15 Feb: Melbourne
Gaelle thankfully had a good nights sleep. Her elbow is still
very
swollen
and
painful
though...
We got off to an early start this morning and headed to a
caravan
park about
20km south
east of
Melbourne,
with "easy
access
to
Melbourne
sights".
We had to
hang
around for
half an
hour for
the
reception
to open
before we
could
enter the
caravan
park...
The
"easy
access"
turned out
to be
a 5
minute
walk to a
bus stop
where
there was
a bus
every hour
to the
train
station
and then a
30
minute
train ride
into the
city
centre.
We got
lucky as
it's
Sunday
and
Melbourne
do an all
day Sunday
Saver
ticket,
similar
to
Sydney.
We followed the Lonely Planet walking tour around the city
centre. We
watched a
street
performer
in
Federation
Square
where we
bought
bangers
for lunch
in support
of the
bush fire
victims
and
continued
on to St
Paul's
Cathedral,
China Town
and
several
lovely
old
shopping
malls. The
streets
were
animated
and most
of the
shops
were
open.
We
bought
the
girls
some
new
sandals
in
a
department
store
before
crossing
the Yarra
River to
Southbank
for a
wander
around
a
craft
market and
Alexandra
Gardens.
The girls
were too
tired
to
keep
wandering
down to
the
Botanic
Gardens,
so we
stopped
off
for a
beer
/
lemonade
before
heading
back to
the
campervan
by
public
transport.
We were
unlucky
to witness
an
incident
in the
train (a
Russian
drunk with
dried
blood all
over his
face
picking
a
fight
with
some
passengers),
the train
was
halted and
we all had
to wait at
a station
for the
police to
arrive and
sort
the
situation
out.
Gaelle in
particular
was very
stressed
by the
incident.
We met a couple of French girls touring Australia at the
campsite.
We spent
the
evening
talking to
them over
a bottle
of wine
whilst
the
kids
watched a
film on
the
Archos.
 |
 |
| Old shopping
mall |
View of city
from
Alexandra
Gardens |
16 Feb: Melbourne to Phillip Island
We went to the Scienceworks museum in Melbourne this morning.
It's
full
of
interactive
exhibits
for
children
in an
effort to
make
science
fun for
young
children.
We saw
meteorites,
took the
sporting
challenge,
played in
a
construction
zone,
drove a
digger and
the
highlight,
watched a
lightning
show.
Gaelle
volunteered
to
participate
in the
hair-raising
experiment,
using a
Vander
Graaf generator
and we saw
a 2
million
volt
lightning
demonstration.
We then hit the road, direction Phillip Island, to the south of
Melbourne.
A bridge,
built in
the
1940's,
links the
island to
the
mainland.
We arrived
late
afternoon
and went
straight
to the
western
most
point
of
the
island
to
the
Penguin
Parade.
Here
there's a
colony
of
Little
Penguins,
the
smallest
of all
penguin
species, that
return to
their
burrows
behind the
beach
every
evening
after
sunset.
This
reminded
us of our
penguin
experience
in
NZ
where
we
waited,
freezing
to death,
in a
lookout
for 2
hours to
see
3
small
yellow-eyed
penguins
waddle up
the beach!
We
therefore
wrapped
the family
up warm
(fleeces,
goretex
jackets,
jeans,
etc.) ready
for the
wait. Here
however we
weren't
two lone
tourists
on the
beach,
there were
several
hundred
tourists
and
school
children
waiting
with us on
the beach
in viewing
stands. We
were
in
the
front
line
on
the
sands
and
had an
excellent
view of
the
little
fellows as
they
grouped up
in the
sea, ready
to waddle
up the
sands
at
21:00.
It
was
funny
to
see
them
hesitating
to exit
the
waters
and
start
their
journey up
the sands.
Some
groups
took over
10
minutes
of
to-ing
and
fro-ing
between
the sea
and sand,
worriedly
watching
the
Seagulls
and
Pacific
Gulls
before
they
finally
made
their
journey up
the beach
about 2
metres
from us.
The
rangers
assured us
that the
public and
the
projectors
didn't
stress the
penguins,
that
they
were
more
concerned
about the
gulls, but
we weren't
so sure...
On the
boardwalks
back to
the
visitor
centre, we
saw loads
of
penguins
making
their way
up to
their
burrows
and
guarding
their
burrows.
It was a
super
experience!
Sorry, we have no photos today... Cameras are forbidden at
Penguin
Parade...
17 Feb: Phillip Island
We woke up in the Penguin Parade car park after a good nights
sleep. We
started
off the
day with a
trip to
the
Nobbies.
Unfortunately
the seals
at the
colony are
1.2 km off
the coast
at
Seal
Rocks
and you
can't see
them from
the
coast...
We walked
along
the
board
walk
to
the
blowhole,
but as the
visitor
centre
opens
only
at
11:00,
we
decided
to
head
off
to the
Koala
Conservation
Centre.
There we
saw 12
koalas, 2
wallabies
plus a
blue
tongued
lizard in
the
grounds.
After a
picnic
lunch at
the centre
and a huge
tantrum
from
Gaelle ,
we headed
to
Churchill
Island to
the
heritage
farm. We
arrived
just in
time to
join a
guided
tour. We
milked
a
cow,
saw a
blacksmith
make a
horseshoe,
watched a
sheep
dog
at
work
and
visited
the
house and
outbuildings
that
the
Amess
family
built when
they first
occupied
the island
in 1872.
There
was also a
small farm
nursery
where the
girls
could
handle
chicks,
ducklings
and
guinea
pigs!
We
finished the afternoon off at Surf
Beach at
Cape
Woolamai
watching
surfers on
the
waves...
 |
 |
 |
| The Nobbies |
The Koala
Conservation
Centre |
One of the
twelve
koalas
we
saw |
 |
 |
 |
| Gaelle trying
her
hand
at
milking
! |
Sophie and her
chick
! |
Sunset at Surf
Beach |
18 Feb: Phillip Island to the Great Ocean Drive
This morning Jenny started the day off with a
pre-breakfast
run on the
6.6km
walking
track at
Cape
Woolamai.
It
was
fantastic.
Not a sole
in site,
apart
from a
few surfers
already
on
the
beach
and
thousands
of birds
nesting on
the
headland.
The sandy
walking
path
took
me
past
the
pink
granite
pinnacles,
to the
headland
at 112
metres
above sea
level with
a superb
view of
the whole
island.
The
highlight
of the
return
path was
meeting 7
wild
wallabies!
We had originally no intention of going west of Melbourne, along
the Great
Ocean
Drive, but
with he
forest
fires In
Victoria
and
floods
around
Bourke, we
decided to
extend our
stay in
the
south. Instead
of
circling
around
Melbourne,
we decided
to opt
for the
scenic
route down
the
Mornington
Peninsula, with a
ferry ride
accros to
Queenscliff.
We stopped off for a spot of wine tasting on the way, but with
bottles
starting
at $25 we
declined
to buy
any. As
you
generally
have
to
pay
for wine
tasting
around
here,
there's no
worries
to
leave
without
purchasing
a few
bottles!
The ferry crossing took 45 minutes. We then drove down through
the surf
capital of
Torquay to
Anglesea
for the
night.
 |
| Ferry
crossing |
BACK
| 
