George’s Adventure

Tuesday 31st October 2006

Melbourne feels chilly. I think i have literally stepped into a fridge when i get off the bus. Melbourne is a bustling and vibrant city that is bigger than Adelaide but not so big that you cannot get around easily. Melbourne have trains, buses and trams galore. This is also a place where if you want to turn right at traffic lights you get into the left hand lane to turn – weird!!

My first day in Melbourne led me to the Old Melbourne Gaol. Janine insisted on calling it ‘gool’ for some reason. I did try and tell her. The jail was interesting as you get to look into the cells and walk around the prison and imagine what the conditions were like and you learn about the different inmates including the famous Ned Kelly.

We caught the free city loop tram. It just does a loop around the city. We did this and then got off to walk along the South Bank Arts and Leisure Precinct, then back along the river to the otherside accross Queens Bridge street to Rialto Towers and Melbourne’s Observation Deck. First we watched a short chessy film on Melbourne – it had the best 80s hair cuts in it. It encourages tourists to visit the different attractions in Central and the surrounding areas of Melbourne. We took a lift up to the main observation deck which gives you a 360 degree view of the city, 253m high.

At 6pm Janine made sure I was positioned in Melbourne Central Station, a massive train station filled with all sorts of levels from cinemas to expensive shops and food places. In the middle there is a clock which chimes at 6pm and moves around – quite amusing.

In our hostel that night we went down to our bar, Roo Bar. There was a pjama party going on. Very funny. I missed the bit where Janine put on some PJs and danced – haha!

Other hightlights of Melbourne have to be eating a mild bratwurst from Melbourne’s first bratwurst shop at the Queen Victoria Markets. A big market selling everything from fruit and veg to clothes.

Wandering around Federation Square where live music was being played I stumbled into the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image). A place dedicated to the moving image. After thoroughly depressing myself by watching a short film on a teenage girl who ends up loney I thought it best to get back to the hostel and Janine.

On Monday Janine and I visited St Kilda for the day. A beautiful beachy place. Fairly small but very happening. Lots of cafes and best of all, cake shops! We walked along the Esplanade there and the famous pier.

Last night we went to the famous Neighbours night. Well, we couldnt come to Australia and not do something related to Neighbours. It was hillarious! We got picked up by a shuttle bus that took us to the ‘Elephant and Wheelbarrow’ pub in St Kilda. You get one free drink and the chance to meet some stars. We got to meet Ned, Dylan and Sky. Being a bit of an old skool Neighbours fan and not having seen it that recently – some of us work you know – I did feel a little nervous about meeting them but it was fine. I had my photo taken with all of them. There was also a trivia quiz – just general knowledge – we didnt win obviously!! There were also various competitions that you could enter and then once it was all over the music started pumping and a dance floor emerged. Overall, a great night!

Saturday 28th October 2006

On Tuesday 24/10 my adventure to The Grampians and The Great Ocean Road began.  I had decided that this part of the Australian coast was something that I really wanted to do and Janine wasnt too bothered and couldnt afford it so I decided to go it alone. 

There were 7 of us on the tour bus and as always, outnumbered by the guys, as there was 1 guy (and he was married!).  Our first stop on the bus was at Keith where we had a bakery stop and got free tea.  As I poured the milk into my cup the lid came undone and it literally spurted out in my cup.  I mean i dont mind milky tea but pleeease.  Good start, impressing my new found best friends.  You will all be pleased to hear that my clumsiness still exists.  We then went to Bordertown where we stopped at a wildlife park to see white kangaroos.  I have never seen white kangaroos before.  Apparently it is a gene thing and not because they are albino.  We stopped at Frances for an alcohol stop and then passed into Victoria officially.  We had to change our watches again, back half an hour.  The clocks also change again tomorrow for us for daylight savings.  After lunch we climbed down to view the McKenzie Falls.  These were impressive, the spray was great and climbing down the 260 odd steps was great.  Only on the way back did i begin to feel the strain.  On this first day we also visited The Balconies.  Named because the rocks jutt out like a balcony does.  The view from these rocks is wonderful.  Unfortunately much of the scenery is a bit singed as in January there was a massive bush fire that devastated much of the forestry in the area.  On the way to The Balconies we spotted an echidna.  This is a creature that looks a bit like a hedgehog.  If you go to www.flickr.com/photos/foxgeo you will probably spot it in the Australia section (once i have put this pic up on the site).  I also noticed regrowth occuring in the burnt out forest.  These are yakka trees.  They have seeds in them that crack when the fire goes through the forest.  The ash left after the fires allows the tree to flourish as it provides nutrients.  They look very funny.  In the evening we stayed in Halls Gap.  I kept thinking this was a place called Hell’s Gap – i have no idea why?

Day 2 of the trip and I am ready to face Borona Peak.  This is a 3.2km walk up a mountain.  It wasnt too strenuous but it did take us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the top.  No bad going.  When I got to the top there was a spectacular view of The Grampians and on the other side of the peak you could see Halls Gap.  For lunch we stopped at Tower Hill Reserve which is a volcanic area.  You could see the layers of rock in the sheer drops as we drove down to the reserve.  The irish used to own the land here and planted potatoes.  However, they stopped doing this and used it as a dumping ground for rubbish.  Eventually the land was passed back to the Australians and they replanted the area with vegetation that would have eventually inhabited the place.  Naturally animals began to live inthe area.  It is now a protected reserve and while we were there we spotted wild emus (which I dont like) and koalas, sleeping and munching away in the trees. 

After lunch we hit The Great Ocean Road.  There are three sections to the road.
a) The Rocky coast (shipwreck coast)
b) The Green coast
c) The Surf coast

We began our trip seeing the Bay of Martyrs.  This is where many aboriginees were taken and massacred, literally thrown off the cliff top there.  Many locals know this and the stories are passed on by word of mouth.  Next we visited The Rockies and The Twelve Apostles.  Now The Rockies are part of The Twelve Apostles:
2 (The Rockies)          6 (plus 2 eroded)                  4 apostles
                  —-x—-                                 ——-
————–LAND————————-LAND———–

If you look at my beautiful diagram above you have to imagine that the numbers are part of the apostles and they are in the sea.  The 2, 6 and 4 make up the Twelve Apostles.  However, there were 2 others which you can still see but have eroded away.  I did a ten minute helicopter ride above the apostles which was amazing.  I think i spent the first five minutes in shock that i was actually in a helicopter as i have never been in one before.  I had such a smile on my face.  That night was spent in Port Cambell after watching the sun set over the apostles from ‘x’ on my diagram.

Day 3, final day of the tour and we got up fairly early and off to see the Loch and Gorge where i ran down onto the beach and climbed into a cave.  I loved it and I was the only one who managed not to get completely soaking wet on the way in and out – all about timing.  The story associated with this is that Tom and Eva were stranded, shipwrecked, at the Loch and Gorge.  Tom kept Eva warm after saving her and cuddled her all night to keep her alive and warm.  The next day he got help.  Tom asked Eva to marry him, she declined, he went off and died in his third or fourth shipwreck.  Tragic!

The Green Coast is where I did Maits Rainforest walk.  Just an easy going walk looking at palms and on the way around I spotted a very rare black snail.  They are rare because they do not reproduce enough.  We moved the snail off the path.  Free the snail!!  For lunch we stopped at Apollo Bay and had fish and chips followed by a walk up the road and then onto the Surf Coast where we made a stop at Cape Patton Lookout and Mount Defiance Lookout.  The Great Ocean Road took 14 years to make.  It was made by soldiers.  The road is 240km long and it is said that one soldier died every 1km.  We stopped at a view of Split Point Lighthouse.  Those of you who used to watch ‘Round The Twist’ as a youngun like me will remember the lighthouse.  We also visited Bells Beach along this stretch, Australia’s most famous surfing beach.  Yes, I did see surfers!!  A great walk along this beach was a must.  The sand just sank into my feet and the waves were phenominal.  Our last stop before hitting Melbourne was at Torquay, home of Quiksilver and Ripcurl. 

Sunday 22nd October 2006 The first thing noticeable about Adelaide is that the temperature is undeniably cooler than what we have been used to in Central Australia (outback). It gets cold in the evening, a bit like our summer evening's at ... [Continue reading this entry]

Thursday 19th October 2006 Yes, I have finally made it to Adelaide. I have spent almost a month just travelling in the outback - it feel like an eternity - but it has been fun.  On Tuesday 17/10 we got picked up ... [Continue reading this entry]

Monday 16th October 2006 We left for our 3 and a half day Uluru trip from Alice Springs on Thursday 12/10.  The day before we had spent getting all our stuff ready for the trip and having a look around Alice ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wednesday 11th October 2006

We have now arrived in Alice Springs from Darwin.  We left Darwin on Sunday 8/10 after an early start of 5.30am to meet the bus.  The fact that we didn't leave and the bus didn't pull up ... [Continue reading this entry]

Saturday 7th October 2006 Darwin is extremely hot. Did you know that Darwin is the most likely place to suffer lightening and thunder in the world? Interesting I thought. Since we have been in Darwin we have been ... [Continue reading this entry]

Thursday 5th October 2006 I have now reached Darwin and what a hard slog it was to get there.  Looking at a map of Australia you would be forgiven for thinking that it wouldnt take that long to get from Cairns ... [Continue reading this entry]