10/10/13 - THE END
The end of our big trip crept up on me stealthily.
After flying back to Melbourne from Fiji, we returned to a completely empty, uninviting flat. Saying goodbye to our new family of friends was hard, but it was equally as heartbreaking to turn our backs on that beautiful city. It felt like home from day one; welcoming us into its grid of cultural variety, greeting us with seasons and a fresh, cold wind. Although the weather was terrible most of the time as we lived in Melbourne throughout Winter, I still fell in love with the little-Europe-in-Oz.
There are interesting things everywhere, I've never known a city to be so vibrant in every single suburb. One thing Melbourne is infamous for is its array of street art, so this post is an homage to this city's creativity - noticed by every tourist. Here is a selection of my favourite graffiti spots and other artwork I stumbled across:
Melbourne, we will miss you terribly but will definitely grace you with our presence once again. x
1st - 3rd September - Driving the Great Ocean Road
There were 5 of us in the campervan, "Berry" - me, Rik, Jodie, Lauren and Carl. We knew the van was called Berry because the previous renters had left us a message on the roof. By the end of our short trip, we loved Berry and Berry loved us. The places she took us were phenomenal, and even though she'd probably seen them a million zillion times she had a good time too. Apart from when we left her lights on and we had to get a stranger to come and jump start her...(Bad decisions...good stories).
The main part of the trip I want to share is where we camped on our first night. We drove the long drive to the Twelve Apostles - wrongly named. as I don't know how many rocks are in the formation but it's definitely not twelve! Stunning views, but unfortunately along with them were fifty coach loads of tourists. It was a surprisingly sunny day, so the holidaymakers were out in force, making it rather overcrowded and hard to get the shots you wanted. After this we made our way back to the Great Ocean Road. It turns inland for a while, into the forest behing Apollo Bay which is where we found our campsite. On a quiet road along the way, a car parked by the side of the road flagged us down. Automatically we presumed they had broken down or needed our help in some way, but when they started pointing high into a tree and getting their cameras out, my heart jumped and I knew it - THEY HAD SPOTTED A KOALA.
Sure enough, high in the branches was one lone koala, doing what they do best, chilling in a tree. I was so happy, I had finally found the wild koala I had been hunting for for the past ten months. As we carried on driving, we soon began to spot them in almost every tree that laced both sides of the road. The campsite where we were staying, Bimbi Park, was in the heart of this forest - and to mine and Jodie's delight, the koalas were all over the campsite aswell. We slept metres from real, live, wild koalas! It was amazing to see them in their natural habitat, and encounter the loud crazy noises the males make. We even saw one incredibly close, when he adventured down to the ground to swap trees. This was a dream come true and definitely one of my highlights of the whole year.
The following day we headed to the next town along, Lorne. We spent the day relaxing on the beach, having a pub lunch in a beer garden and camped a minute's walk from the sea. We discussed running away with Berry and just living life on the road as we really didn't want to give her back. We'd seen so much wildlife, including cockatoos and kookaburras and possums, but unfortunately the only kangaroos we seen were roadkill. In the morning we drove to Erskine Falls, a beautiful 38m waterfall deep in the forest, before dropping Berry off with a tear in our eye. We returned to Melbourne to our beds and our jobs, but luckily for me I only have 2 shifts left! Then I am off adventuring again, this time to the outback - and I'm definitely not driving there!
23rd June 2013 - Road trip to Phillip Island
Today we drove to a small island south of Melbourne. Despite being Winter here in the Southern hemisphere, it was a beautiful sunny day and we experienced lovely picturesque views. All the beaches we stopped at were surprisingly full of surfers, braving the cold waters on a cloudless day. But it was not the sun, or the beaches we came here to see. There is one big attraction that brings hundreds of visitors to Phillip Island each day - and we have to wait until the sun goes down.
At dusk every single day, hundreds of little penguins come ashore to rest and breed. [*Side note: that is the actual name of the type of penguin, 'little penguin.' I was told recently that they used to be called fairy penguins, but their name was changed in case it offended homosexuals....how they could be offended by a tiny penguin I don't know.] The famous 'penguin parade' is an amazing sight, as the creatures suddenly appear from the sea and start the journey across the beach. The large groups of human spectators are elevated on wooden platforms, so the penguins can waddle underneath and beside us. They are the smallest species of penguin, but I wasn't prepared for just how small they were. When they first appeared on the edge of the ocean, and I pointed them out excitedly to a friend, he literally couldn't see them! They were no bigger than a normal small bird, like a crow or a blackbird - sooooo cute. And they make the strangest noises, as they waddle up the hill trying to find their burrows. It was an incredible sight, even sitting on the beach and watching the sunset, then a full moon reign over the sea was money well spent; then watching the parade of penguins descend upon us was pretty magical. Some of them were literally within touching distance. Unfortunately (and annoyingly) photographs were prohibited, but Rik managed to get a sneaky few with no flash before getting told off.
Here is one:
