Melbourne Meltdown

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Arrived here a little frazzled after what seemed like a night in an ice-box.....the bus. Air-con has its pros & cons.....at night when you're trying to sleep it is advisable to ensure that you layer your clothing otherwise you are gauranteed a sleepless night. ln my case the shivering stopped at irregular intervals only when the bus stopped for a break & the bus returned to a normal temperature. I know I shouldn't complain seen as you're in the depths of winter at home.

Originally we'd planned to stay in St. Kilda but couldn't get a room there so we stayed in the city center...on Russell St. over a pub called the Exford Hotel. Location is central, dorm of 3, free breakfast, "cheap as"....as the aussies say!....& very clean with a walk-in fridge......absolutely glorious in the heat that's here. We arrived here on Friday & the heat would bake you. We explored the city slowly, lethargically & organised to go on the Great Ocean Rd. the following day.

Two lads from home are here....they know who they are...so we split costs & booked a car to drive along the ocean road to take in the tourist sights along the way. A1 car rentals gave us a good deal. We left on Saturday going as far as a place called Apollo Bay, stopping in Lorne to have a look at the waterfalls & lighthouse & have a bite to eat after the windy coastal road. You'd think that I'd get better at travelling after all this time...but I still can't handle windy roads or rocky seas....It's summer here as you know so we had to do a lot of ringing around before we got somewhere to stay. Ended up staying at a hostel run by a slightly dodery woman who proceeded to tell us the rental history of most of the rooms in the hostel....funny....so we ended up staying here both nights.

Day 2 we continued along to Port Campbell & visited the Twelve Apostles which are 7 large pillars of sandstone that were once part of the coast line that now stand at sea in the breaking surf. Small world it is......met a girl from home there taking in the sights too. Karl & Chris were looking a bit "Irish" so we toddled on to the beach to see if we could help them tidy up their farmer tans......lucky we had sunglasses cause the reflection off their translucent skin would blind you....didn't stay too long at the beach though cause the sandflies were a nightmare & unless you were in the water.....it was a battle to keep the flies from gnawing off your limbs! We stopped in the Otways that day too...it's a national park & took some photos of koalas in the trees. The Grotto & London Bridge were beautiful too...again the result of erosion on the coast line.

That night we went to the local carnival just before it closed. Only got on one ride but my belly was so full from dinner that it was a real struggle to stop myself from puking as the ride whirled up, down, forwards & backwards, me laughing uncontrollably. I'm not great on them at best of times!! Survived, a few tears from laughing too much.

The final day we went to Lorne...visisted the beach, batted the flies & then stopped in Anglesea to see some kangaroos enroute home. The road-trip home was windy. All roads should be built as straight lines & level!! Forget the wonderful view, I usually miss it cause I can't keep my eyes open or I'll puke. But for those of you not so car-sick, the coastal views are delightful!

Not sure what we did but we spent the next week "living" in Melbourne. It's nice when we stop somewhere for a week or so cause both of us just do our own thing, gym (Grace), pool (me), wandering around (both) or sitting in Federation square watching the tennis & the world go by. The weather was absolutely glorious. By day the heat would bake you & by night there was a fresh breeze so that sleeping wasn't a "nightmare". We visited Brighton beach in an attempt to cool down....wasn't the nicest of beches & didn't really cool down but it put in time. There is a tennis tournament on in Kooyong in the suburbs of Melbourne just before the Open & we went there on the Saturday before we left to see Andy Roddick play Baghdatis in the final. Apart form dripping sweat in the searing sun for the afternoon, the tennis was excellent. You wouldn't want to get hit by one of Roddick's balls.....his serve is amazing!

So after a week staying in the Exford Hotel we were on our merry way. It was lovely to catch up with familiar faces too, karl & Chris, Orlagh & her friends. We also found a pretty little Vietnamese restaurant that serves food that tastes pretty authentic & very cheap. So no complaints. Didn't get as far as St. Kilda beach but walked the street. Melbourne is a cool city though. You sometimes feel like you're in Asia with all the skyscrapers & Asians & with it's own Chinatown at our doorstep. And there are some spectacular buildings around the city to admire too.

Bags packed & a few hours sleep later, up we got for the airport. Tasmania next stop.

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