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Published: February 3rd 2008
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Hello Hello!!
We made it safely to Melbourne...just, Mavis wanted to leave a lasting impression on us and started making thumping noises whenever i braked. Not funny in the pouring rain in the busy suburbs of Melbourne. Luckily we turned down a little lane and found a RAC garage (what are the chances?!) Cordy went and made car noises at the guys in the garage and they said something about break pads...but we drove on and got her back in one piece.
A little foolishly because we like vans with particular quirks, we have booked with the same company to do our road trip Cairns - Sydney. Which we start on Wednesday. We fell in love with the Campervan way of life...but have treated ourselves to an upgrade in campervans and havent gone with a 'special' deal (ie...please take this dodgy van as far away from us as possible and we wont ask for much money) Now we wont have to go out into the night to do the washing up and have one primus stove to cook on ... theres a kitchen inside the van!!!
I'll update you on the end of the road trip...we left Adelaide and headed
to the Great Ocean Road - many little towns and villages on the way, going through landscape that looked like the moon, ..hills, valleys, seaside villages. Port Fairy was a highlight...gorgeous little seaside town with a market on the green, (and Adam Brody had been there a few weeks before -ooooo). We stopped in Peterborough, a tennis village, where everyone went around in tennis clothes and the accessory was a tennis racket, (we stopped there briefly but the bizarreness left an impression!)
Eventually we got the the Great Ocean Road, a stretch of the coastline which is well renown for its beauty and shipwrecks. Our first day was pretty cloudy but the rugged beauty on the coastline was undeniable. There are several lookout spots. You park and walk down to them. Loch Ard Gorge was particuarly stunning on our second and sunny day. We walked to secluded beaches and coves and viewed blowholes and rivers. We were lucky to often find these places deserted of people and felt like we had just found them ourselves. (instead of being very well signposted - thanks Victoria National Trust)
We visited a Lighthouse at Cape Otway. (ooo, which reminds me we visited
another near Anglesea, which is in "Around the Twist!") Anyway at Cape Otway we climbed the Light house to find stunning views and a real life Lighthouse keeper, Pat (now a guide as the light house is not functioning anymore) He was just like a lighthouse keeper from a kids story book and had lots of stories of when he lived on a lighthouse that was out in the sea and his and his famillies only contact with the outside world was when a helicopter delivered food fortnightly. He lived there for 2 years!
Now, we are in Melbourne and we are in LOVE. It is a great city. There is so much going on and so much to see. We have had busy days trying to do everything. We are staying with June, (a friend of the family) and we have been very warmly welcomed into her house and to Melbourne. After our cramped (but lovable) van its been wonderful to have a real bed, space and cats! June has been fantastic in helping us have an authentic Melbourne experience. Which has included Bratwurst and Sauerkraut for breakfast at the Victoria Market, an Aussie film night -The Castle
is a must see for everyone who likes Kath and Kim, traditional hot chocolate at Koko Black, a visit to the Block Arcade and seeing a Melbourne Band. We were VERY lucky to see a FANTASTIC band last night called The Cat Empire...possibly one of the best shows ever! They have a really eclectic sound, Jazz-Ska-Cuban-Latin-Rock-Pop A fantastic night...ooooooo! They also had a couple of great supporting acts; The Beautiful Girls and Blue King Brown who had such intense live energy and i saw Stu from Neighbours!!!
We have been very happy to find some very cool cafes here - one that has old train station waiting chairs for seat (Degraves Espresso) and 'Little Cupcakes'-a little cafe selling little cupcakes.yum.
A great Contemporary Art Gallery, where the building is as cool as the art work (Richard Billingham) - with jagged edges and rust. We also visited the National Gallery that has a very cool water feature for an entrance. Other 'must do's' are the Botanic Gardens - one of the best in the world apparently, the Library, Museum (with a bit of the neighbours set in it!!) and Federation Square-with its quirky buildings -and Sunday Markets around the Art
Centre..rings made from spoon handles etc.
Better go, another busy day in Melbourne ahead...fly to Cairns on Wednesday and will try and 'blog' along the way.
Hope you like the photos we have eventually got on here. Missing a few as i have stupidly broken my camera forcing the battery in the wrong way - really clever.
Hope you are all well.
Lots of love Issie and Cordy.
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