Poowong and beyond: Giant Earthworms live there

The Poowong campsite was a very peaceful woodland clearing which made it a great place to spot birds and other wildlife, we spotted a kangaroo hiding in the long grass, just the other side of the stream. We explored the local area, including coal creek, a reconstruction of an historic mining town which also randomly had an excellent exhibition about Anne Frank. From there we went on to Loch, another charming little town where we found out more details about the giant earthworms of South Gippsland. We first learned about them from Bill Bryson's book, 'Down Under'. Sadly, the  place where Bill went to see these strange creatures pickled in jars has, for some reason, closed down. So our only option was to look at the info panels located under a motorway bridge in the tiny town of Loch. Unlike David Attenborough, we didn't hear them gurgling under ground, they would have been drowned out by the rain anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxeT_GDKv9g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

From there we made our way through the Gippsland countryside, stopping at a couple of wineries on the way. Lyre Bird Hill and Drummond's estate were both very small operations producing lovely wines so we replenished our stores and continued South for Wilson's Promontory National Park.

Queenscliff to Blairgowrie: The Mornington Peninsula

The ferry crossing to Sorrento was pretty quick with a few penguins to spot on the way. In Sorrento, a well-to-do town where we thought we'd spend the night, the camping options were limited with many of the public municipal sites not open until December. We caught the tourist info just as it was closing to prevail upon them for some camping options. 'Are you in a tent or a van?' The lady asked.... Never quite sure how to reply to this question we replied truthfully that we were in fact sleeping in the back of our station wagon. The lady seemed concerned that this might not be acceptable to the nearby caravan park, at which point we assured her that we had stayed in numerous caravan parks so far and no one else batted an eyelid. In fact this lady was the only person we have encountered so far who did bat her eyelid! Eventually, we made it to the charming Blairgowrie caravan park where we would spend the night.
The next day led us to explore the beautiful region of the Mornington Peninsula, where fortunately for us they also make excellent wine. It is a cool climate area and offers Pinots and Rieslings more than Shiraz which had been the most common variety so far. The real surprise favourites were the Chardonnays, which if we didn't have to store the wine in our car, we would easily have bought numerous bottles.
Montalto was the first vineyard and chosen primarily by its proximity to Flinders. Named for Captain Flinders who was a distinguished navigator and cartographer, the first to circumnavigate Australia in 1801-1802 as well as carrying out a lot of explorations and expeditions. A great deal of land features are therefore named after him, from the historic town in Victoria to the university in South Australia and much more in between. In Flinders we partook of a record breaking custard slice. The shop we bought it from holds the Guinness World Record for the largest ever custard slice, weighing in at 500kg, our slice came in at 500g! Still rather too much for us! We went to a second vineyard called Ten Minutes by Tractor mainly because of the name and unique because it's the only vineyard where we left empty handed!
While on the peninsula, we also took the time to visit the Cape Schanck lighthouse where we took a walk along the cliffs, nearly getting blown over before turning back to the safety of the wagon. Back in the carpark we admired the bravery of a surfer heading out into the high seas, high winds and rocky shores. Following our adventure in the peninsula, we originally planned to stay in Frankston. Though this was thwarted when the caravan site was full. Free camping is limited in the region so for the second time that day, we opted to go somewhere for the name. Poowong. Not only is it a great name, but the campsite was free. We stayed there for a couple of days, all the while exploring the South Gippsland area. It's very lush and green, beautiful pasture and rolling hills that are quite stunning, even in the continued rain.

Torquay to Queenscliff: oil leak ahoy

We left Torquay and headed to the next major town, Geelong (pronounced Je-long, as in the French Je). After some supplies and an explore we hopped in the car with the hope of exploring the areas wineries. It had been raining pretty solidly since the previous evening and when we arrived at Jack Rabbit vineyard, the water on the ground showed up iridescent rainbow blobs in our tracks, in other words, we were leaking oil.
We decided to carry on to the next town, a small place called Queenscliff and get the problem (hopefully) sorted out there. Once again we decided to get out of the rain for the night and so booked ourselves into the local dive centre accommodation. It is as it sounds, a place where you learn to scuba dive but they also have great rooms and a large open kitchen for tourists or scuba groups to stay in which must help things along in the off season. We were welcomed by Dave and Johnny. On our asking for a mechanic in the area, Johnny, who also happened to live in the centre as he's a dive instructor, offered to look at the car for us so Tom and he went out in the rain to have a look under the bonnet. I thought it best to leave them to it, yet five minutes later on going out to see how things were looking, there were not two but four men peering into the engine! One of whom was on the phone to his mate (presumably a mechanic) saying "If I were a Commodore station wagon leaking oil, where would I be leaking from?" The overall view was that it could be anything, however they did suggest a mechanic to take it to the following day. It was great though and that helpful and supportive attitude has been echoed in other circumstances on our trip.
We dropped the car off at the mechanic and decided to take a walk to see the nearby Marine Discovery Centre. Someone must have found people walking this stretch of road peculiar as they stopped to offer us a lift. Don't worry Mum, we didn't get into a stranger's car as we didn't have far to go! The marine centre was essentially a small but very informative aquarium focussing on the eco-system in the wetlands of the region and nearby Port Philip Bay (where Melbourne is). Happily, we arrived at feeding time so had a great tour around the tanks including that of a Blue Ringed Octopus. We stood and watched/listened in abject horror/surprise as the guide hand fed one of the most deadly creatures in Australia. He also recounted a story of a friend who for some unknown reason had decided to keep one of these poisonous cephalopods as a pet. In a tank. In their house. The guide himself had also kept one and his friend rang him to tell him to get rid of it. The reason being that his wife had woken up one morning to find all the fish dead in the tank and having scooped them out with an ice cream tub was laid out paralysed for half a day. Even though the tank was huge and the amount of poison secreted by the octopus was very small, it was enough to knock out this lady and mercifully she survived. It was as he told us this story that he put his hand into the octopus' beak to feed it, its rings getting more blue by the second, something that happens when it's aggravated or threatened. Bizarre!
Before too long the mechanic called to say the car was ready and the problem had been caused by the oil pressure switch. Unfortunately, it was cup day in Geelong (horse racing) so he wasn't able to fit a new part, so a second hand one would have to do for now...
We had delicious fish and chips in Queenscliff town centre before getting the ferry to Sorrento to explore the beautiful Mornington Peninsula.
x Annie & Tom

Johanna Beach / Cumberland River / Torquay

As we have been doing for much of our trip, we left Johanna beach without a particular destination in mind that day. So we drove the winding roads of The Great Ocean Road with glorious sunshine, stopping for lunch in the pretty town of Apollo Bay. We then headed on to Cumberland River, a very pretty  and popular place where we managed to secure one of the last campsites for the night. Turning up at one of the most popular caravan parks on this stretch of coast on a weekend without a reservation is risking it, but there was still room, so we were in luck. There was lovely scenery here, with dramatic cliffs rising from the river and yet another beautiful sandy beach where we watched surfers and fishermen do their thing.
We were just getting to cook dinner when seemingly out of nowhere we were overwhelmed by hundreds, nay thousands of flying ants! Many of which soon expired in the flame of our gas stove and we had to seek refuge and eat in the car! Annoyingly the plague soon stopped and had we waited a little longer, we probably would have missed it. Ah well, such is life.
The next day we did a bush walk in the morning to see a local waterfall, (the name of which escapes me) before carrying on the road to Torquay via Anglesea for lunch. Both lovely towns, Torquay was our stop for the night as we had an all important and essential Aussie experience of a surfing lesson booked the following day. Torquay is also where surfing in Australia really got started.
Our campsite was just over the dunes from the ocean and even better, a great little cafe a mere two minutes away, overlooking the beach. So as it was up and at 'em at a reasonably early hour to be on time for our lesson and we decided to fuel up with incredible bacon sandwiches from the Third Wave Cafe - highly recommended! The sunshine may have gone but the rain held off for the duration of our two hour surfing lesson. It was great fun in spite of the inevitable intake of seawater and wipeouts, we both managed to catch a wave by the end.
xAnnie & Tom

Warrnambool to Johanna Beach: The Great Ocean Road

This section of the road was quite a drive, with the first lot of really winding roads and where we saw a lot of the sights that makes The Great Ocean Road so popular. It was spectacular scenery for much of the way and thankfully, the rain cleared up and we had great views and sunshine. It was a bit windy, but you can't have everything can you?! We had a recommendation to visit Cape Schank lighthouse which is in the Great Otway national park and on the way, we noticed a couple of people had stopped beside the road, pointing their cameras into the trees. They had seen koalas snuggled amidst the branches so we quickly pulled over to have a look. They didn't seem too bothered by us and one of them woke up for a moment and blinkingly looked at me as if to say "I was having a really good dream until you came along." Thankfully, they didn't make the noise of our previous koala encounter in the Narrawong forest nor did they aim their poop in our general direction. In fact, they were more interested in rearranging themselves in the trees to continue their sleep and who can blame them? They looked so comfy and it was early morning after all. On arrival at the lighthouse, we climbed the spiral stairs to the top to hear the stories of the shipwreck coast and the history of the lighthouse and admire the spectacular views. We also took time to wonder around to see some former defences and communications from WWII as well as some Aboriginal artefacts and information which was all fascinating.
Onwards to The Great Ocean Road and we saw the incredibly beautiful rock formations that make this coast so dramatic. The Bay of Islands, the Grotto, the Arch and of course, The Twelve Apostles. We didn't stop at London Bridge as it's no longer a bridge, it collapsed in the early 90's leaving two tourists stranded! All these sights are absolutely stunning rock formations caused by the unrelenting winds and the waves of The Southern Ocean pounding the cliffs. Apparently, Australia is the only country to recognise The Southern Ocean, so to the pommies reading, it's the Indian Ocean, OK? This is what we've read here so if in fact you are a pom that recognises it, please let us know!! There aren't Twelve Apostles but more like 9, apparently they were given the name to make them more appealing to tourists, something which was pretty successful judging by the number of people there.
That night we stopped at Johanna beach, a free campsite that was nestled in the hills next to a beautiful sandy beach. The relentless wind and strong currents meant it was too dangerous to swim but we had a paddle before setting up camp for the night.

Port Fairy to Warrnambool - We slept in a shed

Port Fairy is a lovely little town on the coast, on the estuary of the Moyne river, recently voted one of the most liveable communities in Australia. It's easy to see why as everything about this little fishing community is rather charming, from the lovely shops and harbour to the occasional power cut. As has become habit, we headed straight for the tourist info to find out about the area and to see what our options were for free camping. The man we spoke to came up trumps when he suggested a nature walk around the nearby island to see the lighthouse. It was sunny and dry which was a nice change as we'd seen a fair bit of rain so far. Not only that, he also let us know we could camp for free in a small public park area by the river so if we're only there for the one night, we'll probably get away with it - which we did. Conveniently, there was a public toilet there as well as a BBQ, so we spent what we would have paid at a caravan park and bought a massive steak to cook on it. So apart from the devious Raven which insisted on landing on the car repeatedly and giving me the evil eye and the heavy rain for most of the night, a small leak and being freezing cold, it was a decent place to be.
The next day it was onto Warrnambool and for that I've copied Tom's diary entry from our interesting stay there:

Thursday 17th October
It's raining and we're in a shed. The wind noise is overpowered by the rain (hail?) On the wooden roof and I'm starting to believe the comments about there being six seasons here (in Victoria at least) with March winds, gusts in spring and why the "Shipwreck Coast" isn't just a fanciful nickname. This is Warrnambool a pleasant-if-quiet town in South West Victoria, 300km from Melbourne. The shed we're in is one of 6 that formed the soldiers barracks as part of the Warrnambool battery. They are replicas of those used by the artillery circa 1887 during the height of Anglo-Russian aggression in Crimea and the related home-guard suspicions in a relatively poorly-guarded colonial port and we're spending the night in one of them. Our thinking being that it would be warmer and dryer than the car (it rained so much in Port Fairy we had a small leak in the rear passenger window).
We woke in Port Fairy to rain, departed Port Fairy with hail and arrived in Warrnambool with yet more rain, and despite the best efforts of some valiant blue skies in the afternoon, will probably fall asleep to the stormy sounds as well. Annie seemed to be under the impression that the forecast for today was good, well that may have been the case in Darwin, but not down South. [Annie would like to add that we've since realised that Australians describe any amount of rain as "a shower or two" whether it is a shower or two or in fact torrential rain.] Today was a bit of a wash out. We visited the replica historic port (and location of the sheds) as it would have been in 1887. Had tea in the cafe there before heading to the town's art gallery comprising two rooms to escape the rain before negotiating various tat shops ( including one that was amusingly called 'The Reject Shop') before making an essential purchase of some warmer socks. The art gallery here punches well above its size due to well-curated and engaging themes. I enjoyed the conservation exhibit which showed damaged works and what would be done to repair or restore them alongside restored works with photos of their damage so you could see if you could spot the repair. Interesting stuff.
Tomorrow we're off to the Warrnambool cheese factory and we'll be making our way to The Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell and the 12 Apostles (yeah yeah, there's only 7,8,9 something) one of Australia's best known drives and most popular tourist destinations. The enthusiastic Michael (he's Canadian, which probably goes some way to explaining the enthusiasm) suggested the cheese visit and as this isn't outdoors weather and Annie loves cheese, we'll have to stop by. Apparently the milkshakes are the best in Australia, so it won't hurt to try those either!

So it was certainly an interesting place to stay. Thankfully the weather broke for just enough time to sort out dinner and so on and though it was noisy, it was comfy, warm and dry. We did visit the cheese factory where there's also a museum of farming and dairy equipment and we did some tasting of the Warrnambool flavoured cheddars which were interesting, we bought some herby one that'll be great on pasta. We did have a milkshake and it was delicious, though the best in Australia remains to be seen... Our next stop: Johanna Beach
x Tom & Annie

Is that a feral pig?

We left Carpenters Rocks and after a pit stop for caffeine we were on our way to Portland, a small town with a huge smelter! We found this out partly because you can't miss it but also partly because we nearly drove into it owing to my poor navigation. So a stop in the tourist Info's is a must in every town, if only to get a better map and at Portland, we discovered the existence of free showers AND free camping, though not in the same place but still, really useful! The campsite in question currently ranks as top after nearly two months on the road: Narrawong Forest reserve. The first night we spent, it was rainy and cold but even so we spotted a few wild wallabies approaching the picnic areas. One even had a joey in her pouch! While they were cautious, they did come incredibly close and it was amazing.
The next day, we drove along the coast to Cape Bridgewater to see the blowholes and the petrified forest. Not so much a petrified forest as rock formations caused by erosion that leave trunk like structures on the cliff top. It really does look as though some trees have turned to stone, hence the name. Unfortunately, the tide wasn't right for the blow holes and it was incredibly windy so we didn't hang around (don't worry Mum, there was a guard rail at the edge of the cliff). We did however head down to the wonderful beach cafe for fish and chips, or nachos in Tom's case. Another stop in Portland on the way back to the Narrawong forest where we camped for the second night and thankfully this time it wasn't raining. While preparing the car for the night and our food we heard the most bizarre sound. To me, it sounded like a warthog or pig and having read about feral pigs in the paper, I was half expecting one to run out of the bushes at us. Tom decided to investigate despite my insistence that I couldn't bear to ring his mum to tell her he'd been attacked by a pig. Of all the dangerous things in Australia and it's a pig that gets you! Well, needless to say a pig it was not. The source of the sound (described as similar to a motorbike by another camper) was located in the trees after some carefully aimed deterrents were fired in Tom's general direction (Poo in other words). It was a wild koala! To hear what it sounded like, check out this video. It's good to know what the sound is though, so we know if there is a koala nearby, not a feral pig though. Hopefully we won't be finding out what they sound like anytime soon. We think he was getting annoyed at the other campers heading past him to the loo every few minutes, keeping him awake. That same evening, we saw the beautiful wallaby with her joey a few more times, even passing really very close to us at one point. The final reason we loved camping at Narrawong forest was that as it got dark, we saw thousands of glow worms in the trees. Quite magical which appropriately takes us to our next stop, Port Fairy.
xAnnie

To the bat cave!

One of the great things about travelling around Australia is the availability of free public BBQ's whether at camp sites or in the local park, you're never far from a barbie and it's great. We left Mt Barker having made use of the barbie to cook a full English breakfast, essential before a day in the car, I'm sure you'll agree. It's a hot plate really, perfect to fry an egg on, cook up snags (sausages to you and me) and pretty much anything else you fancy. Our big brekkie was also for stomach lining reasons as our first stop was Langhorne Creek, a lovely wine region in South Australia where we visited two wineries: Bremerton, a small family run vineyard with female wine makers and Bleasdale one of the oldest vineyards in South Australia. Wine has become a major feature on our trip, in part due to our fantastic wine touring book which has led us to some excellent cellar doors. It's also due to the fact that many vineyards sell direct this way and it's great to stop by for a taste and a chat, something you just don't get much of in France or much of Europe. As one one of the winemakers we spoke to put it: "the French look at you funny and expect or demand you to buy some, the Aussies just love to drink it."
After the wine and a picnic lunch (epic sandwiches made up from the rest of our brekkie!) It was onward to Kingston S.E (to distinguish it from Kingston elsewhere I believe, it's all too easy to look up somewhere in the index of the guidebook thinking it's where you are but it turns out to be somewhere with the same name a few hundred kilometers away. And yes, I speak from experience and yes it was confusing for f not disastrous!) We thought the night would be spent in Kingston SE but other than Larry the Lobster, Kingston left a lot to be desired. Larry being another 'big thing' that we saw, featured no less in Bill Bryson's book 'Down Under' though sadly the associated tourist complex has been closed for a few years so we couldn't spend our tourist dollar even if we wanted to. A few obligatory photos with Larry and we moved on to Naaracoorte, home to some pretty awesome Limestone caves, so awesome in fact they are a world heritage site. We spent the night there so we were able to visit the caves in the morning.
Many of the caves can only be accessed with a guide so we opted for a tour of the bat cave and cathedral cave and were able to visit a third cave for free. We didn't go into the bat cave as the sound and smell would be overwhelming but we were shown amazing live footage of the bats in action as well as some amazing archive footage on TV screens and were given a real insight into this fragile colony. The second cave was very majestic and had some interesting stories associated with it. Including the fact that they used to have parties and stag do's in it from the 1800's until relatively recently. The third cave had a lot of water running through it and was really beautiful too.
Onwards to Mount Gambier (Don't worry, we remembered to stop at the Coonawarra wine region) where we saw the beautiful blue lake - very deep and very blue! Also in Mount Gambier we saw a really excellent art exhibition of work by Catherine Edkins who painted Australian pastoral scenes with a focus on horses.
We decided to set up camp somewhere a little off the beaten track and to do some free camping. I decided that Carpenters Rocks on the coast would be better camping than what we had done so far - a caravan park (Mt Barker) and showgrounds (at Naaracoorte). So we tried to find it. Only without proper maps and without the wonders of Sat Nav, it was a bit of guess work. We followed a farm track for a bit too long before eventually finding the right road navigating by the setting sun and my Aunt's parting gift of a compass. We pulled up in a car park where our campsite book suggested we could spend the night and where someone else in a caravan evidently was. Owing to some rather strong winds, they had evidently battened down the hatches, so we decided we'd be better off somewhere more sheltered and parked away from the beach, out of the wind in a public park.
We did go for a windy walk on the beach though (wine in hand) and just watched the waves pound the shore as the sun set. We also spotted some pretty evil looking jelly fish on the beach so made a fairly swift exit. The next day we saw a wild wallaby bedside the road as we made it down towards Portland and possibly our favourite camp site so far...
xAnnie

Cuddly koalas and hungry kangas

Our first stop out of Adelaide city was Mount Barker in the Adelaide Hills. Mainly so that we could pay a visit to Cleland Wildlife Park. A great place where kangaroos, wallabies and cute little potteroos pretty much roam free in the grounds and you can even hand feed them. It's a really lively place with the whole spectrum of Aussie animals and birds to spot. It's also big enough that you more or less get the place to yourself or at least you feel as though you do.
We saw dingoes and Tasmanian devils (these little blighters were safely in enclosures for obvious reasons) and I was lucky enough to cuddle a koala, possibly the biggest must do on my list while we're in Oz. He was a hefty chap named Jay and he was happily coaxed into my arms with a sprig from the Manna gum tree, so called I guess because it smells so good! We'll try and get the photo up here soon. In the meantime, here are some pics of us with the kangas.
X Annie

Melbourne to Adelaide - the first big drive

All the camping we've been up to means we have had next to no internet connection so we will catch up eventually in the meantime here's the next bit: on the 5th October, our first drive saw us heading to Adelaide from Melbourne, a total of 733km. It may not be big by Aussie standards but given our lack of time on the road and the fact that we wouldn't be setting off from Melbourne until mid afternoon, we chose to break halfway overnight at Horsham.  The road to Horsham was inevitably uneventful apart from when we passed The Giant Koala. It is as it sounds, a giant model koala with red eyes that light up beside the road. There are apparently numerous such big things throughout Australia, essentially they are a ruse to get tourists like us to pull over and spend some dollar in the town or tourist complex. Equally they are a great way to break up a road trip. This is the first of the 'big things' on the trip and we hope to see a few more along the way.
At Horsham, a country town, we stayed in a friendly traditional pub hotel in the middle of town. A fish and chip dinner saw us happily into bed - though there was the local disco right below us until 2am. Let's just say if their taste in music is anything to go by, the 90's are alive and well in Horsham!
The next day en route to Adelaide, we stopped at Bordertown on the way, because you have to really, don't you? Crossing the state borders, while obviously very straight forward, adds a sense of occasion to a day's driving. We arrived in Adelaide in the afternoon which left enough time for a few beers with some kiwi friends, Scott and Tim who I met while in Oamaru in New Zealand during my gap year of 2005 and Sarah, Tim's partner, a new kiwi friend. Not to mention that Scott's whole family were in Adelaide celebrating his Granny's 80th birthday. We are very grateful that they let us join in the fun! Such fun as visiting the McLaren Vale wine region for our first session (of many) wine tasting. While in Adelaide we also caught up with Jane, my Aussie cousin. Jane and her husband Lloyd kindly showed us around the city and took us out to Hahndorf, an early German settlement in the Adelaide hills which was really interesting. The hills are really beautiful scenery though apparently we were lucky to see it so green and lush.
Our important task while in the city was to set ourselves up for the road. We got ourselves a mattress for the back of the station wagon from Clark rubber, a foam specialist and we were just about sorted. We have been living in the car for almost a month now, and it's pretty comfy so far. We have a small butane camp stove and some basic pots, pans and plates and whatnot and have more or less sorted out a system for where it all goes and each morning and evening involves a shuffle shuffle/sort to get ready for bed/driving. Our final task was to seek out the campers bible: a book called 'camps 7' a comprehensive list of camp sites, rest areas and caravan parks throughout Australia.   And so at last we were ready to be on the road and for some serious camping! More on that soon..
X Annie

Marvellous Melbourne

We spent two weeks in Melbourne in total and true its reputation, it was pretty marvellous. The first in the cbd and then the second was in st kilda, a beachy suburb about 20 mins out of the centre. Trams all over Melbourne make it really easy to get around and they have a card called myki which is not unlike London's oyster. Markets and food aside, we met some great people and saw some great stuff here:

The State Library of Victoria
Fantastic exhibitions and we saw the armour and death mask of Ned Kelly here, not at the gaol as you might think. There is also a stunning round reading room which recently had its ceiling windows restored with snazzy glass and the light is beautiful.

The Shrine of Remembrance
A very moving memorial to Australia's armed forces and those who have lost their lives in various conflicts. An incredible building.

Royal Botanic Gardens
There are a few scattered around the city and I will never cease to be entertained by the way Tom marvels at trees. It's endearing. And the trees are pretty marvellous, it has to be said.

Luna Park
OK, so we didn't go on a ride but in our defence the weather didn't really allow for it. Some really strong winds when we were there. The park is a sight to behold though and a Melbourne institution and we will be making a return visit.

The AFL grand final
A big thanks to Jess who put us in touch with her friend Anita, a Londoner who has moved to Melbourne. Not only did Anita and her boyfriend Owen give us some great advice about Oz, they introduced us to two great Melbourne pubs, The Mitre and The Cricketers and for that we are eternally grateful. The Cricketers is where we met up to watch the AFL grand final. The game being Aussie rules football of course. Not only did the tallest man I've seen in a while get kicked out of the pub for causing trouble, but we also experienced a Parmy for the first time. It's an oversight that Tom's foodtastic post below didn't include this beauty. Breaded chicken breast, topped with ham, tomato sauce and melted cheese and served with chips. Epic. Parma's or parmys have become a source of intrigue to us, and I'm sure it's a topic we will return to. I can't claim to have totally understood the game myself so I won't embarrass myself by writing about it, but it was great fun to watch as a Melbourne team,  the Hawks triumphed over the Fremantle Dockers (from Western Australia).

Melbourne Museum
A fantastic and modern museum with an excellent interactive and multimedia gallery explaining all about the Aboriginal culture in the state of Victoria and of course the story of Melbourne itself.

John
Our driving instructor. Yes, we took Aussie driving lessons for a number of reasons including the fact that we put a deposit on a car that is an automatic and neither of us have driven an automatic before. Tom last drove about 8 years ago and I am a new driver having only had my license for ten months. So we took 5 hours of lessons and John was a true Aussie with a big personality and a comb over to match.

Shopping
In between pastries from bread talk, we went to numerous shops to stock up on camping gear for our trip securing some great bargains. At some point we managed to make a spectacle of ourselves on Bourke street playing the drums on a Japanese arcade game. Melbourne is also home to some great laneways and arcades and they are easy to miss so if you're ever in Melbourne, make sure you seek them out. The block arcade and the royal arcade are the most famous ones and Anita sent us a self guide walking tour which was invaluable in discovering more about them. In the royal arcade there are statues of Gog and Magog who strike on the hour which are great to see. In days gone by, the block arcade was so much the place to be seen that it gave rise to a phrase, 'doing the block'. Also on the agenda were visits to Melbourne's markets, seeking out bargains and deliciousness and numerous outdoorsy stores to gear up our car for camping.

Travellers Autobarn / Our Car
Where we bought our shiny red car from. They have been great and have really set us up on our way, making the whole buying process a lot easier. The nice thing is we have a buyback guarantee so if after 12 months we want to sell it but can't they will buy it back from us at a pretty agreed price. Some of you may remember we were planning on a van, however this changed fairly swiftly when we saw the amazing Aussie station wagon that is a holden commodore executive. They are faster and more fuel efficient than a van as well as way more comfy for long distance driving. Plus it's red and shiny, OK?

St Kilda
One of Melbourne's beach suburbs, home to aforementioned luna  park, where we spent our second week staying in a beautiful federation home hosted by Teena through air bnb. (Air bnb is an online facility where people can rent out spare rooms or even whole apartments.) In many cases it's the same price as a hostel and the benefit is you get to meet a local person who lives and works in the area who can really help you out with ideas for places to go and things to do. Teena also has a rather charming Labrador called Atticus who was always there to welcome us so it really felt like our home for a week. Teena was a wonderful host and the house is a beautiful old building with great features. St Kilda has a lot of great shops and a lovely creative, beachy atmosphere yet if you hop on a tram and you're in the heart of the city in no time at all. Best of all, there is a colony of penguins living on the breakwater so if you head down there shortly after sunset, you can watch them come out of the water. Very cute indeed.

Food roundup so far

Annie and I like food, as you probably already know. We like food enough that it dictates our behaviour at home most of the time, and it's the same when we're away. We've come across a lot of new things so far, and be it strange hostel breakfast combinations in Singapore, dubious market food, or recommendations of gastro delights at a local pub hidden away in an Oz suburb, we feel it's a duty to ourselves to check it out. A few things have been particularly great so far. In no particular order: 

 - Chilli crab, a Singapore speciality we were told was mandatory. We'd say the same, though we'd like to take a local with us next time; there's a knack to deconstructing a crab with chopsticks, but we don't have it. 

 - Pepper Lunch, a small (?) Japanese (kinda) chain in Australia that serves up raw food in a 260 C iron bowl. It doesn't stay raw for long! It's a relatively cheap and rather novel take on teppanyaki or sizzling kebabs, and I'm surprised it's not in somewhere like Wagamamas at home yet. We've been twice: Annie recommends the kimchee beef rice with an extra egg, though i'm tempted by the steak options if we go again.

 - Tomato chutney /curry sauce pots are everywhere, we keep being given them with pies. They do good pies here, with generic "pie" meaning steak pie, sometimes with cheese(?!) in shortcrust. It's a bit of a gamble though, they rarely state any details else on the menu. I ordered what turned out to be the best steak and ale pie I've ever eaten at The Local Tap House in St Kilda. The pie came with a pot of chutney/curry and broccoli with toasted hazelnuts, a combo I'm definitely adding to my collection. We stopped by on a recommendation and found a list of 30+ lagers and ales (and wine to boot). I drank a Carlisle Street garden ale, which was brewed on the same street! 

 - Dubious breakfast combinations can pop up in even the nicest hotels, and those at hangout@mt.emily in Singapore are up there with the strangest. So strange I decided to list and rank them: 

Best - day3:1-mee tong noodles, 2- pancakes (drop scones), 3- baked beans (pretty good eaten with the noodles), 4- quiche (not exactly quiche...) 

 Good, but not best, day 2: 1- Fried rice, 2- cheese tomato (huh? As it sounds), 3- bread and butter pudding (a bit scrambled), 4- chicken sausages 

 The strangest was on day 1: 1- Cheese on toast (epic win, though some pieces were soggy), 2- baked pasta (a.k.a. pasta omelette), 3- baked beans, 4- potato salad 

 I should say there was also bread to toast, cereals and (vile) coffee, but why be boring when there's such a selection of freshly cooked stuff? 

 - Excellent bakes from the Woodfrog Bakery in St Kilda. Paul and Mary would be impressed by the exemplary pains au chocolat, and my breakfasts were made great with their white loaves (not sourdough but made with poolish, a technique new to me, but one I'm sure to try when I get the chance!). The bread also went well with sautéed baby king mushrooms from the famous mushroom man in Prahran Market in Melbourne, apparently the oldest market in Victoria. He's so good with shrooms he's even received something like a CBE from the PM in Canberra. 

 - Kaya toast and kopi (local style of coffee) in Singapore - both are acquired tastes in that you'd might not be enamoured first time round, but they seem to cast a spell and demand to be eaten every time you need a snack. Dangerously good, just like the last item on this list, which is... 

 - Breadtalk (Singapore) / Breadtop (Australia). These are amazing cheap bakeries that are all over the centre of town. Think Greggs on acid. Current faves are the prawn laksa bun and the claypot chicken.

We made it to Oz

A 7 hour flight from Singapore saw us safely into Melbourne and having landed at a respectable hour we were able to hop on the Skybus transfer to the city centre where we are hostelling for our first week. Once we remembered where we were staying at least. Note to self: write these things down!

Our hostel, Discovery Melbourne is hard to describe. All we can really say is that we are glad to have our own room as from what we've heard, the 16 bed dorm rooms are something to behold. Indeed, in the kitchen there really are Discoveries to be made (of the live and crawling kind) and in the bathrooms, although those things don't crawl around as much, it's only a matter of time I'm sure.

So far we have explored much of the CBD (translation: Central Business District) on foot and located some great coffee on the way. Certainly something to rely on in Melbourne as the coffee is taken very seriously, it's always great if not always cheap. Sunday was a lazy day with a much needed lie in and then a visit to the famous Queen Victoria Market. A market that has both food and general retail areas so a brilliant way to while away some time and get some provisions for dinner and any other essentials you might need. And by essentials I mean cheese, chocolate and booze. If a market's been around for a century, you know it's going to be good and it didn't disappoint. It did however make us long for a kitchen to call our own. The aforementioned hostel kitchen is no place for serious cooking - it's more a get in, get out don't look at that thing that might be crawling on the floor type situation.

Today (Monday) we went on an important search of some serious brunch and found it in the form of Cumulus Inc. on Flinders Lane.  After a bit of searching, we found this popular resto/café and settled in for a brilliant brekkie. Though my full English lacked some good ol'  baked beans, the smoked tomato and blood sausage were both pretty special, not to mention the delicious thick bacon and just-runny eggs. Tom's baked eggs were also brilliant as was the coffee and the service, I'm sure we will be back there before too long. We worked off our breakfast with a walk across the Yarra to the beautiful Royal Botanic Garden, free entry and amazing plants - some of the indigenous plants are like something from another planet.

As we are here on a Working Holiday and though our visas state that the primary purpose of our trip is to holiday, not work, we are trying to set ourselves up for work sooner rather than later. So a list (or two) has been made and today we were able to tick our first bit of life admin off as we have now applied for a Tax File number. Easy and free to do online, it means we get taxed correctly but also importantly means we can claim our tax back when we leave. Kerching! Hopefully.

x Annie

Singapore Summary

So, as you would have gathered from Tom's musing on food courts / hawker centres below, food has been quite a theme during our time in Singapore. Quite literally, the world is at your feet here and you can eat whatever you fancy. So here's a bit of a summary of the past few days in Singapore.

Day 1: 18 September

An early start (thanks jet lag) and it was up and off to explore Little India, the district closest to our hotel. It was so early, that nothing was really open apart from the Mustafa Centre an incredible department store that sells absolutely everything, and lots of it. A good amount of time was spent here and we made the important purchase of a new camera as it's a bit cheaper than at home and we can get the tax back when we get to the airport.

Then on to China Town for an explore and to search out our first Hawker Centre. The hawkers were once street vendors who sold their food wherever there were customers from the back of a cart. Nowadays, the city keeps them contained in these amazing centres which have an array of food and people and their own code of conduct which makes it so interesting to visit. China Town was lovely and decorated with lanterns for the Mooncake festival which takes place this month.

After a longish nap (try three hours.. is that a nap or a full on sleep?) we headed out for some more Hawker Centre food next to the night market around Bugis Street accompanied this time with some beer served over ice, essential in this climate! 

Day 2: 19 September
The Zoo. We spent hours here and it is an incredible place to go. The zoo is very open with no cages or anything so you feel that you can get really up close and personal with the animals. Best of all, it wasn't at all crowded so at times we felt like we had the place to ourselves which was amazing. Worst of all, it's possible that a bat weed on me, but currently I'm opting to believe that it dropped/squirted some fruit in my general direction. Thankfully some alcohol gel was on hand to tide me over until the nearest bathroom. New favourite creatures include the Mouse Deer and numerous monkeys but also loved the White Tigers, especially when one of them went for a swim. We also managed to see some feeding times which was entertaining, even if the Warthogs (as in Pumba from the Lion King) couldn't have been less interested in the food they were being thrown! We will try to add some pictures from our visit there very soon.
In the afternoon/evening it was a visit to the Orchard Road area which has 20 shopping malls in the space of about 2.5 miles. Needless to say, we only managed about two of these before getting lost/confused/overwhelmed. 

Day 3: 20 September
A visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum was very interesting in giving an overview of the development of Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia. Particularly in terms of how the cultures have influenced one another over the centuries. A very worthwhile place to visit.
A true Singaporean experience came next in the shape of Sinaporean Chili Crab. Thanks to Jess for the amazing recommendation of Jumbo, one of the best places to have it in Singapore. We shared a whole 1kg crab between us with a huge bowl of rice and I am still full some 6 hours later! It was messy, we had to wear bibs and a good thing too. The crab arrives at the table swimming in a pot of tasty crabby chili sauce so you have to fish it out to crack the claws and get at some of the meat but it was worth the effort - certainly one of the most delicious things on the trip so far.
Then to Fort Canning Park for some exploration, including seeing Singapore's former lighthouse and a nifty spice garden. Now obscured by tall buildings, it once was a guiding light to help ships make safe passage into Singapore harbour. On the way back to the hotel, we bought some beers to enjoy on the roof terrace which was lovely as there's a nice breeze up there only to be greeted with the screeches of the Formula 1 cars practicing for the race this weekend. The whole of the city will enjoy that for the next few days!

Currently steeling ourselves for an early flight which means a 4am wake up call. Next stop: Melbourne

xx Annie

Food courts

Food courts haven't featured much in  my life so far; they're crowded, noisy, and generally serve low-quality fast food that will only just about give me enough to allow for more shopping, but not enough to put me off the extra pack of iced buns at Tesco when buying food for tonight's tea. I'll admit that I'm not the best of shoppers, so my experiences may be dated, but the only decent food court I can think of is that in Stratford Westfields, and most of that food is just as expensive as GBK / Wagamamas / Nandos, which kind of misses the point of being a food court in my book.

 So why am I writing about food courts? For sure, some are better than others, but none come close to the quality, variety and value of food from hawker markets as exist in Singapore. It's clear from the number of eateries around town that food is important here, from high class right through to (the omnipresent) toast shops (which have amazing coffee carriers too...)..., and they even have normal food courts in their malls too (which are pretty good to be fair). Hawker Markets are distinct however, and probably wouldn't be on my itinerary but for the rave reviews in guide books and numerous mentions from friends. They're basically a whole load of stalls (i.e. hundreds) in one hall / square /market building, each selling freshly cooked food to order for a song.

 Tonight we went to the Tekka Centre. The Tekka Centre is a hawker market / mall / food market in Little India, which was incredible for number of Indian stalls selling traditionally Chinese food, and switching it around, also listing the traditionally Indian food names in Chinese!. We shared a mutton murtabak for $5 (£2.75), whicih was delicious with the side pot of curry, and washed it down with freshly made strawberry / mango lassis, each $2.50, meaning we ate out for 2 for just over five pounds. Yesterday we had two lots of hawker market food; lunch in Chinatown was charsiu pork, green veg with oyster sauce, steamed dumplings and noodles (total for two $12 / ~£6.50), dinner in Bugis Street was mee goreng, sweet & sour pork rice, and we  washed down with beer (total for two $13 / £7).


Food this good, this fresh, this cheap is amazing!

And so it begins

So, we spent much of Sunday blitzing the flat to the extreme to make sure it was all clear for the new tenants who moved in the day we caught our plane. A final caffeinated catch up with friends and we then took the train to Kent for some much needed rest and a last catch up with my family. My Mum cooked a fabulous roast chicken, we had some wine and crashed out for a great night's sleep before the big day.
Monday, flight day, involved last minute life admin (probably a good idea to letthe council tax peolple know you're off) and an extensive bag re-pack. It seems that as much as you try to tell yourself otherwise, if you have a big ass backpack, you're probably going to fill it. My parents drove us to the airport, where we said last goodbyes and roughly 12 hours later, after a somewhat bumpy flight, we landed in Singapore.

Thankfully, our transfer was pre-arranged, thanks to the kind people at STA Travel and for the first time, I had someone at the airport with my name on a sign, it felt good!
Stepping outside what can only be described as a strangely serene airport, it was like a warm blanket of heat and humidity, but it seems everywhere has air con, which is a relief. Our hostel, The Hangout, means we are neighbours with the president, our driver informed us! After check in and  a quick refresh we went in search of food and opted for a nice Japanese place a short walk away. A huge bowl of rice and ramen later and a little explore, it was bed time already. So, here we are. We made it and the adventure begins.
x Annie

T-2: Packing done... almost

Saturday, T-2, 12:10 pm

We're on the tube heading to Hammersmith for our friends' wedding. It's now two days to go until we fly, and everything (*almost) is pretty much done: packing, cleaning, drinking our alcohol collection. Tomorrow morning we'll take the last charity donations and chuck the remaining rubbish, then decamp to Kent to stay with A's parents. A free lift to the airport is always welcome!

I'm in split minds about my packing; to take my pre-WWII rolleicord box camera or not to take it. It takes up a decent amount of room in my bag and film costs are staggering in these days of digital cameras, but it's such a nice toy. Similarly we've an abundance of guide books, and I keep on downsizing my clothes selection. Let's face it, clothes aren't going to win this battle.

T-8: The day after the leaving party

Some things about today: - Today was less busy than the last few, and involved the most food. So much food. It was lovely, and just as enjoyable as drowning my All American breakfast in maple syrup was being able to talk to a bunch of my good friends while doing so. Food is going to be an important part of this blog. Possibly even more than the travelling we've got planned. - Fun was had by all at the leaving party, and the parents / grandparents got on admirably with their opposite numbers (this being the first occasion of their meeting). We've some specifics planned (London -> Singapore -> Melbourne -> ... -> Perth -> ...?), but this is primarily just about travelling for fun. - We sent another batch of things to storage: some to family, some to charity. We're travelling light, or so most of our friends seem to think; one hiking bag apiece. - The plan for tomorrow was formed: sand and paint the window frames, pack excess things into boxes, sort and first-run-pack my stuff. A is well ahead of me at this point, having sorted the majority of her things. I'd better get on with it! Current location: London (8 days to le départ)