Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melbourne. Show all posts

Day 05: The End of Part 1

Moving on to the fifth day of our 31 Days Adventure which also marked the end of the first part of the trip and we checked out the hotel for real this time round. Good bye, Cosmopolitan Hotel! 

Family photo in our tiny-weeny room. 
The Petite Room of Cosmopolitan Hotel was located on the two-and-a-half storey of the hotel. 
Another family photo in the car.
***
Back at Dendy Street Beach Brighton (about 15mins drive from our hotel) first thing in the morning to take a closer look at the 82 colorful Brighton Bathing Boxes that we missed out the previous day.  This tourist and cultural icon of Melbourne was on my must-go list! Thankful for the nice weather and we can bring Duffy out for a walk on the beach! :) 

Entrance to the beach
Loving the vibrant colours of the boxes! 
Before we leave the beach.. guess what we saw! Infringement notices (in Singlish SUMMON) sticking on the two cars next to ours.. 

So be sure you pay and display your parking ticket! Otherwise, the penalty is AUD70!!!
***
The rest of the afternoon was spent SHOPPING in one of Melbourne's outlet mall - DFO South Wharf! The name says it all, Direct Factory Outlet. The mall offers a wide range of the Australian and international brands under one roof.

Kate Hiew at Kate Hill hehe // Miniature looking ATM 
Check out my new kicks! 
Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the most expensive and scariest parking charges I've ever seen in my life. AUD30 (SGD36.90) for that few hours of shopping in the DFO!! Thankfully, a 50% parking discount will be given to the mall's customers. Just remember to grab a discount ticket from any of the store cashier. 

***
On the way to Melbourne CBD for another round of shopping. Hi babyboy! 
Chanced upon the existence of this Sweet & Nut Shop (located in a corner of the CBD) while researching on places to buy macadamia nuts and nougats for souvenirs in Melbourne. Bought a bar of their homemade cranberry nougat (original nougat with a hint of sourness from the dried cranberries) and a packet of honey macadamia nuts for AUD19

***
Dropped off our car at the car rental depot and the night was spent at Melbourne Airport because we had an early flight at 7:10AM (local time) to catch to the second part of the adventure - New Zealand!!! 

---
Information you might be interested in: 

Brighton Bathing Box
Dendy Street Beach
Brighton VIC 3186, Australia
http://www.brightonbathingbox.org.au

DFO South Wharf
20 Convention Centre Place
South Wharf VIC 3006, Australia
Opening Hours: 10AM-6PM

Sweet & Nut Shop
250 Russell Street
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
http://www.sweetnutshop.com.au/location.aspx

Day 03: Great Ocean Road

Checked out our hotel early in the morning and we went off for our road trip to the Great Ocean Road! The Great Ocean Road is a total of 243 km drive, along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool, it's one of the world's most scenic coastal drives. The road wind its way around rugged cliffs, through lush rainforest and windswept beaches. 

"The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I. It is an important tourist attraction in the region, which winds through varying terrain alongside the coast, and provides access to several prominent landmarks; including nationally significant Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations."

The road wind around rugged cliffs, through lush rainforest and windswept beaches. I'd say the drive along the Great Ocean Road can be quite a challenge to inexperience drivers even experienced drivers need to be extra careful too. The views are great and definitely worth the drive. Started off as a bright sunny day and left St Kilda at around 9AM, but as the day went on it slowly became overcast and started pouring..

Our route of the day from St Kilda to our destination, Warrnambool. 
Probably the best (double) rainbow captured through my lens. 
***
Stopped by at Lorne Pier to settle our hungry tummies. This Lorne Pier Seafood Restaurant we went turned out to be surprisingly good! AUD57 for our garlic bread, oysters, scallops, seafood pasta and tea. For the big portion and yummy food, I thought it's really worth it! The restaurant also served the best garlic bread I've ever had. No joke! It was really that good! But we were too hungry and gobbled down the bread before snapping a photo of it. Anyway, two extremely satisfied customers here! :) 

Look at the gloomy sky! :(
Very interesting blackboard menu of the restaurant. 

*DROOLS*
***
The Great Ocean Road is also the home of the famous The Twelve Apostles, a popular tourist attraction. The Twelve Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park. Planned to arrive at the Twelve Apostles for the sunset but unfortunately, it was raining and we couldn't walk down to admire the beauty of the famous icon of the Great Ocean Road. What a pity! 

"Created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland beginning 10-20 million years ago, the stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs. The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated form the shore."

The wind and rain showing no mercy to us. 
Didn't get to see the Twelve Apostles but here's a photo of it from Google

***
Warrnambool marks the end of the Great Ocean Road and it was also our destination. Checked in  the (pre-booked on Booking.com) City Central Apartments that was hosted by an extremely friendly host. We even got a free upgrade from a Budget One-Bedroom Apartment (AUD80/ night) to an Executive One-Bedroom Apartment,  also comes with complimentary WiFi and parking. Service was good, value for money, clean and spacious, basically no complaints about our stay there. Definitely recommend it! 

Full set of kitchen equipment and cutleries.
Separated laundry and bathroom.
Looking cosy isn't it?
***
After being very happy with our apartment, we drove to the nearest supermarket to do our groceries shopping for dinner and next day's breakfast. First cooking session for our adventure! 

Chef Young and our not very appetising and nice looking dinner.
---
Information you might be interested in:

Lorne Pier Seafood Restaurant
Lorne Pier
Lorne VIC 3232 Australia

Port Campbell National Park
Great Ocean Road
Port Campbell VIC 3269 Australia

City Central Apartments
14 King Street
Warrnambool VIC 3280 Australia

Woolworths Warrnambool East
Corner Princes Hwy & Gateway Road
Warrnambool VIC 3280 Australia