so here's a brief summary with pictures of my holiday..
day 0 (31st Jan) spent the morning in school and afternoon doing last minute packing before heading for the airport and flew off in the evening. flew to perth and spent the wee hours sleeping in the international airport before taking a shuttle to the domestic airport and a early morning domestic flight. did nothing more than the 3 usual activities of sleep, watch movie and eat. finally reached melbourne slightly past noon after the transit and time difference on day 1 (1st Feb). rented the car and found our way to the resort at which we stayed for the next 7 days. the place is about 90km south of melbourne, near the start of the Great Ocean Road, and quite hard to find cos it wasn't on the street directory. kind of outback feeling with wild kangaroos as our friendly neighbour. but the resort itself was like a house with everything we need - living room with tv, dining room, full kitchen with everything from utensils to toaster and dishwasher, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and balcony. it will be perfect if there was internet connection. so day 1 was spent settling down, doing grocery shopping and planning our next few days iterneries.
the house and the surrounding
majority of day 2 (2nd Feb) was spent in the car, travelling west along the great ocean road, stopping along beaches for some sun, sand and sea, and gradually and finally made our way to the 12 apostles. it was a damn hot day, leaving me burnt despite me desperately applying at least 3 layers of sunblock.
the process
and the product
those black stuff are not pebbles, they are baby clams
cooling ourselves down with icecream at the lighthouse
yay we finally reached the 12 apostles! (and there are a hell lot of flies there!)
some random photos along the way
know i see the literal meaning of the phrase "till the cows come home" haha
day 3 (3rd Feb) we went to Geelong, which is Victoria's second largest city to visit the sunday market and did some shopping. that was after feeding the animals at the resort in the morning.
day 4 (4th Feb) we drove downtown to melbourne city for city tour, some shopping and the traffic police are really going a great job cos we parked the car at this parking lot during the "clear" period and it got towed away!! had quite a frustrating 'adventure' trying to locate the place to collect the car and of course the fine wasn't cheap.. yeah yeah now i'm the one being blamed cos i wanted to do shopping. fine.
these photos are taken in university of melbourne. and it was the second and last hot day in my one-week trip. the weather took a drastic change and it got colder and colder.. brrrr...
day 5 (5th Feb) was the longest journey to our destination : phillip island, but it was certainly worth it. took a ferry to cut short the driving route on our way there and took about 3 hours to drive back in the dark. the roads were damn dark and had to keep my eyes wide opened to look out for the road signs and safety (though i wasn't the one driving)
it was a long long journey..
and we finally reached phillip island. visited the koala conservation centre first, then the nobbies and finally the penguin parade at sunset (which is around 9pm).
these lazy animals sleep 20 hours a day! that's like the amount of hours i sleep in 4 days haha
taken on the journey to the nobbies, those footprints in the sand should belong to penguins..
at the nobbies, the wind was very strong and i was trying to keep myself warm with that pathetic piece of cloth. nice scenery there with lots of seagulls and supposedly seals too.
the day ended with the penguin parade. sat down along the beach since around 8pm to wait for the sun to set, the sky to get dark before the penguins emerge out of the sea and waddle their way up the beach and back to the shore. no photos cos cameras not allowed at all, but the penguins were sooooo adorable, and they 'walk' exactly like how people imitate them, forming groups and quickly make their way up the beach to their 'homes'. it was really a sight seeing so many cute little penguins so close to you
day 6 (6th Feb) was spent looking for gold at ballarat's sovereign hill, where we were brought back to the gold rush era in the 1850s, when people literally dig for gold.
oh yeah they had chinese physicians back then too.. (argh, seems like those stuff follow me wherever i go)
digging for..
gold!!
and we didn't forget it's cny eve, so we headed back early and did more grocery shopping on our way back for a "reunion dinner"
mom busy in the kitchen cooking
the greedy ones waiting with my cheap thrill vodka cruiser haha
our simple dinner!
day 7 (7th Feb) it's the first day of chinese new year and it's my mom's 50th birthday!! started the day with breakfast at the resort's reception. satisfied my carbs craving with free flow of toast (with jam, baked beans, mushroom) see, i'm easily satisfied, i don't need the eggs, bacon and sausages.
the birthday girl and finally a proper family photo.
headed off for yarra valley where we bought some fruits and visited wineries for wine tasting.
wine comes from grapes
and that's yarra valley
saying farewell to our new friends..
day 8(8th Feb) last day in australia. packed bag, tidied the house a bit and off we went, to queen victoria market first (cos it was closed on mondays when we went) then to the airport.
the place is huge and they sell everything! from meat, fruits, vege to clothes, souvenirs etc etc and the fruits there was damn cheap, like a dollar per kg for plums, peaches etc. we bought a box of cherries and lots of other fruits. oh yes, i finally got to eat fresh krispy kreme at the airport, it was good, very sweet and soft but not say that heavenly. but it's freaking expensive! costs 2.25, 2.50 or 2.75 aussie dollar each! i bought a original and a filled (which adds up to 30g of fat acc to their website) for 5 bucks!! and then it's on the plane and 7 hours straight for singapore..
that's my trip to melbourne and beyond. i must mention the last 3 days was damn cold! i soak myself in the bathtub every night and wrap myself with all the blankets (total of 4 layers) and still wake up freezing cos i don't produce heat. erm actually it's only about 10 to 20 degrees but it's cold enough to make my hair stand, turn my nails purple and my skin to feel the frost bite. gosh, how am i going to survive the real snowing winters?
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