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Published: February 28th 2010
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Unfortunately the second attempt at our journey to Melbourne didn't go as smoothly as planned either...
We set off down the Hume Highway on a 45 deg day, stopping at a place called Gundagai for lunch at an old fashioned diner that apparently the Prime Minister used to use during the war. Setting off again at 2pm, we hadn't gone far when the temperature needle on the car started to climb again. Joe pulled into a layby, lifted the bonnet, released the pressure on the radiator (he'll probably tell me I've got the details all wrong when he reads this later...!) but it wasn't enough anyway, because when he then came to take the radiator cap off, the steam burst out scalding his wrist and causing him to drop the cap into the engine! He used the water from the tank in the back of the car to cool it down but it came up in the biggest blister I have ever seen (at least 3 inch square and almost as tall). It took us nearly an hour to find the cap again (in the end he had to unbolt two plates to get it out) by which time he
was in quite a bit of pain. We drove to the nearest service station and asked directions to a chemist, but the lady serving said we should go to hospital. It was a little hospital in a place called Holbrook but they obviously see a few cases like this as the nurse took one look at it and asked "Radiator?"!! The rather elderly locum doctor called it a Second Degree Burn and made him put it in ice for over an hour which did help, but must have still hurt quite badly as Joe couldn't even face the Chinese takeaway I had to get for dinner at 7pm (takes a lot to put him off his food!)
After 4.5 hours driving in the pitch black we finally arrived in Melbourne at midnight, nearly 15 hours after leaving Sydney - ugh...
The reason for the dash down south was to see our friends Jonathan and Helen, who emigrated from the UK 7 years ago, while their children were still on school holidays. They were excellent tour guides for the week. On the first day we went on the Puffing Billy steam train, through lush rain forest and into the
hills.
The next day we drove down towards Philip Island which is where the Little Penguins come in to nest every night. On the way we stopped at San Remo to see the pelican feeding, although to be honest we became more interested in the huge sting ray swimming round the harbour which was really inquisitive and even allowed a boy to hand feed it! We also hopped over to Churchill Island for lunch and to see an old fashioned pioneer farm where they gave a display of blacksmithing, milking etc, and to the Koala Sanctuary, and the beach for a fish and chip tea. Finally it was time to see the penguins... They first appeared at about 9pm, the first lot appeared to be pretty intimidated by the huge seagulls and kept popping in and out of the sea several times until there were enough of them to feel brave enough to go for it. We saw at least 30 come up the beach, and when we left at about 10pm they were all waddling into their burrows, waiting for each other which was very sweet. There were also lots of chicks.
On the Friday we took
ourselves into Melbourne city by train, which we really liked as it seemed to have an interesting mix of old and new architecture. We caught one of the old trams, and briefly explored the Queen Victoria Market and Central Station.
The next day became what Bella declared to be the "Best Day Ever" when we visited the gold mine at Sovereign Hill, Ballarat which has been restored as a living museum. Gold was discovered there in the 1870s, more even than in California, and only 8 days after Victoria declared independence from New South Wales - ha ha!! We started by trying to pan for gold (they put a few small pieces in there to keep it interesting). Joe had the most success, finding four but then promptly losing them! We also walked around the reconstructed Chinese tents and did a couple of underground tours which were really interesting. The whole town is as it would have been then, with shops, houses, a school and lots of people in fancy dress. There was a musket firing demonstration, candle dipping etc - great fun!!
On Sunday we caught up with some more friends - Kath Grieve and her daughters,
and some family - my mum's cousin Andy and his wife Nette. Monday, our last day in Melbourne, was wet so we decided to go to Science Works which had great activities such as kite making, bridge building, blimp flying etc.
Fortunately our journey back to Sydney was relatively uneventful and much quicker! It was nice to see the Victoria scenery this time and to make it back early enough to get a good night's sleep before meeting Joe's parents at the airport the next morning...
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Catriona H
non-member comment
wow!
Thanks for keeping us informed! It sure is the holiday of a lifetime. Glad to hear you're having such a fantastic time. Hope Joe's burn heals up fast. xx Cat.