Boy, this past week flew by fast! It seemed like Jonathan just arrived and then
it was already time for him to leave.
I met him at the Melbourne airport around 4:30pm last
Sunday. I think it took him about 30
hours to get here and he was stuck in Coach for the whole flight!
Most places close early on Sundays so that night we just walked
through the South Wharf precinct and the Southbank along the Yarra River. This is a beautiful part of the city. There are many restaurants that overlook the
river, some high-end shopping and a casino.
There are also lots of picnic areas along the riverbank and this is a nice
place for running and cycling. There are
several bridges that cross the river too.
Each bridge has a different look but they all offer a gorgeous view of
the city and the riverfront. We continued
walking through downtown Melbourne and made our way to an old English-style pub
where Jonathan had some fish and chips.
It was here we learned that you don’t ask for a refill on your soda in
Australia because you’ll probably get laughed at. Instead, you just buy another. I guess Americans are the only ones who offer
free refills.
The work week was routine. I would get up and go to work every day while
Jonathan slept the morning away. I was
pretty jealous of him but happy for him at the same time. He met me at work every day for lunch and
then he would spend the afternoon going to the zoo, the aquarium, or one of the
many malls in the city.
Monday night and Thursday night were two of the most
exciting nights of the whole trip.
Jonathan and I got to play tennis at Melbourne Park! In case you don’t know, that’s where the
Australian Open is held every January. On
Monday we played on an indoor practice court at Rod Laver Arena and on Thursday
we played on one of the Show Courts. It
was amazing! We felt like real tennis
pros…up until the point when Jonathan’s kneecap slipped out of place and then
back in. That kind of put a damper on
the evening. But he went to the doctor’s
office on Friday and got checked out and thankfully, there wasn’t any major
damage to his knee.
The weekend was jam-packed! We rented a car Saturday morning and headed
towards The Great Ocean Road. Driving
the car was an adventure itself considering the driver sat on the right side of
the car and we drove on the left side of the road. I can’t count the number of times we turned
the windshield wipers on instead of the turn signal! J We also had a hard time keeping the car between
the lines; we kept drifting towards the left shoulder. The Great Ocean Road is about 150-mile
stretch of road along the southeastern coast of Australia and I have to admit
that it’s the most beautiful coastline I believe I’ve ever seen, even more
beautiful than Hawaii. And if you’re
reading this, Jonathan, there is a Great Ocean Road Marathon. :) There are so many cliffs and rock formations,
and the beaches are so wide they seem never-ending! Most of the beaches were deserted too, maybe because
it’s still pretty cool here. Both Saturday
and Sunday the high temperature was only around 60 degrees. It took about 11 hours to make it to Port Campbell
which is about 140 miles west of Melbourne.
We stopped at several beaches, scenic points, and towns along the way
and made a short hike to view Erskine Falls.
We stayed at a “luxury” hotel in Port Campbell Saturday night. (Luxury is how the owners describe the hotel. I would call it economy at best.) The first stop Sunday morning was the Twelve
Apostles which are huge rock stacks that stand just off the shore. It was cold, windy and drizzling Sunday
morning at the Twelve Apostles but I think that only accentuated their
beauty. And again, we had the beach
practically to ourselves. Next we drove
4 hours east to Healesville Sanctuary located in the Yarra Valley. Here we got to hand feed and pet several
kangaroos. We also got up close with a
Koala. Apparently, the laws here in the
state of Victoria don’t allow for touching or petting of Koalas but we were
able to get pretty close and it was awesome!
His name was Dindi and he was wide awake and eating and he was just too
cute!
Monday morning came all too quickly and I had to go back
to work and Jonathan had to catch a plane back to Atlanta. We haven’t checked Australia off our bucket
list yet. There is still much to see and
do and we will definitely be back some day.
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