Weekend in Warrnambool

Narrow roads to Warrnambool

When I first arrived in Australia, I was nervous about the idea of driving on the opposite side of the road. Although I've adjusted pretty well to the change, I'm still quite new at it so I was thankful that I wasn't in the driver's seat when my friends and I encountered some "two-way," single-lane roads on our way down to Warrnambool, a country town about three hours southwest of Melbourne. My friend's dad works at a clinic there during the week so a few of us decided to stay at his family's house for the weekend.

From the highest point of Tower Hill

Our original plan was to leave immediately after work on Friday, but we ultimately thought it was best to leave first thing Saturday morning so that we could minimise our night
driving. After dropping off some of our belongings at the house in Warrnambool, we set off toward Port Fairy, stopping at Tower Hill, Victoria's first National Park, along the way.

Griffiths Island Lighthouse

Listed as a top attraction to see in the area, one of the most interesting things about Tower Hill is that it's located inside a dormant volcano. Although we did have a spectacular view of the landscape from the peak of the mountain, we were also hoping to be able to see some exotic Australian wildlife while we were there. Unfortunately, we had to wait until we were leaving to see a

Wharf in Port Fairy

small group of emus in the distance. We attempted to get closer, but then we realised the dirt we were sinking in was more likely fertilizer so we quickly retreated back to the car.

The next stop we made was Griffiths Island in Port Fairy,
where we spent some time exploring and taking in the

Lake Pertobe

gorgeous scenery. The island is small enough to
walk around in an hour or two so we followed the winding path that led us by the beach and toward the lighthouse, making several stops at different points along the way. The area is known for its colony ofmuttonbirds/shearwaters, but since I didn't know what they were ahead of time, I wasn't looking for them so I'm unsure whether or not we saw any. After Griffiths

Hot pot dinner

Island, we sat by the wharf in Port Fairy to rest and to decide what we were going to do for the rest of the day.

 After Port Fairy, we returned to Warrnambool and visited
the beautiful Lake Pertobe, which had a playground with a mini-zip line that we all took advantage of using. It's always fun to act like a kid for a little bit, isn't it? A short while after

Bay of Islands

that, we headed over to Lady Bay and stayed there until the sun started to set. By that time, we were starving so
we found a Coles and bought some food for................. our delicious hot pot dinner!

Before heading back to Melbourne the next day, we stopped at two scenic locations that are part of the Bay of Islands

Country sunset

Coastal Park, the Bay of Islands and the Bay of Martyrs, the latter of which allowed us to actually walk down to the beach and wade in the water. Our trousers may have gotten a little wet from the waves, but I don't think I would be alone in saying it was still good fun.

Our trip ended with the most epic sunset over a tree-lined hill that I couldn't help but feel begged the question:: Are we in Australia or Africa? Perfect conclusion to the weekend.

'Lest We Forget'

'Lest We Forget' is a quote that's often associated with one of the most celebrated public holidays in Australia, ANZAC Day. Standing for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, it originally served as a day to remember the soldiers who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during the First World War in 1915; however, it's currently a day for Australians and New Zealanders to pay tribute to any military personnel who have died fighting for their countries.

Held annually on 25 April, ANZAC Day traditionally begins with the Dawn Service, where thousands gather for a ceremony to commemorate the lives of those in the armed forces. The one in Melbourne was at 6am at the Shrine of Remembrance, which is about a half-hour tram ride from my apartment. Surprisingly enough, I was able to get up before the sun and make it down there in time to witness this tradition. Despite the rain, I'm really glad I attended because it was such a moving event and the patriotism displayed by so many Australians was truly inspiring.

Once Upon a Camping Trip

Tiniest trunk/boot ever

Time is a strange thing. With work during the week and travelling on the weekends, the last couple weeks have bled together in a way that's left me wondering how it got to be the end of April already. Several days ago, I reached the six-month mark of being in Australia and in just a couple weeks, I'll arrive at the six-month mark of living in Melbourne. Perhaps it's because it's been a few years since I've lived abroad, but I don't recall my time in London going by as quickly and that was only half a year as well. Or maybe it did speed by in a blink of an eye and somehow I'm just forgetting how fast it all happened. Either way, I'm glad this adventure isn't quite over yet because I'm in no way, shape, or form ready for it to be.

Tent pitching was a success

During the extended Easter weekend, a few friends and I decided to drive out to the Grampians National Park, which is about three hours northwest of Melbourne. It was merely an idea for a while, definitely too long of a while, so by the time we made the decision to put the plan in motion, booking accommodation proved to be a difficult task. Motels, hostels, caravans, lodges, hotels. You name it, everything was booked solid and had been, some places told me, since the beginning of the year. We considered switching our destination for that reason and because the weather had been questionable all week, but our hearts were set on the Grampians since none of us had ever been there and we all wanted to experience the beauty we had heard so much about. Since our choices for accommodation were so limited, we eventually resorted to camping. Outside. In tents. That we were not prepared to pitch.

Exploring Ararat

Before the Grampians, I had gone camping a total of two times in my adult life:: once in Ithaca, New York in 2006 and another time in Llanthony, Wales in 2009. Unfortunately, the most vivid memories I have of the former experience are waking up in a cold puddle of water and then waiting for the van to come rescue us from the pouring rain. Prior to that, I hadn't been a massive fan of sleeping outside, but that experience deterred me from doing it often in the future. During both of these trips, I was surrounded by avid campers who were encyclopedias of the great outdoors and came prepared with the knowledge and tools necessary to successfully pitch a tent and start a fire. This time, we had one girl who had limited experience with camping and written instructions from a friend from whom we had borrowed a sizable tent.

Made it to the top

The ground at Greenhill Lake Reserve in Ararat was hard and rocky so our attempts to use our sneakers, flip flops/thongs, and bare hands as makeshift hammers to slam the stakes into the ground were futile... and a little painful. Lucky for us, our expert campsite neighbours were far better prepared for the occasion [equipped with hammers, brilliant!] and offered to aid us in pitching our tent. They happened to be from Connecticut so it was a pleasant surprise to hear a friendly American accent. It's funny because at first, the familiar American accent didn't register with me so instead of asking a broad question about where they were from, I almost asked them whether or not they were from that area originally. Good thing I caught myself at the last minute as I saved myself from a potentially embarrassing moment.

From the Pinnacle Lookout

Camping at a non-powered site doesn't leave a person with many activity options after the sun goes down so a couple of us ended up going to bed rather early, which was perfect for me because the early start and long drive from Melbourne left me feeling nothing short of exhausted. The following day, we drove up to Halls Gap, sometimes called the "Heart of the Grampians," and embarked on the two-and-a-half-hour hike up to The Pinnacle. There were moments during the climb when we felt we had been overly ambitious with our decision to select the most challenging route to the top since there had been other car park options farther up the mountain that would have made the hike less gruelling. However, after countless necessary rest points, we eventually made it to our destination..... and immediately realised every step it took to get there was worth it! The lookout point from The Pinnacle granted us a spectacular 360-degree view of the Grampians. Really, the entire top of the mountain offered quite a sight to see. After eating lunch and exploring the area for a while, we made the less challenging trek back to Halls Gap.

Mackenzie Falls

Our next stop was Mackenzie Falls, which are one of the most popular waterfalls in the Grampians. Unfortunately, our time spent down there wasn't as long as we would have liked it to be since someone had slipped and fallen on the stones and a helicopter needed to land to take her to the hospital. We had just descended the numerous steps down the falls and hadn't even been there for five minutes when everyone was ushered back to the top of the stairs. We were lucky though in that we were able to snap at least a few photographs before we were asked to leave because there were many people who never even got a chance to reach the bottom before they had to turn around and return to the top. Since we had only been able to enjoy the falls up close for a few minutes, we walked to the viewing platform and stayed there for a while.

Sunrise over our campgrounds

On the following day, we drove back to Halls Gap to do some more hiking, starting with the Wonderland Car Park to the Grand Canyon, and to visit Boroka Lookout and the Balconies, both of which had panoramic views of natural beauty. Then we continued our scenic drive to Wartook Reservoir and Beehive Falls in Roses Gap, which wasn't more than a trickle of water because of the lack of rain lately. I did, however, spot some wild emus so that made up for the fact that the waterfall was less than magnificent. After that, we made our way to Dadswells Bridge, where we saw the Giant Koala, which houses a souvenir shop, an art gallery, and tourist information. By this time, it was starting to get dark so we hopped back in our car and drove to our final destination, Big Hill Lookout in Stawell. Our GPS took a while to find the location so we made it there just in time to catch the last few minutes of the best part of the sunset.

Successful Easter Weekend getaway? Check!