Got up and packed our stuff then went to get our plane back to Sydney.
Flight was good, only took 50 minutes. Funny because it took me a week to drive the same route!
Got back to Sydney and had to find somewhere to stay. We picked MAZE hostel and it was a dump but never mind. It had bunk beds.
All in all I drove about 1750 kilometres. A long trip but an amazing one full of spectacular scenery and loads of wildlife. We saw animals that we didn't even know existed and some that we did (like spiders!).
Thursday 6 October 2011
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Melbourne, Day Two
Had a lie in and then went into Melbourne. Walked along the river and saw some weird art and went past the MCG.
Walked around the shops for a while but didn't buy anything. Had a pizza and a coffee at a quaint little cafe and then took the free circular tram for a tour of the city.
Met Joel at a roof top cider bar so had a couple there in the sunshine before going to a higher roof top bar to meet Debs. Great view from up there and as the night fell it got more impressive as all the building lit up.
Went to another bar called Section 8 - cool and weird. There was a model of a goat drinking at one table and other odd stuff. After that we went to Hardware Lane and got some dinner. Good value on week nights as all the restaurants want your business so offer free starters and/or drinks. We got both free.
Headed home and did some packing before bed.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Melbourne, Day One
After the long road trip it was nice to not have to wake up and drive so we just went wandering around Port Melbourne. I got some shoes for work :-( and also bought the best book ever (i.e. The Bad-Tempered Ladybird) from a charity shop. Claire got some tops and a key ring.
Went to the beach for a look at the sea and had coffee and big slice of cake at The Velvet Bar. Very nice.
Saw the Spirit of Tasmania ship in the dock.
In the evening we headed to St Kilda with Joel and Debs and saw more little penguins. Then we went to a pub for some food at somewhere called Espy (I think). Steak and chips, nice!
Watched a couple of weird bands and then went back to Joel and Debs and to bed.
Went to the beach for a look at the sea and had coffee and big slice of cake at The Velvet Bar. Very nice.
Saw the Spirit of Tasmania ship in the dock.
In the evening we headed to St Kilda with Joel and Debs and saw more little penguins. Then we went to a pub for some food at somewhere called Espy (I think). Steak and chips, nice!
Watched a couple of weird bands and then went back to Joel and Debs and to bed.
Monday 3 October 2011
Road Trip, Day Seven, Melbourne (Philip Island to Melbourne)
Woke up incredibly early to a lovely sunrise so woke Claire up to watch it.
Drove off Philip Island and pulled over to make some breakfast - scrambled eggs and feta cheese. Not the best breakfast.
Drove for ages and reached the big city of Melbourne with it's huge towers and then had to find the campervan depot. This proved to be an absolute nightmare, so bad that I don't want to talk about it!
Eventually, after about three hours of searching, we found the depot and dropped the van off and had a quick drink there before getting the bus back into the city to meet Joel. Weather was fantastic so bought a pint of cider and sat in the sun in Federation Square whilst we waited. Ten dollars!!!
Joel arrived and we took the tram to Port Melbourne and had a very nice chilli con-veggie that Debs had been preparing. Watched a bit of TV and then went bed.
Drove off Philip Island and pulled over to make some breakfast - scrambled eggs and feta cheese. Not the best breakfast.
Drove for ages and reached the big city of Melbourne with it's huge towers and then had to find the campervan depot. This proved to be an absolute nightmare, so bad that I don't want to talk about it!
Eventually, after about three hours of searching, we found the depot and dropped the van off and had a quick drink there before getting the bus back into the city to meet Joel. Weather was fantastic so bought a pint of cider and sat in the sun in Federation Square whilst we waited. Ten dollars!!!
Joel arrived and we took the tram to Port Melbourne and had a very nice chilli con-veggie that Debs had been preparing. Watched a bit of TV and then went bed.
Sunday 2 October 2011
Road Trip,Day Six, Claire's Birthday (Wilson's Promontory to Philip Island)
Woke up and made Claire a birthday cheesy omelette. We went to Norman's Bay beach but it was a bit windy so headed to Squeaky beach which was indeed squeaky. Weird. There is a lot of quartz in the sand which made it squeak when you walk on it.
Claire did some reading and I went rock climbing on the big rocks nearby. Found a little hidden bit and wrote a big birthday message in the sand for Claire. Then we drove off and stopped to have a wander in the bush. Saw two Kangaroos and an Emu.
Stopped of in a town called Foster to get some food and drink and then saw an Echidna walking along the side of the road. Cute.
Drove all the way to Philip Island where they have Little Penguin (sometimes called Fairy Penguins). This was Claire's birthday present. We got tickets and headed down to the beach front and sat in the bloody freezing wind all wrapped up in blankets whilst we waited for the sun to set and for the Penguins to emerge from the ocean after their day at sea fishing. The sun set and suddenly hundreds of these tiny little Penguins waddled up the beach to the vegetation. They were really cute.
We headed up to these board walks where you could get a closer look at them as they waddled up to their nests to feed their young and it was really like March of the Penguins in miniature.
After a while we set off in the van to find somewhere to park up for the night. Found a great spot but the local authorities told us we couldn't stay there so off we went again!
Eventually found a secluded beach car park on the other side of Philip Island and had some drinks to celebrate Claire's birthday before falling asleep.
Claire did some reading and I went rock climbing on the big rocks nearby. Found a little hidden bit and wrote a big birthday message in the sand for Claire. Then we drove off and stopped to have a wander in the bush. Saw two Kangaroos and an Emu.
Stopped of in a town called Foster to get some food and drink and then saw an Echidna walking along the side of the road. Cute.
Drove all the way to Philip Island where they have Little Penguin (sometimes called Fairy Penguins). This was Claire's birthday present. We got tickets and headed down to the beach front and sat in the bloody freezing wind all wrapped up in blankets whilst we waited for the sun to set and for the Penguins to emerge from the ocean after their day at sea fishing. The sun set and suddenly hundreds of these tiny little Penguins waddled up the beach to the vegetation. They were really cute.
We headed up to these board walks where you could get a closer look at them as they waddled up to their nests to feed their young and it was really like March of the Penguins in miniature.
After a while we set off in the van to find somewhere to park up for the night. Found a great spot but the local authorities told us we couldn't stay there so off we went again!
Eventually found a secluded beach car park on the other side of Philip Island and had some drinks to celebrate Claire's birthday before falling asleep.
Saturday 1 October 2011
Road Trip, Day Five, Hunstman (Metung to Wilson's Promontory)
Woke up early and drove off with Claire still asleep again. Stopped off at the side of a big river to make some breakfast (eggs and orange juice). As I was washing up Claire goes "oooh - look at that!" and I looked. There was a MASSIVE spider in our van.
Claire saved the day - she got a pint glass and captured the eight-legged freak and placed it far away from the van while we packed up the stuff (we checked everything for more spiders). Went back to the pint glass and the spider was running around and nearly knocked it over! We released it and it ran off dead quickly.
The weather was mostly grey and there were cockatoos everywhere. We drove to Port Albert - a bit of a dead end town. Parked up for some lunch on the coast - I made noodles for me and pasta for Claire. We had some bread and butter and there was a bit of an invasion of seagulls because I threw the crusts.
Claire was tired so went for a kip so I drove off to make up some time. I drove for ages going over loads of creeks such as Dead Horse creek, Old Tom's creek and other typically Aussie named creeks. I was trying to reach Wilson's Promotory - a national park and the southern most point of mainland Australia.
After ages I reached the gate to the park so woke Claire up. As we drove in we saw wild Emus straight away. Then we went round a bend and came across a wombat at the side of the road. Got out and Claire went over to him It's weird for these to be out in the day time so we were very lucky to see one. The wombat was very cute and quite timid!
After a long while driving through the beautiful scenery we reached Tidal River, the centre of the park where camping is allowed. We went to the visitors centre and booked on a free bird talk. We got a good spot to camp in and went for a walk. Found some enormous rocks and did some climbing.
Got back to the van and Claire made me a fry up for dinner. After dinner we did the same walk but this time in pitch darkness. It was ace - we saw four possums! Three brushtail ones and one rather angry Brown brushtail. He was hard to find but we could hear him roaring so knew he was there and spotted him with the torch eventually.
Got back safely and fell asleep.
Claire saved the day - she got a pint glass and captured the eight-legged freak and placed it far away from the van while we packed up the stuff (we checked everything for more spiders). Went back to the pint glass and the spider was running around and nearly knocked it over! We released it and it ran off dead quickly.
The weather was mostly grey and there were cockatoos everywhere. We drove to Port Albert - a bit of a dead end town. Parked up for some lunch on the coast - I made noodles for me and pasta for Claire. We had some bread and butter and there was a bit of an invasion of seagulls because I threw the crusts.
Claire was tired so went for a kip so I drove off to make up some time. I drove for ages going over loads of creeks such as Dead Horse creek, Old Tom's creek and other typically Aussie named creeks. I was trying to reach Wilson's Promotory - a national park and the southern most point of mainland Australia.
After ages I reached the gate to the park so woke Claire up. As we drove in we saw wild Emus straight away. Then we went round a bend and came across a wombat at the side of the road. Got out and Claire went over to him It's weird for these to be out in the day time so we were very lucky to see one. The wombat was very cute and quite timid!
After a long while driving through the beautiful scenery we reached Tidal River, the centre of the park where camping is allowed. We went to the visitors centre and booked on a free bird talk. We got a good spot to camp in and went for a walk. Found some enormous rocks and did some climbing.
Got back to the van and Claire made me a fry up for dinner. After dinner we did the same walk but this time in pitch darkness. It was ace - we saw four possums! Three brushtail ones and one rather angry Brown brushtail. He was hard to find but we could hear him roaring so knew he was there and spotted him with the torch eventually.
Got back safely and fell asleep.
Claire vs Spider
Wombat!!!!
This was one of many big rocks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)