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Published: March 4th 2010
NEW YEARS DAY - MANLY
On NYD we ventured over to the Northern Beaches and Manly to visit Derek and Leanne. We took the ferry over to Manly wharf, which itself was a hive of activity. Immediately upon exiting the wharf we could see Manly was beautiful! It had a real small holiday village feel to it and yet was uber fashionable and trendy. Beautifully paved streets. The promenade was lined with bars, restaurants and stylish shops, we could see why Derek and Leanne were so captivated by it. One of its major advantages is that it has both Ocean and Harbour beaches. Add to this an abundance of walking trails and sporting activities and it explains why tons of city dwellers favour this area for their weekend or holiday excursions.
Derek was a little unwell on New Years Day, he had caught a flu type bug (miraculously, the rest of us managed to avoid it) so being the Florence Nightingales we are, Monica, Leanne and I left him in bed, took Paul, and headed down to a funky little wine bar we had found earlier in the day! It was a great bar, super music, a lad playing the
bongos, a really insane crowd up dancing on everywhere and anywhere (tables included)! It was so great we stayed there till well after sunset, watching the glorious red, orange and yellow hues illuminating the boats outside and then watching the colours gradually change into purples and blues and finally fading to black, obscuring the horizon. Still we stayed! Till we thought we may miss the last ferry and only then did we bid Leanne and Manly farewell and set sail back to Darling Harbour for our last night at the Medina Harbourside Apartments.
Sat 2 January 2010 - BOB AND GEA'S
A stressful morning ensued. Yet more shoving and squeezing in an attempt to pack our accumulation of baggage (we had managed to only reduce our luggage by two bags - we still had two big bags and two little bags each to carry!) We said 'Au Revoir' to Monica. We searched high and low in complete desperation, trying to locate an Internet connection to book transport to Melbourne, accommodation, car hire for New Zealand and a few other essentials. It was absolutely atrocious, in a country so developed as Australia the costs they want for you
to pay for a service as cheap as Wifi and then the poor quality of the line / connection - just ridiculous! We were unsuccessful in finding a suitable or appropriate connection - anywhere!! In the end we gave in and moved on to a more positive note. We called Bob! He and Gea had invited us to go and stay with them and I was very excited, with all the fun and eventfulness we had not really had an opportunity to catch up properly with them and I was really looking forward to it. Bless him, Bob even came and picked us and our multitude of bags up (yet again) and chauffeured us and the bags back to there house.
Their house was lovely. The location absolutely perfect. A suburb called Randwick, which had everything you could possibly need or require (it was actually where we spent our very successful shopping day on Crimbo eve)! And if that was not enough Randwick was within walking distance to Coogee and only a few km from Sydney central. There house was right next to Centennial Park and nestled in a delightful garden and tree area where the birds noisily chirped
and nestled in on the branches right next to Bob and Gea's balcony. Standing out there you could have been in the middle of a rainforest. You would have never of guessed you were in the centre of a major city!! It was perfect!!
Bob was our star that day! He trawled the Internet non-stop to find us everything we needed at the best possible price! We discovered that all the buses to Melbourne were fully booked for the next seven days at least (we needed to leave the next day - nightmare). Trains were priced astronomically and the only possible mode of transport left available to us was plane. Bob found a cheap, reliable site and booked us a flight to Melbourne for the following day. He also sorted out all our other queries, dilemmas and essentials. What an absolute hero!!! Just as we finished Gea arrived home from work and we spent a lovely afternoon catching up and looking at travelling photos whilst devouring ice chilled lager (Bob and Gea's favourite tipple!) That night we walked down to their local before heading the short walk out to the restaurant and bar area for a really tasty
and delicious Thai meal!
Early the next morning (Sun 3 Jan) Gea woke me and took me for a run around Centennial Park. It was just amazing, I still couldn't get over the close proximity their location had to the most wondrous outdoor environment. We reached the Park in just a few minutes jogging and what a gorgeous place to run: vast lawns and gardens, a huge collection of ponds with tons of moorhens, ducks and other unrecognisable birdlife. Various different tracks circled round and through the park all with specific allocations, one for cycling, one for running, rollerblading, pushchairs and even a horseriding track! It being Sunday morning tons of people were out exercising (I suppose when you have great weather and such fabulous facilities it motivates and inspires you to go out and get training. If I run at home on a Sunday morning, I never normally see a soul!!
One of the most enjoyable runs I have ever done completed (It helps take your mind off the pain when you have great company!) we showered changed and returned to the park to one of the numerous cafes / vans there for a bacon butty (and
the obligatory Cappuccino). All hard work undone in one fowl swoop ... but SO worth it!!
To kill the few hours before our flight Bob and Gea then took us to Bondi Junction. A huge indoor shopping complex (sort of like the Trafford Centre but on a much grandeur scale - in fact it actually stretched for miles and miles) shopping heaven!!! It also sheltered us from the torrential downpours as the weather had once again taken a particularly dismissal change for the worse. After beautiful bright blue skies for our run in the morning, it was now dark, grey and absolutely chucking it down. Nevermind, we had a great nosey round the shops and Gea bought a fab World countries and Capital cities game which they promptly kicked our asses on (never play a Geography game with intrepid travelers!) We never stood a chance!
Finally it was time to say goodbye! We had such a wonderful time with Bob and Gea and they looked after us SO well! It was really great to be able to meet back up with them after South America and to be able to spend some quality time catching up with such
a gorgeous and interesting couple. Hugs and farewells complete they dropped us at Sydney's domestic terminal and late afternoon on Sun 3 Jan we caught a flight South leaving Sydney behind and heading for Melbourne, Victoria.
MELBOURNE - Mon 4 Jan 2010
We were staying in what was classified as 'the new breed of hostels' - Nomads. A state of the art hostel, very clean, incredibly social, helpful staff and great facilities including a rooftop garden and a fantastic downstairs bar and beer garden which held various different themed or entertainment nights. We had a last discovered a hostel which we thought was actually the type and standard which we expected to find in a country as affluent as Australia.
We spent the day exploring the sights and sounds of Melbourne and then returned to the hostel at 5pm ready to meet Monica again as she had promised to take us on a tour of her home city followed by an excursion to a beach/bay suburb of Melbourne for $5 pizza!
ST KILDA
Located South of Melbourne and renowned for its beach and promenade, St Kilda was strikingly reminiscent of a beach holiday resort. The promenade was
lined by the beach on one side and restaurants and bars on the other. An old pier jutted out into the sea and it was lined with a multitude of fishing rods. At the end of the pier a small crowd had gathered to watch penguins return to the shore! (Slightly bigger penguins than the fairy penguins we had sort of seen on the GOR!). After watching the sunset over the city of Melbourne we returned to the promenade and as promised Monica took us for $5 pizza. All part of our strict weight loss programme!!
OUR NEW WHEELS!
We woke early (Tues 5 Jan 2010), excited at the prospect of once again having our own wheels! We had booked to hire a car for 4 days in order to drive the Great Ocean Road and to explore Southern Australia. It was just such a freedom having our own car and being able to do what we wanted when we wanted and not having to rely on timetables, cancellations or public transport. We collected the car and returned to Nomads (our hostel) ready to pile all the bags into the boot. We had been previously warned about the keenness
of traffic wardens around Melbourne so even though we would only be a few minutes, we stuck money in the parking meter, directly outside the hostel and went in to grab the bags. As we returned to the car just moments later, a warden was writing a ticket!! Paul ran out pointing to the ticket in the front window.
“What do you see wrong with this picture?” The warden asked nonchalantly whilst pointing up and down the street. It was then that we realised we had seen a spot on the opposite side of the road and simply crossed over to park in it. In Australia, you are only allowed to park on the side of the road facing in the direction of traffic on that side!! Luckily, after much groveling and proving we had only collected the car less than five minutes earlier, the warden let us off but told us to move immediately. Before he had drawn another breath we had left!!
THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD
The GOR (Great Ocean Road) runs from Torquay 285km West to Warrnambool. It is a magnificent scenic drive replicating the Pacific Coast Highway in California. The road follows the coastline initially
giving stunning views and passing through gorgeous little towns such as Airley's Inlet and Lorne.
We stopped at Airley's Inlet to take photos of the lighthouse. As we pulled up there were tons of tourists already there, Paul pulled forward into a parking space on an adjacent road. As he pulled in I did mention that I did not think we would be allowed to park there, but Paul just scoffed and told me to have a look round at all the other tourists parked there. We pulled into a gap in a row of what must have been over twenty cars on our side of the road and another twenty on the other side. We left the car, took our photos and returned to the car. Just as we made it back to the car we saw a quaint little tea room serving tea and fresh scones. Hhhmmmmm! Afternoon tea, just what the Doctor had ordered. We returned to the tea rooms and had the most delectable tea and scones sitting out in the lovely sunshine. What a perfect day! ... That was until we returned to the car!!! We had only been ten, fifteen minutes max
Melbourne
Spot the one with the big mouth?!but in those ten to fifteen minutes a parking warden had had the audacity to fine every single car on that road! It must have been over thirty cars!! The fine £75!!!! Talk about councils making money out of tourists - there wasn't even a no parking sign anywhere!!! Everybody was very annoyed. I instantaneously phoned the council! They just said that if we checked a local directory we would be aware that there was no parking along that particular stretch (even though it is a major tourist stopping point!) Like as a tourist I carry a local directory! As I said - money making!! Australia in the last ten years had become more similar to the UK than I could have ever believed!! It really took the shine off the day and made me very angry and yet disappointed at the same time that officials could stoop so low to make money off people who are there bolstering that countries economy! It was the most expensive afternoon tea I have ever paid for!!!
Now annoyed and agitated we continued on The Great Ocean Rip Off, whoops sorry, I mean Road till we reached Apollo Bay. After this village
the road leaves the coast and winding its way through the Otway National Park. We had been recommended to take a small detour (15km) at this point and drive South to Cape Otway. The road became much smaller and unsealed but was lined with magnificent eucalyptus trees. Whilst staring out at the trees, we could hardly believe our eyes when we saw wild Koala bears just perched in the trees right next to the road. We slammed the brakes on and dived out before we missed the remarkable spectacle. A trillion photos later we hopped back in the car, traveled mere metres and happened across another koala sleeping in a eucalyptus tree next to the road ... another million pictures!! After we had seen about a million wild koalas chomping or sleeping in trees by the roadside, however, the excitement had abated a little and we just pointed and kept driving - one to conserve photo space on the card but two to actually continue to progress to our destination!!
After the detour along Cape Otway, we returned to the GOR and continued to head West along the section of the road known as the Shipwreck Coast (over two
hundred shipwrecks have been discovered). We had decided not to follow the Shipwreck trail which takes you to 25 Shipwreck sites but I was very keen to visit The Twelve Apostles. gigantic limestone pillar formations, rising some 65m out of the Ocean. Carved and shaped by the power of the water and wind over millions of years. Unfortunately, due to tidal and wind erosion over the last few years several of the Apostles had succumbed to the forces of nature and collapsed into the sea. There were at this time only nine left standing. Still looking out over the sand coloured formations and watching the Ocean water crashing along and up the sides of them was mesmerising!
We remained at the Twelve Apostles watching the beautiful sunset sky colours reflecting off the pillars and into the water. It was very scenic and peaceful there with just the mellowing sounds of the Ocean rhythmically pounding the cliffs or washing up on the beach below breaking the silence. After the sun had set and the sky darkened yet further still we stood watching out to the beach below. Why? Because we had been advised that if we waited round for thirty
minutes after sunset, a colony of fairy penguins that would have spent the day feeding out in Ocean would then return to feed their young hidden in the cliffs below. The wait seemed to drag. The temperature plummeted. The wind chill factor along the coast line had just about frozen us to the spot and we were about to abandon all hope when I saw the first minute, tiny black dots coming up onto the shore! Paul was not impressed!
“Thats it! I have frozen my ass off just to see black dots ... they weren't bloody joking when they called them fairy were they?!” Luckily, the couple next to us had binoculars and when we borrowed them you could actually make out the fairy penguins quite clearly - they were adorable! A happier note to end the day with at least, so I thought, don't think Paul was quite as convinced but then again he didn't have his glasses on him!!
WED 6 JAN 2010
We drove the remainder of The Great Ocean Road the next morning and then headed North of Mount Gambier to the wine region - COONAWARRA. Monica, an expert in red wine, had
recommended we called into this area and as we really enjoyed the bottle she brought to our apartment over Christmas and it came from there we thought it would be rude not to stop off and have a look ... and a taste! Coonawaara was only a small wine producing area, noted for its red wines, which were compared to those of Bordeaux. There were about twenty vineyards in the area providing tastings, we selected just a few to sample their wares!! Hollick, Balnaves, Zema, Wynns, Penley and Katnook. It was whilst in this last winery that we got chatting to the lad doing the tastings, he had just returned from travelling himself. Paul told him he had been very disappointed with the quality of the reds in Australia, saying they were not full bodied enough and didn't have the complexity which he found in the Shiraz back home. The lad looked round sneakily and then pulled a bottle out from under the counter. A black simple label stating the name of the wine: The Prodigy!
“Your just not trying the right bottles,” he said rather matter of factly. “Try this.”
The second he poured the Shiraz into the testing
glass you could smell the good quality of an aged, complex red wine. Paul nearly had a breakdown, he said it was one of the best red wines he had ever tasted!! I, myself, being a little more practical, inquired about the price. £75 per bottle! Now, I understand that this is not much for some people, however, I could not justify spending that much on something you just pee out a few hours later! I dragged Paul away from the counter and out of the shop and as we continued out of Coonawaara NorthWest to Bordertown he was still going on and on about how great 'The Prodigy' tasted!!
We reached Bordertown around dinner time and had to make a split decision - continue on to Adelaide or head back towards Melbourne and visit the inland National Parks. After much debate and a couple of calls to Monica we decided it was just too far to try and make it to Adelaide and then back to Melbourne within just three days so we turned East and instead made for Horsham and Halls Gap, home to the Grampians National Park. Despite the late hour we managed to contact the
'Asses Ears Wilderness Lodge' there and booked a nights accommodation.
The sun had set and we were driving in the depths of the National Park, it was quiet and a very, very eerie place. We didn't pass any houses or even cars for that matter. We drove on. Deeper and deeper into the wilderness. It became quite scary. Moments later we saw a rickety old sign, half hanging, half fallen propped against a tree signaling for the lodge turn left! As we turned off the road and into a field, driving along two tracks made by tractor wheels things had got really spooky, we wondered exactly where we had booked into. Just at that moment, freakily the radio picked up a signal (we hadn't received radio for several hours!) and classical music, the type which you would hear on a horror movie, started to play! As we drove further up hill on the makeshift road, the music built in tempo and intensity! You could not have timed it better. It felt like we were starring in some sort of horror movie! We both had to just burst out laughing it was SO surreal! A few minutes later we pulled
up at the wilderness lodge and it was actually a huge place with several cabins, great rooms and superb views (well it was the next morning when we could see!) and it was not that spooky at all. Its amazing what shadows at night, a piece of dramatic music and an overactive imagination can do to you!!!!
THE GRAMPIANS (Thurs 7 Jan)
We awoke early and set off ready for a days activity and exploration of some of the walking trails around the National Park. The sandstone ranges of the Grampians marked a stark contrast to the flat, wheat producing fields in the surrounding areas. We decided to drive across the National Park, stopping to complete all the walks we came across. The drive was very picturesque and twisted and turned through the hills and valleys of the park. The first walk we happened upon was: Mackenzie Falls - a three km walk along a gorge to the base of the falls. Then we tackled 'The Balconies' (formerly known as the Jaws of Death) which I think sounds much more impressive! Again it was only a couple of km but this time walking through trees and scrub until
reaching the lookout over the Victoria valley. Two jagged rock ledges, one above the other resembling a set of elongated jaws about to snap shut. The final walk of the day was in the most popular section of the Park known as 'the Wonderland Range'. A 5.5km walk to a lookout called 'the Pinnacle'. It was a steady gradual climb to the lookout - nothing too taxing but it was an enjoyable walk, especially the small detour we took along a section called the 'Grand Canyon' where there were numerous steel ladders and ropes to negotiate. The Pinnacle lookout was well worth the walk and it was easy to see why it was the most popular excursion in the Grampians. It was a protrusion of rocks which seemed to defy gravity, poking out over an impossibly high drop and looking out over the valley below - very impressive and a super place to have lunch (see the photo)!!
HALLS GAP
A gorgeous, quirky little village set in the depths of the National Park on a long flat valley surrounded by mountain ranges and soaring bushland. We reached it early in the afternoon. After a short exploration and after exhausting
the vast majority of the day walks in the National Park, we decided there was only one thing left to do ... have another round of our Crazy golf championship!! There was a fab crazy golf course at Halls Gap and reluctantly, I have to admit - Paul beat me - fair and square! So that was one all at golf but I'm winning cards five games to two!
Days adventures complete, we decided to head back towards Melbourne in order to be closer to visit the Yarra Valley the following day. As we were driving back Monica offered us to go round and stay with her and her folks. We were well excited! We had heard so much about Monica's mum and dad and now finally we were going to meet them - yippee!!!
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Bryony
non-member comment
Enjoy every last minute!
Hey, good to know you're still having fun! Las Vegas is fab, so enjoy it before heading home and having to face reality! Take care and hope to see you soon. XX