(If the title of this post doesn’t mean anything to you, it’s a lyric from Craig McLachlan’s song Mona).
Anyway, Alex and I went to Tassie! We flew to Hobart mega-cheaply, and even wangled emergency exit seats AGAIN! We stayed in yet another amazing Airbnb place – this time a nice family’s garage converted into a funky loft studio.
The location on Liverpool Street was great – a short walk to the CBD, shops, coffee shops, the ferry to Mona (more on that later), a bus that takes you to Cascade Brewery/Mt Wellington, Battery Point and more.
On our first day we decided to walk up the aforementioned Mount Wellington. We hadn’t gone far when the rocky ground beneath our feet turned to snow, and the air temperature dropped to ‘very chilly’. At one point the map told us we were underneath the magnificent Organ Pipes, but in actual fact all we could see was cloud! After climbing over some boulders and essentially wading through a stream, we reached a picnic spot called the Chalet (at 1000m) and stopped for a much-needed cereal bar. We then decided to head back down along the road, rather than risking a slippery climb up the final 270m to the Pinnacle – mainly because we knew there wouldn’t be a view from the top (and it seemed silly to clamber up there just so we could tell people we’d done it!).
The view from Mount Wellington
Even though we didn’t complete the climb, it had still been pretty good exercise, so we rewarded ourselves with dinner at Hobart’s best BBQ joint, Crumb Street Kitchen, that evening. It was mmmmm tasty good.
Cascade Brewery
The next day we walked along the Hobart Rivulet (rivulet: noun. 1. a small stream of water or another liquid) to Cascade Brewery for a tour with tastings! Our tour guide had a big beard and was very funny, and it was cool to see all the current beer making equipment housed in the original brewery building dating back to 1824. After our tastings (4 for Alex; 3 for me) the rest of the day was a write-off! We went home, had a nap, and then ordered takeaway food (Crumb Street Kitchen again) for dinner! In our defence, it was incredibly stormy and rainy outside, so a cheese burger, a glass of wine and a DVD were just what we needed.
The pièce de résistance of our Hobart trip was our day at Mona, the Museum of Old and New Art. It’s the largest privately funded museum in Australia, and all the pieces are from millionaire gambler David Walsh’s collection. But this is no Tate Modern. Walsh has described the museum as a ‘subversive adult Disneyland’ and that sums it up pretty well!
The Mona ferry
To get there we hopped on Mona’s very own ferry for the 30 minute journey along the River Derwent. None of the artworks have labels, so all visitors are given iPods which use GPS to figure out where you are – and then you can read all about the painting/sculpture/poo-machine (more on that later) that you’re standing in front of, as well as listening to some commentary. One of the first pieces we saw was bit.fall by Julius Popp, which takes words from information sites on the internet and briefly ‘translates’ them into drops of water as, in the artist’s own words, ‘a metaphor for the incessant flood of information we are exposed to’. It was amazing, and we could easily have stood in front of it all day. One of the words I saw was ‘MH17’ – very topical seeing as a memorial for the victims of Flight MH17 was taking place at the same time back in Melbourne.
bit.fall by Julius Popp
For me, the highlight in terms of interestingness (but lowlight in terms of smell) was definitely the installation Cloaca Professional (2010) by Belgium artist Wim Delvoye – also known as the poo-machine. According to the Mona blurb, the ‘gastro-intestinal’ machine works like this: ‘It is fed and maintained at body temperature while food travels through a kind of mechanical and chemical assembly line involving ‘organs’, enzymes necessary for digestion, farting and a smelly solid end product. Cloaca is a work of art that produces works of art’.
The smell really is horrendous.
Anyway, here are some more photos from Mount Wellington:
Clockwise from top left: Oh no, there’s a tree in the way!; Snowball fight!; Visual representation of being stuck between a rock and a hard place; Snowman (‘s head)!
After our amazing weekend in Sydney we swapped city life for 5 nights on world heritage listed Lord Howe Island. We flew in on a tiny plane and were immediately greeted with blue skies and bright sunshine – a welcome change from the chilliness of Melbourne and Sydney. Fun facts! Lord Howe is located 600km east of the Australian mainland in the South Pacific. The island is just 11km long and 2km wide at the widest point. And there are just 350 permanent residents, with tourists restricted to 400 at any one time.
Our studio at Beachcomber Lodge had everything we needed for our stay, and was just a short walk from some of the island’s shops and restaurants, as well as their much loved Ned’s Beach (where we later squeezed in a scuba dive).
Mount Gower
One of the first things we did was sign up to the Mount Gower trek taking place on Wednesday. I perhaps foolishly decided to read lots of TripAdvisor reviews about the trek, so I pretty much knew what to expect:
a tough trek/climb, not suitable for anyone with a fear of heights (and only suitable for moderately fit/very fit people)
very steep sections which would require the use of ropes (ropes??!!)
an 8 hour return trip at the very least (starting at 7am).
I was not happy about any of this (especially the bits in brackets above) and by the time I woke up on the morning of the trek I was actually just hoping it would be cancelled due to the rain we’d had during the night! But unfortunately for me the trek went ahead, and before I could say ‘maybe I should stay behind and have a massage instead’ we were starting out.
Pretty early on we were already using the aforementioned ropes. But it wasn’t the sort of climbing seen in survival drama movie 127 Hours; rather than each person being attached to their own climbing ropes and doing all sorts of things with carabiners, these ropes were permanently fixed to the rocks and we just grabbed onto them when needed to pull ourselves up.
The next section was interesting though – we had to don helmets and then edge sideways along a very narrow path (holding onto a rope of course!), with the mountain towering above us and a 100m drop below us. The only redeeming feature was the incredible view of the entire island in front of us. I began to wonder if there was any point carrying on – how could the view from the top possibly beat this?!
Ball’s Pyramid
Next our guide Jack Shick showed us how to shimmy up a palm tree with just a foot strap thing (as you do), and then we ditched our helmets and did some normal, surprisingly flat walking. Jack provided some interesting commentary about the vegetation on the mountain along the way (but only when he wasn’t talking to his friend, who had joined the trek sporting a flowing grey beard and flip flops!), and then we had a lovely little morning tea break by a creek. After that there were some more steep sections, including a couple of really tricky ones, but we also got an amazing view of Ball’s Pyramid (the world’s tallest sea stack).
View from the top – just before the rain!
Before we knew it we were at the summit, enjoying our lunches with a breath-taking view of the island below us. The plan was to start our descent at about 12.30pm, but as if on cue the sky completely clouded over and it started pouring with rain just as we got up to go! This made the journey down very difficult – not only were we negotiating the usual rocks, tree roots and ropes, but we were also trying to avoid slipping and tumbling to our deaths. And the really tricky sections going up were 10 times harder on the way down. At one point Alex told me to ‘hold onto the rope and lean back as if you’re abseiling’ – interesting advice given we’ve been together for 9 years and have never been abseiling once! But he redeemed himself by grabbing my arm, Indiana Jones style, when I accidentally lost my grip on the rope and so nearly fell a long way onto a very hard surface!
Needless to say, I was really hating the trek by this point. It was just so slippery and scary, and the group had separated out quite a bit due to the one-at-a-time rope sections. Then Alex slid into me and knocked me over – leaving me with a big bruise on my thigh and a HUGE bruise on the left cheek of my bottom (still there over a week later!). Although plenty of other people were struggling too (I was relieved to hear I wasn’t the only one swearing from time to time!), a man who was probably in his late 70s and had had both knees replaced was as agile as a mountain goat!
Finally, finally we got to the bottom, a mere 9.5 hours after we started out. I was damp, sore, covered in mud and bruises and totally exhausted, but I’d done it!
Just a quick post about the best Wednesday of my life so far – the day we went on a Neighbours studio tour!
Filming on the street!
We hopped on the official tour bus on Flinders Street like last time, but this time when we got to the street they were actually filming! We saw a car reverse several times, and amongst all the crew members we could literally see Terese and Brad Willis, Lauren Turner and Paige. And at one point Mark Brennan (Scott McGregor in real life – here shown talking to the car) even jogged up to us to say hello!
Then we hopped back on the bus to go to the studio. Like last time, Alan Fletcher was there to greet everyone, have photos taken and sign autographs. But unlike last time he then escorted us off for our studio tour…!
Without further ado we walked straight into the studio and saw a real life scene being filmed. (I can’t divulge too much about it because we signed a confidentiality agreement thing, but it’s probably ok to say that none other than Lou and Sheila were in it!)
When Fletch walked in all the crew members started shouting ‘Alan, Alan, Alan!’ (like the hilarious talking meerkat) and it was lovely to see that Neighbours is clearly a fun place to work where everyone really does get along. But when they’re filming it’s all pretty intense – everything out of shot is silent and dark, while the scene itself is brightly lit and the actors and crew are 100% in the zone!
Toadie and Sonya’s place!
After that scene Fletch showed us round some of the other sets, and even took a photo of us sitting on Toadie and Sonya’s couch! Then it was time for lunch in the cafeteria, where we saw Lou again, and Scott Major (who played Lucas Fitzgerald but is now a director). We then saw, and even spoke to/shook hands with, Susan Kennedy, Paul Robinson and Toadie! I also spotted Matt Turner coming out of a dressing room, Terese again (back from the street now), and Alex reckons he saw Daniel Robinson twice!
Last but not least we got to check out Sonya’s Nursery and the whole Lassiters/Harold’s Store/Waterhole/Lake complex, and we also peered over a fence into the back yard of number 26!
Fletch and Alex outside The Waterhole
The whole morning was a dream come true and I loved every minute of it!
We finally did it – we departed our beloved Melbourne for a few days in Sydney to see what Australia’s most iconic city has to offer. And it turns out the answer is HEAPS!
We were staying in a funky studio in Surry Hills, courtesy of Airbnb, and the location was perfection. There was a fantastic independent coffee shop just up the road (very important for a Melbourne coffee snob like Alex!) and everything we needed for the weekend was right on our doorstep.
On our first afternoon we had lunch at said coffee shop, then walked to and through the Botanical Gardens, and before we knew it we were on the steps of the magnificent Opera House. After taking plenty of photos we decided to celebrate our 9th anniversary in style – with a lovely glass of sparkling wine overlooking the Harbour Bridge at sunset!
Harbour Bridge at sunset
Later that evening we stopped for a cocktail at Hinky Dinks – highly recommended for the 1950s decor, attentive service and tasty concoctions. So far we were loving Sydney (sorry Melbourne!) – everything was just so picturesque and iconic and interesting and breathtaking.
The next day we hopped on a bus to Coogee and did the coastal walk up to Bondi. Although we were fully prepared for an off-road hike, clothed as we were in walking shoes and outdoorsy attire, the walk was actually paved and pretty flat, so we felt pretty daft. We stopped for lunch at Bronte, another lovely little beachside suburb (but with BIG waves that day!), and then carried on to Bondi. The beach was practically deserted (as you’d expect on a chilly winter’s day), but we did see the lifeguard station from Bondi Rescue, which reassured us that this was in fact the same beach that is famously packed all summer long!
That evening we found ourselves in need of another cocktail, so we dressed up a bit and headed to Eau-de-Vie – in their words ‘an intimate, dimly lit, jazz infused speakeasy’. The cocktails were delish and it was indeed dimly lit and very atmospheric. One of the hosts/waiters was a bit pretentious, so it was a good job that he wasn’t around when we tried to pay and our card was declined! (Fear not, we quickly used our trusty banking app to transfer some money from our savings account – what are savings for if not to be spent on delectable cocktails?!). We found a great little sushi place for dinner (not unlike Melbourne’s Ichi Ichi Ku), and then rounded off the night with a handmade choc-top (as seen on MasterChef Australia) and sundae from Gelato Messina – pure ice creamy heavenliness.
Gelato Messina – sundae and choc-top
After waking from our food coma the next morning, we decided to hop on a ferry to Watson’s Bay for another coastal walk. I completely fell in love with Watson’s Bay – it’s absolutely beautiful, with amazing views over to Sydney Proper and some lovely beaches (plus signs of scuba diving and some interesting history to boot!). This time we wore normal shoes and clothes, but it turned out the walk was actually much longer, more off-road, and hillier than yesterday’s – ooops! When we finally got to our destination (Bondi again), our first stop was Matt Moran’s North Bondi Fish for a beer and some seriously good fish and chips. But we couldn’t indulge too much because dinner was already booked…
Billy Kwong
Just before 8pm we left our Surry Hills pad for the wonderfully short walk to Billy Kwong, Kylie Kwong’s super famous restaurant. The restaurant doesn’t look much from the outside – you might not give the place a second glance if you didn’t know what was inside. And in fact the interior is very simply decorated and understated too. But the food is spectacular! We loved every mouthful, from the pork belly special and stir-fried organic warrigal greens, to Billy Kwong’s signature crispy duck dish, which has been on the menu for a whopping 14 years.
The next morning it was already time to leave, even though we had barely scraped the surface of what’s on offer; we didn’t manage to check out The Rocks or any of the museums, there wasn’t time for a trip to Manly or the Blue Mountains, and it was too chilly to attempt surfing at Bondi. But we’re already planning our next trip, so there will be another chance to tick those things off our list, and more!
We’ve since come to the conclusion that Sydney is one of the best cities in the world to visit, and it’s impossible not to love it and constantly marvel at the sights. But we’ll never regret choosing to live in Melbourne – not just because of the better coffee, but because we arrived as strangers 9 months ago and yet somehow felt at home right away 🙂
If you spend any time in Melbourne in the winter you’ll get pretty chilly and rained on, so I would heartily recommend a weekend away to warm and sunny Brisbane.
Our weekend started on a high note when we found ourselves sitting in row A of the aeroplane! Amazing. (From this vantage point you actually get to see the cabin crew ‘arm all doors and cross-check’!) Then before we knew it we were in Brisbane – a good few degrees warmer than Melbourne even at 10pm. We were staying with our lovely Melbourne house-mate, SJ (temporarily in Brissie for some research), and her apartment block was awesome – part hotel, part flats, very art deco – and slap bang in the heart of the city.
Glad rags
The weekend was a hoot from start to finish, especially our hilarious dinner at the United Service Club on Friday. We were SJ’s guests and attempted to dress snappily for the occasion, but upon entering the dining room it turned out Alex was not quite smart enough! The waiter/maître d’ almost let him off because we were the only people in the dining room, but then some other people turned up so Alex was sent off to find a jacket and tie from behind reception. It was just like Pretty Woman.
Alex returned some time later wearing a black blazer jacket thing and a grey striped tie, and then we tucked into a delicious meal incorporating a crisp white wine and some tasty lobster. It was only when we came to leave and Alex was doffing his borrowed clothes in order to return them that we realised he’d actually picked a ladies’ jacket!
On Saturday we headed upriver to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and it was fab! Apart from a plethora of koalas, including adorable little ones, we also saw kangaroos, emus, Tasmanian devils, crocodiles, goannas, wombats, kookaburras, platypus, snakes, frogs and dingoes! As far as I understand it, the only Aussie animals we didn’t see there were echidnas and sharks.
That evening it did in fact rain – as in a truly torrential downpour – but luckily we were in a restaurant at the time and it had stopped by the time we finished our meal, so we didn’t get in the least bit chilly or damp. In your face Melbourne!
The next day was beautifully sunny as we hopped on the city’s free bikes for a cycle along the impressive Brisbane River. Our first stop was brunch in James Street (with some spectacular views of Story Bridge on the way), then we scooted along under the Kangaroo Point cliffs, before finishing up at QAGOMA (the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art).
Story Bridge
After checking out Richard Godfrey Rivers’s iconic Under the Jacaranda painting and seeing some beautiful Aboriginal art, we returned to SJ’s for a sit down and some cheese, and then hopped on the plane back to Melbourne. We managed to pack quite a bit into our 72 hours in Brisbane and left feeling enriched, inspired and most of all, warm!
Last weekend Alex and I went surfing! Why we chose to go just as Melbourne’s weather was turning decidedly wintery, as opposed to during the 30-40 degree summer, will forever be a mystery, but we figured better late than never!
We went with Great Ocean Road Surf Tours thanks to a leaflet I’d picked up in the Official Neighbours Tour office last month. We were promised two days of surfing, plus some scenic lunches and a trip to Victoria’s famous Bells Beach. Due to the location of said leaflet I had a slight sense of trepidation that we’d be in a group with a gaggle of 18 year old backpackers (having been one myself once, I could think of nothing worse!), but in fact it was just us – wahey!
Before we knew it we were in lovely Torquay, changing into our wetsuits, rash vests and booties in a beach car park with our surf coach, Al. And then we were learning the techniques of how to stand up on a surf board – first of all under a pouring rain shower on the beach, and then in the actual ocean (still under a pouring rain shower)! Somehow it wasn’t actually that cold in the water, and soon I was managing to stand up the cheat knees-first way, while Alex was managing to stand up the real surfer way (for anyone in the know about these things!). Although we both managed to fall off a lot, we feeling pretty pleased with our progress.
This is how we do it
After quite a few rounds of standing up/almost standing up/falling off/falling over, we then disembarked the sea, hopped in the van, and drove off to another beach. This time the waves were bigger so we had to paddle out quite a bit to get in the best position for the surf. Some of the waves were so big I was knocked right of the board and swirled around under the water for a bit before re-surfacing, but being no stranger to life underwater I remained mostly unperturbed. Around this time a search and rescue helicopter was busy practicing searching for and rescuing someone in the sea nearby. I’m pretty sure the team had one eye on me, just in case!
Soon the waves were getting bigger and bigger, and it was getting harder and harder to paddle back out in order to catch more waves. And then a particularly rough ‘n tumble moment caused my leash to be ripped from my leg so my surfboard and I were no longer attached! Luckily my board washed ashore (or perhaps that always happens?), but it seemed like a good time to end the lesson and have some lunch!
That evening we were exhausted, so we chilled out in our cabin, ate lots of pizza, watched Jerry Maguire and had an early night. Thanks to these simple steps we actually felt pretty energised the next day, and even the rain did nothing to dampen our spirits. We went to the only beach that was suitable for beginners given the conditions, and in fact most of Torquay’s surfers seemed to have the same idea. For some reason I kept doing lots of things wrong, so for every time I managed to stand up, there were a dozen times when I totally failed. It was soooo frustrating, especially as I had so much help from our expert coach, so there really wasn’t any excuse for being so rubbish. The only consolation was that two of the times I did stand up, I also managed to almost turn!
After changing out of our wetsuits in the beach car park (not an easy task for a woman I can tell you!) we paid a visit to Bells Beach, which features in the greatest surfing movie of all time, Point Break! Of course, a cursory glance at Wikipedia will tell you that the well-known final scene of Point Break was actually filmed in Oregon, America, not Victoria, Australia – but nevertheless it was top to see one of the world’s greatest surf beaches in the flesh!
We got back to Melbourne feeling salty, sandy and sleepy, but already starting to plan our next surfing adventure – maybe Lord Howe Island in July? Watch this space…!
A couple of weeks ago we headed down the coast to the lovely Mornington Peninsula for a weekend of mud and gin!
We borrowed our friends’ car in Brighton, scooted along the Nepean Highway past Frankston, and arrived at our Airbnb apartment in McCrae in no time at all. After grabbing some lunch at the Blue Bay Cafe (the walls adorned with autographs of Neighbours cast members!) we jumped back in the car to Peninsula Hot Springs for the mud part of the trip.
First we sampled all the thermal mineral pools, with temperatures varying from 37 to 43 degrees celcius (apart from the cold plunge pool which was bloody freezing). The spa pool water contains a range of naturally occurring minerals including sulphur, calcium, magnesium, potassium and others – providing all sorts of therapeutic benefits! We managed to stay in the hottest one for longer than we intended as we got chatting to a friendly chap from Geelong! Then we discovered our favourite pool of all – the wouldn’t-be-out-of-place-in-Hobbiton wine barrel:
The wine barrel
Next it was time for our private mud bath! Neither of us had any idea what to expect, although we both secretly imagined it was going to be a giant bubbling pool of thick, gloopy mud. In fact it was a normal bath, filled with the same water as the thermal spa pools, and we smeared mud onto our bodies before hopping in. Then we lay back and relaxed as the mineral-enriched Dead Sea mud did its work – “regenerating the skin, restoring a youthful radiance to body and soul”.
The next day was Gin Day! But first of all we popped to Foxeys Hangout (chosen purely because of the excellent name!) for some wine tasting and tapas. The tapas was a good move, because over the next couple of hours there was plenty of gin-tasting to do!
When we arrived co-founder Bob told us all about Bass & Flinders Distillery, including how they make the basic gin (using grapes and a triple distillation method) and how they add the botanicals to make the tasty flavours. We then got to sample a gin & tonic! from their range, and while we were drinking we heard where all the botanicals come from and what they add to the gin.
Then it was our turn to invent our very own bottle of gin! We all started with the basis for any good gin – juniper and coriander. Then we could add whatever we felt like from the range of vapour infused botanicals at our disposal, which included: lime, orange, cassia bark, chilli, cardamon, lemon grass, angelica and many more. We used syringes to measure small quantities of each flavour into our mixing cup, then kept tasting the neat booze and adding more botanicals until we were happy with the overall flavour.
By the end of the session I had created a traditional, fresh, limey gin, while Alex went for a more exotic and oriental-inspired blend (at least that’s what we were aiming for!)
In a couple of weeks the bottles of gin will be delivered to our door, and we’ll be able to see whether our concoctions worked, or if the end results are more ‘interesting’ than delicious. Either way, we’ll look forward to sipping a bespoke gin & tonic while we reminisce about our weekend of mud and gin!
Yesterday will be forever etched in my memory as one of the best days ever*, for Alex and I went on the Official Neighbours Tour!
At 10am we piled into the Official Neighbours Tour Bus on Flinders Street (me giddy with excitement; Alex probably feeling more normal), then spent the short journey out of Melbourne listening to Gerry the driver/tour guide’s wonderfully funny and interesting Neighbours anecdotes. Aside from having to drive a bus, which would be my worst nightmare as I hate driving, he has the coolest job in the world!
Me on Ramsay Street!
In no time at all we were turning into Ramsay Street! The cul-de-sac’s actual name is Pin Oak Court, so (**tour spoiler alert**) we took photos with a sign we’d brought with us! I got to hold the sign first because my birthday was closest to Gerry’s birthday, and the result was loads of photos of one happy looking lady!
We found out some interesting facts from Gerry as we wandered around:
The street has 24 hour security
The house numbers are actually 1-6 (much more sensible than the Neighbours version – just the even numbers from 22 to 32!)
Two of the houses are rented out to the studio.
Next we headed off to the studios, and en route we found out we were going to meet an actual Neighbours cast member! And it happened sooner than I could have imagined, for as I walked down the steps of the bus I was greeted by none other than Alan Fletcher (aka Dr Karl Kennedy)! He turned out to be an incredibly lovely and friendly chap, and took photos with (and signed postcards for) everyone on the bus!
Me and Dr Karl!
As you can see, we also got to check out Fitzgerald Motors, plus Dial-a-Kyle’s yard and the famous Neighbours bus stop! And as we were doing this, none other than Imogen Willis drove past us on her way home!
Imogen Willis!
We didn’t get to see the Lassiter’s/coffee shop/Charlie’s area as they were filming there, but apparently if you go on one of the weekend tours it’s a different story…!
In short, it was an awesome day! I’ve watched Neighbours for over 25 years and this was just the best way to celebrate and nourish that love!
* Alas I cannot say this was my absolute best day ever, because on the way to the tour in the morning I got my feet completely soaked wading through a flood!
Last weekend we did proper Aussie things. We went to see Aussie rules football and we visited places outside of Melbourne!
First the footie. As we’re living in St Kilda at the moment we’ve become Saints fans, so we headed to the Etihad Stadium to see them in action. They were playing the Sydney Somethings and somehow managed to win, even though there was plenty of fumbling and dropping the ball at every opportunity. It’s possible even I could have managed some of those catches!
Footie games seem to go on for a while – 4 quarters of 20ish minutes each – but with 18 players on each team there’s always lots to see. Unfortunately I can’t tell you much more than that because I can’t remember any of the rules or anything particularly exciting that happened. (Let’s face it, I’m probably never going to be a sports journalist!)
The very next day we headed off on a Great Ocean Road coach trip and literally and actually left the confines of Melbourne for a whole day. First stop was Colac, a town famous (as far as I’m concerned) for being the hometown of the Rebecchi crew in Neighbours. We only stopped for half an hour, but that was long enough to get a good coffee and to sample a delicious Aussie delicacy, the coffee scroll. It’s basically an iced bun with currants, and even though I hate currants, I thought it was pretty good!
Next stop was the Otway Fly Treetop Walk, where we enjoyed a lovely stroll along an elevated boardwalk high up in a temperate rainforest, peering down at the massive ferns below. It was the perfect day for this experience – slightly damp and chilly but with glimpses of dazzling sunlight and touches of warmth through the branches.
After Otway we were on the road again. We took a slight detour, when our incredibly lovely coach driver accidentally went the wrong way and ended up at a dead end, so then had to do a 27 point turn – in a coach – in order to face the right way again!
But we made it to our next stop without further delay – the incredible Twelve Apostles. By this time it was gloriously bright and sunny, and with every step along the boardwalk there was yet another awe-inspiring view to greet our eyes. Next we headed to Loch Ard Gorge – the site of a 19th century shipwreck with a beautiful beach and a cove (where the only two shipwreck survivors sheltered all those years ago).
The Twelve Apostles
Our penultimate stop was the small (but perfectly formed) town of Port Campell. After a dash to the Surf Club loos SJ and I ate a tasty Magnum by the sea, while Alex watched teams battling it out on the beach as part of The Amazing Race Australia. We look forward to seeing whether Alex will be visible in the background whenever the show airs!
Finally we carried on a short way to London Bridge – another beautiful rock formation that is actually no longer a bridge because it collapsed into the sea in 1990 (while two people were standing on the other side – ooops!).
We arrived back in Melbourne a few hours later, feeling exhausted in that way people often feel after sitting on a coach for hours on end. But it was a fantastic day, packed full of breath-taking views and spectacular sights, plus our coach driver was a real treasure. I’d definitely recommend this tour to anyone who wants to experience the Great Ocean Road (and why wouldn’t you?).
Our specific tour was actually organised by the University of Melbourne’s graduate students’ association, but the coach and driver were from AAT Kings. Find out about their Great Ocean Road tour.
