newcastle harbour

Me at Newcastle's harbour

After my 2 weeks in Melbourne it was time to fly back. I had a flight booked for Newcastle and Shane was going to pick me up from Newcastle airport, stay the night there and then drive back to Old Bar the next day. But... I missed my flight, due to a bad estimated time of arrival to the airport, and it was the last flight to Newcastle, so after much drama over what to do... calling around to Matt and Sosan, and Shane. It was a pretty hectic hour and half of figuring out what to do.. stay another night in Melbourne and wait for the flight the next day and loose out on the hotel booking for the night in Newcastle? or pay the change fee charge, board the Sydney plane, and then drive all the way back to Newcastle for the night?  Then it was decided that I take the next flight out to Sydney and Shane would make the extra 2 hour drive to pick me up from there. Poor Shane had to do so much driving that night! (Thanks babe for doing that).

Anyways, so it all worked out, with a bit of effort. Got to our hotel by 1 am or something like that.. got some rest and got up the next day to go to his nephew, Lukas' first birthday at Richely Park at Blackbutt Reserve.

Black swans at the park

After Lukas' birthday party, we went to have some lunch in town. We had Vietnamese at Viet King which was decent. Looking back, we should have went to have some pub food by the water though because it was such a nice day out. After lunch, we headed down to the harbour to show me around. Had a nice cold beer from The Brewery by the breakwall and enjoyed some live music coming from the busy wharf. What a great way to spend a sunny, Sunday arvo (afternoon). Then as the sun was going down, we decided to make our way back to Old Bar.

Customs House (Town Hall) Clock Tower

The light house on the foreshore

Nobbys Beach

Big cargo ship

Newcastle CBD right near the water

Me and Shane at The Brewery

The Brewery

Live music at The Brewery on the water

Having a nice cold beer on a sunny afternoon!

phillip island tour

While I was in Melbourne, I booked a day trip to Phillip Island (www.visitphillipisland.com), famous for the Penguin Parade, with Bunyip Tours.

Our first stop was the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Park which is about an hour out of Melbourne. We got to see dingos, koalas, a Tasmanian devil, wallabies, kookaburras and some other birds. We also got to feed the wallabies. They said they had kangaroos and wombats around but I didn't see any while I was there.

Kookaburra, the bird that sounds like it's laughing at you, and Cockatoo

Dingos, I didn't expect them to look like that.. they are so furry and cute haha!

Koalas

Tasmanian Devil

On the Wallaby Walk to feed the wallabies!

Feeding the wallabies was pretty cool.. they reach for your hand with their little paws and claws grip onto the side of your hand while they eat out of your hand. You can hear them crunch on the food and you can see their cute long eyelashes. Some were afraid to approach us and other just hop over to us, with no fear, eager to have some food.

Feeding the wallabies

Look at the lashes on that wallaby! Cute!

Little hands gripping onto by hand

After a walk around the park, we had some lunch and were off to Phillip Island. We stopped at Churchill Island Heritage Farm where we got to see a bit of the historic farm life. We watched a sheep herding demonstration, as well as a sheep shearing demonstration.

Churchill Island Heritage Farm

Sheep herding demonstration

Sheep sheering demonstration

A baby furry cow, curious about the bus on the way to Churchill Island

We also stopped off at the Koala Conservation Centre for a little walk around to see if we could spot and koalas, but we didn't get to see any because we weren't there for very long. Then we went to the Nobbies Centre where one and half kilometres off shore there is Seal Rock, home to Australia's largest Fur Seal colony. From the headland it looks like a rock but when you look closer, through binoculars or their special viewing camera, you can see hundreds of seals on the rock.

At the Nobbies Centre

Left: Seal Rock

Then by about 5pm we went to Phillip Island to see the Penguin Parade which happens every night at sunset. Here they have the worlds smallest penguins and you get to see them in their natural habitat. They swim to shore once the sun sets and they all parade out on to the beach to get back home. The first group of penguins came up on the beach at about 6pm There were hundreds of little blue penguins waddling around, and for such a small penguin they can sure make a lot of noise! We weren't allowed to take photos but a friend on the tour managed to sneak one in. It was really amazing to see so many little penguins and definitely the highlight of the tour!

Little blue penguin, the world's smallest penguins.

my 2 weeks in melbourne

It was so great to have time to catch up with my good friend Sosan and spend time with her and her baby, Aria, as well as Matt and their dog Prima! Originally, I was planning to stay for a week or so but ended up extending my stay for 2 weeks just so I could spend some more time with Sosan and Aria!

Unfortunately I didn't take as many photo as I would like to because my little camera was dropped on the lens in April so the camera doesn't focus well on scenic photos :( so a lot of the photos that I took while I was out and about in Melbourne are out of focus, which really sucks because I just got the camera before coming to Oz! However, I was able to get a few shots one night with my SLR... you'll see the difference haha.

Anyways, my first weekend in Melbourne, we went out for some shopping at Chapel Street and it was a really nice and sunny day. There are so many great boutiques and unique shops along this street.. you could probably spend a day here just going through all the shops. Then they got Matt's mom to babysit Aria and we went out into the city for a few drinks. We were all wanting something casual but then it turned out to be a really fun night! W cruised around the city for a bit trying to decide where to go and to find some parking and then we decided to start with a couple drinks at Transport at Federation Square.

Federation Square - Meeting Place

Night out with Matt and Sosan

Then walked along the Yarra River over to the Crown Casino (www.crowncasino.com.au) to check out some places there. The Crown Casino is huge, with high end shopping, restaurants, pubs, bars and nightclubs and of course a big casino, all under one roof! It's a pretty nice place for some night life and we went into a bar called The Pub and they played pretty good music and we just had a few more drinks and danced and had a good time!

For most of the 2 weeks I was there, the weather wasn't the greatest. It was cloudy, rainy and cold! But we still made an effort to go out into the city a few days during the week.

I loved the little alleys and streets filled with cafes and restaurants and there are so many of them throughout the city. The public transportation system was great too. It was so easy and efficient to get around everywhere. We went to Melbourne Central for some shopping. Another day we went to the Queen Victoria Markets for some cheap purchases and then we went to the Docklands as well for a bit of outlet shopping.

One of the little alley ways with cool cafes and restaurants

Melbourne Library - didn't get a chance to go in to have a look though

Melbourne Central

Queen Victoria Markets

For the rest of the days we didn't go to the city, we just relaxed and chilled at their home when it was really rainy, or else we would have a browse around nearby neighbourhoods. It was nice just to be around a familiar face and catch up. I could have went out for some exploring on my own, which I had planned to but the weather was pretty miserable during the time I was there, so I was happy to just relax with them. And also, it was a nice break from the quietness of Old Bar! I did get a chance to do a day trip tour to Phillip Island to see the famous Penguin Parade (I'll put that in a post on it's own).

Cute little Aria and Prima

A treat that Sos and I had while out for a coffee

Matt and Sosan got me into watching Masterchef and now I'm hooked on it. My last weekend in Melbourne we went out for Matt's brother-in-law's birthday. Went to the Crown Casino again but this time we went to a club. The music was just alright, nice club but I don't think we had as much fun as the weekend before. They took me to an AFL (Australian Football League) game, which is really big in Melbourne. It's a pretty easy game to pick up and like - a bit different to Rugby. Had some Italian food at Lygon Street after the game for my last dinner with them and then dropped me off at the airport!

Another night out at the Crown Casino - Fusion Nightclub with Matt's sister, Beck and bro-in-law, Daniel

At the AFL game at Etihad Stadium

I had a really nice time in Melbourne, and I will definitely have to go back again when the weather is nicer and perhaps to go see the horse races where we get a chance to get all dressed up and wear those cool hats! I also want to go back to do the Great Ocean Road trip.

Federation Square

One of the skylines along the Yarra River