Phillip Island was a true holiday island with small summer cabin looking houses, all kinds of activities to do, wildlife and nature to see - but in zoo-like places and restricted areas, which we did not want to visit (we wanted to see kangaroos and koalas in wild!). The nature in the Melbourne area was tropical and non-tropical - a weird mix of palm trees and evergreens.. the country side scenery was like in UK, but we saw parrots flying, racing the car. Mornings and evenings were cold, as it was spring and the weather was just beginning to warm up. I got hay fewer symptoms! Oh and evenings were cold too - especially on Phillip Island were we went to see the little penguins come in from the ocean in the evening, not minding a group of people staring at them as they walked in with their bellies so full of fish they could barely stay on their wee two feet :D
Saturday and Sunday we dedicated to checking out the other side of Melbourne - the Great Ocean Road. It was a lot of driving, but the scenery was as beautiful as they say, and I quite enjoyed the surfing towns of Torquay (excellent food at the Hotel!) and Apollo Bay, where we stayed in one of those motels you see in the movies - low row of small flats with parking right outside the door. You know, one of those places where they always find a mysterious body?
We also walked along the beach, freezing (how do the surfers do it? The water was ice cold!), and visited all the two pubs open in Apollo Bay, tasting local brew. Fat Yak ale was by far the best :) It was indeed very touristy, but such a good little holiday after hectic week at work.
On our way back from seeing the 12 apostles (I only counted 7) we stopped at Pettavel vineyard just before Melbourne, close to Geelong. I was great! They let us taste the wines, and of course we ended up buying a few after finding our favourites sauvignon blanc and merlot. The cappuccino wasn't bad either..
Melbourne seemed like nice enough city. There's a river that runs through, with public bbq along it, the ocean, big parks (where unfortunately cycling is not allowed), loads of nice old brick houses and a modern looking city centre with old and new buildings, restaurants by the river etc. There were also very cool bike lanes, which we used on Monday night after my work when I got two bikes from the bikeshare on behalf of the company. It was nice to cycle again for the longest of time.. later on the week - which I spend working in Melboune - I used the bike also to got to the office in the morning :)
It was nice to be on a small holiday to a cooler climate and a western country with loads of open space and fresh air. I liked Australia - not love at first sight - and Melbourne was ok too. People seemed nice, yet quite frank and a bit.. well, 'redneckish'. Oh, and I had such trouble undestanding the accent!
Lastly - one of the highlights (although short, since it was on the side of the Great Ocean Road and we were not the only ones stopping) of the trip: a koala in the wild.
