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Published: November 29th 2012
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Hello again! This has been a fantastic week in and around Melbourne. The weather has been mostly cooperating, and today it was 39.5 degrees! It hardly cooled down so we found ourselves seeking refuge at the beach as it was still 38 at 7 pm...
Earlier this week 3 of us suited up in the VW camper van and drove the Great Ocean Road. This road heads west towards Adelaide along Australias southern coast. It's a beautiful drive and it's full of different landscapes that range from jungle to rocky headlands. We saw dozens of wild koalas, emus, parrots, and even an echidna (which is similar to a porcupine and is one of only a few egg laying mammals). But unfortunately we didn't see any kangaroos.
Then I did the sightseeing thing in town and spent a few days wandering the city and seeing the sights. I went to the aquarium where I saw a few different shark species. The tallest building in the southern hemisphere brought me 88 stories up the Eureka Tower to see fantastic views of the city.
I had planned on seeing a cricket match while I was in Melbourne as well. I have
very little idea about how the game works, but how often does one get to go and see sports in a stadium which hosts over 100 000 people? I showed up 2:30 right as the game started to find out there was only 500 people there... Turns out that because the game takes so long to play and this game specifically followed one day match rules that most people show up at 7pm. So I sat in a mostly empty stadium for a couple hours and drinking crappy draft beer while some nice old englishman tried to explain to me what was going on.
Yesterday I went and counted and saw 35 000 bats. Now this is something I never would have had the opportunity to do as a tourist that didn't know someone here. Greg and Amy volunteer to go count bats from a colony. Turns out that every night a huge colony of bats which have wingspans of close to a meter all wake up and go out in search of food. The crazy part is that they all leave at once! It was an awesome experience that made me think I was part of some BBC
12 Apostles and I
Part of the wondefulness of the great ocean road! nature film.
Today I went kitesurfing, as I had bought a groupon last week while up in Brisbane. The weather wasn't ideal so we actually couldn't get in the water as the wind was coming from the wrong direction, but it was still a great experience. Learning to fly a large kite and have it pull you around the beach like nothing was a cool experience.
Tomorrow is my last day in Melbourne and I'm going to meet up with another friend for lunch. Then Saturday has me flying to Sydney and immediately jumping on a train to go see a friend out in the outback for a few days!
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Leanne
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Super experiences!
Once again, Garrett, I love your blog. So much hands on learning and experiencing. I get to learn and experience through you! Continue on and enjoy it all. Love Aunty Leanne