Australia 2014

After months of planning, it was finally time for our trip to begin. We took off at 9:40am on Thursday and arrived in Melbourne at 10:00 pm on Friday. Although we had been travelling for over 24 hours we weren't feeling too bad. It just felt like a very long day. Jon and Vic picked us up and after a few tears and a BIG hug we were whisked of to Richmond where they live. It's a lovely house and we were in it for all of half an hour before Malcolm said he fancied a pint, so we went to a local bar. I mean, what else would you do after a 24 hr flight. 

The next day we went to the final day of the Melbourne Cup. It was supposed to be a family day, but everyone took the opportunity to really dress up. I've never seen so many fashionistas in one place! It was also unbelievably hot and there were quite a few people with sunburn. I didn't win a bean but Vic was luckier.

The next day Vic and Jon took us sightseeing. The weather was glorious and we had a fabulous day

Inside the "G" and outside! 

                   

Melbourne Tennis Club

Vic and Jon at the Botanical gardens which was absolutely glorious in the sunshine.

 

               

The Botanical Gardens.

                

We visited the War Memorial

A great view of the city

We ended our first day either a drink at Pony Fish, a bar under the bridge!

Vic had a couple of days off and took us to the Dandenong Ranges and The Mornington Peninisular.

We visited the National Rhododendron Garden. It was gorgeous, very tranquil and the flowers were stunning.

We  drove to another part of the Ranges where Vic thought we might be able to see some local birds called Rosellas. There was a big sign up saying Do Not Feed, unfortunately birds can't read and as soon as we arrived they swooped down looking for food

On Tuesday Vic drove us down to the Mornigton Peninsula. We went to a place Called Arthur's a Seat. It was very high up and the views were superb

                          

On Friday we flew to Sydney. Vicky's friend, Jayne, works in the Opera House and gave us a private tour. Brilliant. It was a bit overwhelming really, we've seen so many photos but it was a weird feeling to actually be there. It was of course, very busy. Absolutely to place to see and be seen!

We went back the next day for a fabulous dinner in a resturant overlooking the harbour. We were on the top floor under the canopy.

   

Not a very good photo, but a great view of the bridge.

The next day we went on the ferry to Manley.

 Lunch at the Four Pines Brewery. I'm not a beer drinker but it looks like it was ok.

Manley Beach. Much much nicer than Bondi, in fact most of the beaches we saw were nicer than Bondi!

            

Jon and Vic went back to Melbourne and we began our road trip.We saw some fabulous places but there were also some places that we wouldn't bother with again.

Our first stop was the Blue Mountains. They were incredible. The blue haze is from the millions of Eucalyptus trees that make up the National Park. 

 This is the Famous 3 sisters. Legend has it that a local magic man turned 3 beautiful sisters to stone to prevent them being taken away by an attacking tribe. Trouble was the magic man was killed in the ensuing battle, so the sisters stayed cast in stone for ever.

     

Cheeky Cockateels enjoying breakfast at our hotel.

 We saw lots of pelicans on our trip. They are actually very big birds

Ibis are also very common. 

We saw some stunning beaches on our trip. I took loads of photos but my little camera didn't really manage to capture how beautiful they are.

This is Hawkes Nest. 

Jon's mum suggested we visit a place called Tea Gradens. We had breakfast here over looking this lake. Breakfast was huge and the view was lovely. We saw dolphins here and more pelicans.

                           

One of my favourite places was Byron Bay. We nearly gave it a miss because we had been told it was a destination for Schoolies, which is basically huge groups of Y13 celebrating the end of the school year. Far from being rowdy and drunk, as we had been led to believe, all they were concerned with was looking good and soaking up the rays.

One beach for the good looking skinny girls.

And one beach for everyone else!

 We visited the lighthouse and the most easterly point in Australia.

     

     Another fabulous view. Byron Bay.

 Byron Lighthouse.

No trip to Oz would be complete without seeing koalas and kangaroos. We saw some wild Kangaroos but koalas are difficult to spot in the wild. However, they had plenty at Currumbin Wildlife Reserve.

                                          

   Very tame, and very fat !

There were lots of these little fellas running around. If you stood still for long enough they would get really close and try to nibble your toes.

Our last stop was Brisbane. It was stupidly hot but we had a potter along the South Bank which is very similar to the one in London.

               

             

We stayed in a lovely apartment in the CBD. This was our terrace before the storm.

This was how the plants looked afterwards

  The hailstones that caused all the damage were huge. This is how big they still were an hour after they fell. It was chaos in the city,but in true Oz style they just got stuck in, cleared up and life returned to normal almost straight away.

Back to Melbourne and a trip to Philip Island to see the penguin parade. We weren't allowed to take any photos in case it frightened the little fellas, but it was a memorable experience. They make a right old racket wandering through the dunes looking for their babies and mates.

Cuddly souvenirs .

The scenery was quite spectacular

The area was restricted because of all the sea birds that were nesting there so we had to keep to the walk ways.

The next day we did some wine tasting. What a fabulous day we had. We went to three different places, all were in glorious surroundings and all were very generous with their measures.🍷

We spent some time in Melbourne being tourists. We went to the top of the Sky Tower

The tower is the highest building in Melbourne. Vic thought she could see her house !.

Our last big trip was a drive along some of the Great Ocean Road. We drove as far as Lorne, where we had lunch.

Another beautiful place.

There is a place not far from Lorne where you are supposed to be able to see koalas in the wild. It's also the place to go if you want to get up close and personal with the local bird life

                      

                

Such cheeky birds. They were like a little army marching up behind us.

Our final day was drawing near and we decided to have an early Christmas. Jon cooked a turkey crown on the barbie and it was delicious .

                 

   All ready for "Christmas"

We played Risk, can you guess which one of us doesn't have OCD tendencies ?

All to soon our fabulous trip was over. Australia is an incredible country. We only saw a fraction of it but it has left us with memories that will last a life time. Saying goodbye to Vic and Jon was heartbreaking but it was lovely to be part of their lives for a short while.

Until next time xx