and Bou then headed to Melbourne whilst I caught a flight back to Sydney to see Danny one more time before a cheeky day trip to the Blue mountains...then another school re-union, this time with Caroline (Eng).
In Oz dorm living is an experience of which many of you folks back home aren't aware of (and you too Reevesie). Lights rarely go off before midnight, and if they do, they go back on again when peeps drift in at all hours. Then normally some pleb gets up early to ensure that your lie in is interrupted. Anyway, that morning I was the pleb as I got up at 5am to catch my flight to New Zealand (aka the Big Zeal)........and the eagerly awaited (although not by him) re-union with Palin...
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Cathi
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You really need to visit Rome... then your frequent use of a certain phrase would be more apt :-) I've still got my Roo pic - love it!!! xx