A July Winter Wonderland

Maze in Wandiligong

When I first started working at Medibank at the beginning of the year, I asked some of my Australian colleagues to suggest places in Victoria to visit. Aside from the usual places that are always mentioned, like the Great Ocean Road, Phillip Island, and Mornington Peninsula, a small town called Bright was brought into the conversation. My manager had been there several times with his family and had nothing but positive things to say about it. The original plan was going to be to take a trip there in April or May since I had read that Bright is the most beautiful during the autumn months; however, other weekend activities and moving led us to delaying it until July. Although going in the dead middle of winter wasn't ideal, I was assured that any time I visited Bright would be nice since there is plenty to do during each season.

Putting on the snow chains

Once we finally finished the four-hour journey from Melbourne to Bright, we stopped at the information centre and then our cute two-bedroom cottage before driving the short distance to Wandiligong to venture through the

Freezing on Mount Hotham

massive maze. With two kilometres of garden-lined paths, the Wandiligong Maze is Australia's most massive living hedge maze. As I was wandering through it, I couldn't help but think of the fourth Harry Potter book.... except without all the magic. The main objectives when exploring the maze were to find the rose gardens and the lookout points; however, because of the season, the flowers weren't yet blooming.

Rainbow in Omeo

The following day, we drove up to Mount Hotham in the Alpine National Park. In that part of Victoria, cars are required to carry snow chains for the tires..... and it's a good thing! We never would have guessed it from Bright, but there was tons of snow on Mount Hotham and the roads were quite slick. We didn't go skiing, which is the most popular activity to do on the mountain during this time of year, but we did walk around in the snow a little, especially

Kangaroos in Bright

because it was the first time one of the girls had ever seen snow in person.

After that, we continued onward to a small town called Dinner Plain because we had read in a brochure that there was going to be some sort of Christmas in July celebration, including a group of huskies pulling a sleigh. After we arrived there, we learned nothing was going to happen until later in the evening so we drove to another small town along the

View of Bright

Great Alpine Road called Omeo to buy petrol and lunch. It had rained a bit on the ride there, but by the time we reached our destination, a beautiful rainbow decorated the sky. Our plan had been to return to Dinner Plain later in the evening for the Christmas in July festivities, but it turned out that not much was happening so we just went back to Bright.

Hiking on Mount Buffalo

The next day, we decided that we should explore Bright, even if it was just a small section, since that's where we were staying. We ended up doing one of the hikes that was supposed to take us to a key lookout spot; however, although it was a nice walk, the path wasn't well marked so we never made it there.On the plus side, we were fortunate enough to see a group of kangaroos or wallabies, which was exciting. On our way back to Melbourne, we drove up Mount Buffalo, where we experienced some more snow and did a little hiking. There was a lookout point there as well, but because of the weather conditions, the visibility was poor.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip filled with lots of laughter, some fantastic exploring, and wonderful memories I'll take with me forever. The trip may have come later than I had expected, but it was well worth the wait.

Wet Wintery Weather

AFL at the MCG

Winter in Melbourne is exceptionally mild compared to winter in Pennsylvania; however, it's still harsher than I had expected, especially since I was never planning to spend this season here. Overall, it's been much colder than I thought it would get, but I'm fairly certain I was only thinking of the weather up in Queensland prior to moving here. Instead of snow, I've been told to expect lots of rain during the winter months, which has proven to be true in the last few weeks. It's an unfortunate reality, but this type of weather makes it difficult to plan any trips outside of Melbourne. Twice, my friends and I reserved a car to go to Wilsons Promontory and twice, we had to cancel our reservation due to the poor weather. Aside from finding myself comfortable in Melbourne at the moment, another reason I'm happy to stay here a while longer is to be able to travel to several more places in Victoria once the weather improves. It's challenging to make plans to visit new places now because it seems like I'm at a constant battle with the weather.

Bubble tea

Although I've never even gone to an American football/gridiron game, a few weeks ago, my friend took me to my first, and probably last, AFL [Australian Football League] one. In my opinion, the sport should be nicknamed "Please Give Me a Concussion" as these guys run around, tackling each other without any sort of protective gear. While I'm aware that there are different rules and such, based on my unpolished knowledge of both sports, it's basically American football without the helmets and pads. Despite the fact that I'm not a huge sports fan, I had been curious about AFL since it's not something that's played back home. I can't recall the last time I sat through an entire football game so I don't know why I thought this would be different, but to say the least, I survived. I'm just kidding as it wasn't that horrible and I'm glad I had the opportunity to experience Victoria's most popular sport, but the teams weren't evenly matched so it wasn't an exciting game. However, my friend's team won and the night ended with dumplings and bubble tea, which is never a bad thing.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Almost every morning, I make a ridiculous spectacle of myself in front of the early commuters of my new suburb as I dash from my house to the train station, most of the time in heels with my handbag swinging by my side. Living with the public transportation right outside my front door for my first six months in Australia left me quite spoiled, and to say that I'm still adjusting to the increased distance would be a vast understatement.

Farewell, part 1

The original plan was to move to Sydney sometime around the end of April so that I could have about an equal amount of time there, but my contract at work was extended for another two months, which meant I would be staying in Melbourne for at least that much longer; however, when I asked my landlord if it would be possible to revise my lease, he told me he had already found someone to move into my room. It was back to house/apartment hunting, but this round proved to be a little more challenging for some reason. Even though I'm now a little farther from both the city and work, I'm grateful that one of my friends had room in her house for me to move in with her.

I seem to be a basket case of contradictions these days. In mid-April when I thought my contract at work would be finishing at the end of the month, I wrote a private blog entry about how apprehensive I felt about leaving Melbourne since I was comfortable here. I went as far as comparing it to my move from London to Dublin, which was a transition that made me both sad that my time in the UK was finished but excited that I had Ireland to look forward to explore. Although the anticipation of Sydney was present, the anxiety I felt about leaving Melbourne was definitely greater, which was strange for me because I'm typically not put off by change.

Farewell, part 2

However, once the rumours became reality that our assignments at work were being extended, I felt reluctant to stay in Melbourne despite the job security only because I felt like I would be missing out on Sydney. With all of that said though, I'm becoming more comfortable with my decision to stay here. Aside from the fact that I'm considering doing graduate school in Sydney next year, which will satisfy my craving to experience living there, I've come to realise just how short a period of time six months is, especially when it comes to developing friendships.

Speaking of friends, two of my co-workers recently left Melbourne because their working holidays ended. It's always surprisingly how quickly a year goes by, but in the meantime, I'm excited to see what happens in the next several months!

Phillip Island Fun

Early Australian settlement

One of the top places to visit in the state of Victoria is Phillip Island, an attraction about two hours southeast of Melbourne. It's known for giving the public access to the famous penguin parade, but there are other places to visit there as well, such as Churchill Island, the Koala Conservation Centre, and Nobbies Island, all of which my friends and I visited a few weeks ago.

Highland cows

Once we arrived at Phillip Island, we stopped at Pannys Phillip Island Chocolate Factory for some lunch and dessert. As a side note, I would highly recommend the cookies 'n cream cheesecake. Seriously heaven in every bite.

Posing with the koala

After that, we made our way to Churchill Island Heritage Farm, where we had the ability to see a traditional Australian working farm, including a restored farmhouse, cottages, and outbuildings that date back to the 1850s. It's also home to Clydesdale horses, sheep, peacocks, and highland cattle. From here, we were able to have a picturesque view of Western Port as well.

From there, we drove to the Koala Conservation Centre and hoped to see some wild koalas in

Finally got a photo of a wallaby

their natural habitat. Before going, I had heard mixed reviews of the place, with most friends reporting that while they caught glimpses of koalas, they were sleeping so high up in the trees that it was difficult to see them without binoculars. When we first arrived, it seemed like that was what our experience was going to be like; however, our luck changed about halfway through our visit when there were a few koalas eating eucalyptus leaves closer to the ground. One of them

Phillip Island's rugged south coast

even climbed down from the gumtree, walked along the handrail to another tree, and started calling out to the koala that was eating there. It was a pretty unique sight to see.

Following the conservation centre, we stopped at the Nobbies Centre, which overlooks Bass Strait, including Seal Rocks,

Sunset over the island

which is a breeding ground for Australian fur seals.
Unfortunately, the seal colony was about two kilometres
from the shore so it was too far to see it even with our binoculars; however, there were special cameras available in the centre to view the seals.

Our final attraction of the day was the penguin parade, which happens right after the sun sets. We had been told to go early

Be mindful of the penguins

since the bleachers fill up rather quickly, but we were especially fortunate because just as we arrived, spectators in the front row were being told to move down to make room for other people so the five of us fit right in there. As expected, a group of little penguins returned from the ocean and hovered along the shore for a short while before dashing across the beach to their sand dune burrows. They're funny to watch because once they come in from the water, their hesitation and anxiety is so apparent before they make a beeline for their homes. We watched this happen a few times before walking back to the information centre. On our way there, we could see the penguins continuing their journey back to their burrows for the night.

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!

Stunning Scenic Drive, Take Two

Apollo Bay

I've come across more than a few people who have driven parts of the Great Ocean Road several times but more than once in less than a month? No, no I haven't.

Last month, some friends and I did a trip along the Great Ocean Road; however, it's a 150-mile stretch of road so there's a LOT to see, definitely too much to see in less than two days. Plus, one of my other friends had recommended a particular landmark to visit and we overlooked it the first time around.

Taking in the scenery

Autumn is in full swing so it made sense to try to arrange a second, more condensed trip as soon as possible to the Beech Forest area in order to bask in the beauty of the sequoias and Hopetoun Falls.

After asking everyone to be on time when meeting at the car hire company so we could get an early start on our three-hour drive to the Beech Forest area, of course the closest tram line to my apartment would have a massive delay. For anyone who knows me well, I'm typically late for........ everything, but I

Looking up at the redwoods

made an honest effort to be on time for our planned departure. After that minute obstacle, we were on our way to the sub-temperate rain forest.

On our way there, we made a pit stop in Apollo Bay, a small coastal town along the Great Ocean Road, to get lunch and explore the area. Even though we had spent a night there

Fun times

last month, we had arrived at dusk and by the time we were finished with dinner, it was dark. Since we left rather early the following morning, we didn't have time to see much while we were there so this seemed like a necessary place to revisit. I'm glad we did go this time around because with the rolling hills set as a backdrop to the bay, it's a truly beautiful place. After we shared a hearty fish and chips meal at one of the local restaurants and walked along a wall that explicitly forbade anyone from promenading on [breaking the rules in the name of photography....], we continued on our way toward Beech Forest.

Hopetoun Falls

Our next stop was the California
redwood forest, which is a sizable patch of sequoias that was planted in 1938 by a river not too far from the Great Ocean Road. It proved to be an excellent place to take photos and we had some fun slipping along the wet leaves on the ground. My shoes didn't have much traction so sliding down the shallow bank to the Aire River was a much easier task than making my way back up it.

Hanging around the waterfall

Following that, we drove the ten minutes or so to Hopetoun Falls and trekked down the countless stairs to view the breathtaking waterfalls. This sight was the main reason I had decided that I wanted to return to the Great Ocean Road and I'm more than happy that I did because it was well worth it. After spending some time enjoying the peacefulness of the atmosphere, we decided that it would be ideal to drive to the Twelve Apostles since three

Gables Lookout

out of the five of us had never been there. On the way, we made a couple more scenic stops:: the Gables Lookout, which was well hidden but gave us a spectacular view of Moonlight Head and some of the highest cliffs on mainland Australia, and Gibson Steps, a staircase that led down to a beach that featured more magnificent cliffs and one of the gigantic stacks of the Twelve Apostles at the far end of the coast.

The beach at Gibson Steps

By this time, it was almost dusk so the tide was higher than we had expected. This gave way to risky games with the waves as we attempted to simultaneously take good photographs with the brilliant scenery in the background while keeping our feet as dry as possible. Admittedly so, we lost a few times, but it all made for some precious memories. On our way to Gibson Steps, we also saw a wild wallaby! I was initially unintentionally close to it as it was hidden in the bushes near the path we were walking along, and it terrified me when it

Taking advantage of the low tide

made its first move to hop away. It reminded me of how I felt when I was in Colorado over North America's summer and had [unrealistic?] fears that a bear or a mountain lion was going to attack me. I'm just thankful that the time an animal actually did jump out at me, it was an herbivore.

Our final stop before heading back to Melbourne was the Twelve Apostles. As I've stated in a previous entry, this

Final destination: Twelve Apostles

attraction is probably the most well-known sight along the Great Ocean Road so it was only right to pay a visit there so that everyone would have a chance to see it.

We all thought the adventure would end there; however, once we returned to Melbourne, we almost ran over an injured cat that was lying in the middle of the road. It was well after midnight, but we immediately turned into pet rescuers and followed the limping cat halfway down the block to take her to the nearest animal emergency room since that's what we hoped someone would do for our pets if they had been hit by a car in the middle of the night.

I didn't get to bed until after 3am and ended up missing the highly anticipated Open House Day at Parliament, but what are you going to do?

Country Versus City

Exploring Ballarat's city centre

Victoria's Labour Day was a couple Mondays ago, which meant I had off from work, so I had wanted to do something outside of Melbourne that weekend. A few friends and I were meant to hire a car and drive to Phillip Island, but our rental fell through so we needed an alternative destination, somewhere that didn't require a car. In the end, a friend from work and I decided to take the Vline train out to Ballarat, a quaint country town about an hour and a half northwest of Melbourne.

Pretty scenery around the lake

One of my housemates is from there, and he had told me that it was a place worth visiting. Ballarat is an old mining city, where gold was found in the mid-1800s. There's an
attraction called Sovereign Hill there that demonstrates how life was lived in Ballarat from the 1850s to the 1860s, but Ben and I opted to skip that option and explore the Begonia Festival in the Botanical Gardens and the scenic area by Wendouree Lake.

Around the botanical gardens

 We had the perfect weather to walk around and explore a new place, and I have to admit that even though I just drove the Great Ocean Road, which required an exit from Melbourne, it was refreshing to be out of the city again. Despite the fact that I enjoy living in the city, sometimes it's nice to be relieved of the busy atmosphere. 

Moomba Festival parade

On Labour Day, a group of friends and I attended the Moomba Festival, which is the largest community festival in Australia. We started our day watching the parade go up St. Kilda Road and toward the city. After that, we meandered over to the actual fair grounds and debated whether or not to go on any of the extreme rides. We eventually found ourselves at the Yarra River, where we watched the water skiing performance.

At Brighton Beach

In a bit of a spontaneous turn of events, a few of us decided to take the train to Brighton, which is home to some of the wealthiest residents of Melbourne. We walked along the beach and were able to enjoy a unique view of the city skyline behind the ocean and next to the famous colourful bathing boxes. As I stood and observed the clashing mesh of colours all set up in a neat line, I couldn't help but think of the random colourful doors in Ireland.

Labour Day fireworks

Later on, we returned to the Moomba Festival and ended the day with some fireworks, which was nice because when are fireworks ever a bad thing?

As far as I was concerned, it was an excellent long weekend and it made me come to this conclusion: Extended weekends should definitely be the standard norm.

I can't think of a single person who would disagree.