Melbourne Trip: Downunder adventure!! (^^) Part 1

This trip was the longest wait ever!! Bought the tickets December last year and we waited and waited and waited.. But in between we were distracted by the Korea trip so the itinerary making was delayed until we were back from Korea..


Anyway as you go through the post of this trip, one face is missing.. Yup.. HH.. She'd wanted to join us so bad but since her wedding will be in 3 weeks time from the date of our return, so it was best for her to stay put and settle everything. She was generous enough to let us stay at her brother's house for a night and even offered to send us to the airport. So I brought along encik kure2 who traveled with us on her behalf..

Our flight to Melbourne was at 1.40 pm and was schedule to arrive at midnight. Since the cheapest hostel is about AUD 29/night, we opted to spend the night at the airport and will place our luggage at our lodging before joining the Wildlife Tours Great Ocean Road and Grampians tour in the morning. There's suppose to be a very convenient prayer room in Melbourne airport where Muslim travelers usually settle during transit. However, when we were there, it was under renovation and a small temporary prayer room was set. Well, it was a small cubicle set at one corner and was shared by both muslimin and muslimah. The rest went to sleep in the surau while I fell asleep on the bench hehe

At about 6 am, we went to the Skybus booth and bought a 2-way ticket that cost us AUD 24 each. This was when we made our first mistake. Well, it is cheap if you're traveling alone or as a couple. But in a group, especially as big as a group of 6 and with a handful of luggage, it's cheaper to take the taxi instead. To our lodging from the airport cost around AUD 80. While using taxi from Southern Cross, where the skybus stopped, to Victoria Parade, , cost us an extra AUD 13.

This is Home at The Mansion. They allowed us to store our bags in the storage room for free while we were on tour. They have lots of guests from many countries but still the place is cozy and quiet. Sungguh banyak lelaki Eropah yang kacak! (^^)v O ya, SJ, RA and I are very into caucasians. At first we were so excited and frequently exclaimed "Hensemnye!!!!!!" but then we came to realize that they can easily understand this so we changed it to "Kacaknyeeee!!!!!!!!!" hehehe the bliss of traveling with singles~ Enjoying eye candies togeda! haha

We were told to wait in front of the hostel at 7.05 am but the coach showed up at around 7.15 am. 1st impression: mereka tidaklah sepunctual Korean hehe Anyway, our tourist guide name was Chris and when he first saw my friends (because I was at the counter dealing with the receptionist) he asked "Salleh???" Ohoho

So our first destination was the Great Ocean Road.. Adeyh. Macam kena dvide ni post tau.. Banyak suda dalam kepala ni

Our first stop was Belle's Beach. Belle's beach is actually the place for surfers. Not much for picnic but the scenery is nevertheless breathtaking. Spent a few minutes taking pictures and then we had our tea (^^)

So.. What's so great about The Great Ocean Road??

It's one of world's most scenic coastal road and is said to be the world's largest war memorial! \(^^)/

Okay.. I'll try to explain based on what I remember from what Chris have told us during the tour. Well, first of all why is it said to be the world's largest war memorial? The road was actually built by those soldiers who survived World War I and was dedicated to those who perished during the war and also as a some sort of psychological therapy; to keep them busy so that their mind won't be occupied by horrific images after the traumatic experience at war. 

One of the world's most beautiful coastal road; I've to totally agree with that. This is a coastal road that offers you various scenic views and attractions. What I mean by various is you don't just see the ocean and the sand.. It has those sandstone and limestone cliffs. There was a waterfall that we saw from afar. And we passed small towns along the way. Memang cantik!

The road actually travels via Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell. The above picture is Lorne; the coach was traveling too fast that I couldn't capture any nice pics. Anyway, I remember Lorne was the most luxurious-looking place among the four. There were mansions all around and Chris did mention that despite of it being one of the best place for surfing, the lodgings are expensive. 

Our second stop after Belle's beach was the Koala Cove. This was where we first saw a Koala resting on a tree branch! Walaupon jauh kami tetap excited sampai melompat2 heee But to me the best thing was actually the tame birds! Two gentlemen from Malaysia who happen to join another tour gave us some  of their bird feed, placed them on our palms and the birds came to us! Excited sebab these are the birds that we usually see in bird parks or inside a cage in Malaysia. But there, they flew freely here and there! 

Ok fine.. Ketakutan di situ. I've never had a bird resting on my hand like that before and I don't know whether the beak is sharp or not and I was worry that my palm will bleed if the bird peck on my palm. Banyak fikir pulak kan. But the bird was gentle when picking the feed and the tongue tickled! hehe

And another thing that I remember most about this part of the trip was when Chris exclaimed

"Yeehaw! Koala Virgins No More!!!" as we were exiting the cove haha

Next, the Loch Ard Gorge

Loch Ard is actually the name of a ship that capsized in this area back in the 18th century. It hit one of the cliffs and was left with two survivors. There are 3 walks here and it is actually advised to spend 2-3 hours to finish all of them but with tours we have limited time, of course. We finished 2 walks in 50 minutes! Ok.. Mestilah berlari-lari dan ambil gambar signs and read them later :p Kami jenis yang akan baca semua signs sebenarnya hehe

It was very windy that evening and the waves was so0o0o0 HUGE!

Okay.. Gambar promo tourism :P So next was The famous 12 Apostles!

As you guys might probably have known, the 12 apostles are those famous stack of rocks that line along the coast of one part of the Great Ocean Road. Well, I was actually curious of the name because you know, apostle.. That sounds just so.. em.. religious.. hehe But then Chris told us the story of how the name was derived..

The rocks were formerly known as the Sow and Piglets but because the name doesn't seem to be attractive enough so they changed it to the 12 apostles for tourism purpose. Haha At one point we thought Chris was kidding but I checked it.. This is true fact..

Ahax! Apakah ini?? Ini adalah Boarding Pass!! Boarding Pass apa?? Boarding Pass Helicopter Ride over the 12 Apostles \(^^)/

This is actually one of the things that we were soooo looking forward too. We repeatedly remind ourselves in the airport while waiting for the sun to rise that "Esok naek Heli!!"

We paid an additional AUD 80 for the ride. But the experience was worth it and the view was breathtaking to an extend that you drool... :p

It was a 15 minutes ride over these rocks. I don't know which one is the 1st,  the 2nd and so and so because they look alike. But from the air, the view was superb, man! 

There use to be more of them, but some have fallen due to erosion huhu but still cliffs ini sangat cantik!!!

Sempat lagi.. Lebar tol senyoman aku hahaha :p

And the last part of the GOR trip was this cliff that is called the London Bridge. There used to be 2 archs but in 1990 the bridge that form the arch fell and that's what left of it. 

So yeah first part of my OZ post is all about cliffs, cliffs and more cliffs haha Macam obses dengan cliffs sejak dari Uluwatu :p Anyway, this is a place that you need to be there yourself and be awe-struck by nature's beauty (^^)/