Melbourne

On June 25, I flew into Melbourne from Perth. Mom, Matt, Layla and I decided to travel together for 2 weeks before returning to the States. I met mom in Melbourne in the morning, and we went around town and found a hotel to stay in for the night. Matt and Layla did not join us the first day/night. Since we arrived so early (my flight got in before 6am, hers around 9am), we had plenty of time to get to the hotel, shower, and get ready for the day. By the time we were both situated, it was noon, even though we both felt like it was about 7pm! We decided to get some lunch and head to the aquarium.
The exhibits were fabulous!! They had the cutest penguin exhibit I have seen in an aquarium!! They were absolutely adorable, and mom and I both loved them!! We also saw a variety of jelly fish, large fish, sharks, sting rays, sea turtles, frogs, scuba divers, star fish, urchins, crabs and seahorses.
Afterwards, we were both fairly tired, so we headed to the hotel for the night. It was weird sleeping anywhere without my friends around, since we all lived together the entire semester!! I definitely missed them that night.
The next morning, Matt and Layla made it to Melbourne. We all checked into a hostel and got ready for the day. We walked around town a bit, through the esplanade, and settled at a cafe for lunch. We then headed to Eureka Observation Tower to get some views of the city..which is much larger than Perth, and also quite fabulous! Afterwards, we walked around town a bit and hoped onto a free bus that takes you to all the touristy destinations around the city. It gave us a good idea of what the city is like. We hopped off the bus and walked back to the hostel to rest (we were all tired) before dinner. We walked into town for dinner at a really nice italian street restaurant. Afterwards, we all crashed for the evening.
The next day, we took the bus out to St. Kilda beach. There are markets here, but only on Sundays. Luckily, it was Sunday and we were able to scan all the vairous booths and see interesting works. We also got to walk on the beach and docks a bit and get a great glimpse of the city from a few kilometers away!! While walking back along the docks, we found a tiny penguin in the rocks that form the ledge between two pathways. He was so tiny and adorable..and blue!! We ended up eating dinner in St. Kilda and hanging out at the restaurant for a few hours chatting. Once back at the hostel, we started up a game of rummy 500 and made a few new friends around the place.
Monday, the 4 of us went on a tour called the Penguin Parade. We started out at an Australian Garden, stocked with only native Australian plants...alot of what you would find in the outback and bush. It was neat to see what the native plants look like because you can't find many of them in the wild any more. Next, we went to a chocolate factory. It was hands-down the best chocolate I have had!! Yummy!! They had lots of free samples, and lots of artwork all done in chocolate. The next stop was a Koala conservation. Koalas are not new to me, since I have been in Australia for 5 months, but it was still exciting to walk through the trees and spot the cute creatures nestled among the branches. We then went on to a natural formation called the Nobbies. These are small islands off the coast of Phillips Island. Among the Nobbies live many sea lions!! unfortunately, we did not see any of them, but it is neat to think that they are there!!
The last stop for the day was the Penguin Parade. The idea is that everyone sits in this semi-stadium located right on the dunes of a beach at night time. The only lights allowed are the stadium lights, which are blunted. The tiny Fairy Penguins swim into shore every evening, coming out in groups between 10-30. They are absolutely adorable!! This is one of the most amazing events I have seen! The little guys would pop out of the sufr and wait there for the rest of their group to come out of the surf. Then, one brave little penguin would waddle towards the dunes to make sure its safe, followed by the rest of the herd. Once on the dunes, the each went their separate ways to their dens. As we walked back, the penguins were all around the paths...within petting distance, although it's illegal to touch/photograph/film them for fear of blinding or harming them.
Tuesday, Matt and Layla took the day to explore more of the city. Mom and I took the Great Ocean Road Tour of southern Melbourne. It was a great day tour..though quite long!! We got picked up at 740 am and drove out to Bells Beach, which is apparently quite popular for surfers. While I cant remember the exact order of what we did, these are the events:
- Lorne - very expensive beach resort area
- Apollo Beach - nice beach area with cute shops and cafes
- 12 apostles - rock formations in the ocean
- London Bridge - rock formation that formed a natural bridge into the ocean..part of which fell 20 years ago
All of these are worth seeing, but unfortunately it rained on us for a few of the sights
Tuesday night, we were all fairly tired, but I got to skype with Rhys, which was a good time!! We had to get up at 430am wednesday morning to catch our flights to Brisbane, but I only got to bed at about 130am. After laying restlessly in bed for a while, the girls next door began screaming incredibly loud, body slamming into doors, etc. After about 15 minutes of waiting for this to stop, I decided to go see what the commotion was. Turns out, it was just a few inconsiderate girls. As soon as I knocked on their door, the noise stopped for the rest of the night and I was able to sleep in peace..for about an hour and a half until my alarm woke me up!!