HE SAID: I know this Blog is usually about our travels in our motor home, but this August we made a very long journey to Melbourne Australia to visit with Diana, Josh, Caleb and Riley. And no (even though many have jokingly asked) we did not take the motorhome with us.
It was a very long trip but we managed to get some sleep. We had a really long layover in Aukland New Zealand, which made waiting to get to Melbourne so much harder. It was awesome to see Diana at the airport. What was funny was going to her car. Diana couldn't remember where she parked it, so we had quite the laugh dragging all our suit cases around the car park.
Got to see Diana and Josh's new home right away. They haven't been in it long and it is really nice. I especially loved their kitchen with a fantastic gas stove. The first night we got to meet up with Josh, Caleb and Riley.
Our first week there, we did our best adjusting to the time difference and learning to drive again on the "other" side of the road. Caleb was just staring to film a commercial for the Spirit of Tasmania ( a ferry that takes you across to Tasmania from Melbourne.
We soon got into a routine with Diana and Josh working during the day. I became the resident cook and chauffeur. Pat did the cleaning. I love to cook and their kitchen was so organized and easy to use - it made cooking a breeze. Just had some issues finding the same ingredients you normally have in North America.
In order for Pat and I to have one of the two cars, we took Toot and Josh to work and the kids to school. It gave me lots of Oz driving experience.
We also used the days to take day trips around Melbourne.
Here are some of the places we visited.
Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park
We visited this spot in our last visit, and loved it so much that we wanted to go back again. It is located in the Mornington Peninsula. What a great place to really get close up to the Oz'y animals, especially the Koala Bear, and Wallabies.
William Ricketts Sanctuary
Way up in the Dandenong Ranges, is this beautiful park full of original aboriginal rock statues done by William Ricketts. Really worth the trip.
City Sightseeing Melbourne
We used a Groupon ticket and did a Hop on Hop off tour of the city of Melbourne. We have used this way of visiting a new city many times. We lucked out and had a nice clear day, but unfortunately it was colder then we thought it would be.Got to see lots of the city that we haven't explored yet.
Queen Victoria Market
It was a great place to have lunch.
This is one of my favourite places in Melbourne. It is an outdoor market, full of so many cool things. We always buy our souvenirs here. We actually went to the market twice this trip. First time we took Riley with us. He was great company never complaining once.
National Rhododendron Gardens
I was really reluctant to go to a "flower" garden, but I am so glad we did. The scenery was really breathtaking. The picture above looks like a post card, but was taken by my iPhone. And we were here in Winter. I will definitely go back if we ever get to Oz in their summer.
Como House
Towards the end of our time in Australia, we started visiting historic mansions right in the city. While we couldn't get inside this house, the gardens were amazing.
Rippon Lea Estate
The gardens here too were amazing.
Safety Beach
On our last trip to Oz, our time share was located near this beach. We went back and unlike the last time at this beach, the water was clear and calm. Loved it.
Melbourne Zoo
On our last trip to Oz, we didn't have time to check out their zoo. On our last full day in Melbourne, with Diana, we did make it there and it was well worth the visit. It was one of the better zoo's we have seen.
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We decided to give Josh and Diana a few weeks off from our company. While we have been to the Sydney Airport, I have always wanted to visit that city. We were able to make it happen and thanks to it being off season, we were able to get train fare for $50 AUD each from Melbourne to Sydney. It was cheap but wow it was a long train ride. It takes about 12 hours on the train to get there. Got to see some beautiful scenery.
We manage to get a hotel next to Darling Harbour which is basically in the downtown area.
We decided the best way to see the city without having to rent a car was to use the Hop on Hop off bus. The tours they give you in Sydney were well worth the money.
Here is a collage of that tour:
The next day, we used Uber for the first time and toured the Sydney Market. Almost as nice as Melbourne. We got some really good deals though. Next we got a ride to the Sydney Opera house and famous bridge.
It was as beautiful as all the pictures I have seen over the years. I wanted to go to the top of the bridge, but it was way too expensive, so had to settle for just views. We even took the ferry back to Darling Harbour where our hotel was.
We were hoping to get together with Bev and Julie who were on our Panama cruise. Both live near Sydney, but our timing didn't work out with booked surgeries etc. I loved Sydney and was sad to leave.
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The other week we left Melbourne was a trip to Numurkah. This is a small town located about two hours north of Melbourne in the Goulburn Valley. Why there? Well, we were able to get a time share for a week with really cheap points. It was a three bedroom town house that had way more room then we needed. Josh and Diana joined us our first weekend there.
The first full day together we went to a cactus farm and a place called the Big Strawberry
It was a great place to have lunch.
Josh also took us 4X4 ing in the country which was scary and fun at the same time. The following day we explored more of the country - this time seeing a farmers market. Toot and Josh treated us to a nice Chinese Massage in a local mall. After an early supper they headed back to Melbourne, leaving that big three bedroom place all to our self.
The next three days we spent exploring the agricultural side of Australia, visiting a dairy farm (where we got some amazing cheese), an olive farm, a sheep farm and a historic homestead. We also found a "fauna Park" which was a really small zoo, but was still entertaining. We decided to drive to Bendigo which was about a two hour drive. It look interesting and it was well worth the trip.
This city was an old mining town but still a very active and busy city (home to Bendigo Bank). They have one of the oldest pottery factories in the country and they still hand make all their pottery. I wanted to buy a nice tea pot but couldn't figure out to get it home. They also salvaged the tram in the city and made it a talking tram for the tourists. It was different.
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The weekends were the best as we were able to spend our time with Josh, Diana and sometimes Caleb and Riley. We never wasted one of them. Here were some of our highlights.
Healesville Sanctuary
This was a nice small zoo just outside of Melbourne near the mountain range. It was nice as Josh and Toot had never been there before. It was great to see the Oz animals on our first weekend there.
