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Day 124- We woke up in a better mood than when we went to sleep and were excited for the city we had heard such good things about. We had to check out and back in, this time to a mixed 4 bed dorm- they clearly sold one of our beds to somebody else. We finally got out just after10ish and wanted to catch the free city tour from Federation Sq at half past. It was a 20- 30 minute walk so decided to get the free tram. It is supposed to come past every 10 minutes and by the time we found the stop it was 10:15. We were further annoyed by the fact it didn't turn up for 20 mins and then took 10 mins to get us there. It was safe to say we missed the tour so yet again we were slightly annoyed. We shrugged it off and went walking; up the boutique and Parisian Collins Street and then back down and in to Block and Royal Arcades, both of which were magnificent. The Block Arcade was particularly grand and swanky with a tea room that could compete with our Betty's standards. From here walked a bit further and then jumped on the free tram around the docklands and port area before stopping at the supermarket. We picked up food for our trip along the Great Ocean Road the next day. After dinner we went along to Victoria markets, again we heard lots of positive reviews about the place and we were lucky enough to go to the night market it held once a week. We had a look around some stalls but were merely putting off the inevitable- food! We lasted 6 minutes before we were drooling over Spanish paella and German bratwursts. It took ages to check out all the options with at least 100 stalls, we eventually decided on Argentinian ribs, Lebanese lamb over rice with yoghurt and then sweet dumplings with ice cream and honey for myself and chocolate for Madam. Stuffed we looked around the markets for another hour or so and killed time until Jamie could meet us. Jamie was Eve's old boss and friend from work a couple years ago and we knew he lived in Melbourne so got in contact. He said we could stay with him for a few days which was great and so met up with him for an hour before walking back down to the centre with his house mate Mark.
Day 125- We were up at 6am so we could be ready for our pick-up at 7.15 for we were driving approximately 650 kms along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) up in to the Grampians Ranges. We drove for 2 hours out of Melbourne and through Torquay to our first stop Bells Beach. This beach is famous for its big surf and the home of Rip Curl- a huge surf wear brand. We took photos and had morning tea before driving through several small coastal towns including Lorne and stopping at Kennet River. Here we spotted wild Koalas and an Echidna which is comparable to a Hedgehog and Porcupine cross. We left and stopped at Apollo Bay for lunch where the two of us ordered grilled fish and chips which was really nice and then treat ourselves to an overpriced Golden Gaytime ice cream (very tasty and like a caramel filled, biscuit and chocolate coated feast lolly). Apollo Bay is named after a small vessel that shipwrecked there and is an interesting story but you can Wikipedia the full story yourself. Next up was Otway Forest where we were taken on a guided board-walk and shown the oldest existing tree on Earth- the Myrtle Beech which can live to 1200 years old and one of the tallest- the Mountain Ash. The main attraction was next- the Twelve Apostles. These are a collection of rock stacks in the ocean ranging in size and make an amazing sight. There is however only 7 (previously 8 until one fell down) stacks and they used to be called the piglets but the name was changed to the Apostles to make it sound more appealing and generate more tourism. Then some bible guy said there were 12 apostles, so the name was set. The 12 Apostles. Anyway it was a nice stop and next was the Loch Ard Gorge which is a huge double cove that enters through a tiny gap in the cliffs, again named after a shipwreck. Finally we stopped at London Bridge, a massive double arch formation, one of which has collapsed leaving just one. Again very nice but by this point we had seen enough of coastal erosion formations! From here we had a 3 hour drive inland to the Grampians through the national park where we seen lots of wild kangaroos and wallabies bouncing around and over the road. We arrived at Halls Gap at 10pm and after a late tea went straight to sleep.
Day 126- After a peaceful sleep in our private chalet we ate breakfast and packed the van. First on the itinerary was a short bush walk up a mountain and we passed through a big field where kangaroos were grazing before it got too hot. Then we seen a few punch ups between the 'roos and headed further up. The views were spectacular and our guide give us a brief geography and history lesson about the old tribes and formation of the land. We headed back down and went to the cultural centre where we read about the history of the Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung tribes that lived in the area and some of their beliefs and philosophy. From here we started our journey through the Grampians first driving to Reeds lookout for more stunning views of the valley then we walked up to the 'Jaws of death' which in true Ozzie fashion is nothing made to be something. It was worth the visit though as the two rock ledges acting as jaws were pretty interesting to see in terms of 'why on earth haven't they broke off and fallen down yet!' The final stop was Mckenzie falls where we walked a little way to the lookout point and enjoyed the views then stopped off for a quick look at Broken falls. Back in the bus we drove to Horsham, a small town where we dropped off some of the group who were continuing onto Adelaide. After some lunch and on the way back we pulled into the Best's Great Western winery which dated back to 1860. Here we tried four different wines including a very nice sparkling Shiraz and our guide took us on a small tour of the cellars. We had a great time and was interesting to see how the cellar changed over the years with wooden buildings from 1860, 1901 and 1920 and then the newer metal framed building from 1970. They still had the old vines dating back to 1860 which were imported from France and which are now being exported back to France as they got rid of theirs in the mid 90's - mugs! We had two hours of driving left before arriving back into Melbourne and I passed it by talking to a Swedish man about his African adventures and Eve simply slept. We were dropped off and walked to Jamie's where we were spending the rest of our time in Australia. It was getting late so the three of us walked to the shop and once back knocked up some noodles and then sat and talked with Jonny who was his other house mate, again he was from Sunderland and I recognised him from school.
Day 127- We enjoyed a small lie in and then went off exploring. We walked through Fitzroy Gardens and had a look at Cooks Cottage, a model Tudor replica village and the fairy tree. We walked straight through it and onto Brunswick street which is famous for its vintage shops and boutique cafes. All the buildings were very old yet pretty, most were quite dilapidated but gave the street a certain charm. We popped in and out of a few shops where we could have spent hundreds and then settled on lunch instead. We found a quirky cafe and ordered two coffees, a roast pumpkin and pepper Turkish roll and a Moroccan chicken wrap all of which was gorgeous and then continued our walk. We came to the end and then came back down Smith street where we bought some drink for that night. Jamie had cooked us a stir fry for tea and then we got ready to go out. We went to their friends house first for a few drinks then got a taxi to St. Kilda where we went to a couple of bars before we met yet more Mackems-totalling about 12 in total. We hit a few bars and ended up in a bar that charged you $10 admission fee and tried to call itself a club but never really succeeded. Either way we had a good night and got a taxi back around half 4 ish.
Day 128- After a very lazy morning we sat about the flat uploading photos and updating the blog until the afternoon when we popped into the centre to find a supermarket. We stocked up on hangover food and then went back to the flat and chatted with the others.
Day 129- We were back to early mornings and this time made it to Federation Sq for the 10.30 Peek Tour. It gave us a brief history of the square and city before taking us down to the Yarra River and talking to us about the gold mining history. From the gold came prosperity and the nickname 'Marvellous Melbourne' was given, still to this day Melbourne is consistently voted one of the most liveable cities in the world. We then walked in a loop past Flinders station and had a look up Hosier Lane which is infamous for its street art and graffiti. We walked past Chinatown to the old Melbourne Gaol and then down to the Parliament house where we finished. We walked past and seen the hordes of people queueing to enter the Australian Open. For those who don't know it is one of the four tennis grand slams and a major date in the tennis calendar. I couldn't believe we where around for it and spoke about going a few days earlier. There wasn't much else to do and was only £25 for a ground pass to the smaller courts so went along and Mark came with us as well. It was a really good atmosphere and the first match we saw was Woman's singles between Ivanovich and Larsson. After that finished we queued up to see Heather Watson who was a Brit. It was great to cheer on somebody from home when we were so far away home and so was quite surreal. After a few injury stops she went on to win which was fantastic and we moved over to one of the big courts and seen a Men's singles match which was a bit livelier. It was 8pm when that finished and feeling hungry decided to head back via the supermarket for some tea.
Day 130- It was our last day in Australia. We spent at least 30 minutes arguing with public transport staff over how unless the public transport system was, the only way we could use any mode of transport was if we bought a travel card, even if just in the city for one day, once you had the card you had to top it up to use the transport and didn't receive any refund for returning the card. This epitomises Australia as the huge rip off it is and how its not geared to tourists. They expected us to pay $6 each for a travel card and then it was going to cost us $7 each to get to St. Kilda and back so overall it would cost us $26 for a 30 minute round trip by tram. We weren't putting up with it so instead we just jumped on for free. We walked round some of the streets although there wasn't much on offer in the shops so strolled down to the beach. We walked down onto the sand and realised we forgot our towels- useless! Luckily there was a big area of grass just behind the beach so we sunbathed there for an hour or so. We walked down the jetty and round the marina and then went in search of a drink. We walked up Fitzroy Street which is where we went out the other night and somewhere near the top found a nice cafe for a coffee. We took the tram back and for tea we made a big curry for everyone and then we all watched a film afterwards.
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mam loved reading this blog xxx