Tasmania/Melbourne
Day 1: First impressions
we arrived in
We checked into our hotel, the St. Ives Apartments for only one night after which we would continue our journey onto
Then we visited
we walked around the town centre and then had dinner at frenzy fish and chips. food as great even though i was down with flu even before we had reached
Day 2: Mountain-trekking and tennis courts.
so today we arrived at Coles bay and freycinet national park after a long drive from
At Freycinet, there was a lot of walking to be done and luckily there were marked paths as well as some staircases. It took us around 2 hrs to walk up and down to the wineglass bay lookout. However we couldn't really tell how it looked like a wineglass. At the lookout pt, i was continuously asked to take photos for couples, i even thought about charging for it. haha. We then proceeded to our hotel for the night, 'Bechino by the bay, where we watched a beautiful sunset.
tomorrow: an early day as dad makes his way back to Freycinet for a walk to the wineglass beach.
(insert more pics)
Day 3: another long car ride and 4 seasons in a day.
so we continued on our trip, this time to
btw the lounge in the reception has a fireplace and books to borrow. At night, before we went to sleep,we got the shock of our lives, look what visited us!!!! it looks so cute!(pic)
Day 4: long and arduous trekking and animals in the park.
inside the cradle mountain and lake st Clair. national park, which was just a 5 mins drive from our lodge, we saw much of again, untouched beauty. We trekked around dove lake, the main attraction around there that takes you close to cradle mountain, which in summer is still partly snow-capped. The weather was surprisingly hotter and i didn't even have to wear a jacket. there were many lookout pts along the way that gave us views of the pristine and unpolluted dove lake. The water, too, had many surprises as it provided reflections and changes in colour as it was closer to shore. We then continued with a long walk around the lake, approx 7 km, where we saw many different types of vegetation as well as views of the surroundings. It was supposed to last around 2 hours but it took us almost 3 hrs plus to complete the circuit. Along the way, we even saw 2 wombats, really really fat ones... Will be heading back to the national park for sunset. Disappointment greeted us as we returned to the park to view the sunset. the sun seemed to be hiding behind the clouds, casting a dull view on the mountain and lake. However, i must admit that this visit to cradle mountain is a once in a lifetime one because of the beautiful nature and scenery. But don't expect it to be cheap, because things up on the mountain are priced exorbitantly. And it seems as if the family of wallabies seem to like hanging around our house. Burnt the garlic bread that we were supposed to eat for dinner, luckily we still had more food...
At night, the same animal came back and this time as even more daring as it climbed onto the platform just right outside our house.
tomorrow we will head back on a long journey to
day 5: sheep crossing the road and a convict restaurant
We finally made the long trip back to
We had a wonderful dinner at 'the ball and chain' grain which was actually built by convicts in the olden days...charcoal grilled steaks anyone? we headed back along the pier front back to our hotel, 'the quest savoy', adjacent to the city centre where most of the shops were located like target and myre. by then at 8 plus, it was already dead quiet and there was literally nobody walking around at night. However, im sure that the pubs and bars was still full of people drinking away the night. The bars and pubs even open out small spaces for patrons to drink beer or wine outside the pubs. and guess what, myre, a local department store has 10% discounts for students on Tuesdays. how great is that?
Well today is our last day in
11 more days to go... an early flight back to
Day 6: Arrival in
so we took the early flight to the
pictures of the country club resort:
Day 7: sunsets on the pier and seagulls on the beach
So today we went along the coast, near to the place where we stayed. There were a lot of piers along the way and many people were spending their time along the beaches and piers because it was Sunday. The water was basically crystal clear and we could even see many people diving in the cold waters. i have found that the flies in Australia are seriously attracted to me. After each time i stepped out of the car, flies would swarm around me. Next we proceeded to have lunch at some Chinese restaurant, however, it seems to me that most restaurants open only at night from
In the evening, Dad and I went to a pier along Rye(a town) to watch the sunset. However, we were momentarily disappointed as the sun refused to come out from behind the clouds. Still, we managed to take some good shots...
Day 8: Flies and seagulls galore!
So we drove to Phillip Island, roughly 2 hrs from our resort. There, we were slightly disappointed as we were not able to actually stay for the 'penguin parade', held every night. However, we did manage to visit some popular areas such as 'Cape Woolamai' and 'The Nobbies', which were basically scenic lookouts. Every time we got out of the car, we would be swarmed by a lot of flies for no apparent reason.... So instead of appreciating or admiring the view, we spent more time trying to swat flies. But i must say that the views were just spectacular. I mean I was like WOW at both lookouts because there were such beautiful beaches and such clear waters. There were also such scenic landscape, especially at 'The Nobbies'. Long stretch of beaches, beautiful waves and rock structures were amongst the many other parts of scenery that greeted us. However amongst the beautiful wildflowers, dead seagulls and seagull droppings sort of cast a shadow on the brilliant view.
Day 9: Attack of the flies!!!
So today we went on a long walk to point Nepean, well basically point Napean is part of national park and it used to be used last time as a military fort. Along the walking trail, we were constantly warned about unexploded bombs. And yes, we were again, constantly attacked by large swarms of flies, many attacking our bags and bodies. So instead of taking the transporters to point Napean, we took the long walk up the hills and road to the furthest point on this part of the island. Along the way, we were greeted with magnificent scenery of the coast and it was interesting to see that on both sides of the cliff, the water was rough and choppy on one side, yet calm on the other. The view and sea breeze was definitely worth coming for. Apparently, there is no way to actually get rid of the flies, not even insect repellent works. The flies only come in the summer months of dec and jan. you have to wear a fly net to get away from them. We were supposed to go to cape Schanck in the afternoon, however it started and continued to rain so we decided to go shopping for awhile...
Day 10: Today we completed our trip to Cape Schanck, an old light house, which will celebrate its 150th birthday next year. And mind you, it is still actually in use because of the dangerous waters and rocks of the coastal areas around Port Phillip. We kinda took a walk around the track and then took a tour inside the lighthouse itself, which now also runs automatically by using prisms in the lenses. We then had lunch at a cafe that was highly recommended by our tour guide at the lighthouse, Flinders Bakehouse Cafe. I must say that the most interesting thing we have done on this trip would be the next item on the list, strawberry picking. We actually had the chance to pick punnets of strawberries at Sunny Ridge strawberry farm because the cherry farm was closed. Many people were already picking the strawberries when we got there and somehow some of us had strayed off the allocated picking bays. The farm of course, had some rules, we had to be able to place the cover over the boxes of strawberries we had collected without squashing the contents inside. So you could see many people actually frantically trying to squeeze as many fruits inside of the box. The maze as kind of a disappointment because basically there weren't many interesting things to see and the roses weren't in full bloom. And i got scared coz there was a large swarm of bees at the lavender labyrinth. you could virtually hear them buzzing around, trying to obtain nectar.
Day 11:
Again, the Moonlit Sanctuary wildlife conservation was a disappointment because there wasn't much to see. In fact, there were MANY mosquitoes and flies. they constantly tried to attack and swarm us. However, on the bright side, we did manage to see the sleepy koalas, wallabies, emus and as well as snakes in an enclosed environment. After that, we went to Frankston to do some shopping.
Day 12:
well today we went to port campbell and apollo bay to see one of the most popular sights in australia, the twelve apostles along the great ocean road. the twelve apostles are basically structures along the coast which has been carved out by wave action and erosion. its original name was actually sows and piglets so i guess its current name is much more fitting. however, there are only 11 left now coz one has already collapsed. Things weren't that good for us coz it had been raining for the whole day and it did not bode well for photography. Thats australia's wet,windy and rainy summer i guess... But certainly it was a sight to behold and we should be back tomorrow to catch the sunrise, which will definitely be early. checked into a hotel with apartment units. ours had free wifi and broadband as well as cable tv. it really is a luxurious apartment with every need taken care of.
Day 13:
Well we arrived in Melbourne city itself at around 1 plus in the afternoon after another long drive back. It was raining again as usual for the second day in a row. This time it was raining even more heavily and there it was fore casted that many it would continue to rain until wednesday. The next few hours were just spent shopping around the area where we stayed at, chinatown. So we kinda found out that people were actually very much accustomed to walking to different places.
Day 14: Today we got up all real late so we had lunch at the famous and popular elizabeth street market which in actual fact is very similar to the street markets in thailand, with the exception that you can't bargain. Next we walked to the DFO, which is basically the direct factory outlet store in melbourne, where alots of stuff are sold at cheap prices.
more pics soon i hope, coz it takes too long to upload them...
try these new music:
circus-britney spears
a little too not over you-david archuleta
touch my hand-david archuleta
keep runnin' back - jessica mauboy ft flo-rida
