14-1-2010 (Thursday)
Long night, we watched the movie Australia till late. Due to hard blowing vans outside our room, sleeping was difficult for us, not for the kids they slept well again.
So when we woke up we checked for a new room (with ocean view) and got one. So Sharon had to pack again and Ruben and Zeb went for groceries. After moving in to the new room and a small breakfast we headed for Koala beers along the Great Ocean road in ‘Kennet river’.
After 5 km we saw the sigh for a waterfall (Sequa fall) and went of the road, the walk to the waterfall was around 600m. People just came back from the walk and they told us it was rather disappointing so it would better to go to ‘Erskine fall’. And because the kids wanted to see the waterfall badly we went back in direction of Lorne and drove up to the waterfall. It was a 10 minute walk from the parking lot. Due to Sharai, who wants to walk always it took us longer.
The funny thing is that thru all our stay here Sharai wants to walk always and Zeb always wants to sit in the stroller against the way we want it. So most things happen one gear lower due to Sharai walking. Also in eating it’s the other way around, Sharai eats very well and healthy, Zeb prefers to only eat Peanut butter sandwiches, Ice cream, Chips and an occasional cucumber or tomato.
From the water fall we continued our journey to the Koala’s, but this time Sharai was a sleep when we past Kennet river so we drove on to Apollo Bay, also a small two along the Great Ocean Road.
We had lunch in the park along the beach and the kids played at the playground.
Finally we ended up in Kennet river and saw our first Koala’s in the wild. We saw at least 5 from up and close. Because they sleep for over 20hrs a day we were very happy to see one of them awake and busy eating. People told us, the only thing they do is; sleeping, grooming and ‘go to the little room’.
Back in Lorne Zeb, Sharai and Ruben went to the beach to play and Sharon made sure our new room was cozy again.
We had dinner in the hotel and that was really great, maybe the best food till now. If you compare with the hotel you wouldn’t believe it.
After dinner we went for a Trampoline session that Sharon and the kids really loved.
Sharon drove most of the day, also for her a new experience driving on the left. She better coops with it (that she drives) then Ruben does!!!!
15-1-2010 (Friday)
Perfect day; the perfect kids day. We started at the Trampoline and the playground with the kids and walked along the shops of Lorne.
We had lunch in the room (choco pasta) and then took a walk along the coast towards the west. The kids in their strollers (our 2 prams) and we\e walked to a pier where people were fishing and swimming. People swim in the sea, although they know sharks and stingrays swim along and with them. We found that unbelievable.
Back in Lorne we did some small shopping. The kids played in the room (knutsellen) and Ruben watched some cricket (3rd test against Pakistan). Zeb made a book for Juf Benna and the kids talk a lot about their friends and family back home.
Tomorrow we are driving back to Melbourne and will stay there 3 nights. We are staying in St Kilda near the beach in serviced apartments ( http://www.questeaststkilda.com.au/). We will explore the east side of Melbourne and hopefully will see the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) and the sports museum. And maybe visit the penguins at Philip Island.
This is the first accommodation we did not prepare in advance, finding this we had help from the local KH campaign. Due to the tennis (Australian open) it’s hard finding accommodation now.
After dinner and walked to the trampoline again and made our first holiday friends. A Israeli couple travelling with their 2,5 year old daughter, Romy. His name is Idan and hers …. They are travelling for 5 months. Zeb and Sharai really enjoyed playing with her till almost 10. We will meet them tomorrow at the beach and the kids are really looking forward meeting her again.
Posts tonen met het label Lorne. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Lorne. Alle posts tonen
vrijdag 15 januari 2010
woensdag 13 januari 2010
Melbourne and Great Ocean Road
12-1-2010 (Tuesday)
Woke up pretty late (9), Zeb slept late due to travel yesterday and the fact that Zeb watched the movie with us.
Ruben got two fresh coffees and some yoghurt for the kids. Around 10:15 we hit the streets, walking to Swanson (main street in CBD (central business district)) taking the number 8 tram to Toorak road in the neighborhood of South Yarra. We bought a super pram so now we have two prams (strollers).
Before buying the pram we did an internet search back in the hotel on kids stores, travelling using internet is such an advantage. Not that we rely on internet only; we brought over 5 kilo of travel books with us.
How did people got around without internet and mobile phones??
We walked on to Chapel street, main shopping street covering the neighborhoods of South Yarra, Toorak and Prahan. In Melbourne these kind of neighborhoods are the nicest to visit. The real center is CBD, which is not really nice. We walked the greater part of Chappel street. In Prahan we went to a public pool and the kids loved the kids pool. We only brought bathing suits for the kiddies.
In the pool we encountered our first animal in the wild: a Possom. That’s a small kangaroo like animal, not to be confused with a Pigem.
We also bought a Ripcurl swimming pants for Zeb: really cool!! back in our hotel we refreshed ourselves to go out for a bite in, we went to the southside of the Yarra river. It has a nice development of all kind of restaurants. Due to the kids we choose a big food court so they could have Pizza and we something of our choice, not a good choice.
Walking along the river it started raining, so we had to run for a taxi.
13-1-2010 (Wednesday)
Late wake up again, kids sleep late so wake up late. We went for breakfast near the hotel on Russel street. We met a nice Dutch girl that moved to Australia two years ago and loves it.
Back in the hotel Sharon packed some last things and laid down for half an hour, looks like see got a kind of food poisoning from the breakfast. She did not feel ok the rest of the day.
Sharai and Ruben went to the car rental on Elizabeth street, a ten minute walk from the hotel. To be honest Ruben was little tensed about the left driving.
We got a huge Mitshubitsi, with two booster seats and a Garmin GPS (tom tom like). Ruben and Sharai drove to the hotel to pick up Sharon and Zeb.
All set, we head off for our first stop on the great ocean road; Torquay. This first part of the great ocean road is called ‘Surf Coast’. On Bells Beach and Torquay are some of the best waves of Australia. We had late lunch in a nice creperie in Torquay.
The unfortunate thing today is that the car dvd set we brought does not work in the car, the 12v plug does not connect well. The kids watch a lot of dvd in the hotel rooms, now we set up our laptop to watch dvd in the car. Let’s hope it will work in the campervan. Favorite dvd’s are Nijntje the musical and Monsters inc. Sharon and Ruben can be understudy for the musical Nijntje when back in Holland.
The coast is so beautiful, it’s almost difficult to describe. Closest that comes to mind is the coastal outline on the west coast of the US near Carmel. But over here there are small beaches and bays around every corner. We can imagine this is one of the scenic highlights of Australia.
From Torquay we drove on to Angelsea, situated between Torquay and Lorne. In Angelsea we saw our first Kangaroos in the wild. A whole bunch were eating on the fairway of a golf course.
We drove on to Lorne, which is our destination for the next three days. We checked in the Lorne Hotel.
The room is pretty back to basic compared to what we used to the last 12 days. But the hotel is situated beautiful in the bay. After we organized the room, we went for a walk to check the area and look for a restaurant. Probably Sharai wasn’t feeling well, cause she vomited in her new ‘pram’. After she was done, she danced and sang as if nothing has happened. Dinner wasn’t really great. Kids had a bath, watched “Nijntje; the musical” and fell asleep (too) late.
The first day driving on the left went pretty well, despite one time ending up on the wrong side of the road.
Woke up pretty late (9), Zeb slept late due to travel yesterday and the fact that Zeb watched the movie with us.
Ruben got two fresh coffees and some yoghurt for the kids. Around 10:15 we hit the streets, walking to Swanson (main street in CBD (central business district)) taking the number 8 tram to Toorak road in the neighborhood of South Yarra. We bought a super pram so now we have two prams (strollers).
Before buying the pram we did an internet search back in the hotel on kids stores, travelling using internet is such an advantage. Not that we rely on internet only; we brought over 5 kilo of travel books with us.
How did people got around without internet and mobile phones??
We walked on to Chapel street, main shopping street covering the neighborhoods of South Yarra, Toorak and Prahan. In Melbourne these kind of neighborhoods are the nicest to visit. The real center is CBD, which is not really nice. We walked the greater part of Chappel street. In Prahan we went to a public pool and the kids loved the kids pool. We only brought bathing suits for the kiddies.
In the pool we encountered our first animal in the wild: a Possom. That’s a small kangaroo like animal, not to be confused with a Pigem.
We also bought a Ripcurl swimming pants for Zeb: really cool!! back in our hotel we refreshed ourselves to go out for a bite in, we went to the southside of the Yarra river. It has a nice development of all kind of restaurants. Due to the kids we choose a big food court so they could have Pizza and we something of our choice, not a good choice.
Walking along the river it started raining, so we had to run for a taxi.
13-1-2010 (Wednesday)
Late wake up again, kids sleep late so wake up late. We went for breakfast near the hotel on Russel street. We met a nice Dutch girl that moved to Australia two years ago and loves it.
Back in the hotel Sharon packed some last things and laid down for half an hour, looks like see got a kind of food poisoning from the breakfast. She did not feel ok the rest of the day.
Sharai and Ruben went to the car rental on Elizabeth street, a ten minute walk from the hotel. To be honest Ruben was little tensed about the left driving.
We got a huge Mitshubitsi, with two booster seats and a Garmin GPS (tom tom like). Ruben and Sharai drove to the hotel to pick up Sharon and Zeb.
All set, we head off for our first stop on the great ocean road; Torquay. This first part of the great ocean road is called ‘Surf Coast’. On Bells Beach and Torquay are some of the best waves of Australia. We had late lunch in a nice creperie in Torquay.
The unfortunate thing today is that the car dvd set we brought does not work in the car, the 12v plug does not connect well. The kids watch a lot of dvd in the hotel rooms, now we set up our laptop to watch dvd in the car. Let’s hope it will work in the campervan. Favorite dvd’s are Nijntje the musical and Monsters inc. Sharon and Ruben can be understudy for the musical Nijntje when back in Holland.
The coast is so beautiful, it’s almost difficult to describe. Closest that comes to mind is the coastal outline on the west coast of the US near Carmel. But over here there are small beaches and bays around every corner. We can imagine this is one of the scenic highlights of Australia.
From Torquay we drove on to Angelsea, situated between Torquay and Lorne. In Angelsea we saw our first Kangaroos in the wild. A whole bunch were eating on the fairway of a golf course.
We drove on to Lorne, which is our destination for the next three days. We checked in the Lorne Hotel.
The room is pretty back to basic compared to what we used to the last 12 days. But the hotel is situated beautiful in the bay. After we organized the room, we went for a walk to check the area and look for a restaurant. Probably Sharai wasn’t feeling well, cause she vomited in her new ‘pram’. After she was done, she danced and sang as if nothing has happened. Dinner wasn’t really great. Kids had a bath, watched “Nijntje; the musical” and fell asleep (too) late.
The first day driving on the left went pretty well, despite one time ending up on the wrong side of the road.
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