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Published: December 14th 2007
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Feeding Roo's
Lynda with our hopping buddy Hello! It's crazy to think that I have already been here a month and a half. Where has the time gone?? As people in Australia start to put up thier holiday decorations, it really makes miss the holiday season in Michigan. Don't feel too bad for me, I'll mourn for snow while in my bikini at the beach!
On Dec. 2nd I flew to Adelaide, where I stayed with family friends, The Robinsons, for 2 days. Lynda took me to a wild animal park where I got to feed Kangaroos, watch a Tazmanian devil eat a hunk of Kangaroo meat, and take a picture with a Koala!! The Koala's name was Rusty, and I don't think he would have cared if I had dressed him in a little costume, as long as the zookeeper kept hand-feeding him leaves.
After a lovely weekend at thier house, Lynda dropped me at the Greyhound bus station super early to wait for my tour bus, called the Groovy Grape, to pick me up. The Groovy Grape tour was a 3 day tour from Adelaide to Melbourne, along the Great Ocean Road, a scenic coastal route. I was a little nervous because this was
Rusty and I
Buddies for life! my first trip completley on my own, tons of questions were flying through my head..."How do I make friends?" "Will they like me?" "Did I remember to put deoderant on this morning??"
The bus held 21 people, plus the driver, and tour was completley packed. About half the people on the tour were travelling alone as well, and everyone was pretty young, which was nice. Out of the 21 people, I was the only American. There were 4-5 brits, one girl from Canada, 3-4 from Germany, 2 from Holland, and a girl from France so it was quite the mix of people. The first day was a little awkward trying to make small talk with everyone, but as the time passed everyone got pretty close, everyone was really nice.
We started off the tour in the Grampions, a national park a few hours from Adelaide. That night, we stayed in a hostel right in the heart of the park, and our group filled up 90% of the spaces there. I felt bad for the other randoms staying there because things got quite loud as the evening progressed-the british boys were rowdy!! The next morning, we got up bright
Grampions
Waterfall on our hike and early to do a huge hike up in the mountains. It absolutly killed me, but the views from the top were stunning, you could see for miles in every direction. I can't even imagine doing that hike hungover, which was what a few people had to attempt. 😊
We got back in the trusty Groovy Grape bus, and arrived at the Great Ocean Road at mid-afternoon. As soon as you get to the first lookout point, you understand why this drive is so famous, the scenery is just amazing. Huge rock formations in the middle of bright blue waters, and sandy beaches everywhere.
That night we stayed in a cute little beach front house that was converted into a hostel. As this was our last night together, everyone hung out and had some drinks while watching the sun set over the ocean.
The last day, we went strait to the 12 apostles, which is one of the most famous parts of the great ocean road. There were originally 12 of the rock formations in the water, but over the years a few have erroded. So now there are like 7 apostles but the name remains the
Grampions Hike
Tired but happy to be at the top! same.
That day, on the drive, our bus driver pulled over at a Trailer Park (Mobile Home community?), and took us for a short walk. Apparently this area was famous for Koalas nesting in the area, and we ended up seeing 4-5 in the trees, even one with a baby-they were so cute!! Tom, our tour guide, affectionately called them Trailer Trash Koalas. The bus arrived in Melbourne around 7 pm, and that was the end of our tour! Even though I was starting to get comfortable with everyone, I was ready to get off the bus-our A/C ran out the last 4 hours of the drive, which was AWFUL. Once I got into Melbourne I met up with Josh, and just hung out with him that night.
The next day I spent just walking all around Melbourne, doing a little shopping since Melbourne is famous for its shopping. I have been very restrained with the shopping, because I have neither the money nor the space in my backpack, but I splurged and bought a nice dress for a wedding that I am going to next summer. My last night in Melbourne ended up being a little crazy.
My flight to Sydney was at 6am Saturday morning, but the airport is a good distance outside of the city, so I had a cab picking me up at 3am. Josh and I went out with his friends, intending to have a few drinks and be home by midnight. Needless to say, things got a little out of hand, and we ended up drinking and dancing at the bar with his friends untill 2:30. I looked at my watch and said "oh Sh&%$!", and Josh and I ran out the door to catch a cab to his place. We barely got back to his house at 2:55 am, so I grabbed my bag, and ran back out the door just in time for my other cab! I had to be that shameful girl on the plane wearing a party dress and heels and I slept so hard on the plane that I woke up with drool down my chin. Awesome. So I woke up at 7am in Sydney still a little drunk and completley confused, but I set out on a mission for breakfast and water, and once I found those 2 things, the day got much better. I had
a full day in Sydney, just wandering around, I met up with my friend Candice from camp, and she took me to an awesome street market in a really funky/nieghborhood called Glebe, where I bought some cute jewelery. After hanging out with her, I went BACK to the airport that night to catch my flight up to the Whitsunday Islands, in the Great Barrier Reef. But more about that later.
Also, I know I'm a little late, but Happy Hanukah! Eat an extra latke for me. 😊
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mom
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Belated Happy Chanukah!
OOPS! We were remiss about sending Chaunukah cheers, but we did eat that extra latke for you. As always, what a wonderful blog addition. You write with descriptions so vivid, I can visualize these adventures. For example: waking up on the plane back to Sydney in a daze with drool down your chin! LOL