Sydney for Christmas...don't mind if we do!

So have finally made it to Sydney - we are staying in a hostel that is pretty much central to everything! Not a long walk to anywhere! Is called Elephant Backpackers - is nice enough with large rooms although the kitchen could do with a revamp! Hostel World had mixed reviews so fingers crossed it will be ok for us. We will be in Sydney for a couple of weeks - during that time we plan to look for a job and an apartment. If it all goes to plan then we will stay here for a few months, if not then we will move on!

We've come up to Syd from the Blue Mountains - where it was pretty drab. The first day we managed to get out and explore - went to Echo Point, The Three Sisters and Leura Cascades.

But then the second day the clouds had really come in so we wouldn't have been able to see anything. It's not too basdthough as both Bex and I have both seen the Blue Mountains before.
We used our time to download iTunes and purchase some films! Also bought 5 books - no idea where i'm going to store them!

Becky also bought a little fibre optic christmas tree, some lights and tinsel to go around our bunk beds. Looks very festive! We did our christmas shopping yesterday so just got to wrap the pressies and put them under the tree along with a couple of card I had waiting for me here.

Will post the finishing xmas results in a couple of days - and hopefully a picture of us on a beach!

The run up to Christmas - From Melbourne to Sydney

Tuesday 13th Dec - the 13.12.11 - we collect our hire car from Hertz. We reserved a manual car but they only have automatics so we were able to negotiate a days discount. Hertz really are very affordable - was over $200 cheaper than any other hire company. Plus it was a brand new car - no one else had hired it and it only had 9kms on the clock.

After looking around the Queens Street Markets where we bought all our supplies, we headed along the M31 for Albury. It was a long drive up but got there late afternoon. We planned to stay at Bendigo but the YHA there was closed due to a refurb. We don't do anything in Albury - just dinner and bed.

Wednesday 14th we get onto The Great Alpine Road which takes us more South Easterly - it takes us through some of the Ski Resorts and many towns. We choose to take the Discovery drive around Mount Beauty and Falls Creek. By the time we get to the top of this its 9 degrees - chilly!

We eventually get to Lakes Entrance where we check into our room at Riviera Backpackers YHA - we've gone for our own room this time. Some kind person leaves some cakes in the kitchen - I grab a chocolate muffin with vanilla icing on the top, Bex is drawn towards the custard and fruit tartlet.

Thursday 15th we spend the day in the Lakes Entrance area - we come across a Heritage Timber Bridge.

In the afternoon we walk along the Esplanade and on to the 90 mile beach - we dont walk the 90 miles but we do walk down to the entrance of the lake. On the way my flip flops decide to break so I have to walk bare footed along the beach, through some woodlands and through town until I find a shop! By the time we get back to the hostel we have been out for over 4 hours, walked more than 10kms and hungry!

Friday 16th and we leave Lakes Entrance for Merimbula - is a day of driving and we arrive around 15:30. We explore the town but spend the evening relaxing in front of the TV and end up watching Shrek 2 and Oceans 13. The hostel is quite strict on what you can and can't do - they don't do mixed dorms either! I end up sharing a room with a German who snored most the night - didn't get a good nights sleep.

Saturday 17th and we are out of Merimbula by 10am. We come across a beautiful beach around 30k's down the road and take a nice morning stroll. We carried on driving until Lunchtime and made lunch up in the boot of the car - we sat on some rocks overlooking the ocean.

We get to our next hostel in Batemans Bay - although turns out it's our own caravan! Was cheaper booking a double than a dorm each. Had its own outside toilet too with a little frog in the toilet bowl.

Sunday 18th and we drive to Canberra - only a couple hours of driving today. After a quick spot of lunch in the hostel, we head out to the Old Bus Depot Markets - all local produce and handmade crafts. Got to taste a few free samples! We then walk to the National Australian War Memorial. We got to see the single soldier who's buried there, along with all the names of those Australians who were lost in war. We also got to see the closing ceremony - a guy playing the bagpipes.

Monday 19th and i'm up early to put money in the car park. We walk to Parliament House and join a tour. We start in The Great Hall - the biggest room of the 4700 rooms in the building. We are told that 10,000 onsite workers took 8 years to build the structure - total cost being $1.1 billion.

The Great Hall houses one of the largest tapestries in the world measuring 9.5 x 19.8m. A team of 13 weavers took over 2 years to make it.

We get taken to the House of Representatives (the equivalent of our House of Commons). It is very similar to the British system and has similar characteristics - green decor for example. However, it is a lighter green - the same as Eucalyptus - to keep the Australian mark on it.

This is the same with The Senate (House of Lords) - same purpose and same principle colour of Red - but it is more pinkish.

We leave New Parliament House around 14:45 and head for the High Courts Of Australia - opened in 1980 by the Queen. Before then, there were seperate courts in Melbourne and Sydney but this wasn't sensible so it was agreed to bring them together in Canberra.

We look around a couple of the courts and the main building.

Tuesday 19th and we visit the National Museum of Australia. Was fairly interesting - based more on the social side of things. We head out of Canberra around midday and get to a town called Bundanoon - very small but rather quaint. They have a butchers here so have bought some Sausages for our tea! We are stopping here for the night and then heading to The Blue Mountains for a couple of nights.

The plan is to do some walking, watch a sunset and enjoy the scenery until Friday 23rd when we get into Sydney.

If we don't write again before christmas - Merry Christmas! Hope you have a great time over the festive period and Happy New Year!

St Kilda, Melbourne

We landed in Melbourne on Saturday 10th at around 11.15am. After calling our hostel, Habitat HQ, and got a code so we could jump on a free shuttle bus. As Becky put it....the Bus from Hell! The air conditioning wasn't working but the driver didn't realise this (even though we were all telling him about it!) and it just pumped out hot air. There was a 97 year old woman at the back and she said she was going to be 98 in 3 months but, at this rate, wouldn't see it.

We finally got to St Kilda and got off the bus - I managed to leave my green hoodie on it...bad times.

Our hostel was nice - voted one of the top 4 in Australia. The Guys we shared our room with were rather messy but they kept it to their side.

We get our for a walk in the afternoon heading down towards the beach and to a theme park called Luna Park. This isn't all that great - nothing like what we have at home but the Ozzy's seem to love it.

In the evening we get invited out for the night by Tom Wade - who some of you may know from East Grinstead. He's lived in South Melbourne for almost 3 years so knew where to head out to. We jump on a tram to his place, then into the City Centre to a Jazz Night club. We also meet some of his friends from Lingfield - Sarah and Matt. Was a good night out - was nice to meet some new people and be able to have a drink. Coming home on the tram and it was absolutely chucking it down with rain - it was like a movie scene! The tram doors opened and there were rivers flowing down the streets and huge puddles. We had to walk for 20 minutes in the rain to get to the hostel. Wet!!

Sunday 11th December we head to Philip Island - the home of the Penguin Parade. Luckily we aren't picked up by Autopia Tours until 11.45am so we get the chance for a well needed lay in.

On the way to the island we stop at the Maru Koala and Wildlife Park. We bought a container of food each and fed the wallabees, Kangaroos, Emus, Sheep, Donkey, Horse and a Goat. Able to view Tassie Devils, Wombats and Koalas too.

Some of the wallabees and roos were holding our hands whilst eating out the pot - was cute.

We also stop at a lookout point where we see our first Little Penguins - they nest around the area and, if you look around carefully, you get to see their nests. We came across a couple of adults but also a baby chick.

In the evening we head to The Penguin Parade, along with a few hundred others. The National Park has built some concrete seating for everyone to view the penguins as they come in from the sea after dark. You're not allowed to take any photos as the flashes from cameras hurts the Little Penguins eyes.

The sun set at 20:35 and the first little fellas starting coming in about 15 minutes later. It was bloody freezing waiting for them so we got ourselves a hot chocolate to try and keep warm.

It was funny though - you'd get 10 or more coming in together, one would get scared and run back into the sea and all the others would follow him! Once they finally had the nerve to come in they were great to see! We had a couple of baby penguins near us, waiting for their Mum and Dad to come back with food - every time a new lot came in from the sea these little guys would run up to them hoping it would be their parents....but no luck.

At 21:45 we walk back to the coach, walking through the boardwalks where all the penguins are around us either in their burrows or setting out for them. We get the coach back to St Kilda and arrive back just before midnight.

Monday we have a chill out day and take a walk around St Kilda - we are out for 4 hours just chatting and walking.

Tassie....a state of wonders

As said before, we hired a campervan from Melbourne to take us through to Tasmania. We got ourselves a 'Relocation' deal so had 4 days to get us to Hobart and cost us $5 a day plus they reimburse you with $350 for fuel and the ferry crossing. So not a bad deal!


The Spirit of Tasmania ferry crossing was ok - it gets a bit choppy across the Bass Strait. You get your own recliner sleeper though with a pillow and blanket. We had our mammoth salad that we had to eat and then we got to sleep.


Monday morning we all get woken up just before 6am by the captain - not personally but over the tannoy. We are told to get in our vehicles by 6.30 ready to disembark the vessel. Obviously made it to Devonport then. On the way out we drive through Quarantine and had the sniffer dog jump on board - all is ok though.


As we only have 3 days we plan our route. Our first stop is going to be Cradle Mountain. We drive out towards it and get there around 10am. It's noticably colder here than the mainland - thicker clothing is definitely needed! We head into the Visitor Information and buy a National Park Pass that will cover us for the 3 days. Becky also buys some gloves to compliment her jacket and scarf!
We get told about some of the walks and then jump onto one of the Shuttle buses that takes us to Dove Lake. Its a 2 hour circuit so we get going in the sunshine, soon warming up. Once again the views are great - you have the lake in the foreground with Cradle Mountain towering in the background. There is even a little bit of snow left on its peak.

By the time we finish our walk (and spoken to a random bloke who gave us a contact number for some work) we are pretty hungry. We grab the shuttle back to the camper and make up lunch. We leave the National Park by 13:30 and head back along all the windy bendy roads. We had to drive around part of Mount Rodney and then up it so we could head to Deloraine through to Launceston.
On route we came across some horses that had managed to escape their field - with the owner trying to get them back in. We also saw a wombat which neither of us had seen before. Surprised at the amount of roadkill over here though. There is literally something splattered every kilometre or so.


We park up in a lookout spot for the night, overlooking Scottsdale. The toilet that is here is a Composting toilet and absolutely stinks! It's a case of holding your breath and doing what you need to do quickly! We cook dinner and then make up the bed for the night. This camper is heaps better than the last one we had - has a microwave, proper sink and tap, a built in stove....the works! And you can even stand up in it without hitting your head!

Tuesday morning we are up early - we have cereal and crumpets for breakfast and get moving. We drive through Scottsdale, Branxholm, Derby, Weldborough, Pyengena and into St Helens. Another trip to a Visitor Information Centre and we have directions to The Bay Of Fires.


We drive to Binalong Bay first stopping at a beach to look out at the coast and to take some pictures.

We head on to The Bay of Fires. When we get there we climb over some rocks and get some more photos, seeing a seal. It's our first wild seal so quite exciting.

We have lunch in a little spot before setting off for Coles Bay. We stop at a lookout in Scamander and get some brilliant sunny views of the coast. The rest of the morning had been overcast so was a nice surprise when it cleared up! We continue on through Four Mile Creek and Bicheno before getting into the Frecinet National Park.


"The Frecinet Peninsula is effectively two eroded blocks of granite joined by a sand isthmus. The imposing granite peaks, and the many white sandy beaches that dot the peninsula are among the highlights."


We book ourselves into the National Parks camping ground and then head off to explore the area. First stop is Honeymoon bay

Onwards to Wineglass Bay car park where we get ready to do the Wineglass Bay Lookout walk. The gravel track took us up a steady climb, with 343 steps. Half way up and you get a great view of Coles Bay. Keep on going to the top and you get to see Wineglass Bay - a super sandy beach!

We finish the walk around 6.30pm and then drive to Cape Tourville where we do a short 20 minute walk, taking us around a lighthouse and a more distant view of Wineglass Bay and the surrounding area. We drive back down to the campsite and set up camp for the night. A hot chocolate is in order as it's pretty cold!


We have a chilled out start to Wednesday, having breakfast and then packing the camper up ready to return it later. We drive into Coles Bay and have a quick look around and then drive along the coast to Hobart Airport. This is where we have to say goodbye to the camper. We sign it back in, collect our $350 and then grab a taxi into the city. Its $41 but we would have had to wait an hour and a half for the shuttle bus and would have only been $8 cheaper.
We check in at our YHA Hostel - Montgomerys Private Hotel - all seems ok. We are here for 3 nights.


Thursday we go out and explore Hobart - we venture around the Harbour, through the shops (purchasing a few items) and then walk around the route that the Tour bus takes - cheaper that way! We really like Hobart, and even think about coming back here after Christmas to find work.

We get chatting to a couple of guys whilst cooking dinner - one is 69 years old and is travelling Australia for 3 months - this is his 4th time here. He's doing really well! And the other guy has been cycling around Oz and New Zealand with 40kgs of luggage. Mad!


Friday 9th and we have hired a car from Thrify - a LIME GREEN Suzuki Swift. I hang my head in shame.

We head to Port Arthur to visit the Historic Site.
The Port Arthur penal station was established in 1830 as a timber-getting camp, using convict labour to produce sawn logs for government projects.
The vision for Port Arthur penal settlement was a bold experiment and ground breaking attempt at reform and rehabilitation of the convicts of the colony Van Diemens Land. It was a place of punishment for the worst class of convicts. Port Arthur was a key part of the colonial system of convict discipline. Remote, harsh and with no chance of escape - these were the perfect conditions for hardened and repeat offenders.
By 1840 more than 2000 convicts, soldiers and civil staff lived at Port Arthur, which by this time was a major industrial settlement. A range of goods and materials were produced here - everything from worked stone and bricks to furniture and clothing, boats and ships - with the free labour of convicts.

We found the whole place really interesting! It's the first historical site that we've come across since we have been here. Everything else has been mountains!

We head back to the hostel, have dinner, shower and then pack everything up, ready for our flight to Melbourne tomorrow morning. 

The City of Melbourne

December - already! Where is the time going?! Anywho, we have spent 4 nights in Melbourne and found it a pretty hectic city. It has a population of 5.5 million and for that many people it is pretty small!

Thursday 1st December and it is our first lay-in for a while! We had a salad for lunch too which made an interesting change from the norm!
In the afternoon we head out to see what the shopping is like - I end up purchasing a new pair of trainers (mine really are beginning to smell!), some new socks and a handmade advent calendar - 24 stockings on a line. Will be sending it home in the new year! Becky found herself a waterproof coat - so if it does rain again she won't get drenched!!
It is really just a day to unwind and chill out!

On Friday we head back into the shops, I take back something I bought. We have been looking for a particular journal - designed by Paperblanks. They are pretty cool but the particular one I want is sold out everywhere. I may just have to order it online and get it delivered to Sydney.
We walk up to the top of the city to Backpackers World Travel and book a couple of tours - Neighbours (for tomorrow) and Philip Island for Sunday 11th.

We head back to our hostel to have lunch on the roof terrace and then head to Southbank. We wander down the river walkway through Federation Square and past Flinders Street Station.
We chill out in the hostel for a while and at 7.30pm go back across the river to the Eureka Skydeck. We got there at a decent time so we could see the city during the day, during sunset and at night. The skydeck is the highest vantage point in the Southern hemisphere at 300 metres. The lifts are the fastest in the Southern Hemisphere travelling at less than 9 metres per second and the glass on the top 10 levels are 24 carrot gold plated.

After sipping a shared hot chocolate we make our way back down to the bottom and walk back to the hostel. We come across a guy with performing poodles - very strange but pretty entertaining!

Saturday morning and we are up early to go on the Neighbours tour - figured that whilst we were here we had to do it! It was a fun tour - going to the actual street that they film. It's not called Ramsey Street in real life....it's actually called Pin Oat Court. The houses are owned by normal everyday Australians but they are compensated for using the street. On a recording day the residents have to make sure their gardens are prestigne and they have to move their cars out of the street.

We got a picture with the official Ramsey Street sign!

We head off around the corner to the studios and get to see all the outside sets - Lassisters, Charlies, the Police station, Uni and Harolds Store.

We head back into the city and get dropped at our hostel. We chill out, have lunch and then later on go and jump onto the free City Circle tram to take us around the city. There were some things we didn't know about so was a good idea to do it. Figured that, as we have been good, we would have some pancakes at the Pancake Parlour - 2 for 1 on a 2 stack with ice cream!

We go for a wander to Federation Square to let our treat settle. In the square they have 24 fake christmas trees dotted around - with mats so you can sit amongst them.

On Sunday we have to get up and check out of our hostel - this has been a really nice hostel - more like a hotel (even though you're sharing your room with others!)

We walk down to Flinders Street Station and board a train that takes us to Tottenham where we are picking up our Camper van. $3.20 for a whole days travel - not bad! It is a 20 minute train journey.

We do all the Britz paperwork and watch a DVD on how to operate various parts of the camper then head off down the road to stock up on supplies. We then go back to the train station, park the van up and jump on a train back into the city.

We need to kill some time as our ferry to Tasmania isn't departing until 19:30 so we have a look around some shops and get some more pancakes! We get back on the train at around 16:00, get back in the camper and head for the port.

Check in for the ferry is pretty easy. We go through Security who ask a variety of questions (one being are you taking fresh fruit and veg). We have just done a shop and have a bundle of salad, fruit and veg. So we make up a huge salad for the boat and take the fruit with us. Anything else ends up in the red bins they provide.

By 19:30 we are boarded and leaving the port of Melbourne on our way to Devonport, Tasmania.

The Great Ocean Road

Fri 25th November we collect our hire car from Hertz - a Toyota Corolla in white. We get told that to have me as a driver, it will cost an extra $32 a day as I am under 25 - so we opt to take me off and to just leave Becky on as the named driver. We managed to purchase our own excess insurance too - £3.99 a day rather than $32 a day that Hertz wanted.

We pick up our bags from Annies Place and then hit the road. First stop is Mount Lofty - it looks out over the city of Adelaide. However, as it had been raining and the clouds were low, we didn't see a great deal!

We continued on and came into Hahndorf - a German town. It is the oldest non-British settlement in Australia and was established in 1839 by Lutheran refugees. There are over 90 19th Century buildings in the main street - quite a sight when you're driving through! We had a stroll through the town and stopped for lunch at 'The German Cake Shop'.

We drove on getting into Victor Harbor. We walked across a jetty to Granite Island. On a good day you can, apparently, see penguins but there wasn't any sun for us so no penguins. A nice island though - shame we couldn't see more of it but we needed to make tracks to get to our hostel in time.

We jump back in the car and drive to Robe. On the way the sun is setting on our right, and to our left is a rainbow. I've never seen the two at the same time. The is what makes Australia a great place to explore - you get to experience sights you could never imagine.

We check into our YHA at Robe - it is an old mansion that has been restored exactly the same as one in England. The rooms are amazing - very eccentric with all old furnishings, huge fire places and a great big library. The best hostel we've stayed in with so much character.

On Saturday we get up at a reasonable time and explore Robe. It's not exactly a big town so we are soon on our way heading for The Grampians.

On our way we stop at Mount Gambier for lunch - at a Sinkhole. This was totally unexpected. We found the steps down and went to view it.

Once we get a move on again we drove through a town called Tamington. All the houses along the main road had decorated barrels of hay and left them on their front lawns - most were christmassy themed but some were decorated differently.

We get to The Grampians late afternoon and go for a walk along the dam. The dam was built to reduce the risk of Halls Gap, the local town, of flooding. It's a huge structure.

We book into our hostel for the night and wind down, doing diaries and talking to people on Skype.

Sunday morning and we're up at 7am. We want to go out and explore The Grampians so we drive up Mount Victory Road and walk around the MacKenzie Falls. We walk 2 trails - one taking us to the top of the falls, and the other to the base. In January this year there was a significant storm that swept through the National Park, causing a great deal of damage so a few of the tracks and roads are closed for ongoing repairs.

What with it being so early and not many people around, we see a couple of Roos - one with a Joey in her pouch.

On the way back to the hostel we stop off at the Balconies - it overlooks the whole of the Grampian National Park. The early morning mist has burnt away too!

We were originally only going to have our hire car 'til Monday afternoon but we decided that we needed it longer - so once we got back to the hostel, we called up and extended the car hire to Wednesday morning. After this we get out exploring again, doing a 2 hour return walk through The Grand Canyon and up to The Pinnacle. Its a challenging walk, but well worth the views.

We have lunch in Sundial picnic area and look out at Lake View Point before getting in the car again. We spend most the afternoon driving and arrive at our YHA in Port Fairy. A nice hostel, seems very quiet but apparently fully booked. Good job we booked ahead!

We spend the evening walking around Port Fairy Harbour and Griffin Island. There's an old ship in the harbour that photographs well in a sunset!
Around the island, wandering along the path we come across a Roo that is literally right beside us.
We carry on round to the lighthouse and then on towards the beach. By the time we have walked all around the Island the sun has set and has left a magnificent purple, pink and orange misty sky.

Back to the hostel, we make dinner and get into bed.

Morning of the 28th - we're up and ready to go by 8. We drive to Tower Hill, an inactive volcano just outside Port Fairy. We climb to the top of the peak, with 360 degree views of the area. It begins to rain so we power walk to the bottom and jump back in the car.

We drive through Warrnambool and finally hit the start of The Great Ocean Road. Only a few kilometres in and we already have various spots to stop and look at. The rock formations along the coast are pretty spectacular - it is amazing what the sea does. We have a look at the Bay of Islands, Loch Ard Gorge, The Arch, The Grotto and The 12 Apostles.

Would have been better to see with Blue Sky though!

We also see London Bridge. This used to have 2 arches, however, in 1990 a large amount of the mid section fell into the sea. Luckily, no one was injured but 2 people did get stranded on the section out at sea. A helicopter rescued them but the couple didn't hang around for the press - apparently they were having an affair so wanted to remain anonymous!

We drive on to Moonlight Head to look for the anchor of Marie Gabriel. We have to drive up an unsealed road that is bloody bumpy - glad it's not my car! To get to the beach we have to walk down 366 steps - and back up once we've finished looking!

On to Apollo Bay - and we stay in the YHA again. This hostel is amazing. It's an eco hostel and is so smart. We wish we could stay longer than the one night - it's on our 'Come back list'!

Tues 29th we back track a little and visit Cape Otway as we ran out of time the day before. We went to see the Lighthouse but its pretty expensive - plus the National Park block all access to it so you have to pay even to stand near it! On our way through we come across a whole bunch of Koalas sitting in trees - photo time!

Heading back in the right direction we stop at Carlsbrook Falls for lunch and then carry on along the Great Ocean Road. This section actually runs inline with the coast and is definitely more fun. We stop at a couple of Scenic Lookouts and take pictures.

We drive past Kennett River, Wye River and Separation Creek before getting into Lorne - a pretty cool town, an upmarket beach resort.

We get on and come across the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch - built in honour of the servicemen who built the road after WWI.

What with starting to get tired and the weather turning, we head straight for our hostel in Queenscliffe. The first shop in Queenscliffe is 'the chocolate room' and I decide that it would be good if we had a Chocolate Fondue! It didn't take long to finish that and we were soon booked into our hostel for the night.

With the weather being more settled, we have an evening stroll around the town, down the river, around the houses and to the port. We finally get back to the hostel, have dinner and back to our room.

It's our last day with the car and we're up early so we don't return it late. We leave Queenscliffe at 8.30am and join the rush hour traffic into Melbourne.

Melbourne is a busy city!! We're not used to seeing so many people and cars all in one space! We find Hertz after weaving our way around trams and people and get checked into the hostel. A well needed rest is in order so we crash out infront of the TV for the afternoon and stay there until it's time for bed.