On a very wet Wednesday morning we set out, with wheely case, baby backpack, regular backpack, pushchair and nappy bag, to the tram stop to collect the hire car. On the way, someone in a car across the road beeped and waved.....it was friend of the family Peter, who we were hoping to meet up with before we left. We swapped numbers and email addresses, but as we sat on the tram we couldn't help but wonder that we'd been in the same place at the same time.....such a big city, we only know about 7 people here! What a coincidence!
Unfortunately, the morning went a bit downhill from there....in Melbourne (I don't know about other Aussie cities, and I didn't know it about Melbourne until it was too late!), they start the house numbers over again, in each separate district of the city! I'd merrily sent us on our way to 95 St Kilda Rd on the Southbank....when we should have been in St Kilda! We got very wet wandering around and eventually realised we needed to go 20 mins on a tram in the opposite direction! So we were about an hour later than planned and very wet by the time we collected the hire car!
We headed out of the city, through torrential downpours, towards Geelong and the start of the Great Ocean Road. We stopped for lunch in Torquay, birthplace of the Quiksilver and Ripcurl brands, at a wonderful cafe called Moby. Awesome coffee, very yummy curry and cakes left us feeling much happier!
Then we headed down the road to Bells Beach, an amazing, if slightly fickle surf beach, which is a key stop on the Pro Surfing tour. Unfortunately, the winds/tides etc weren't quite right, so there were only a couple of surfers out. But you could easily see how the long straight waves would make for excellent competition!
And the beach next door has a very odd name!
So it was time to hit the famous Great Ocean Road! Time constraints meant that we couldn't go far (I think I'm right in saying it goes all the way to Adelaide!?), but what we saw was gorgeous! On Wednesday, we went as far as Kennett River, where we were staying for two nights.
When I checked us into our cabin, I said we'd heard this was a good spot to see koalas and whether she had any suggestions for where we might see them. She said "just look up, they're in the campsite", and oh my goodness was she right! We saw half a dozen easily, and some of them were happily munching just a few feet above our heads! Great photos, all taken with a phone and almost all of them requiring no zoom whatsoever! Amazing - our first wild koalas on this trip!
So close I even managed to take this selfie! And here's a short video of the very relaxed koala munching away!
But they weren't the only wildlife on the site....the birds were also very chilled out - no zoom required here either!
Another selfie! The parrots loved our muesli and were happy to clamber all over us to get it! This one is sitting in my hand.
It rained a lot and was pretty cold overnight and Thursday morning was very windy, heavy showers and a top temp of 13 degrees. But as time was running short, it was very much 'now or never', so we headed west on the Great Ocean Road towards the 12 Apostles. These are massive pillars left standing in the ocean as the sea erodes the cliffs and coast around them. Apparently there have never been 12 of them! They were originally called "Sow and Piglets" but in the 1930's they changed the name to the Apostles, in the hope of attracting tourists, and at some point (given that apostles normally come by the dozen!), the 12 got added!
It was well worth the drive, despite the incredibly windy weather - poor Crack didn't know what had hit him! And we managed to largely dodge the intense showers, which was surprisingly easy, given that we could see them rolling in off the southern ocean!
Luckily the weather meant we didn't have to worry about snakes, but we did have to stay away from the cliff edges, the gusts of wind were incredibly powerful!
And looking in the other direction, there are two more pillars, called Gog and Magog.
Seeing people on the beach near them and wanting to stretch our legs before heading off again, we found Gibsons Steps and descended to the beach. Named after the local landowner who originally hacked steps into the cliffs, Gibson Steps are now made of concrete and the beach below was surprisingly sheltered given the gale at the top!
Looking down....
Looking back...
The beach with Gog and Magog behind. The headland further back screens the Apostles from view from this beach.
The next morning, we woke early to find that we already had visitors! Presumably waiting for their buffet breakfast! And as we were leaving, we felt we should oblige!
Have a closer look here.
We checked out and back tracked east on the Great Ocean Road and onwards to Queenscliff, where we arrived with two minutes to spare and drove straight onto the car ferry across the heads of Port Philip Bay to Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula! It was calm and the 40 minute crossing was just long enough for Crack to explore the decks and Pie and I to enjoy a coffee. (Just realised that sounds like we went to the cafe and left Crack running round the deck, but clearly that's not what happened!)
Looking south from the ferry across the heads of Port Philip Bay - Queenscliff on the right, Point Nepean on the left.
We arrived in Sorrento, had some yummy fresh sandwiches from a lovely bakery, then checked into the world's smallest youth hostel (or so it seemed!), only 6 rooms! Crack napped and Pie worked, whilst I absconded to the nearest cafe with wifi to post the previous blog, download some new books to the kindle (thanks Becky, I loved the Shardlake books! And thank you, Sarah, I am fast getting sucked into the Met's magical division!), read and reply to emails, attempt to Skype my mother, try to find some transport to the airport and a million and one other things you have to do online and never notice until you become wifi deprived!
After Crack's nap we headed to the next town along, Blairgowrie, where I had spent sometime as a kid (a friend of the family has a beach house here). We did a lovely walk through the sandy coastal bush and out to the "back" beaches, on the southern side which get the full crash of the southern ocean (as opposed to the bay beaches, on the northern side, Port Philip Bay, which are very calm by comparison!)
We walked by Bridgewater Bay, beautiful with its rock arch in the late afternoon sunshine, and on past Pirates Bay, before looping back through the bush.
Then we had amazing, fresh local fish and chips with local wine on a picnic bench overlooking the bay. Early to bed, which was just as well, as it was a noisy night in the youth hostel which must have been full of Mosquitos too, judging by the irritating high pitched whining and the bites we awoke with! Never mind - it was the cheapest place we stayed the entire trip! $80 a night, £46, for a double with a shared bathroom!
We checked out before 8am and had a lovely wifi-drenched pancake breakfast before heading out walking again. This time to Diamond Bay and St Paul's Lookout, but still in and amongst the coastal scrub and back beaches. Really lovely but it was hotting up fast!
Skink!
We decided that Crack would enjoy some time on the beach, so we unpacked the gear and set up on the bay. He played happily for an hour and a half, at which point I had to wrestle the shivering toddler off the sand, into the shower and back in his clothes! He didn't care how cold he was....he was having fun!
After a quick bite to eat, it was time to head back to Melbourne and the laundry and other preparations to leave :-( but I'm so glad that I got to show Crack and Pie a little bit of the Mornington Penninsula. I have such happy memories of time spent there with family and good friends, it's great for them to leave with lovely memories too!
On Sunday morning, we shared a cheery bruch with Geoff, Ashleigh and family friend Ken Williams, at mum and day's favourite cafe. Then Pie went to the library to work, Ashleigh went home to sleep off last night's Xmas party, Crack went down for his nap, I started the cleaning and Geoff switched on The Ashes (cricket was thoroughly depressing!). When Crack woke up, there was lots of fun to be had with Uncle Geoff....including a driving lesson!
That evening we shared a lovely tapas meal with Geoff and Ashleigh (thanks Mum and Dad!), then said goodbye. I was a bit tearful on the way home. I really don't enjoy having siblings on the other side of the world, and it's the not knowing when you'll next see them that makes it hard to say goodbye! But we've had a great time together, it's been years since Geoff and I have spent this much time together. I'll miss him x
Epic desserts!
Today is our last day in Melbourne, and Australia, we are sad - it has been a fabulous three months - but also looking forward to seeing our family and friends!
But one more stop on the way home....tomorrow Hong Kong!
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