We arrived in Melbourne bright and early, ready to pick up our hire car, still lamenting the loss of Star Strider. Any remaining sadness we had for our NZ camper quickly disappeared when we met our new friend, the Holden Commodore. This 3.6 litre beast of a car was the perfect antidote and the complete opposite to the wheels we had in New Zealand. All we needed now was for Claire to don a headscarf and some giant sunglasses and for the sun to shine. Unfortunately luck was not on our side as no sooner had we driven out of the airport did the heavens open and the rain spilled down. It was an Australian déjà vu! Our plan was to drive down the world famous Great Ocean Road but naturally this would be more spectacular in good weather. We decided to drive as far as we could before a) we reached the Twelve Apostles (the main attraction on the Road) and b) we fell asleep at the wheel!
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| Rob & Mr. H. Commodore |
So we hit the road, after having the obligatory McDonalds – we’ve had at least one in every country so far, don’t you know! The rain eased off ever so slightly as the GOR started and we could see that the journey would be very impressive, with rainforest on our right and the tumultuous ocean on our left.
Along the way we saw some cool sights such as the kangaroos hanging out on a golf course in Angelsea…
…the koalas hanging out of some trees along the side of the road at Separation Creek...
funky sculptures at an art festival taking place in Lorne…
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| This was made out of computer parts |
…and paid a visit to the famous Bells Beach, where the movie Point Break was filmed.
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| Surf's up - well not for us! |
As we drove along though we couldn’t help but compare the journey to similar drives we had done in New Zealand, namely that between Westport and Greymouth. In a way the GOR wasn’t really living up to our expectations, probably because we were spoiled in NZ, it was raining and also because we were really tired. That being said, the Great Ocean Road is really beautiful and I certainly wouldn’t put anybody off driving it.
We woke the following morning to sunny skies, having spent the night in Apollo Bay. We were delighted because it meant we would get to see the Twelve Apostles at their best. Just so you know, the Twelve Apostles are actually a series of sea stacks standing in the ocean, formed after the land connecting the mainland and the stack was gradually eroded away by the sea (like Downpatrick Head in Mayo). To see all these stacks standing in a row along the ocean’s edge was really impressive, although at this stage, there are only about ten stacks still standing a number of them have fallen into the sea over the past couple of years. Having taken the necessary photographs we continued along the GOR to see London Bridge and The Grotto. Then it was time to turn and head northwards towards The Grampian Mountains and Halls Gap.
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| At the Twelve Apostles |
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| The Twelve Apostles or some of them at least! |
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| London Bridge |
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| The Grotto |
Along the way, we encountered long, straight stretches of road and this is where the little devils inside us decided to come out. We thought it would only be fair to see what our Commodore could actually do, so we both had a chance at putting our foot down on the accelerator! The car could practically drive itself! Rob’s foot reached a speed of 180km per hour, whereas Claire only reached a paltry 150km per hour! Exhilarating times!
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| Burnin' rubber... |
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| ...on the open road |
We decided that we would stay in the Grampians for three nights and base ourselves in the tiny town of Halls Gap, where mobile phone coverage was non-existent and kangaroos literally roamed freely around the street. We were looking forward to a few days hiking in the area but we discovered on our first day that this was going to be very difficult. Last January flooding had devastated the area, with hundreds of landslides wiping away many of the roads. While the majority of the roads infrastructure had been rebuilt, it was the sealed roads that were still works in progress. This meant that to get to where most of the hiking was done we would have to first drive along unsealed roads. Well, after the pain and stress of the unsealed roads in NSW back in September, we decided that it wasn’t worth it especially in our fancy Holden, so we filled our time doing activities around Halls Gap itself. We took a bush walk around a really pretty lake, all the while wondering if there were any crocodiles there. Turns out there aren’t! We went to a vineyard that served terrible wine and yet still ended up buying a bottle. We’re still trying to work out why! We challenged each other to a game of crazy golf; Rob won. We did some hiking too though and were treated to some spectacular views across the valley and beautiful flora and fauna. In the middle of all that, we took shelter from the rain at our fabulous hostel, YHA Halls Gap, which had roaring log fires, comfy sofas and cosy living rooms to chill out in – we would highly recommend it.
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| At the mysterious lake |
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| The Champion |
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| From Rob... |
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| ...to as far as the eye can see... |
After our few lazy days it was time to head towards Melbourne, but not before a couple more pitstops in between. Our first was to Philip Island to see the penguin parade. The what? – the penguin parade! The penguin parade happens every evening just after sunset, when penguins, after being out hunting in the ocean for a number of days, come back to their nests in the mainland to feed their young or hook up with a mate. We were really fortunate to witness around 1500 penguins coming back to shore in groups of around 20 to 30 at a time, taking a minute to assess the situation and whether there are any obvious dangers and then making a run for it. They have to make their way across about 30 metres of beach before reaching the safety of the sand dunes. The penguins come in at dark as they know that any of their predators, namely eagles and hawks, will have retired to their nests for the night so less of a risk is posed. This activity lasted for about an hour and afterwards we strolled the along the boardwalk watching the penguins make their way through the dunes to their nests. The set up at the nature reserve was really good, with the area lit up with non- invasive lighting that is meant to simulate the moon. Spectators also weren’t allowed on the beach but rather had to watch the spectacle from tiered benches in the dunes. The staff were also very strict about not taking any photography and despite the many announcements in multiple languages including Chinese and Japanese, it was always an Asian that was being given out to for taking that sneaky photo! They really love photos don’t they! Oh by the way, before we went to the penguin parade, we stopped in the seaside town of Cowes for fish and chips, where a seagull decided to land on my head!
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| Look out! There might be a penguin under your car |
That night, after the penguin parade, we drove up to the Dandenongs which is an hour outside Melbourne, to stay the night with my Mam’s cousin Paula Holloway and her family. Paula is my Mam’s first cousin, who moved to Australia with her parents (my Grandma’s sister) and siblings when she was 14. I met Paula and her daughters Laura and Julia when I was in Melbourne two years ago and when Paula heard that we were back again she invited us to come and stay with her. We arrived late in the evening, received a very warm welcome, had supper and a big catch up before going to sleep…in their caravan! It was like a blast from my childhood past only a lot cosier and ultra-modern with a flat screen TV and stereo system. The next morning we were treated to a slap up breakfast (in the house!) before going for a drive around the Dandenongs area and a walk in the beautiful National Rhododendron Gardens. After a cup of coffee and a spot of lunch it was time to make our way into Melbourne, where we would be spending two nights in a hotel (our first since Japan, so naturally we were very excited!).
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| Paula & Claire |
The day had turned for the better and after we said our goodbyes to Mr. Commodore, we strolled around Melbourne CBD and into Victoria Market. That evening we had arranged to meet my friend Michelle Dolan, an ex PwC colleague, who had moved over here last January and has been working in PwC Melbourne for a few months here and there ever since. We went to an Italian restaurant that had recently been voted the “Best Italian in Melbourne” by The Age newspaper. The restaurant was definitely piggy-backing on this award, as we were made wait despite having a reservation and were then seated at a teeny tiny table! It didn’t matter though because we had great food, great wine, great conversation and great craic. After dinner, Michelle took us to a rooftop bar on Spencer St. called Cookie for the quintessential Melbourne experience! We had a great time and a great catch up.
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| Rob and the ladies |
The following day Rob and I went to try another Melbourne essential, the chicken parma! Rob received a great tip from Michelle’s friend the night before (sorry we can’t remember her name!) so we made our way to Mrs. Parma’s and tackled our way through a delicious chicken parm’ so big we couldn’t finish it. Afterwards, we got a bus tour around the CBD, chilled out in Federation Square and paid a visit to the Ian Potter Contemporary Gallery. That evening we met up with a friend of mine from DCU, Brian McCarthy, who had just arrived in Melbourne after travelling with his girlfriend and a gang of friends. We had a few drinks and swapped travel stories for the evening before heading back to the hotel to pack, yet again, for our flight back to Bangkok.
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| Mmmm Chicken Parma |
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