Aussie Road Trip Day Five

April 12th Last of the Great Ocean Road and Drive Into Melbourne

As we got up early to say good bye to Apollo Bay and head out towards Melbourne, we stopped at the beach for a few last pictures of the gorgeous surf and sunshine. It was only a 2 1/2 hour drive and we had some options for getting into the city. We considered taking the suggestion of others and catching a ferry to cross a bay and come into the city from below, but we realized cost and timing were not on our side so we kept to the freeway, heading through Torquay, Geelong and Werribee. 

We stopped in Torquay in use the internet at McDonalds, but it wouldn't log on, so we searched for a library and were able to get our normal life stuff done aka check the bank and Facebook. 

Melbourne was our first big city and we had to find out hotel in the downtown of South Yarra. Little did we know this area was a major player in the traffic of Melbourne and we found ourselves in massive city traffic, thankful for Nancy the GPS to tell us when to turn and such. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if all we had was print off Google Maps. 

As we were driving through the city keeping an eye out for the hotel, the car started to give us some trouble, not idling well and kinda coughing, making Siyani and I very nervous. We finally had to pull over, on a massively congested street in a no parking zone because the car died. Thankfully we were on the same street as the hotel, we just weren't sure how far from it we were. Siyani figured out that some cords had fallen on the fan which prevented it from cooling the engine and this is why the car died. So while he moved the cords and let the engine cool down, I walked up the street the find the hotel. Turns out we were only 3 blocks away. After checking in and finding out where the parking was, Siyani braved merging into the craziest traffic I have ever seen (even Vancouver has nothing on this place) and we finally got parked and into out hotel room. Due to the wonderfulness that was this adventure, there are sadly no pictures from this particular day, as the craziness was yet to continue. 

That evening we had reservations for drinks and appies at a club in the downtown. We got tickets for the train and I asked the lady at the booth which way we would need to go once we exited to get to our street for our reservations. Basically things did not go according to plan. We walked in the complete wrong direction, got turned around, ended up back at the train station at the time we should have been at the club, Siyani figured out which way  we needed to go and it was like 8 blocks down three blocks up, 30 minutes of more walking and when we finally got to the club they informed us that we should have received a call as the evenings entertainment that we had paid for was rescheduled to the next week and would we mind coming back then. This is where we finally caught a break. The manager for the night was a backpacker turned Melbourneite who understood everything we had just gone through and understood why we couldn't comeback (as in we would be in Brisbane by then) felt terrible for all the confusion and comped us 4 drinks and a full dinner. Turned out it wold be one of the best meals we would eat on our whole trip and one I would try and re create from time to time.  Creamy Pumpkin Risotto for me and a perfectly cooked steak for Siyani. After the days events we walked back to the train station, crawled to the hotel and got a well deserved nights sleep in preparation for the rest of Melbourne.

Aussie Road Trip Day Four

April 11th Driving the Great Ocean Road

The plan this beautiful morning was to get up early, drive to Warrnambool, enjoy breakfast and then head out towards Apollo Bay enjoying the sights as we drove. Unfroutunatly our morning got off to a rough start as Siyani realized we had lost the oil cap to the car. He spent the better part of an hour running the few streets we had driven to try and find it. What he did find was a mechanic shop with some helpful guys who called an auto wrecker for us who had one. With the mornings drama sorted we headed out of Stawell and off to Warrnambool.

This part of our trip was what I had been personally looking forward to more then anything. It has been a really big goal of mine to see the Twelve Apostles and to travel the Great Ocean Road. To make sure we didn't miss to much we stopped at the Warrnambool Visitors Center to get a more detailed map and the lady there told us we had to stop at Cheese World just outside of town.

Outside the Warrnambool Visitors Center

Are we ever so glad we heard about Cheese World. Of course with a place like this they make all the cheese in house and the flavors, who such yummy flavors. Siyani and I indulged and bought three different flavors, two mini bottles of champagne and strawberry schnapps, crackers and two of the worlds best milkshakes to go. Cheese world labeled their milkshakes this but we weren't to far off from disagreeing. 

Next we plugged in the stops we wanted into Nancy (the GPS) and headed off on the Great Ocean Road. Words cannot describe the beauty of the rock masses and the surf and the smell of the ocean. We stopped off at quite a few places but one favorite was the Grotto. The tide was out, so Siyani jumped the retaining wall to build an Inukshuck out of rocks, a bit of Canada in Australia.  The twelve apostles was of course the busiest stop along the road, but so worth it. To finally be standing there, seeing them with Siyani was a wonderful moment. We also headed down to the beach to sit on the sand and dip our toes in the ocean. Good thing we are used to cold water, because being so far south it definitely wasn't a tropical surf.

With daylight running out we drove through the The Great Otway National Park. This is where the road goes inland, through dense green forest as far as the eye can see. We tried to take pictures but you just couldn't grasp the expanse or beauty of this place nor the transition of coastal road to inland forest. Take our word for it, the drive was breath taking. 

Once we got to Apollo Bay we found our hostel, grabbed a pizza and once again appreciated having a bed to sleep in. The next day we would see the final part of the Great Ocean Road and hit our first major city, Melbourne.

Morning in Apollo Bay, hitting up the visitors center and enjoying some awesome gelato at a local cafe.

Aussie Road Trip Day Three

April 10th Driving to Stawell,Victoria

After sleeping in the Griffith Info Center parking lot, we headed to Maccas for breakfast and internet. We also had to choose our route, as there were a few options for getting to Stawell. Gaye and Peter had suggested going to Echuca if we could fit it in, as it had some wonderful tourist things to do. As we were ahead of schedule and supposedly on more then just a driving trip we choose to take the tourist way and headed for Echuca. 

Our first stop of the day would be Deniliquin, famous for the 1999 Ute Muster. This was when 2,839 utes paraded through town and wrote the town into the Guinness Book of World Records. This yearly festival has become such a hit that in 2010 a new record was set with 10,152 utes participating. In honor of this the town erected a one of a kind "Ute on a Pole". 

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch in one of the parks, choosing to Aussie it up. To us this meant packing a cooler bag with food and carrying hot water and instant chai so we could enjoy a nice cuppa when we stopped. At this time I was also thankful for being smart enough to have packed an emergency bag, as I cut my thumb with the knife while making sandwiches. In the park were some fun info stations with which to take pictures of CC the Bear and next to the info center was a mosaic ute. 

1. Siyani with CC at the Ute on a Pole 2. CC with a Cockatoo 3. CC on a large heritage wood cutter 4. CC and Siyani at the Mosaic Ute

We continued onto Echuca, where we were excited to find the Port of Echuca, a heritage icon. The port is set up like Barkerville, with the heritage buildings still in tact and the employees dressed in period costume and the paddle streamers still running up and down the Murray River. We bought our tickets and enjoyed a ride on the PS Pevensey. It was during this ride that we also learned we were pronouncing our destination wrong. While we had been saying it phonetically (Sta-Well) we were told it was pronounced Stall. It was very cool to learn of the heritage of Echuca, the formation of this river port opened up inland Australia to settlement and was Australia's largest inland port. Echuca was also the nations main ship building area for river transport and today with its restoration gives a beautiful glimpse into the past. Of course when we boarded the paddle steamer we had CC the bear with us and one of the attendants said we could get a picture of him at the helm and afterwards he was also given an honorary first mates certificate. 

After our paddle steamer ride we explored the town and to my absolute delight found out that Echuca also boasts a wonderful chocolate/candy heritage. We stopped in at the Echuca Chocolate Company, where we experienced chocolate liquors and walked away with a white chocolate port. Then we hit up the candy store where I got a tin to add to my collection and we picked up some road trip candy. There were so many amazing shops and looking at the visitors guide so many more attractions but we didn't have time to see them all. Echuca will definitely be on our list for next time. 

 

We also did a bit of shopping at a sports outlet store, where Siyani got a complete re-stocking of Fox apparel, and once that was complete we headed out of town for a straight drive to Stawell. After two nights of sleeping in a car lets just say words can't describe the beauty and wonderfulness of a hot shower, some Chinese food and a big comfy bed. A wonder nights sleep in Stawell to get us rested for the next days adventure of the Great Ocean Road. 

The Sunset on our drive through Bendigo and into Stawell

Siyani really enjoying the bed.