A Bit of Metta: July 2014

5th June to 12th June
When my son suggested that we go to Melbourne during the school holidays. I mulled at the idea. It was a do it yourself kind of tour. I was not really keen on this type of trip. I prefer organised tour where everything is planned and organised by the tour agency. There is no need to worry about transport, food and lodging. Just pay, relax and enjoy the trip.
Then I thought to myself. Why not? I can still walk and I have never been to Aussieland. I told my son that he had to do all the planning. Booking tickets, visa, hotel........etc. It was his job since he was the one who suggested the trip.
On the 5th of June, I took a bus from Amanjaya to KLIA2. I was there early so I had plenty of time to browse around. My son met me later there. After dinner, we checked in for our flight to Melbourne at 22.30. The flight took about 8 hours and we reached Melbourne 8.20am the next morning. We took the commuter from Melbourne Airport to the city and then by skybus to Tune hotel. We were too early to check in so we left our luggage at the hotel and went exploring the city.


Melbourne Library

The streets of Melbourne

Early morning rush

The building which houses the Tourist Agency of Melbourne

The Bridge which links different parts of Melbourne

At the tallest building in Melbourne-the skydeck

It was walk, walk, walk from one place to another. We still haven't learnt how to take the tram or bus. We walked from one end of the city to the other. My son kept asking me if I was alright. Well, what the heck, one cannot explore any place without walking. Correct? So walked. I was lucky that I could still walk so far, thanks to a pair of good walking shoes.

Day 2

The place I love most in Melbourne is Queen Victoria Market. All kinds of things can be found here. It is closed on certain days. I went there once. I intended to go on our last day in Melbourne but unfortunately it was closed on that day. So I got to visit the place only once. I bought one kg of macadamia nuts ..........big ones. I also bought some souvenirs and a opal pendant. Very good worksmanship. Of course, it came with an expensive price.

Queen Victoria Market

Inside Queen Victoria Market

Calton Garden

Melbourne Museum

Day 3
Went to the Aquarium. Then took the train to the zoo. After that, we took a bus to the Warriors' shrine. We went to the Eureka Skydeck again as we don't want to waste the free passes from Utopia tour.This time we went in the evening. Saw the city by night from the top of the building.

Sea life

Zoo

Zoo....wallaby in the background

View of Melbourne City from The Warrior's Shrine

Met transformers along the street of Melbourne


On top of Skydeck...a bit scary.

Day 4
We had registered for a small local group tour with Autopia Tours. The tour included a one day tour of Great Ocean Road, a one day tour of Phillip Island and a pass to Skydeck. The tour also included breakfast (tea/milo and biscuits) and lunch. Lunch on the first day was burger (your choice of fillings) and on the second day, pizza. Meals in Australia come in super big portion and it was too much for small eater like me. I could only finish half and the other half, I kept for dinner. Don't want to waste good food.
A word of advice for those intending to go on the Great Ocean Road Tour. If you suffer from motion sickness, do take anti-motion tablet because the road is really winding and steep. On one side is the cliff and the other side, the hills. The driver cum tour guide was very professional. On the way we stopped a few times to have a close at some of the interesting landmarks. One of the itineraries was the Ancient Rainforest Walk which was not really exciting for us because we have seen enough of rainforest in Malaysia.

The arch/tablet

The koala bear at one of the rest places

The Great Ocean

The 12 Apostles

Very professional pic taken by my son

Warning signs

My photographer son

The steep cliff

London Bridge.

Day 5

The next day, as usual, we waited at the road adjacent to our hotel for the bus to take us to Phillip Island. The driver /tour guide was very punctual. We were the first passengers and the driver went around to the various hotel to pick up more tourists.
Along the way to Phillip Island we stopped at a mini zoo. We could get up close to some to the animals there....kangaroos, horses etc.
In the evening, we watched the penguins come ashore in small groups. They then waddled ashore to their homes /apartments. No photography is allowed so there are no pics of the penguins. Pity because they all looked so cute.