Christmas in Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

Christmas was a different one this year but brilliant all the same. We went down to St Kilda Beach for a picnic by the sea. We had beautiful sunshine but a cool breeze so no swimming. Our picnic was washed down with a bottle of fizz and then all but Mark napped in the sun. In the evening we made a turkey dinner and polished off plenty of wine, beer and whiskey. A great day had by all.

On Boxing Day we were treated by Marks work bosses (Neil & Libby) to a day at the MCG to watch the Boxing Day test match against Pakistan. As the morning wore on the sun crept into the stands and we roasted with beers in hand watching the cricket. We were also kept highly entertained by the many drunken Aussi fans in the seats below us - the famous Bay 13!! 96 people were arrested for anti social behaviour and we're sure many more had close calls with security. It was all highly entertaining!

On the 27th December we started our route along the Great Ocean Road. It took all day to get to our overnight stop over point at Warnambool with plenty of stops to admire the stunning coastline along the way. We arrived at 'Quamby Homestead' (our accommodation) at 8pm only to discover that Trailfinders had messed up Nick's booking and only booked one room. Fortunately the owner (Julie) phoned round the area to try to find extra accomodation. This time of year most places are fully booked but she had some friends in a nearby village who were happy to have us. It wasn't a B&B but Joan and Keith happily welcomed us into their house. We had a cup of tea with them before bed and chatted about our travels. They were fantastic hosts and incredibly generous to take two random strangers into their home at such late notice.

On the following day we had planned to travel to Adelaide - a 7 hour drive. The previous days journey and busy timetable since arriving had taken its toll on Nick and Sally and the thought of spending another full day in the car was not appealing. We decided to look at other options so we could spend more time sightseeing at a more leisurely pace. Julie from 'Quamby Homestead' fortunately had availability so we booked in for another night. During the day we managed to get a couple of rooms in a motel on our route back to Melbourne in a place called 'Camperdown'. With a plan in place we could enjoy the sights of 'Warnambool' and 'Port Fairy' for a couple of days.

Yesterday we travelled back to Melbourne and last night went to 'Phillip Island' to watch the Penguine Parade. At sunset thousands of people gather on the beach of the island to watch the hundreds of little penguins returen from their day at sea. They appear from the surf in groups of about 10 at a time and waddle up the beach to their nests and young. It was a fantastic sight and well worth the 2 hour drive to get there. Mark had done a lot of driving and deserved a beer when we got back!

Tonight we plan to celebrate New Year with the half a million people estimated to be on the streets of Melbourne to watch the fire work display.

A Happy New Year to all at home!

Loads of Love

Rach & Mark. xxx