Melbourne Trip: The Grampians! (^^)

We were to spend the night in the Grampians on our first day and it was about 2 hours drive from The London Bridge. On the way, we stopped at the Maits Rest Rainforest Walk. It was short walk; maybe about 30 to 45 minutes.

This rainforest is not like the ones we have in Malaysia. The climate was cold that we need not to take off our jackets and besides from tall fern trees, there were also trees native to Victoria and Tasmania. Ok.. Back in Uni we used to have this course about herbs and used to have visits to parks. I never really listen when my lecturer explained about those Mas Cotek, Tongkat Ali and whatnot. But in Australia, tiba2 sangat enthusiastic pada pokok bha pulak kan :P


Anyway... Walking in this rain forest was very refreshing, you see. In addition to the cool temperature, it has this very distinctive Eucalyptus smell.. o0o0 sangat best.. The two native trees that were shown to us was the Mountain Ash and Myrtle Beech.

I'm more into the Myrtle Beech. The roots form this huge hole that my friends and I can fit in. Well, when the Mountain Ash tree fell, the Myrtile Beech actually thrive on it's trunk and will get nutrients from the decomposing Mountain Ash trunk. As years go by, the Myrtle Beech gets bigger and the Mountain Ash continue to decompose and finally disappear leaving that huge hole beneath the Myrtle Beech.. Amazing kan?? hehe NERD! :p

And those fern trees, the trunk has this hairy features. Those hairs are actually the roots and they are always wet. I don't remember how it gets wet but Chris did explain how. Anyway, Chris described the hairy roots feel like dog's fur if you rub your hands on it. We did.. And we were like.. "O0o0o0o0 cmni rupenye rase bulu anjing.." Ngeh! :p

It was getting dark when we left Maits Rest. We head straight to the Grampians and on the way we saw wild Kangaroos hopping on the road!!! SJ and I were very sleepy, actually. But we wanted to see the Kangaroos so much that we forced our eyes to open until we reach the hostel. Although tired from the whole day trip and we haven't got ourselves a proper rest since our arrival, we stayed up that night chatting with our witty French roommates (^^)


So, in the morning, I remember MR said to me..

 "Kalo dalam video, kuar2 bilik da nampak Kangaroo.. Ni kene tengok betol ke tak.."

I was actually putting high hopes.. Opened the door.. No Kangaroos.. Held my video cam to my chest and inhaled a deep breath.. Trying to overcome my frustration. Pace slowly to the front house where breakfast was served.. And VOILA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were 4 Kangaroos grazing on the yard!!! And later we saw there was a Joey in one of the Kangaroo's pocket!!! Ok sy siyesly melompat lompat gembira ketika itu...  \(^^)/

Di depan hostel

Our first destination was MacKenzie Falls but on the way there we stopped at this field where there were many grazing Kangaroos! These are wild Kangaroos so we didn't get to touch or feed them. The Kangaroos here look much fatter than elsewhere. Due to the cool climate in this range, they have more body fats and thicker fur.

This is how close I was to the Kangaroos.. Tapi ini Kangaroo tidak sopan ok! Telah berkentut! haha

 There are 2 walks in MacKenzie Falls; one is to the base of the fall itself and the other one is the lookout trail. The base is actually a few hundred meters down the steep walk so it is quite tiring for those who are unfit. I didn't go to the lookout trail, but Chris said it would give a nice view of the falls although not as stunning as at the base.

The water cascade was amazingly huge. I'm not sure where the water originates but this is very beautiful!!!

There was another walk that will lead you to the above waterfall but I don't remember the name.. And I also don't remember what's the name of this waterfall :p

O ya! Grampians is actually a famous spot for rock climbers. The rocks are sandstones but not of those that easily crumble because this one yang suda mampat berjuta2 tahun.. I did check the climbing packages that they have there tapi extremely expensive. Not worth it. I rather come with my climbing friends and climb with our own gears hehe

O! Another thing about Grampians that fascinated me.. The ashen tree trunks!!!

Nampak tak badan pokok ini hitam??? (badan pokok?? (>.<) )

All the trees in Grampians are like that and I was rather curious.. At first I thought (the nerd mind of mine thought) it's just how the trees adapt to the climate but I thought wrong!!!

Actually, many of these trees produce very flammable oil within their barks especially the eucalyptus so that's why they are prone to fire. So, to control this, they used controlled fire or prescribed burning to reduce the amount of flammable material in the forest.  Sebab itu la mereka hitaaaaam.. And what's amazing, actually the practice dated back from the era of the indigenous people of Australia!

*******Maaf post ini panjang.. Sikit lagi...********

After the waterfalls, we went to the other walks and lookouts.. Lets just see some pics for this one...

With our French Roommates

On the edge~

Maaf, bukan camera canggih yang punya lense besar. It was cloudy that day so the pics are quite blurry


And our last stop at the Grampians was Brambuk Cultural Centre

Nga Keenatt is 'Welcome'

So.. In this building they display the pictures of the aborigines and told the stories of what have happened since the arrival of the British back in the 18th century.. Due to limited time, I only manage to read about the assimilation process and I'm actually glad that I went to that section. Read about the 'Stolen Generations' dengan air mata bergenang-genang.. 

So that's it for Grampians \(^^)/

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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 (^^)/

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Towards AWESOMENESS

As a child, I was never the type who dreamed of becoming a princess. Most of my time was spent alone and  I would only have friends if our tenants next door have children. I would spend my afternoons lying on our metal swing with my eyes fixed on the clear blue sky that hung above me. That's when I let my head be occupied by my childhood reveries of adventures and thrills. In the evening, with my hair tied in a bun, dressed in my cartoon printed t-shirt and shorts, I would climb the hill that stood beside my house and rest at the top. Those were the evenings when I said to myself that one day I will see the world.. No matter what it takes...

It took me decades to make my dreams come true.. And Alhamdulillah, currently I'm at the best position to realize my dreams.. Blessed with a job that I love so much and it offers good pay thus enough for traveling and most importantly I'm blessed with AWESOME friends to explore the globe with!!! \(^^)/

I have Z, who are closest to me here and she always made it easier for me because she usually does all the plannings. She's still studying, though, that's why most of our getaways are only around Sabah. And, yes, I have my backpacking girls too!



This is not one of those 'backpacking tips' post. This is just how we do it: our style..

First and foremost, we've got ourselves a MOTTO.. This motto actually evolved from "Kita kan FUN!" during our study to "Towards AWESOMENESS".. Don't really care if other people think we're not awesome as long as we feel awesome haha

Anyway, this got nothing to do with showing off lah.. The motto made us more objective; meaning we are more clear on what type of vacation we want, what are the must go, must see and must do things for us and yeah this somehow help us to estimate our budget. Basically, we aim for World Heritage sites and activities that are unique to that place. So, yeah, kami sanggup spend duit yang sangat banyak untuk a few minutes adrenaline rush and excitement! \(^^)/


GG: The Initiator/Founder

Have you heard of GGism..? Haha it is just something that my friends and I joked about because I always come out with absurd philosophical stuffs like "If the married post pictures of their babies, then the singles should post pictures of the world.." or "We should reduce our saving to priceless memories" heee~ I can really talk crap one, you know!

Anyway, I'm the freak who monitors cheap tickets in weekly basis and who read books and watch documentaries to get travel ideas. When I saw one interesting place on TV or elsewhere, I will go straight to my laptop, find out how to get there, when is the best time to travel there and start doing the maths to get the rough budget. FREAK!!!!!!!!!!! So, actually, I already know how to get to most of my dream destinations heee (^^)v Only time will take me there~ chewah...

Sometimes, I feel like I'm a 'dictator', you know..

"We are going to do Via Ferrata on April. Ini adalah satu arahan"

"13-23 Oct 2012, location, sape nak join text me your full name n ic number."

"Dah beli tiket gi this location on this date. Nak join, you girls beli later."

You know, I learnt something back then,.. You don't wait until people tell you when they're free or available. You set the date, execute something that'll confirm that you are going, and people will find time and the resource to join you! \(^^)/ Okay, that sounds like a tip :p

HH: The Drama Queen

HH is the 'Never say no to adventures' type of person. I always get the answer that I want to hear from her "JOM!!!!". But.. Her drama can really scare the hell out of me; like her leave are usually approved a week before the trip, her passport gone missing a week before the trip. Itu drama before trip, drama masa trip belom masok lagi hahaha But that what made our travel more memorable.

She is the best when it comes to bargaining so she also holds the accommodation and transport money. Tolak jak HH, then she can get us the best price ever. I usually looked at her and said "Like seriously, ko bole letak harge serendah tu??" (0_o) But... you won't be seeing her in some of our trips anymore.. I don't know until when can she join us again.. She's embarking on a different type of adventure, you know what I mean. I'll be missing one of my best travel mate ever.. O0o0 sungguh terlalu banyak yang kami kongsi untuk beberapa tahun ini (^^)

MR: The Profiler

Ahax! Bunyi macam enigmatic jak kan. A profiler is the person who goes to the MATTA fair, collect all the pamphlets, studied thoroughly and during the trip she talks like a local!!! haha "Belakang kedai ni ade forever 21.." "Drive gi situ lebih kurang 15-20 minit je." Seriously 99.6% info disahkan benar.. Yang silap sikit tu pon tiny tiny negligible stuffs.

I usually will come out with the basic itinerary and we will alter it depending on her findings and only after that will I proceed with the bookings. She also knows how to get discounts!!! \(^^)/

SJ: The Chief Cook

We usually search for the list of Halal food before our trip and during the trip she is the person responsible in planning menus and ordering food stuff. We usually will hand to her the 'food money' on the 1st day and will later top it up if it's not enough. This is very convenient; save time in terms of food preparation and can save cost too. We help her out when it comes to preparing the food la but it's just convenient that each of us will only have to focus on the task that we are responsible in during the travel.

RA: The Dealer

And another most important thing is the money for our activities. We hand the money over to RA on the 1st day too. It's important to put them aside first sebab nanti takut nda sedar duit habis T_T. So, she's the one responsible in buying entrance tickets and the other fees that need to be paid in situ. HH usually assist both SJ and RA since she is very good in Maths.. Kadang2 sampai nda tercapai akal aku kira2 dorang ni...


So that's it... That's how we make our way towards awesomeness hahaha Apa yang penting????

KERJASAMA!

14 days to our next trip... dup dap dup dap dup dap....

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