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Published: October 31st 2006
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Port Fairy
Our little girl on the beach at 7am! Yet again we’ve had a busy few days; seem to have seen loads and when we look back it’s hard to think “Oh that was only a week ago”. We’re now in Melbourne and into our last two days in Australia. Can’t believe it has been 5 months, sometimes it seems like we have been here forever and sometimes it seems like 3 weeks. Anyway, we started this bit of our journey by going to the beach at Port Fairy at 7am in the morning and spending a blissful couple of hours playing in the sea, looking for shells etc. Back to the campsite for bacon sarnies and it was on the road again by 10am. We set off along the Great Ocean Road which was everything we had heard it would be; crashing surf, spectacular rock formations and beautiful bays. The only downside was that to see all of the “formations” you had to stop at lookouts, get out, walk a bit and then see the rocks. It was then back in the van, drive 3 km to the next one, get out etc etc. We soon tired of getting in and out and it became a bit of a
Great Ocean Road
Childers Beach at the start (Adelaide end) of the Great Ocean Road joke seeing the same people and the same cars at all the various lookouts. We stopped overnight about a third of the way along at a place called Port Campbell which was a tiny little hamlet, but had a pub and caravan park so all was well. The next morning we were back sightseeing again and looking at more amazing cliffs etc. The whole of this coast is limestone which is why the sea has eroded it into some amazing shapes. Some way along the road, I had read about a place called Cape Otway. This was apparently THE place to see Koalas in Victoria in the wild so we did a bit of a detour and drove up there. Didn't see anything on the way to the lighthouse, didn't end up visiting the lighthouse either because it was all fenced off and cost too much to get in, but on the way back I spotted a Koala sitting in one of the trees. We screeched to a halt, got out and looked at him and then suddenly we could see loads more. It was a fantastic sight and we even got to see a mother and baby together who
were directly above us. We have seen just about everything in the wild we could have hoped to see except Wombats - maybe next time... This time we stopped overnight at the most idyllic place called Apollo Bay. We had decided to treat ourselves to a nights B&B and I had a very definite idea of what I wanted; room overlooking the sea and a bit of luxury. We got that in a place called Spindrift and it was truly beautiful. Huge windows overlooking the bay and a variety of telescopes to look through at the Seal colony on the nearby rocks. Perfect place for a glass of wine. Finished off the Great Ocean Road the next day and ended up in Torquay which is the surfing capital of Victoria. Not much going on here and a bit of a nothing place, maybe it gets very hip and cool in the Summer?
By this time, we had changed all of our plans again and decided to head inland to a place called Ballarat. This is the heart of “Gold” country and where the Australian gold rush started. It is also the site of the Eureka rebellion and they have the
Great Ocean Road
London Bridge - part of this collapsed in 1990. most fantastic museum called Sovereign Hill Goldmining Experience. It has been voted Australias most popular tourist attraction for 4 years running and it is easy to see why. We spent all day here on the Saturday morning and then in the evening went to the sound and light show about the Eureka rebellion. It was fantastic and one of the best things I have ever seen, we all agreed it was one the highlights of our Australia trip. (www.sovereignhill.com.au)
Next day, on the road again back down the same highway and we made for a place called Queenscliffe on the tip of the coast ready to catch the ferry in the morning to the Mornington Peninsula and go around to Phillip Island. By this time, we were really struggling to motivate ourselves to see anymore in Australia. We have seen so much that everything is becoming very repetitive. However, we decided to go to Phillip Island and basically wait out our time until we moved up to Melbourne on Sunday for our 3 night hotel stay prior to flying out. Phillip Island was actually lovely and we spent a very relaxing few days on the beach, watching the seals, visiting
the hairdressers etc. We had thankfully missed the motorcycle grand prix by 1 day as we probably wouldn’t have got anywhere to stay. We didn’t go to see the world famous penguin parade as it was extremely commercialised (first time we have seen it so bad in Australia) and we had seen the penguins at Victor Harbour anyway. It was quite spooky though as a lot of the place names were named after the Isle of Wight (which just happens to be Kieras favourite place) and we found ourselves staying in Cowes, visiting Ventnor and eating in the Isle of Wight hotel!!!
We’ve now spent the last couple of nights in a hotel right in Melbourne centre, been wandering around for a couple of days and said a sad farewell to our campervan. We’ve had a fantastic time in Australia but most definitely wouldn’t live here. Many parts are more americanised than we thought it would be and whilst they have mainly wonderful weather, they are paying an extremely high price for it. The water situation is drastic now with farmers walking off land which has been in the family for generations, most parts on water restrictions and the bush
Great Ocean Road
At one of the many lookouts fire season has started a month early. They have the same social, political and economic problems that we have at home and are expanding rapidly. Saying that, the standard of living is much cheaper here, there is so much space and so fewer people and the sun shines most of the time, so it is definitely a very personal decision as to whether you would emigrate. Me, Rik & Kiera? Well, we’re looking forward to the greenery of New Zealand and meeting up with Micheal (Riks brother) and Gail his wife tomorrow. We don’t get to see the kids until Christmas but will enjoy a few days together in Auckland now. The next blog will be from New Zealand, so until then look after yourselves, love to you all and “blog” you soon!
Nicchi, Rik & Kiera xxxxx
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Maureen
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I'll miss you all
It has been great to have you here even if most of it has been on the end of the mobile. So glad you've enjoyed it all, still so much to look forward to. We will miss you and look forward to following in your footsteps. Good luck and take care. Love Maureen and family