and so..I was nolonger able to make entries on my MSN My Space if I am using my office laptop, yes..even when I am at home...fark! Oh well, the last I checked, humans were still in charge and so this is my alternative avenue. To be fair, Istarted this blog much earier than when I made entries to My Space, so I guess we have gone full circle.
As a result of the above-mentioned, I was not able to make entries that capture the after thoughts of my recent trip to Aussieland.. Anyway, I am not known to be someone who gives up easily...well, maybe only when it comes to dieting and exercise...so here I am..again..getting a go at it again..ngiak ngiak..
Here it goes...
Remember how CM and his gang of friends + partners were supposed to go visit a friend in Sydney, and how it did not work out cause of the Swine flu and then how we had some cash credits locked up in domestic tics and hotel accommodation? Anyway, so willing to lose out on the credits and also to give ourselves the perfect reason to go for a holiday. CM & I bought tickets that were on offer (almost SGD300 cheaper as compared to what we had purchased before!) and headed to Aussieland earlier this month.
The fact that the experience is tucked further away in my memory than I would like it to be when I record it down means that I will probably have to only focus on the highlights instead of a detail day-to-day account. So here's roughly what I can remember:
Day 1
- Arrive Melbourne, collect car from Hertz
- Started on Great Ocean Road drive starting from Torquay, stopping by lorne for lunch
- Lunch was at this little diner that had loads of huge flies harassing us but the Mad Cow burger we had was fabulous
- Checked into Lighthouse Innkeepers, deco was damn old school but room was huge but had a tiny balcony
- CM took a power nap from all that driver and then we were out again
- We found the 12 apostles, which was simply magnificent...
- Also saw wild koalas, one attempted to pee from the tree (Discover: Koalas make grunting noise, I thought they were wild dogs)
- On the way back to the Apollo Bay, we were hit by a thunderstorm..imagine this..rain that came with lightining that strikes every 10 seconds 100 metres from where our car was. No cars on the road except us. I had not once stayed so awake on a drive and had my eyes glued to the GPS which told us how close we were to safety.
- Coming out of the storm safely meant a rewarding dinner at Apollo Bay Deli (Discover: That servings were huge and from then onwards, CM & I started sharing at meals, very good choice indeed)
- Dinner was a huge plate of salad and yummy Risotto.
Recap: It was a very good Day 1 on the whole. The GPS worked beautifully and we did not get lost for one second. Seeing wild Koalas was definitely a bonus! And I especially liked the closeness to CM when we sat by the road, watching the road and enjoying the cool climate (for a change) whilst we enjoy a good dinner. I just cannot imagine doing this with anyone else in the world.
Day Two: Apollo Bay back to Melbourne City
- After the thunderstorm the night before, we woke up to a very very cold morning at Apollo Bay. It was nice though, I always liked cooler climate. We also chanced upon a weekend farmer's market. I really liked this sorta market. I can't quite explain but it just feels very natural and friendly. I bought some home made jams and some lotions. One of the bottle of lotions had a photo of the 12 Apostles on it! Cute!
- We bought some pies and sandwich and stopped by a clearing just in front of the Ocean for our breakfast. It was kinda cold, but the sea breeze and the hot coffee made the breakfast extra palatable. There was a family having a day out at the beach. It was so heart warming to see such a scene. Hopefully some day CM & I will bring our little mices here..
- Quite honestly, the drive along the coastline was nice but was pretty much the same for 300 over kilometres.
- We took a slightly different route, an inland drive to get back to Melbourne City, which I am glad we did. This was a slightly different drive that had more interesting sights.
- We saw tall trees with sunlight peeking through the leaves; cows brown, black and all grazing freely in the fields, and there were sunflowers blooming and just vast land that goes on and on. Nothing busy is happening, no one is in a rush to go anywhere..well, maybe except for us since we will need to check in and return the car by 5pm that day.
- Bidding the suburbs a fond farewell, we are offically onto on Melbourne City tour.
- With the car, we thought it'd be wise to cover places that are a bit further to go via public transport and so we headed to St Kilda and the beach front
- We went in search of the colourful beach huts at Brighton Beach, they were not easy to find but the experience of finding it led us to different sights so it was worth it
- We end up parking the car near Luna Park and grabbing lunch around the area..it was one busy day and we decided on having a Seafood basket, I could resist a non-bake cheesecake that was waving at me from the pastry shop next door and I succumb. It remains the only disappointing food purchase so far.
- We checked into Best Western Atlantis and was out again to return the car. We decided to take a short walk back to the hotel which was about 4 blocks away.
- I decided that we should look for a park to enjoy our lunch and it was almost like God was listening and round the corner was FlagStaff park. We enjoyed just sitting down there with our cold seafood basket and people watching in the park
Recap:
It becomes obvious why people liked Melbourne and how it is so liveable. There are nice parks every couple of blocks away and you are free to do almost anything u like and you won't be getting weird stares. Trying doing that at Bishan Park. But I think climate has a big part to play..you don't mind just hanging out because it is nice and cool.
.......to be continued...
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