Melbourne - Blue Mountains - Port Stephens

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After Sydney we flew down to Melbourne for a week and stayed in a private room in St Kilda. It was absolutely luxury compared to Sydney so we were all very happy. The hostel itself seemed a lot more relaxed with guitars scattered around for anyone to use, a courtyard for bbqs and a nicer bigger kitchen.


We spent a few days wandering around St Kilda - imagine 1950's seaside town with lots of cake shops (heaven). It has an almost hippy feel to it and was a good spot to stay for the week. It was also home to the massively overpriced 'Luna park'. It was like Thorpe park but absolutely rubbish and expensive. So we didn't bother naturally! On the Sunday we woke early to head for the St Kilda markets along the beach. They were full of local art work and jewellery and lots of little bits. If we had a spare suitcase to take home it would have been full already. We spent a few days on the beach in St Kilda and enjoyed a BBQ with Jess and Rachel one evening which led to a cart wheel competition between Jess and Sean - needless to say Jess won!

Melbourne seems to be full of lots of local talent whether they are artists, musicians etc. We spent the hottest day (37 degrees) going on a walking tour or the city. Melbourne doesn't have as many sights as Sydney but it is steeped in history. Our tour guide was called Taco and he was trying to start a career in stand up comedy... He was a lovely guy and I would recommend his tour to anyone who visits Melbourne. I won't bore you with all the facts apart from the best one - Melbourne was originally going to be called Batmania after one of the explorers (Mr Batman) - I believe this would have been a far better name but they went for melbs. They also have the Eureka Skydeck - a massive skyscraper that you can go up and get a panoramic view of the city. The lift to the 88th floor is the worlds fastest lift and your ears pop it is that fast! Not for the faint hearted. Unfortunately we just left before the Australian open - sport plays a big factor in this city and I'm sure it would have been a great atmosphere had we gone.

The day after, we collected our Jucy camper van (bright green and purple) and headed for the blue mountains. It was about a 90 minute drive west of Sydney and we picked the perfect day - blue sky's all round. The mountains have various trails you can follow so off we went on a four hour trek! Only 5 minutes in Sean decided to hang upside down on a log for a photo opportunity and proceeded to fall off and cut his elbow open in a stream that was full of diseases - results to follow! First aid kit was finally put to good use however! The views were incredible and there shall be photos to follow. There is a part of the mountains called the giant stairway with roughly 1000 steps going along the mountain side and if you're unlucky you walk the wrong way and end up having to climb up these incredibly steep stairs. Fortunately we had gone the other way round (by sheer luck) and got the easy option.

The following day we headed off to Port Stephens - a gorgeous coastal town about 2-3 hours north from Sydney. The weather was on our side and we spent a couple of days on 'one mile beach'. We caved and bought some body boards and are now taking the Ozzie life seriously - getting taken out by every wave that hits us - but at least we look the part ;-) We also donned our tennis gear and had a quick game to burn off some of the beers and even attempted some beach volleyball but the sand was too hot! (Bloody poms)

Our caravan park was opposite a national park and koalas were often just sat in the trees by the main road. There are even little walkways for them to use to cross a busy road. Port Stephens is also famous for being the 'dolphin capital' of Australia - it is home to around 100 bottle nose dolphins in the bay and we were lucky enough to see them - one was only a week old and they were all so playful. We also spotted a hammerhead shark in the water so didn't stay in for too long!! We loved Port Stephens and were sad to leave but we must continue the journey north to warmer climates hopefully....

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Comments

[Mum]

Ozzie life
Still sounds wonderful. Glad you are embracing the lifestyle! Hope your elbow is ok Sean - seem to remember you doing the same thing at centre parcs...........xxxxx