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Published: June 13th 2009
Poor Gretchen finally got here 5 hours after her originally scheduled arrival after being rerouted to Sydney due to some weather problem that we’re not really sure of. Anyway, she looked surprisingly amazing and awake when she got here, which shocked me!
Sunday morning we all got up extra early to go to Hobart, Tasmania. We got there around 8am and not having thought about the fact that it was Sunday morning and everything would be closed, we were all shocked to see the whole town completely abandoned. It was like a ghost town actually, we couldn’t even find a single place to get breakfast. The town was very cute though. It reminded me of Germany actually. We walked around and finally managed to find one place that had coffee, so we sat there waiting for our check-in time at the hotel. The hotel was seriously the best part of the trip for me- there was finally light!!!!!! I haven’t slept that well since I got to Australia! For dinner we ventured out to a little Italian restaurant that a man recommended in the airport. There was an hour wait when we got there, but it was so worth it.
The gnocchi was the best I’ve ever had (even better than Italy)!
Monday we went to grab some lunch by the pier before we took a tour to the Cascade brewery. The pier area was really cute and had these boats that were turned into restaurants with fresh seafood (I thought this was an awesome idea). The brewery was up on the hillside and very old building, we were told to go there because of the scenery. It actually was really beautiful and they had a restaurant with gardens overlooking the town. Afterwards, It was definitely cold and we really weren’t up for wondering around in the weather, so sad to say, but that night we actually went back to the Italian place for dinner haha. We all looked up in the sky that night because there were amazing stars out and actually saw the Southern Cross. We took a moment for you Grami!
Tuesday we rented a car and I had my first experience driving on the wrong side of the road. Surprisingly, it actually wasn’t that hard to get used to. I guess since I’ve been watching the cars come from the right for so long
that my brain switched directions. I’m actually worried now that it might be hard to switch back when I get home. We took about a 3 hour drive north to Wineglass Bay. The big“highway” was hysterical because it was the equivalent of out windy mountain roads in Georgia…a little scary. We stopped at a “town”, which consisted of a café and outhouse, and got lunch.
The coolest part was when we got to the parking lot at Wineglass because there were Wallabies right there waiting for us. They were so cute and would come right up to you. Definitely by far the coolest thing ever!
We began the hike up to the mountain to the lookout and all realized we were in worse shape than we thought. The lookout was stunning though and you could see the crystal clear bay below. This was then Gretchen and Jenn decided it’d be a good idea to hike down to the bay. I tried to be the voice of reason and say that first of all it looked like it might rain and secondly it was a LOT longer hike down then they were thinking. But down we went…
The
hike down wasn’t that bad and bay was beautiful, however the hike back up…not so fun. We all just zoned out by some point trying to climb up the stairs and then it started to pour like I predicted. This made for a very interesting and slippery journey. Needless to say, everyone was quiet on the way home. That night, I’m sad to admit, the 5 of us consumed 5 Dominos pizzas because we were so hungry after the hike of death haha.
Wednesday morning before our flight back we walked around an area called Salamanca. It was a cute town, which reminded me again of Europe. We just wondered around the shops and stopped for lunch to get Thai. Once we got back into Melbourne, my friends Caroline and Nicole had gotten in. We all met up and went for Italian on Lygon St. Can you see a trend here…do something, then pig out! I love how our entire schedule was surrounding food. Oh and that night I introduced everyone to a Tim Tam slam- where you suck milk through a Tim Tam and it becomes the most amazing thing you’ve ever witnessed. Gretchen and I managed to
go through 4 boxes before she left haha.
On Thursday we all went on a tour through the Yarra Valley. It’s only 1 hour outside of Melbourne, but it’s right along the Victorian foothills, so the scenery is beautiful. The area is known for its wineries, small vegetable and plant farms. We had a delicious lunch at Rochford, consisting of Salmon and steak. That night I took everyone to Stalactites for some serious Greek goodness!
Gretchen went with Caroline and Nicole down the Great Ocean Road Friday and then to Sydney Saturday and Sunday, before leaving on Monday to go back home. I missed her immediately because it was really nice having someone around to talk to all the time…and she agreed that I do live in a dungeon, so I had someone to share the misery.
Jenn’s birthday was Saturday night, so we went out to Movida and then got her a Chinese fruit cake, since her parents weren’t around to do so. This week got extremely cold and windy! I’ve managed to finish my last paper I’ll ever have in college, which is weird. Monday is the start of finals, so we’ll see how that
goes. Apparently it’s in a huge hall with 3,000 people all taking different tests at one time, so I’m a little stressed. But I’m getting really excited about my vacation to China after it’s all over!
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Grami Jean
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GREAT JOB
MY DEAR BETHANY YOU DO SUCH A GREAT JOB OF WRITING ABOUT WHERE YOU'VE BEEN AND WHAT YOU'VE SEEN I LOVE READING YOUR TRAVEL BLOG LOVE FROM YOUR GRAMI JEAN