Step into my Shoes: Grad Trip 2008 Part I

Like. F.I.N.A.L.L.Y

I have finally decided to download all the pictures and got down to writing the afterthoughts of my long over grad trip.

It's gonna be a long one...

24th April 2008 - Departure at Terminal 3.

Inflight baileys. I hate taking planes because I never ever can be able to sleep well on board since I am a light sleeper. Used to love taking planes for the take off and landing.

25th April - Arrival at Melbourne. It was Anzac Day and there was a huge crowd in front of Flinders Station. Bands were playing and people were marching along the streets.

Hi to temperate weather! I cannot tell you how much I love the weather. =) Anything I say would be an understatement.

Tiring first day. It was one of the longest day ever.

Flinders station.

State Library

Love the lying on the grass culture

Along Bourke Street. Where we saw the first good looking hunk who helped us take a photo. And according to the other girls, I had the sweetest smile when I posed for the picture. HAHA T_T Sigh.

He's really very good looking.

Outside The Westin Melbourne. We borrowed their restrooms for use and their soap are all from Molton Brown! Nice. I love using 5 star hotel public restrooms.

Going to Crown Casino
Wearing each others' caps in the hostel.

Posing like coolies on the bunk beds.

What we do when we have time to spare.

=O.

Praying for Better accoms to come.

St Kilda's Pier

Lovely.

The beach

Doing a baywatch. I totally cannot pull it off. Ha.

Series of poser shots.

Gary with his Stamford pose.

Last meal in Mel - the first of many beef steaks to come.

****

Time to leave the city and hit the road. My opinion, This is the fun part.

A full rainbow across the sky.

Blue Skies with cotton-like fluffy clouds.

First stop of the road trip:

Great Ocean Road

A oceanside journey along Australia’s most spectacular road which reveals fantastic coastal scenery, natural landforms, charming old resorts and a forested hinterland.

A drive you wouldn’t want to miss. With the windows down and the coast line just flashing past beside you, it’s really a sight to behold. I will definitely do that drive again in a heartbeat.

Ok, some information about Great Ocean Road you need to know. GOR located in the state of Victoria, snakes its way along the state’s south-west coast for a distance of 300 km. Geelong is a great starting point (just 75km from Melbourne) to start the journey and which we did start off our journey from there. After driving off from Geelong, we stopped for a quick look at the coast line at Anglesea which is a quiet holiday village.

Apollo Bay was our stop for the next 2 nights. It is a fishing village hence we had one of the best fish and chips ever at Apollo Bay Seafood Café. The seafood was super fresh and salivatingly good. Gary cannot stop raving about the awesome tartar sauce. I bet till now, he’s dreaming about it in his dreams. Haha. I still think about the royal basa fillet.

Our service apartment or rather, they call it self-contained apartment was a breath of fresh air (literally and figuratively) after our stay at Nomads Industry Hostel. I was like, THANK GOD when I saw the apartment; the rooms were so comfy with nice fluffy sheets and pillows, the bathroom with the Jacuzzi bathtub and there were wine glasses plus champagne flutes in the kitchen (good excuses for opening bottles of wine).

From then on, we were thinking, “No more hostels until Sydney” It’s like when you tasted champagne and have the chance to keep drinking it, you wouldn’t want to go back to drinking Coke again. Ok lousy analogy, but I hope you get the meaning.

The very first stopover along Great Ocean Road - Anglesea. We did the planning along the way. It was seriously a by faith kinda road trip. Thankfully, everything went on smoothly and we didn't end up stranded without a night's accomodation at anytime of the road trip.

The two jos. Joanne and Joanna.

You know, they say when friends hanged out with each 24/7 for a period time, they will know each other better; in terms of lifestyle habits, quirks and behaviors.

Ok. Agreed totally. I saw the side of Qihan I have never had the chance to see if not for this trip.

The poser side. No offence. He provides the comic relief and watches out for our safety while crossing the road. Eh Hum....

Dolphins Service Apts. No more bunk beds.

Since we have the wine glasses at our disposal, we bought 2 bottles of wine. You cannot go to Australia and not drink any kind of alcoholic beverages which are ironically cheaper than soft drinks.

Cheese. Beer. Wine. Eggs (scrambled). Bacon. Beef. Seafood. Hot Chocolate. Icecream. Fries.

The things we consumed the most in Australia.

Cheers to wonderful friendship and to the start of a great road trip.

Brekkie the next morning at Great Ocean Road Deli. I still dream of the scrambled eggs.

I can eat these everyday. Which we did every morning over in Aussie. That explains the inflated tummy.

On to our first destination - Cape Otway Lighthouse.

Upclose.

The girls. Li Ping, Julie, Myself and Joanne.

The climb up.

I love the wind. Refreshingly cool. It just makes me want to stay and not go back to the humid weather back in Sg.

Poser shot. We look as if we are filming a music video. HAHA. Looking at Qihan do his "I am posing but I actually don't want to make it seem like I am" poses just makes me burst out in hilarious laughter all the time. Just so amusing.

Apollo Seafood Cafe - A not to be missed seafood place. If you ever drive along Great Ocean Road and drop by Apollo Bay, please eat at this place. Really fresh seafood.

Fish and chips. The 6 of us all agreed it was one of the best.

One grouse though, they only serve fried seafood which is not exactly the best way to eat fresh seafood.

Loch & Gorge.

View from the escarpment lookout.

Let's do bare-foot. The sand is so soft to the touch. I ran straight to the water like a school girl just to dip my feet into the refreshingly cool water. I love nature and I am proud to be a Geography student!

Next stop: Twelve Apostles at Port Campbell National Park.

They basically are naturally formed rock structures that gradually over hundreds of years, broke away from the hinterland due to wind and wave erosion.

The must go when traveling on the Great Ocean Road. Only nine of the 'apostles' can be seen now; the other three are already submerged.

And that's the end of the Great Ocean Road. Off we go to Yarra Valley. Drove back to Melbourne and then to Yarra which was about an hour's drive away. GPS rocks. Driving overseas made easier with clear and prompt directions.

Even though Yarra Valley is known to be a famous vineyard region and boasts of good wine, we didn't get to go wine-tasting due to time constraints. Instead the highlight of Yarra one night stopover was this cottage, Brentwood self-contained cottage.

It was our first time staying in a quaint cottage and it was a really unique experience. The beds were so sweet and lovely that I would have loved to ship every single one of them back or buy them. Each bed in each room was different.

The KIA 8 Seater.