Day 1
So we needed to cover over 800km in one day………. Hmmmm I hear you say! So we just hit the road early and drove and drove and drove! We drove through beautiful forests, across expanses of pastures past millions of cows and sheep, along the beautiful Lake District and we finally got onto a motorway around 4pm. So once again we drove as far as we physically possibly could and then found a decent rest area to rest our heads for the night, about 80km east of Melbourne. Not bad for a days work!
Day 2 Great Ocean Road
We set our alarms for 5am as we needed to get through Melbourne before rush hour. But before the alarm went off, we were woken by chatting outside our van. We had hit jackpot! A mobile coffee shop had parked up two parking bays away from our campervan :) big smiles all around!
So with fresh coffee and hot chocolate in us, we got on the road, and fortunately traffic was on our side too and we were in Geelong, 60km west of Melbourne by 9am! :)
It was a pretty cloudy and dull day but we were in good spirits so we set off on the Great Ocean Road. First stop was a lighthouse with shocking views i.e. had none lol, but there were good views at the bottom of it though.
A few miles up the road, we came to the official entrance, or the memorial to the workers who toiled for years building it, and it felt like we had started the adventure.
We stopped off at Sheolak Falls which was a 1/2 hour trek inland into one of the National Forests that line the Ocean Road. It was an uphill struggle, but was well worth it :)
And then Naomi being Naomi, wanted to head further up into the Forest to take a look at Swallow Cave. It was an adventurous uphill walk again and it wasn’t the most interesting of caves, but it was a good bit of exercise (Chris would say otherwise lol) and it was nice to get a deeper look at the forest around!
Check out Chris’s happy face on the walk back!
We had some lunch after our strenuous trek and then headed back on the road. We had literally only been on the road 10 mins, when Naomi spotted something in the ocean. We stopped at the first available area, and it was obvious it wasn’t just Naomi who had spotted it, as lots of cars and buses had pulled over. A mother and baby whale were playing in the water just off the rocks, in the protected waters, we spent ages there just watching this majestic sight. There was no spectacular splashing around though as the water was too shallow for that :(
We had a picturesque lunch up in the hills on the side of the road :)
And then it was time to see the Twelve Apostles (or what remains of them) as they are stone structures that are slowly being eroded by wind, rain and surf. The closer we got to the Twelve Apostles, the worse the weather got. By the time we got out of the car, it was howling with wind and rain. So we did the walk to the edge, but it was a very quick showing as we were freezing.
As the weather was getting worse and worse, we decided to call it a day for the rest of the Great Ocean Road, especially as visibility was now very poor.
Our bed for the night was very kindly provided by one of Chris’s paintball friends, Dan. Dan and his girlfriend Tanya live on the outer country suburbs of Geelong, with there many Dobermans. Currently in the house, there were only 2 Dobermans and a golden retriever, but one of the Dobermans was very heavily pregnant and two of their other Dobermans had been sent to New Zealand, one of them to give birth as well!!!! Puppies galore!!!
We had a lovely meal and some good company and chat for the evening. It was wonderful to be sleeping in a proper bed within 4 solid walls :)
We had a wonderful and very welcoming stay at Dan and Tanya’s. Thank you so much :)
Day 3 Melbourne
We left Dan and Tanya mid morning after having a look around their zoo of a back garden :) They have a fantastic 4 acres of land that is set out amazingly for the dogs. But they also have ferrets, and their grass cutters are two gorgeous alpacas :)
Our first task for the day was to empty our beloved Wicked campervan and drop it off at the depot as this was the last stop with the fun bus :( 5242km!!!! What fun!
We had a bit of a trek across Melbourne to our hostel for the night with a lot of different types of transport: bus, train and tram! By the time we got to the hostel, we were shattered. But we headed into Melbourne city centre just to get our bearings and have a look at what it had to offer.
Chris was in love already. With all the old buildings and with its diversity and being a very multi-cultural city, Chris felt at home, it was very very similar to Manchester. The centre of the city, like most city’s nowadays, is taken up with the shopping district. As we were heading to NZ in a few days and knew it would be a lot cooler, we thought it best to have a look for some cheap ski/thermal wear. We found an old army surplus store that had amazing low prices and got everything we needed from there, and all for £40 :) bargain!
Day 4
Our only aim for today was to head to the infamous Melbourne markets, in particular Queen Victoria Markets, and just enjoy a new type of shopping experience. The markets were the first type that we had seen in Australia like it, very much like the Asian markets but with Aussie prices. The food hall was incredible! We could have spent an absolute fortune here…….
We spent all morning going up and down the different stalls and just enjoying the vibe.
In the afternoon, we pottered along the mains streets of Melbourne looking at all the old buildings and the amazing contrast with the very very new part of the city.
The new square opposite the train station.
We discovered the ACMI (Australian Museum for the Moving Image), Chris’s idea of museum heaven! Right up his street! It had lots of funky and fun displays and showed the history of not only Aussie and Aboriginal films, but also the moving image! Had hours of fun here!
We had to leave our fun in the museum to pick our bags up from the hostel and head out to the Melbourne suburbs as we were staying with a family friend of Chris’s for the evening out in Craigieburn. We enjoyed drinks and food with Jason and Nina, our hosts for the evening, and Josh and Gracie (the people really in charge lol) or their children in other words, and especially Chester the barmy boxer! We had a lovely, and very late evening! Way past our usual bedtime of 8pm in the camper lol!
Day 5
We started the Saturday morning off with Josh’s Auskick (little aussie rules league in British terms). It was amazing to see so many kids out playing sport!
By the time we left, Chris had a shadow in the form of Chester the dog, who thought Chris was awesome as he just kept Chester busy! And Naomi had a shadow in the form of 3 year old Gracie, who was very intrigued in everything she was doing, especially when straightening her hair lol!
Thank you very much to the Rudge’s for a fab evening :)
We caught the train back to Melbourne after saying our goodbyes and spent the rest of the day in the town. Nina had told us about a creperie in the lanes near Flinders St Station so after wandering through a few of the cluttered alleyways full of cafes and saturday morning shoppers, we found the creperie. C’est tres bon!!! Chris had a tandoori chicken crepe and Naomi a roast lamb and mint crepe and then shared a sticky date crepe for afters!!!
We caught the tram up to the Melbourne Museum and Exhibition Centre, then wandered past parliament and then had an early night back at the hostel as we had to be at the station for 6am in the morning for our flight to Sydney!
Day 6
So an early morning flight from Melbourne to Sydney where we were kindly met by Aunty Jane and Wayne. Wayne needed to go to the shops to get a few last minute things before their trip to England so we went there with them. Then afterwards we went out for lea (mixture between lunch and tea) up at the Nelsons Arms up on the Palm Beach Peninsula. The veranda was packed so we ended up eating inside, and all had a lovely pub lea :)
As it was Sunday night, we watched a movie and Jane took another look at Chris’s leg and everyone else went to bed early for work the next day.
Day 7
Today was spent getting ourselves ready for New Zealand. As well as that, Naomi tried to catch up on the blog (only managed 6 days in 6 hours!!!!) and Chris helped to sort out Jane and Wayne’s wedding video for taking back to England! As Jane didn’t finish work till 9, Tom cooked a smashing tandoori pie for dinner! Very scrummy! And then another early to bed as we needed to leave for the airport at 4am!
Thank you Jane, Wayne and Tom for a wonderful two weekends with you :) It felt very strange to be ‘passing through’ when it was on the other side of the world!
All in all, Australia has been an experience and a half! It was fantastic to spend time with the family! Lou, Libs, Dunc, Jane, Wayne and Tom, a massive thank you for everything you have done for us :) our gratitude will forever be extended!
Roll on NZ :)
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