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Published: August 7th 2007
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fter a three hour flight we were collected by Brad at Melbourne Airport. The plan was to stop at Brad's dad's house on the way down for another Allen roast dinner special. Brads dad lives in Werribee which is about half way between Melbourne and Geelong. We met his Aunt Vicky and his pretend aunt Mary-Ellen. The dinner was delicious and we figured out where Brads cooking skills come from. After a few beers and a great chat we were back on the road to Geelong.
Brad has moved into a two bedroom bachelor pad in Geelong so we had our own room to destroy. After a beer and a brief chat we went to bed. Geelong is not a regular spot on the backpacker map of Oz and the main reason we were down there was to catch up with Brad. Geelong is the second largest city in Victoria. It's a port city with population of 205,000 people and is about 75 kilometres south-west of Melbourne.
We had a bit of a sleep in the next day but once we crawled out of bed we headed into town. Our first stop was the Ford Discovery Centre. Ford produces
most of it's cars for the Oz market in Geelong and has a kind of hands on museum in town. After oohing and aahing over the cars there for a while we made our way down to the waterfront. Hundreds of comic statues have been erected along the coast, some of real people. We wandered along till we came to the huge enclosed swimming pool. After that we headed to Johnston park and city Hall. Brad collected us from there and we collected a work colleague of his at his house called Brendan.
We drove out to see a local Aussie Rules team called Grovesdale Tigers train and have a few pots in the bar. After Brendan had introduced us to the Bundy (Bundaberg rum) and coke a number of times we left the club and headed to the Carringtonn pub. There was a comedian on who was really good. To wrap up the night we headed to Pizzaland, a Turkish pizzeria (Only in Oz) and had one of the best pizzas of our young lives. It was Turkish spicy lamb if you must know. We headed home after that.
We took another sleep in the next day
and waited for Brad to get back to the house around 3pm. Before we left Brad had to sort out some home brew Bourbon he had been working on. The plan for the evening (As it was Friday) was to drive to Warrnambool taking in some of the Great Ocean road as we went.
Along the way we stopped at Split Point Lighthouse (Famous as the setting for the TV show called "Round the Twist"). We got our first views of the spectacular coastline road as we left Geelong but once the darkness came down we focused on getting to Warrnambool and the hostel.
Once we had checked in we headed to the Warrnambool Hotel for a few beers and then onto a bizarre Irish pub. After some chips and gravy (Oz is great for the figure) we headed to bed.
We got up at 6am and were on the road in half an hour. Our plan was to catch sunrise at the spectacular Bay of Islands but sunrise bet us to the punch. We still got spectacular scenery and a beautiful morning. From there we headed onto the Bay Of Martyrs and then the Twelve Apostles.
We also took in London Bridge (Which is no longer a bridge). We walked a little of Johanna beach and then stopped at Apollo Beach for a pot and pie.
We then cut through the Otways and were tempted to stop at Otway lighthouse but the price scared us off in the end. We were back in the house by late afternoon. Brad was off to meet the love of his life's parents and we got some beers in to watch the qualifiers of the Eurovision (no joke). After that we got some classic Australian entertainment with Crocodile Dundee before hitting the hay.
The following day was Sunday and we had decided to go to another Aussie Rules game as the grand finals champions from the previous year "The West Coast Eagles" were in town to play the "Geelong Cats". Brad lives opposite Kardinia Park and Skilled Stadium where the game was being played.
It was a full house of about 22,000 people . The game was excellent and Geelong won (109-70)which just added to the atmosphere. We enjoyed a few beers with the hardcore local fans in the glorious sunshine on the terraces. After the
game the crowd were allowed onto the pitch to kick balls around which was hilarious to watch.
Brads mum was up to visit for the night so we had another delicious dinner (not sure how we'll survive without all the home cooking) and cracked open Brad's Bourbon which was actually (Surprisingly) really good. After dinner we sat down to watch the dismal programming that was the Eurovision. We assured Brads mum that this was not the best music Europe had to offer.
The next day we arranged a bus to the airport. After that we visited the the Wool Museum in town. We got brought around by a few people who had spent most of their lives working in the wool industry. We met Brad when he was finshed work for a pot and parma at his local and had a few beers there before calling it a night.
After sending a parcel home the next day we spent the remainder of it shopping and on the internet. After doing a wash at Brads the three of us headed up to the laundrette to dry the clothes and had a few pots while we waited. We picked
up a six pack on the way home from one of the towns Drive-thru off licenses and had them and a chat back at Brads.
We got up early to say goodbye and thanks to Brad who was off to work and then caught a bus to Tullamarine airport. So ends our time in Australia.
Next stop New Zealand...
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Ann
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Oops you are catching up! Blog only a month behind now! The clock is really running fast now. Enjoy yourselves. Love Ann