Squeaky Beach, Buddhists & A Cold Lake


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Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Wilsons Promontory
February 27th 2007
Published: March 1st 2007
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On Thursday I finally had to leave Melbourne after over a week and a half there, if I had a working visa I'm pretty sure I would have stayed there for ages, it's a really nice city with a really chilled atmosphere & everyone is really friendly, but not to be this time....maybe next time!

I got picked up ridiculously early by the Oz experience bus for my 4 day trip from Melbourne to Sydney, at around about 6.30am, I don't know how I got up that early for work every day back home. I ended up on the same bus as the Birmingham sisters, Alice & Sophie that I shared a room with in Melbourne, it was nice to know some people already.
After breakfast we headed to Wilsons Promontory National Park which is south-east of Melbourne and stopped at an airstrip (basically some scrubland) in the park used by the park services planes & helicopters where we saw a big wombat (actually very cute), some emus & lots of kangaroos. Still no snakes though, although we were warned to look out for them hiding in large clumps of grass so it was funny to watch everyone walk in
Kids Aussie School TripKids Aussie School TripKids Aussie School Trip

bit more exciting than Anstruther
big loops around every big clump of grass.

In the afternoon we went down to the coast of the National Park which has some of the most stunning beaches I've ever seen & we all took a walk down to one called Squeaky Beach which was just as beautiful as the rest if not more so. And it did live up to it's name, the sand does squeak when you walk on it, no idea why but it was gorgeous white sand. We chilled out on the beach for the afternoon & went swimming in the sea which had some great waves that we all got pummelled by but it was great & actually not too cold.

That night we stayed in a town called Foster, a pretty small town with not much in it and we stayed in the local cabin & caravan park & had tea at the local pub. As the pub wasn't exactly lively, it was the kind of pub where the locals had had the same seat at the bar for 20 years, we headed back to our designated "noisey" cabin for some drinks & some drinking games (got a few new ones to bring home with me Andrew, you'll love Ring of Fire!).

The early rise the next morning wasn't a happy one for most of us but I made it up for breakfast then it was back on the bus with our driver Andy (a bit of a mad Aussie who says "Too easy" & "Beautiful" in every sentence) & we headed to the Tarra Valley for a walk through the rainforest first. The forest was lovely, quite cold & really damp & there was a waterfall which as per usual didn't have much water in it. Andy had however forgotten to warn us that there were leeches in the forest & I found one of the little beasties on my neck, god knows how it got there. Luckily it was only tiny so it didn't leave me with a nice little leechy lovebite on my neck!

We drove on to Lakes Entrance after that which is a town at the entrance of numerous lakes into the sea where there were lots of pelicans & black swans on the water. We headed for the local winery (Wyngera Winery) for some winetasting & some delicious bangers & mash for lunch then more wine & port tasting after lunch. The owner of the winery clearly loved his job he basically spends all day drinking & chatting up all the young girls that come through the door! After the winery we headed to 90 Mile Beach to relax for a bit (and sober up!) but I think we were all spoiled after Squeaky Beach as it wasn't as stunning but it is long, 90 Miles long funnily enough.

After the beach we headed up into the mountains to stay in the Southern Cross Buddhist Retreat for the night which was set in a really beautiful peaceful spot in the middle of nowhere up in the hills & it was a lovely night. They cooked us a really tasty meal made from fresh ingredients from their garden & their dining room had this great domed ceiling with lots of angles in it which reflect sound in weird directions making for some great acoustics at dinner. Basically you can hear clear as day someones conversation from across the other side of the room as if they were sitting next to you, really weird but really funny once you realise you're not hearing things! After dinner we got the chance to take part in a meditation session with this lovely lady who never stopped smiling. She told us all about the type of meditation they do & then talked us through it so we could have a go. It's actually really difficult not to let your mind wander off & as soon as she says if you get an itch just ignore it you get an itch you just can't ignore it! After meditation it was an early night.

For the whole bus journey over the 4 days we got the drivers music.....including "Sympathy For the Devil" by the Stones & "Land Down Under"....strange mix but mainly great taste!

Then the next day another early morning, breakfast was at 7am & we left at 7.30am....too early. The weather wasn't too good either & it got cloudier & wetter as we drove through the snowy mountains & Kosziosko National Park & over the border from Victoria into New South Wales. By the time we got to Jindabyne, a ski resort in winter, it was pretty cold & miserable not Australian at all & that afternoon we were going wakeboarding (like waterskiing but with a board like a snowboard instead of waterskis) on the lake, just what you want to do on a cold wet day, get colder & wetter in a lake! After lunch we headed for Lake Jindabyne to meet our wakeboarding instructor & get our wetsuits (really not flattering) & sign our "death forms" as he called them (with an in case of emergency contact number). The wakeboarding guy took the first group of 5 out on the boat, mostly the boys as they were totally up for it & the girls went back to the bus to get out of the rain & wait. The weather got worse & worse as we waited & waited getting more & more nervous. The rain actually started pouring down then came the thunder, then the lightning. Then our driver Andy put the song "Perfect Day" on the stereo to make us all laugh & we ended up all singing "It's such a perfect day" on the bus in our wetsuits with the rain hammering off the roof...very surreal! Next up on the boat was me & the 2 sisters from Birmingham & our driver came with us (he had a bit of a
Our driver holding up an echidna he spotted at the side of the roadOur driver holding up an echidna he spotted at the side of the roadOur driver holding up an echidna he spotted at the side of the road

it was heading for the road so once he'd let us have a look he let it go & sent it away from the direction of the road
thing for the sisters, think it's the matching cowboy boots they always wear!). We got on the little speedboat & the wakeboarding guy took us out on to the lake where Andy our driver went first & showed us how it's done as he's been a few times before, it looks great once your up on your feet out of the water but the standing ups the hard part & we only got 10-15mins each. I almost managed to stand up but it's really hard & the wakeboarding guy kept saying to me just one more time you've nearly got it but I had to give in after 15mins as my legs & arms were killing & I'd swallowed half the lake from falling in so many times! I'd definitely do it again though.

That night we stayed in Jindabyne at the local motel & we had our last dinner together there too. There was also a surf life saving convention thing going on (mainly kids & families though, no hot surfers) & also a bikers thing going on (lots of hairy men & Harley Davidsons about the place) which was a pretty strange combination. We had a few drinks in the local pub but it wasn't that busy so it was back to the "noisey" room for more drinks & drinking games & we finally got to bed at about 5.30am then we were up again at about 8.30am for a nice cooked breakfast!

On our last day of the trip we had a bit of a delay in leaving Jindabyne as the bus wouldn't start! Andy spent about half an hour under the bus fixing it & getting covered in oil at the same time, then we were finally off!

Sunday was mainly all driving but we stopped off in Australias capital city Canberra on the way to go to PArliament House which is a really stunning building & it even has grass on the roof where you get an amazing view of the city. After that we had lunch then the long drive to Sydney began.

We got to Sydney (nice to be back again) at about 8ish so all I really did that night was check into my hostel have a shower & bed....think 4 days with Oz Experience had finally caught up with me!



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I'm in Victoria but my hands in New South WalesI'm in Victoria but my hands in New South Wales
I'm in Victoria but my hands in New South Wales

yes my hoods up because it was wet & miserable!


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