Down Under Part II
We’ve been a bit lazy on the blogging front for a few weeks and also a bit busy, but I wanted to write a bit more about Australia before I forget it all! So as Eddie wrote, we had a fab time with our friends Michelle, Justin and baby Molly for our first five or six days in Australia. We got picked up from the airport, went for lunch in St. Kilda’s in Melbourne, saw the beautiful Mornington peninsula (where Michelle and Justin live), visited some local wineries, got well fed in both the parent’s houses and got brought down the Great Ocean Road for a weekend trip (saw Koalas, Kangaroos, Whales and of course the 12 Apostles), dropping baby Molly off first with the grandparents. Suffice to say, after six weeks of roughing it in Asia, it was a real treat. We then spent a night with a relative of Eddie’s who took us up the mountains to her daughter’s house for another dinner. We were well fed and watered again!
We spent 2 days in Melbourne itself and loved it. It’s a very friendly city and easy to get around. There was a free tram and tourist bus which went to all the sights so it suited us perfectly! We got our rental car after that to begin our five day trip up the coast to Sydney.
On the Victoria side, the main memorable bit was Wilsons Prom, which is a gorgeous national park. We stayed in Lakes Entrance the next night in a cool little cabin (basically a mobile home), and watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics (they were Olympics mad in Australia; first time I ever watched more than a few minutes of it!). After that we crossed into New South Wales and I have to say, the drive got more interesting from then on; if you’re ever doing the same route I recommend taking the inland route on the Victoria side as the coast just goes on forever with not that much to see – in Winter anyway. We passed though lots of lovely little towns in New South Wales like Tilba Tilba, really old fashioned places. We stayed in Merimbula a night, lovely place, and visited the Whale museum in Eden which sounds boring but was actually quite a highlight! We also visited Jervis Bay, Hyams beach and lots of other little stops along the way, including a community boat-building project in Orbost and an Aboriginal Info centre which were both really good. They’re all in my photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/rionar . It was a great little trip, with lots of nice people and places and really gave us a small taste for how huge and diverse Australia is.
We rolled in to Sydney for our last four days days in Australia but I didn’t really take to the place at all. It’s probably very different in summer, or when you’re not on a tight budget or if you’re working there, but I found it very pricey and not terribly ‘buzzy’ like a big city should be. However, we did get some fantastic deals like steak and chips for just $10 in Kings Cross (it was like an expensive fillet steak at home) and afternoon tea with scones, cream and jam down by the Opera House for $6. We also went to see the Dark Knight in the Imax, on the biggest screen in the world apparently and that was cool, scary stuff. We got a great deal on a room in the Devere hotel in King’s Cross, which was a lovely bit of luxury – check out www.wotif.com if you’re ever looking for cheap deals in Australia.
We then left Sydney to fly to Fiji for what turned out to be a highlight of the trip so far but more of that on the next post.
Tags: Australia, Eden, Great Ocean Road, Melbourne, Sydney, Tilba Tilba, Whale Museum, Wildlife, Wilsons Prom
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Yum Yum, I remember that steak and chips deal for $10 in kings cross!! I lived just accross the road and that was my thursday night dinner treat!!