Exploring Oz - Victoria

The next place that I am going to talk about is Victoria, which is South-Eastern part of Oz. We had some travel companions this time, Zhanwen and Pei Ling (: I can't remember how we made the decision to go Victoria, I think the boys did most of the work cos I definitely do not remember planning much hahaha. So we went in June, which was winter time. It wasn't too bad as we were all wearing our thick Michelin jackets, the car had the heater and it was pretty sunny in the day. 

Melbourne City

So we all took a flight to Melbourne, we took different flights (strangely) so Zhanwen and PeiLing had to wait for us at the airport. So we all arrived safely and collected the rental car and headed off to our first destination (:

Coburg's Farmers Market! Interesting how weekend markets would run in school compounds. So in Oz, there is mostly a gold coin donation for events that are "free" for you to attend. It was quite a regular farmers market, with fresh, organic produce, food stalls, coffee, and music. There were some craft stalls as well. 

Then we headed to Queen Victoria's Market. To shop and eat some more!
The place is huge, much like Paddy's market in Sydney.  

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES ARE THE OTHER PLACES WE EXPLORED IN VICTORIA, NOT IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AS IT HAS BEEN SO LONG I FORGOT. 

It somehow became a tradition for me to visit the library in every state I visited. I have to say my current favourite is the State Library of Victoria (:

Here's a better but more pixelated photo of the library from the library website (:

Had pretty awesome pasta which I didn't photograph at this sweet place called Meatball and Wine Co. Was introduced this place by some Melbournians when we were traveling in blue mountains a week before flying to Melbs. They raved so much about this place we had to come to see, or rather come eat. I liked it (: the pasta was so fresh!

Visited a museum called ACMI- Australian Centre for the Moving Image. Pretty cool stuff there I think we spent like 3 hours there learning about the history of film, digital culture, and video games. The bulk of the time playing old school video games they had rigged up

Just a photo beside the Yarra River. Took a walk down the river to visit Federation Square where the ACMI was. Along with....

MEGA CHESSBOARDS! Played a while but it got too cold we had to hide from the strong winds. 

Another icon in Melbourne would have to be Hosier lane which as you can see is covered with graffiti! Of course, we had to take photos there hee he hee

LOOK IT'S ICE KING! I think I will always have a soft spot for him as he was sweet ol' Simon before he went cray cray. 

GREAT OCEAN ROAD

I think this was our breakfast before the guys drove us out to Great Ocean Road. Great Ocean Road is an amazing coastal drive beside the Southern Ocean. Imagine an endless stretch of ocean and beaches (: I've always loved water so it was such a treat, even though I was half asleep half the time. As much as I like road trips, being on a car (especially a heated one) makes me sleep :(

Some lighthouse on the way

Just one of the many beaches we saw

The 12 apostles 

limestone stacks. There are only 8 left due to erosion :( Still pretty spectacular! 

 The Farmer's Wife Harvest Cafe

Joel asked me why I like to take photo with random signs and stuff. THIS IS WHY. Otherwise, how do we remember where we have had nice lunch (: Also, winter equals 1000 layers and looking like a bazhang all the time. 

  Tower Hill Wildlife reserve

This is where we spotted many wallabies, kangaroos, a couple of koalas and an emu! Also got many nice photos thanks to Peiling (:

 Griffith Island

Capebridgewater

Walked like 10km that day to spot seals! It was so tiring to walk endlessly. Holidaying in Ozzie makes you feel fit because every outdoorsy place require to walk/trek to some extent. 

It was super cold that day even though it was sunny. Check out our bazhang attire!

 So imagine us, walking so hard to find seals. But when we reached the main look out point, there was none in sight. That was such a disappointment. So I prayed silently in my heart "Lord, please help us see seals". So on our way back to the car, I felt like we had to check one of the mini lookout points again. Lo and behold, we saw seals!!!!!! It was so amazing that God hears even little prayers like that (:

The little things in the water where the waves are crashing are where the seals are. You can't really see cos my phone camera chui hahaha but those bobbles are certainly seals!

Loved the wind turbines that greeted us when we arrived at the carpark. 

Just walking back toward them!

Thereafter, drove toward Portland for a night (: Funny story, there was one night when we were the Great Ocean Road, can't remember when but the guys were so tired from driving all day when we reached the Airbnb that we were staying for the night. We checked in about 6pm and the guys were so tired that they fell asleep. The girls sat in bed and with the heater on, we fell asleep shortly too. When we woke up, it was 9 pm and we were staying the night in a small town. Then we panicked as we have not had dinner. Rushed out of the Airbnb and drove out to find dinner. EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED AND THERE WAS NO GROCERY STORE THAT WAS OPENED AND WE HAD NO BEIBEIMIAN IN OUR LUGGAGES. Drove around a bit until we saw a restaurant that was closing up. We went in and asked "hey do you guys have any food left? We haven't had dinner yet but everything is already closed". The staff were kind enough to whip up some pasta for us (: NEVER EVER FALL ASLEEP WITHOUT AN ALARM. That's us living life on the edge hahahhaha. 

Brighton Bathing Boxes. 

Another icon in Melbourne. The colourful boxes are pretty but it was winter so it wasn't nice and warm enough to sit on the beach. Beach life is only suitable in summer. But being at a beach means I think to touch the water. Took off my shoes and walked in the shallower part of the shore and I couldn't feel my toes at the end. Hahaha #livinglifeontheedge

 Moonlit Santuary

I LOVED THIS PLACE. It was full of free roaming animals and we could just buy feed and feed them! Through this visit, I learnt that Joel is bird whisperer. Just look at all the birds following him!

 Philip Island

 We also went to Philip Island that day where we got to see penguins coming back from the ocean. Joel was telling me how not to expect to see so many penguins as he only saw max like 7 penguins returning the last time he visited. Again, I prayed and asked God for many penguins to return from the ocean. AND THERE WERE!!!!! Definitely not a coincidence. This has happened one too many times to be a coincidence (: It just shows God's love in little ways (: No pictures cos it was too dark and everything is just grainy. 

Okay, here's a photo I found online of penguins returning at sunset. BUT THIS PHOTO IS A LIE BECAUSE WE AREN"T THAT CLOSE UP TO THE PENGUINS. We had to sit on this platform that is a fair distance from all the action. But I guess that is good as we don't want them to be too used to human presence. Anyway, these penguins return at sunset so that they won't be prey to predators like eagles! So clever. They are so tiny that they're called Little Penguin. That is their actual name, I kid you not. So after they return to the shore, there are burrows built all around this place where they nest. So we could walk around on this platform which brought us around the burrows. This time, we got to see them really close up! Again, no photos cos the place is quite dark and not very well-lit. After a while, your eyes just get used to the darkness and you can find your way around and see the penguins but it is not good enough to take photos. Also, no flash photography as it hurts their eyes. 

And that is the end of my Victoria post!!!