Reunited in Melbourne!!!
The Great Ocean Road Tour
We started their Victorian holiday with a bang! Wasting no time at all (especially with the nice big car we rented) and hitting the roads the every next morning. Lots of pictures were taken along the way and to be honest, we might have focused too much on taking photos of ourselves rather than enjoying the wonderful views of this famous road!
It was a really windy day..
Jumpin' for joy
The sights, smells and sounds of the GOR drive never fails to impress and truly, our breaths were taken away at the sight of the once 12 apostles. Even more so at sunset, even though I've been a couple of times, I was in awe.. "much better than the Blue Mountains" proclaimed Jean and we were beaming with pride! heh heh.. score one for Melbourne!
Big smiles for the camera
Aww.. the few apostles left =(
Towards the end of the day, (we spent too much time taking photos and had to rush back to the city!) the only place available for dinner is (Gie's dreaded) La Porchetta! Sigh.. guess we didn't have much of a choice when it comes to late night dining in Australia.
Dinner at La Porchetta... AGAIN!
MT DANDENONG RANGES & THE YARRA VALLEY!
This has got to be Gie's favourite place in Melbourne - Mt Dandenong! The entire place is just so dreamy and magical... and Gie was really happy to get to share this place with Jean and Trace! We found our way there (with some difficulty since the GPS kept showing us the way home!!) and started our day rather late with a late brunch at Miss Marples'! We had an early Xmas lunch and a nice catch up over Turkey slices on toast with cheese, English scones (that looked to us like buttercake), the yummiest cottage pie and tea!
Xmas in July at Miss Marples Cafe
Then it was off to the peak of Mt Dandenong for the views.. who am I kidding, the day turned gloomy in the arvo so we amused ourselves on the Giant's chair!
Playing on the Giant's chair at Sky High
It was too much fun on Mt Dandenong and we were late for Yarra Valley! We left around 3.30pm and it really didn't help us that the GPS was directing us back home to the city again and we only realised it 30 minutes into the drive! Sheesh!! We had to rush back towards Lilydale and almost got lost in the Yarra Valley. Relying on our (really Gie's) shaky sense of direction, we found our way to Chandon Estate only barely making it in the cellar shop and had to beg to buy a bottle by cash!
Too late for the cellars at Yarra Valley.. sobb
Making the most of our visit... more photo taking!
The rest of the days, Jean and Trace spent mostly contributing to Melbourne's economy - shopping! They bought out the streets of Melbourne city and 2 Direct Factory Outlets (DFOs)! I'm so proud of them! heh.. too bad Gie didn't have enough leave to join them on their shopping sprees, perhaps a good thing since she would've been inclined to bring more stuff home and pack into the already full wardrobe!
FOOD glorious food!! Of course to Asians food is central in our society (which isn't?!) and since we couldn't spend 24/7 with the ladies, dinners together were essential as the photos below evidence!
Lil' Creatures Brewery
Big meals at Moskito
Super duck at Pacific House
Cosy, comfy steamboat dinner at home.. twice!
Giant pastas at Sofia
Fish n Chips - the Aussie way!
I dun wanna grow up at PHILLIP ISLAND
Finally their tour closed on a highly anticipated trip to Phillip Island. It was a beautiful drive and after filling up on fish n chips, we headed to the chocolate mill for dessert!
Yummy chocolate at Phillip Island's chocolate mill!
We did the touristy things and brought them to see koalas in the santuary before heading to Amaze n Things! We thoroughly enjoyed the fun things and experiments and activities this weird science place had to offer!
A'maze and Things! Family fun for everyone! hee
Getting lost in the mirror maze
There's something strange about this house...
World's biggest slide! (to Gie at least! Look at her terrified face)
The tour at Phillip Island ended with the penguin march. Unfortunately, most of the penguins were still out at sea at that time so we only saw a few swim up from the sea. We spied quite a few of them hiding in the cracks of the surrounds but unfortunately did not see the entire army of them marching up like Trace promised! We recommend to go around October - November when it is breeding season and that's guaranteed for more penguin sighting!
Watch out for penguins!
Well, it was a real pleasure having you, Trace and Jean, and you're both sorely missed already! It was very difficult to say goodbye and time flew by so quickly it seemed like just a dream.. You've been the sweetest guests and we look forward to coming back in December and to the next holiday soon!!!
