We took a week off of work to see some sights in Victoria at the end of February and had a great time. We spent 3 days in Melbourne checking out the infamous ACMI building which had some fun and free exhibits, the greek festival that was taking place the weekend we were there, as well as enjoying the aquarium and the many cafes and interesting buildings in the CBD. We also spent an evening at Philip island which has a ferry penguin reserve where you can go enjoy sitting near the beach and watching the penguins run into their burrows. They spend several hours before sunset "rafting" near the beach while their numbers increase. Then when it's nice and dark they bolt in their large groups. When I say bolt though, I mean penguin bolt, which is slow and hilarious to watch. As soon as the penguins started coming out of the water it poured on us and the sky gave a great lightening show. We weren't undercover and got drenched. The tiny penguins were worth it though. Unfortunately, cameras weren't allowed because the flash disorientates the penguins (fair enough) and the video footage that we secretly took didn't turn out due to lack of lighting.
The following day we left melbourne and headed towards the Great Ocean Road. We stopped at a place called Torquay which is the surf capital of Victoria and the headquarters for most of the major surf brands (rip curl, quicksilver, etc..) We were told they had excellent retail outlets but we were disappointed with the lack of retail prices. We saw Bells Beach while we were there which is home to some major surf competitions. Only really good surfers surf there because it's dangerous and you'd also look like a moron surrounded by those guys.
We spent the night at Johanna beach campground in Great Otway National Park and woke up early for a spectacular sunset. Truth be told, I actually woke up to use the toilet and Colin capitalized on the unholy hour by making me race the sun up a hill. It was really beautiful though. We then made our way onto see the famous rock formations: 12 apostles, London Bridge, Bay of islands, etc... Loch Ard Gorge was a real highlight. A speedo-bound Colin went swimming in the freezing water while all the people who had unloaded from tour buses took photos. Oh my.
The weather wasn't great the whole time we were in Victoria but it really starting turning on us so we went to a Bunnings for a larger tarp and some rope. The guy who helped us was this super informative middle aged man who told us to go to a place called Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve which is on top of a volcano and is home to wild emus, koalas, and an assortment of fantastic wildlife. It was a highlight of the trip.
We camped that night at Wannon Falls campground and made it there just in time for a spectacular sunset.
The next morning we drove through the southern end of the Grampians and then drove to the other side of Victoria to take the coastal route back to Sydney. We camped at a place called Paradise Beach and it was so brutally windy we skipped making dinner and ate fruit, then packed up as soon as it was morning so our stuff wouldn't blow away.
With the exception of our first 3 nights in Melbourne staying at a hotel, all of the places we camped at were free. The Victorian government apparently doesn't want you to pay when you stay in their fine national parks. But the last night we camped we were in NSW and decided to camp at a place called Pretty Beach, even though it was $22, because I didn't feel great and they had hot showers. After we got set up I ran to the showers only to find that the hot water only worked for the first 20 seconds of my shower and came out as scalding, followed by only cold. I've never used such crass language during a shower before. When I got out I discovered that I wasn't alone in the bathroom but the other lady was very understanding of my situation. Pretty Beach was worth the $22 though, because there were about 50 kangaroos in the park and they weren't scared of you. Everywhere you walked there were kangaroos and kangaroo poo. It was 'pretty'.
When we got home and began unpacking, I realized that our clothes we had been wearing the night we watched the penguins in the rain had been left in a plastic bag (my idea) to rot while I completely forgot all about them for 5 days. I had to wash the contents 3 times before the smell came out.
And that's our trip.
E.
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