Australian Adventure: Week 19, November 27-December 3, 2022

We have had a busy week exploring Melbourne and the surrounding areas with Mom & Wayne!

On Sunday, we had our first road trip day to Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 240-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between Melbourne and Adelaide. We had an early start to the day arriving on the coast by 7:30am. We spent the day exploring lookouts, looking for wild kangaroos, and taking in the sights.

On Monday, we spent the day at Werribee Open Range Zoo. Werribee had Australian and African animals in open range enclosures. During our visit, we got to go on a safari bus through the African section of the park - it was awesome!

Later that night, we went to trivia. Webster and I typically play trivia in Brisbane, so we took Mom and Wayne to experience an Aussie trivia game! We came last place, but had fun.

On Tuesday, we had a slow start to the day enjoying the Airbnb. Then, we went to Queen Victoria Market for fresh food and souvenirs.

In the evening, we went to the Old Melbourne Gaol where we did the Hangman’s Tour. We were toured around the prison by the “hangman” actor who told stories and interacted with the group.

On Wednesday, we had another day at Great Ocean Road spotting some wildlife - we saw a koala and kangaroos! Then, we made our way along another part of coastline towards Melbourne.

On Thursday, we started our day at Lune Croissants to try their new December menu. We had a plain croissant, almond croissant, and a chocolate mint (Christmas) croissant - they were delicious and worth the wait! In the afternoon we explored St Kilda and Brighton Beach, where we saw the famous beach boxes. The beach boxes are linked to a property owner in the area and used for beach storage.

That night, we went back to Din Tai Fung for dinner - Mom’s new favourite.

On Friday, we dropped Webster off to golf at Portsea Golf Course. He played with two Kiwi’s on the course overlooking the ocean.

Meanwhile, we went to Arthur’s Seat State Park on the Mornington Peninsula. We took a cable car up to the top of a mountain to overlook the ocean. We went for a walk in the park and saw some kangaroos! Then we came back to the visitors centre for a coffee, with a view!

Our next stop was London Bridge Lookout. We saw a hand glider and great views over the cliffs.

Later in the evening, we made our way to Phillip Island off the coast of southern Australia to see the penguin parade at Phillip Island Nature Reserve. We waited for two hours on the beach before thousands of penguins arrived right at our feet! It was so neat to see them, all 4814 of them, return to the beach after being out in the ocean.

On Saturday morning, we said our goodbyes and dropped Mom and Wayne at the airport. We checked out of our beautiful Airbnb and packed up the car.

We spent the afternoon getting caught up on life - I got my nails done, and Webster did some Christmas shopping. Then, we headed to Geelong to get the ferry to Tasmania! We boarded the Spirit of Tasmania at the port, south of Melbourne. We took the ferry overnight, leaving mainland Australia at 11:30pm, and arriving in Tasmania at 6:30am Sunday morning.

This week we are exploring Tasmania! We are excited to explore this unique state off the coast and share all it has to offer. Thanks for following along! See you next week.