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| Hoiser Lane |
The next day we head to the State Library. There’s a few exhibitions in here, including a permeant fixture dedicated to infamous bushranger Ned Kelly. It includes his actual armour he was wearing when he was shot and captured, complete with bullet holes. We play some chess in the main room of the library. Melbourne’s IMAX claims to be the largest cinema screen in the world (Google seems to agree) so we feel obliged to go and see Dunkirk there, even though we saw it back in Wellington. It’s worth it though, as it improves the experience tenfold. As we walk back I notice something moving in the trees, but it’s too dark to see. Further down the path, one of the critters steps towards a street light. We later identify our first run in with Australia’s varied wildlife as a Possum, who run rampage around the park at night.
Saturday is an early start as we have a bus tour booked for the Great Ocean road. This starts a little to the South West of Melbourne, so it made sense to do a tour rather than drive there and back. We drive for a few hours until we reach Torquay, birthplace of the surfing brand Ripcurl, where we have morning tea and watch the surfers from the beach. Next stop is the gateway which marks the start of the Great Ocean Road, which as the name suggests is a stunning trip between ocean and cliff. We stop for lunch at a holiday park where we also walk around spotting parakeets and koalas. Being nocturnal, the koalas are asleep in the trees but I did spot one being rudely awoken by a bird. We stop for a rainforest walk before heading to the highlights of the GOR.
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| Seconds from disaster |
When we reach the iconic 12 apostles, it begins pouring it down with rain. It’s a bit of a shame not only because we get wet but because the scenery isn’t quite as picturesque in the grey. Still pretty impressive, mind. Also we spot our first Wallaby on the way. No-one can quite agree how many apostles there actually are, just that there arn’t 12. Next is Loch Ard Gorge, which I think outshines 12 apostles, and Gibson steps. At the bottom of the steps is a beach and caves complete with Stagmalites, etc. It’s a long journey back and a late night.
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| A number of Apostles |
We have to change hostel the next day as we have now booked our first campervan. It’s a relocation deal between Melbourne and Sydney at a reduced price, but we have to pick it up Tuesday. It’s not really an issue because there’s plenty to do in Melbourne. We start the day at the Queen Victoria Markets – the worlds largest open air market. We mooch about, not really planning on buying anything and have a bit of lunch. We then head to the ACMI. We do the permenant free exhibition, a history of film and moving image which dips into Austrailia’s contribution. I play on an original NES for the first time. We see our second Academy Award of our trip (the first being in the Roxy in Wellington, this one Cate Blancett’s from The Aviator). It’s certainly my kind of museum. We walk across town back to the library where we start a free walking tour, but a couple of stops in it’s clear Heidi isn’t feeling well so we stop. I drop her off at the hostel and go for a walk down by the river taking pictures. That night the hostel manager has bought pizza for everyone, and we watch the first Harry Potter with some great commentary from our fellow patrons.
We take it fairly easy the next day and head out a bit later for a river cruise. This tkes us out of Melbourne and to the nearby Williamstown. Here we grab a map and give ourselves a self guided tour. It’s pleasant but very sleepy. We have coffee and cake for lunch. When we get back to Melbourne we head back to the ACMI for another free exhibition – this one about women in the videogame industry. It’s essentially pods where you can play games with a bit of a bio next to it. Heidi and I play a game called Tricky Towers for a time probably pushing acceptable boundaries. That night we go to a rooftop bar for a quick drink and grab a gourmet doughnut on our way back.
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| I don't know what this is |
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| Melbourne by sunset |
It’s time to pick up the camper. We head out of town to an inductrial district not far from the airport and see her for the first time – and she is massive. I’ve never driven a campervan before, and this is a 4-birth, more of an RV than campervan. But I can’t back out now. Luckily, it’s easy to get on the main road from the rental place and within 30 minutes, I’m fairly comfortable. “Punch it Chewie!” I say to Heidi, but she ignores me.
We take Felicity (the campervan, my naming) the long way round to Sydney, through what is sometimes affectionately known as the coastal route (you see the sea two, maybe three times). Shortly after we leave we pass a place called ‘Cannibal Creek’. I ask Heidi if she wants to stop there for lunch but she says no, which I thought was super weird. Instead we opted to have lunch in a shopping centre car park after a few hours of driving. It’s only after this that I realise I should be waving at every campervan coming towards us in the other lane. When the other driver waves back, it gives me a joy I can’t begin to put into words.
We head to a place called Lakes Entrance, which seems like a nice place but we don’t really a have a chance to explore. Its getting dark and starting to drizzle so we attempt to cook our first meal in the camper. But we can’t figure out the gas, so we give up and go to McDonalds. The next morning I figure out the gas (an extra secret valve I wasn’t told about) and we cook up some sausages for breakfast. I am already loving camping.
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| Camperman |
The next day we drive for a few hours until we reach Ben Boyd national park for lunch and a little walk around the forest. We don’t see any wildlife but there is a lookout over the dramatic cliffs that meet the sea. After this, somehow I miss the turning to stay on the main road and we end up in a place called Pambula Beach where we see a large mob of kangeroos chilling in a fenced area. After finding the main road we continue until we find our first free campsite – one in a forest. The only facilities here are a toilet and running water. We agree that we probably can’t do consecutive nights at free camp sites, as we wouldn’t be able to shower (plus you usually need power to charge the fridge). I do a bit of star gazing and I’m pretty sure I see a shooting star.
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| Into the wild |
The next day we arrive in Sydney. Once again it’s an industrial district out of town so we have to find the metro and get that to get into the centre. Fortunately our hostel for the night is not too far from the station. We stay in ‘The Pod’ which is like a hostel except the bunk beds are more like boxes with a curtain, giving you a bit more privacy. There’s a bit of a mix up at check in, we appear to have booked the both of us into one bed and so as a result we end up in separate rooms. I go out just to check out the immediate surroundings, but we’re both pretty knackered so we have a chilled evening.
On our first full day in Sydney, we head for another ‘free’ (read: pay what you want) walking tour. We walk around the old colonial buildings and get quite the history lesson of Sydney. The tour ends by the harbour where we get our first glimpse of the iconic Opera House and bridge opposite. On walking back, Heidi spots a Guylian chocolate cafe which seems like a one-off (actually a large chain in Australia) and we have lunch and a coffee (mocha, obviously).
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| Bird cages |
After our second night we have to change hostel again – we opt for a 4 bed dorm and when we get in it appears the two girls in there have spread their stuff out all over the room (it later transpires that only one was the real culprit). We spend a bit of time shopping for necessities, then we have lunch in the Domain. We walk through the Botanic gardens back to the Opera House. Heidi spots rugby referee Wayne Barnes. Given that the Wallabies are playing the All Blacks tonight in Sydney, we guess he must be reffing. We continue on to the opera house and get a few snaps up close. On our way back into town Heidi tries and fails to get my attention, as she’s spotted another recognisable face – actor Jason Momoa. I turn back and indeed see a tall man with dreadlocks surrounded by bodyguards. As Heidi’s a big fan I take her word for it. When we go back to town we catch a dance that is performed on the side of a tall building.
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| Extreme Ballet |
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| Silly pose next to iconic building |
That night we head to a pub to watch the rugby. We speak to a nice couple (she from New Zealand, he from Scotland), then watch the All Blacks dominate as they do. I have my first beer in a while.
Something of a travel hack for you – Sydney’s transport system is usually capped at $15 dollars a day but on Sunday this cap is reduced to the odd figure of $2.65. We take advantage of this and head inland to the Blue Mountains (a 4 hour round trip). We opt for a hop-on hop-off bus tour which we later find out you don’t really need, though we did have a nice walk down to a waterfall we wouldn’t have otherwise. The main lookout is called Echo Point given you a full 180 degrees view of the mountains which are stunning, as well as the ‘three sisters’ – giant stone structures. We have a little walk and I go down some very steep steps to reach one of the three sisters, except it’s seriously crowded. I think we both fall asleep on the train ride back, and once again opt for a an early night.
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| Gordon Falls |
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| At Echo Point |
Next time – Syndey to Brisbane!
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