The Afternoon after White Night, Niamh and me decided to get the 96 tram towards the Crown Casino for some food, in the burger joint part of MerryWell. The funny thing was, that person who took our order, was the assistant manager from my shift the previous night, he was nice enough to actually give me a staff discount on the food and drink, even though there was happy hour, with a burger and a pint of miller for 15 dollar. Words can't describe how tasty the food was. After our meal, we decided to go exploring around the casino, its such an extravagant and enormous place, with its own shopping mall, nightclubs, and so many restaurants. Within the building, they were housing a replica of a F1 racing car in the lead up the 60th Australian Grand Prix.
After some cancellations and last minute shifts for both Niamh and me during the week, we decided to make the most of our Friday off. So we got up early and got the tram towards the Domain interchange, where we got off and made the short ten mins walk towards the Royal Botanic Gardens information centre. From here, we went on a scenic guided tour led by our tour guide Jane, who gave us both botanical and historical information about the park and its plants. The tour took approx 75 mins and one of the highlights was the ornamental lake which was tranquil, and peaceful yet had beautiful views of the park and the city. Once the tour was finished back at the info center, we walked along the park taking in the views of landscape and the buildings/statues such as the observatory, governor house and of course the Sidney Myer Music bowl.
From the music bowl, we casually strolled along St Kilda road towards the National Gallery of Victoria. We Spent longer here than we had planned, isnt that always the way. There was some interesting pieces by artists such as Picasso, Monet, and Andy Warhol. Once we got our culture fix, we walked along South Bank, to get a bite to eat in Wagamama. After which I got sorted for my shift the next in the office, then we got the tram home. During the short time, we were at home, we had changed our minds bout going to Luna Park, as it seems a bit of a let down after the theme parks in the Gold Coast. Therefore we decided to go instead to Happy Hour and see what all the fuss is about. We happened to make it just before happy hour was over. We managed to have a good laugh in Wonderland for a good while before heading to Lord of the Fries for dinner. As Niamh lost a bet, we had Ben & Jerry's Sundaes on route home. Scrumptious!
It was an early night for me, as I had to be up bright and early, to make my way towards the Pinnacle office, where I was been collected, as we were been driven out to Geelong for our shift. The shift was in the corporate box of the local Aussie rules football club - 'The Cats. The function was for a charity - Cottage by the Sea, where the tickets were 150 dollars each. The head chef who was flown in by Coles from LA, was local boy and celebrity chef, Curtis Stone. Coles also donated all the food and drink for the event. Curtis Stone was a nice guy but like any chef, wouldn't want to cross him in the kitchen. After the lunch, there was an auction with one item, a landscape panting selling in the excess of 7,600 dollars. After the banquet, there was a match between Geelong and Adelaide in the stadium.
As both Niamh and me were up extremely early Sunday morning, we both went to bed nice and early, but with excitement was hard to sleep. We both got up before 6am to get ready and the make our way to Base hostel in St Kilda for our pick up for the tour. We got dropped off at tour head office, were we boarded our coach for the day. After travelling for 2-2.5 hours, our first stop of the day, was at Bells Beach in Torquay, which is one of Australia's famous surfing beaches and home of Rip Curl Surfing Pro, this year will be the 52nd time a competition been held here. We stopped for a short photo opportunity, at the official Great Ocean Road Sign. The Great Ocean Road is an 243 km (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast between Torquay and Warrnambool. This stretch of road was build between 1919 and 1932 by returning world war I soldiers and is considered the world's largest war memorial.
Our next port of call was for a picnic coffee break at a coastal town of Lorne, which was so beautiful and relaxing.
After leaving Lorne, we made the journey onwards towards Apollo Bay, which many consider to be the most picturesque section of the Great Ocean Road, as the highway is carved literally into the sheer cliffs that drop away into the ocean, therefore offering commanding views of the waves from Bass Strait and the Southern Ocean. Along this strait of road, we stopped off at various spots including some of the most beautiful beaches we've seen in Australia, and look out points and Split Point Lighthouse where Round the Twist TV Series was filmed.
Before our lunch stop near Cape Otway lighthouse, we stopped for a stroll in Otway national park which is home to an ancient rainforest which has some of the tallest eucalyptus trees in Australia. Although we ended up been tad late, we got our lunch at the cafe near the lighthouse, which was included. We had time to explore the museum and the lighthouse and of course, the views from the top. Exiting the grounds after lunch, we managed to see some wild koalas who had begun to wake up and became active. The road that hugs the coastline between Torquay and Cape Otway is commonly known as Surf Coast.
Further west along the Great Ocean Road from Cape Otway and Shipwreck Coast, we entered Port Campbell National park which is the home to the famous limestone and sandstone formations. First port of call, was along Shipwreck Coast which is the home to Loch Ard Gorge, named after the sinking of Loch Ard Ship in 1878. The Island Arch now officially named Tom and Eva after the arch collapsed in 2009, who were the only two survivors of Loch Ard. From here, we traveled the 10 mins to the 12 Apostles which is the highlight of any Great Ocean Road tour which are a collection of limestone stacks of the shore.
Once we all boarded the bus again, we set on our way back towards Melbourne. We Finally managed to get dropped off in St. Kilda roughly 21.30, approx 15 hours after we began. Although it was quite a long day we both felt, was well worth it.
After some cancellations and last minute shifts for both Niamh and me during the week, we decided to make the most of our Friday off. So we got up early and got the tram towards the Domain interchange, where we got off and made the short ten mins walk towards the Royal Botanic Gardens information centre. From here, we went on a scenic guided tour led by our tour guide Jane, who gave us both botanical and historical information about the park and its plants. The tour took approx 75 mins and one of the highlights was the ornamental lake which was tranquil, and peaceful yet had beautiful views of the park and the city. Once the tour was finished back at the info center, we walked along the park taking in the views of landscape and the buildings/statues such as the observatory, governor house and of course the Sidney Myer Music bowl.
From the music bowl, we casually strolled along St Kilda road towards the National Gallery of Victoria. We Spent longer here than we had planned, isnt that always the way. There was some interesting pieces by artists such as Picasso, Monet, and Andy Warhol. Once we got our culture fix, we walked along South Bank, to get a bite to eat in Wagamama. After which I got sorted for my shift the next in the office, then we got the tram home. During the short time, we were at home, we had changed our minds bout going to Luna Park, as it seems a bit of a let down after the theme parks in the Gold Coast. Therefore we decided to go instead to Happy Hour and see what all the fuss is about. We happened to make it just before happy hour was over. We managed to have a good laugh in Wonderland for a good while before heading to Lord of the Fries for dinner. As Niamh lost a bet, we had Ben & Jerry's Sundaes on route home. Scrumptious!
As both Niamh and me were up extremely early Sunday morning, we both went to bed nice and early, but with excitement was hard to sleep. We both got up before 6am to get ready and the make our way to Base hostel in St Kilda for our pick up for the tour. We got dropped off at tour head office, were we boarded our coach for the day. After travelling for 2-2.5 hours, our first stop of the day, was at Bells Beach in Torquay, which is one of Australia's famous surfing beaches and home of Rip Curl Surfing Pro, this year will be the 52nd time a competition been held here. We stopped for a short photo opportunity, at the official Great Ocean Road Sign. The Great Ocean Road is an 243 km (151 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast between Torquay and Warrnambool. This stretch of road was build between 1919 and 1932 by returning world war I soldiers and is considered the world's largest war memorial.
Our next port of call was for a picnic coffee break at a coastal town of Lorne, which was so beautiful and relaxing.
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