Great Ocean Road Trip continues.....

After seeing the 12 Apostles, we headed to the Otway Fly.  The Otway Fly is a unique walk through beautiful rainforest commencing at a visitor centre and descending gently to a steel trussed tree walk.  The ground progressively drops away taking you on a journey through the upper reaches of the rainforest vegetation down through the ferns of the forest floor to the tranquillity and beauty of the forest canopy.  The tree top walk is 25 metres high where you experience a unique, close view of the flora and fauna of the rainforest, and before you know it you are staring out above the tops of some trees and there are also some spectacular stands of ferns to look down on.

There's a 45 metre high lookout, ascended via a spiral stairway through the under story to emerge amongst the crowns of the giants of the forest, and also a springboard cantilever that bounces precariously high over picturesque Young’s Creek.  We'd done these before so we left them to Jackie and John to experience on their own - too high for me!

From the Otway Fly we headed to Apollo Bay.  Apollo Bay has both swimming and surf beaches, as well as a large boat harbour and marina which is home to a major fishing fleet. Apollo Bay had many shops and restaurants to keep us entertained for the night - and we ended the evening in a bar with decidedly dodgy live music!

Our Apollo Bay accomodation

After breakfast in Apollo Bay, we drove the Shipwreck Coast to our final stop - Lorne.  Lorne is a seaside town on Louttit Bay. It is situated by the Erskine River in the Surf Coast Shire.  The sun was still shining so we headed to the beach, until it got a bit chilly, and then went to a wonderful restaurant - Flowers - for dinner in the evening.

As you can see by the photo below, the weather turned through the night, and we woke to a gloomy day and pouring rain!

Our Lorne accomodation

We had breakfast in Lorne, and were still optomistic that the weather would improve, so we went to Bell's Beach.  Bells Beach is the home of the world's longest-running surfing competition – the Rip Curl Pro Surf & Music Festival.  The competition was first held in January 1961 and then at Easter every year since.  Jackie and John braved the rain to see the beach from the vantage point - Darren and I stayed in the car!

Vantage point at Bells Beach

We had planned to get a ferry to Sorrento and drive back to Melbourne via the Mornington Peninsula, but because of the weather we decided to do some shopping at Surf City in Torquay and then head for home!  It was a shame that we couldn't finish off the trip like we'd planned, but it was still a wonderful break away......and on the plus side, we went out for dinner in our local pub when we got back, where Darren and John had the biggest pies!!!!!!

Great Ocean Road Trip!

Our Christmas present to Darren's parents was a 3 night trip on the Great Ocean Road.  The Great Ocean Road is a 243-kilometre (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I.  

We woke on the morning of January 7th to a lovely hot day, and drove inland to our first destination - the beacutiful bay of Port Campbell.  Port Cambell is a seaside village towards the Western end of the Great Ocean Road - a good place to start our trip back along the Great Ocean Road.


 
We spent the afternoon on the beach........

and then trying to find some shade.....

Our Port Campbell accomodation

Waking in Port Cambell, we went to a lovely restaurant for breakfast - Waves - before heading to the see some of the amazing natural sights that the Great Ocean Road has to offer.
First stop - London Arch - a natural arch in the Port Campbell National Park. It was formed by a gradual process of erosion, and until 1990 formed a complete double-span natural bridge.  The arch closest to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly on 15 January 1990, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer part until they were rescued by a helicopter. No one was injured in the event. Prior to the collapse, the arch was known as London Bridge because of its similarity to its namesake.

London Arch

The Arch (in the background of this photo!) - formed by the sea cutting through a rock ledge

Next stop was Island Archway near Loch Ard Gorge - which was a 25 metre high arch when we visited almost two years ago! It is now two new features after the middle section collapsed into the sea in June 2009. The pillars have since been officially named Tom and Eva after the two teenage survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck

This used to be Island Archway!

Pudding Basin Rock in the backgroud (I think!)

And then a short walk to Loch Ard Gorge.  It is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Of the fifty-one passengers and crew, only two survived: Tom Pearce, a ship's apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman immigrating with her family, both of whom were 18 years of age. According to memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help. Pearce then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists who immediately set into plan a rescue attempt.

Loch Ard Gorge

And no trip on the Great Ocean Road would be complete without seeing the Twelve Apostles.  The Twelve Apostles are giant rock stacks that rise majestically from the Southern Ocean and are the central feature of the rugged Port Campbell National Park. They have been created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland that began 10–20 million years ago. The stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs. The caves eventually became arches, and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore.

New Year - New baby!

I  know that no one back home will know the parents, or the baby, but very good friends of ours in Oz - Gill and Chris - became the proud parents of the totally gorgeous Eilidh Lunnis on January 2nd!  Gill's Scottish - hence the unusual name!  I just wanted to put a quick post to welcome her to the world, and to congratulate Gill and Chris!  The piccie of me holding her is when she was less than 24 hours old! 

Less than two weeks old and she's already been to her first cricket match at the MCG and is going to the tennis tomorrow - an early introduction to an Aussie sporting life!

New Year's Day 2011

New Year's Day - first barbie of the year!  Start as you mean to go on!

New Year's Eve 2010

December 28th we took Jackie and John to Phillip Island for the day.  First we went to Cape Woolamai, the beautiful surfer's beach, then onto Cowes for an afternoon at the seaside, and in the evening we went 'Penguin Plus' at the Penguin Parade to see the fairy penguins come across the beach to their homes at sunset.  Cameras aren't allowed at the penguin parade, so the only photo we have is with some fake ones!!!

 

 New Year's Eve the temperature got to around 42 degrees!  Perfect for a late night out in the city!  We stopped at redegg on Chapel Street on the way to the city for dinner and drinks.....

....before heading to the South Bank where fireworks burst into the midnight sky with a line of fire running from the top of the CBD all the way to the Docklands.

Christmas with the Booys!

Christmas Eve

Unfortunately, Darren and I had to work on Christmas Eve.  Darren left at lunch time, however, I had to work til about 3.30pm - almost the last to leave!  After a rubbish day, it was a lovely surprise to arrive home to some beautiful white lillies from Darren.

 

In the evening we headed to the city.  First stop - The Atrium at Crown - for Australia's largest and most spectacular display of Christmas decorations.   We timed it just right and as the huge clock chimed 7pm, the Atrium was magically transformed into a giant, automated Christmas display, all brought to life by a dazzling light show.  With it's six-storey high Christmas tree, animatronic 'Big Top', enchanting carousel and cheeky characters, it was enchanting for both the young and the young at heart.

After the show, the Crown Christmas Choir treated us to some carols!

After Crown we headed to the 'World' restaurant on the South Bank for dinner by the river.

And then headed to Federation Square for Vision Australia's Carols by Candlelight to be part of Melbourne's first ever human Christmas tree!

Christmas Day

First things first - presents!  Thank you everyone for our treats from home!

Our Christmas present to Jackie and John is a trip on the Great Ocean Road in January, but obviously they had to have presents to open, and they needed to be light enough to take back home.  Cue a stocking full of Australian tat - complete with cork hat, boomerang, poncho and fridge magnet (among other things!).

After presents and a big breakfast, we headed to Brighton Beach for a bottle of bubbly!

And of course the obligatory Christmas Day swim - well John and I were the only ones brave enough - it wasn't the warmest day!

And then back for a Christmas barbie - turkey sausages and cranberry salad - accompanied by Aussie Christmas carols and crackers!!!

Boxing Day

The Boxing Day Test at the MCG is one of Australia's most popular sporting events, and every four years, the Boxing Day Test forms part of the 5-match Ashes contest with England.  This was one of those fourth years, so with much excitement we headed to the MCG Boxing Day morning.  I do tend to switch allegiance if I'm going to see Australia play, but Boxing Day I was proud to be a pom!

England made a mockery of Australia's apparent Ashes momentum, outplaying the hosts with both bat and ball on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.  The tourists put themselves in prime position to claim victory and retain the urn, sending the Australians in and skittling them for 98 in two sessions before cruising to 0 for 157 at stumps and a lead of 59 runs.

Before the start of play, Australia - coming off a convincing 267-run win in Perth - had ambitions of building an edge in the 1-1 series before a world record crowd in Melbourne.  Instead it set a new mark by slumping to its lowest ever Ashes total at the MCG as its batsmen failed to show any semblance of discipline against a diligent England attack.

The massive crowd of 84,345 was also only the fifth-highest in MCG history and witnessed Australia's second-lowest total at the ground since being bowled out for 83 against India in 1981.
 

It was a brilliant day with an incredible atmosphere, and of course the result made it all the better!  The weather was typically Melbourne, quite chilly in the shade, and hot in the sun!

Jacket on...

.....jacket off!

Cheers!

Any room at the inn?!

Darren's mum and dad, Jackie and John, will be spending Christmas and New Year with us this year, and they landed in Melbourne December 14th.  After a stopover in Singapore, it's not surprising that they were tired and jetlegged, but we we're very pleased to have them here!  In Aussie style, we welcomed them here with a barbie on their first night - and after a bottle of bubbly it wasn't long before they were showing the tell tale signs of weary travellers - falling asleep mid sentence! 

After exploring the city and St Kilda, they're now in Sydney (after being delayed because the incoming plane was hit by lightening!), but will be back in time for Christmas!!  Melbourne is known for it's unpredictable weather, so fingers crossed for a sunny Christmas Day!