Location: Melbourne
Miles Travelled: 28189
Time Zone: GMT + 11:00
Today we started our final bus tour with Dennis,Marijke and Cindy. It was the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians Tour. We got collected from our hostel and headed straight out of Adelaide. After some morning tea enroute we stopped to view Mitre Rock and Mount Arapiles before heading for lunch in Natimuk. After lunch we went to see the Mackenzie Falls which were well worth the rather steep walk down to them. We then arrived in the Grampians and went to see the Balconies (which are large pieces of rock which look like balconies coming out of the side of a hill) and got to check out the view from Reids Lookout. The view was amazing and looked like something out of a story book with miles and miles of rolling hills and valleys. Then it was off to Halls Gap where we were to stay for the night. We checked into our rooms and feasted on lots and lots of meat (or salad in Angs case) and then had a few drinks and played some cards before heading to bed. We got to know alot of our group who were great: Bob and Trish from Norfolk, Tara and Jacque from Canada, Lolly from England and Tim from Germany.

The next day we had arranged to meet up Jacques, Tara and Lolly for some sun worshipping on St. Kilda beach. The beach was lovely although we stuck to the grass nearby and spent a few hours chilling out in the sun - it was lovely. After that we headed back into town and on our way to the hostel we bumped into Brian Cantwell (a university class mate!!) which was crazy. We did know he was in Melbourne but the chances of physically bumping in to him are hige so it was a bit of a shock for all concerned. Brian was off to Noosa for a long weeked to compete in a Triathalon so the only night he had free was that night. We had made plans to do the table quiz on our hostel that night with Dennis and Marijke so Brian came along. The quiz didn't go too well but we had a good night catching up with all the news. The next day we spent a whopping 4 hours in the hostel sorting out photos and burning them on Cindy's laptop. It was Cindys last night in Melbourne and with us so we all headed out for the evening to the cinema to see The Departed. The next morning it was up bright and early to go to the Immigration Museum with Cindy, Dennis and Marijke. The museum was huge and full of info on how Australia came to be. After the Museum we headed back to the hostel for lunch and to say farewell to Cindy who was heading to Sydney to stay with Odie and Scott!

After saying farewell to Julie and Joanne the next morning we were up and away on a Philip Island Penguin Parade day tour with Dennis and Marijke. On the way to the Penguin Parade itself we got to see lots of stuff including the Maru Wildlife Park. In the park we got to feed Kangaroos and Wallabies and see Wombnats and Tasmanian Devils as well as lots of birds,Koalas, Emus, Dingos and even Alpacas. We had lunch there before heading off and going to see Woolami beach and the Nobbies before going to the Penguin Parade. Although it was pretty chilly it was well worth the wait to see all the little penguins coming in from the sea and wobbling their way up to their homes - it was fantastic. The parade went on until 9ish so once we got back to Melbourne it was late and so we all hit the hay as the next day was our last full day in Melbourne and Australia.
As it was Halloween Ang and I decided to get into the mood and after having brekkie next door we headed to a shop near the market and got ourselves some costumes. Due to a very restricted budget and item choice we ended choosing some tinsel wigs and coordinated inflatable guitars...obviously we were going to be punk rockers. Shelina popped round to the hostel in the afternoon for a catch up as we hadn't seen her since we'd gotten to Melbourne. It was lovely to see her and to find out that she'd gotten a job and found somewhere to live which was great. That evening Ang, Dennis, Marijke and I went out for dinner as it was our last night together and in Oz.



It was sad to say goodbye but hopefully we will get to see them in Amsterdam sometime! After our farewells we headed to an internet cafe to do our blog...alas we ran out of time and so only got halfway before having to dash off to get to the airport and catch out flight. So I'm only getting to finish the Melbourne blog now but thats it complete. All our Oz adventures were great but it was time for us to move on.
2 Comments:
Heya Jane, Ang...
Just wondering how ye are getting on in Asia.. Ye are due a post soon I reckon'.. So have ye a lovely tan.. Its so cold here, i'm jealous!!!
Mel xxxxx
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He likes this site !
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