Canberra to Melbourne (and the Great Ocean Road!)
Door: Lonneke
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lonneke
14 December 2016 | Australië, Melbourne
It’s now the 10th of December and I know I haven’t written for a long time. Every time I wanted to write I planned something else to do. At this moment I'm sitting in the amazing and wonderful library of Melbourne. It’s quite impressive to sit here.
Like I told before, it’s a long time since I wrote something. So here comes my next story and this time in English! So now also the people in Australia can read it!
Canberra
21st of November I was still in Canberra and enjoyed my stay there. We were going that day to the Snowy Mountains. It was a long drive, but we had a lot of fun in the car. I was together with Henry and Elizabeth and we tried to take pictures of signs along the road. No worries, not every sign only the one with an animal on it (kangaroo, koala, etc). I have to say that it is quite hard when you’re driving on a road with a lot of bumps.
It was really nice to see that the landscape is changing constantly. When we finally arrived at the snowy mountains we found out that it was too expensive to go to the snow unfortunately, but on our way we saw a lot of other beautiful views. So it was really worth it to go!
The day after I decided that I wanted to do some more exercise, so I went to the shops and bought some running shoes! Of course I used them the same day. I have to say that it’s a good life over here. You go for a run and after that you could jump in a swimming pool. Not bad at all!
Only today I realized that I forgot my cable for my camera. When I was packing my stuff back home in the Netherlands, I had a lot of cables. One cable I didn't recognize, so I didn’t bring it with me. Now I know where I have to use that cable.
On Wednesday I went together with Amy to Questacon. Good place to learn more about math, science and physics in a fun way. We had a lot of fun together and we really trained our muscles. On a couple of tests you had to spin a wheel and of course we wanted to try it! After Questacon we lunched together next to the lake.
Thursday (24th) Henry, Huw (dog) and I took a walk along a lake and drank a cappuccino. Over here I drink a lot more coffee than back home. Back home I only drink the cappuccino of my mom and over here I drink it everywhere. After the walk I went to Jane’s place to make some chocolate chip cookies and rocky road. Ohhh, that is really delicious! When I’m back home I’m really going to make it again! It’s chocolate and you put whatever you want in it.
The next day it was all about family and I really enjoyed the day. At first I went, together with Amy and the children, to the shopping mall so she and the children could have a picture with Santa. Over here you don’t have Sinterklaas, only Christmas. Everywhere you look there’s already Christmas decoration. I think it very strange, because I don’t have any Christmas feeling at all. Probably because of the weather. Normally back home it’s getting colder and here it’s getting warmer.
In the evening we had an barbie (Australian word for BBQ) with the family. I also met the son and grandson of Otto (Otto is the cousin of my father, where I’m going to stay at Christmas). We just had a lot of fun and I really felt myself a part of this family.
On Saturday (26th) it was a quiet day. Packed my stuff. That is harder than it looks. All the stuff had to go back into my backpack. But I did it! My backpack is only 19.9 kilos. That is almost 6 kilos heavier than in the beginning. Don’t ask me how that is possible.
On the 27th of November I had to say goodbye to the beautiful place called Canberra. I enjoyed my stay and know I’m more than welcome over there! I will come back to see my family again! For now I had to wake up at 5 am and together with Elizabeth and Henry we drove to Melbourne. The drive was about 8 hours.
Melbourne
And then you’re in Melbourne. I have to say that I was a little bit in shock. The last couple of days (or more precisely, two weeks) I spent my time in a calm place with less people and lower buildings. Over here in Melbourne were immediately a lot of people (there was also a protest of Muslim people) and everything was so big and busy. I had to say goodbye to Henry and Elizabeth, but I knew that I would see them tomorrow again.
I arrived at my hostel and it wasn’t that clean as I expected. I booked a mixed dorm room, but there were only guys. Luckily they were very nice. The first thing they asked me was “hope you don’t mind that you’re staying with only guys”. They couldn’t help it and it wasn’t that bad. Only my bed was a nightmare. There were all bunks and I got one on the top. But there were no stairs to mine. It is hard to get up, but going down is even harder in the middle of the night. Yeah, I fell out of my bed. Instead of grabbing the railing, I grabbed my blanket. So I fell out of my bed in the middle of the night.
Back to the evening of the day. In the evening I met Charlotte again. Very nice to see another person I know. We first met each other in Sydney before and now we were drinking a cocktail in Melbourne. Very strange, because normally the chance that you see each other again is not that big. Now we are going to meet each other again in New Zealand. I’m already looking forward to it!
The next day I missed the free breakfast so I bought some over there in a café. It’s a pretty good start to the day. After breakfast I caught up again with Henry and Elizabeth in a park. After a little talk we had to say goodbye. It was harder than I thought. Here in Australia I met them for the first time, but it feels like I know them for a longer time. Thanks again Henry and Elizabeth for the wonderful time you gave me. I felt really welcome!!!
After saying goodbye I went to an information point to get some more information of the city and get a city map. Also went to a couple of travel agencies to get more information about trips. I booked a city walk and a trip to the Great Ocean Road. Already looking forward to both!
In the evening I went to the shop to get some food (pasta and bread for the whole week) and after dinner I joined a group of French people with a drink in the center of the city (CBD, the district where also my hostel is).
On the 29th I saw that one of the people left the room where I was staying. The first thing I did was change the beds. Now I don't have to worry anymore about getting in and out of my bed.
In the afternoon I went to the beautiful botanical gardens. Probably you already saw a picture on Facebook when I was enjoying my cappuccino. And I really did. I was all alone and normally I don't like that, but now it was good for a change.
In the evening I met a couple of Chilean, German and Dutch people. We went out together. Drank something on a beautiful place on the river. Unfortunately it closed at midnight so we had to find another place to stay. We ended up in a casino. Very big, but the people weren't that nice. Too classy and arrogant. But now I can say that I've been in a casino in Melbourne.
The days after was just relaxing and seeing more of the city. Every day I walked about ten kilometers and went out in the evening.
On Tuesday I planned a city walk (a free tour around the city). The night before I went out, but I learnt 's avonds een vent, 's ochtends een vent. So I was ready to go when they called me that the tour guy was sick so back to my bed. No worries I did the city walk on Saturday. I will tell you later more about it. First the Friday!
Friday the 2nd of December I lunched with Anne in St. Kilda. Anne is a girl I met in the Netherlands during my minor sign language. Very nice to see her again and hear her story about traveling and living in Melbourne. After the lunch we walked in St. Kilda and then we said goodbye to each other. In the evening I met other people and went out again. Really strange, apparently I look like a Dutch girl. There was a guy and I don't know him and I only passed him and he said ''you're from the Netherlands, I can tell because of your look''. Then I found out that he also came from the Netherlands. But still, it is strange that someone I don't know recognizes I'm a Dutchie.
On Saturday I finally did the city walk. It was great to see that there are a lot of hidden places in Melbourne. There are a lot of alleys I wouldn't go in on my own. But the tour guide showed us what you can find in the alleys. Really cool, a lot of bars and places where you can lunch. You only can find them if you know that they are there. You see also a lot of street art. There are rules where you can paint and where not. In the Netherlands the people don't mind and put graffiti everywhere. Here you see only beautiful street art on indicated places.
The next day I went to St. Kilda beach, just relax and enjoying the weather. The weather here is really strange. The one moment it is warm and the other moment it's cold or windy. Every day can have the four seasons. The only disadvantage about no wind and a warm day are the flies. They were everywhere on the beach. So we didn't stay at the beach for a long time.
On the 5th of December I went to the botanical gardens again, but this time not alone. I was with a great group I met earlier this week. When I'm back home I’m really going to visit them in their country! However, in the botanical gardens we were laying in the grass and one of the guys was playing on his guitar. That really is the good life! This day I thought of course about Sinterklaas and about the pepernoten (I didn't eat over here). When I try to explain what this is no one over here understands. But I enjoyed my day in the heat! Hope you all have a great Sinterklaas and hopefully you were good this year ;)
On the 6th I had another relaxing day with the people from yesterday, but now we were sitting in front of the 'State Library of Victoria'. In the evening we drank something in a hidden bar in an alley.
Great Ocean Road
The next day was the day I was looking forward to! I went to the Great Ocean Road for two days. We were with twelve people in total and we were sitting in a small van. Normally they have a trailer at the back of the van, but now the organization thought they didn't need it. All of the luggage had to go in the van. That is also a experience! After a couple of stops for just stretching our legs we finally got a bigger stop at a place where we could feed the 'wild' birds and see koalas. I'm not afraid of birds, but sometimes I made a little jump in the air. This is because the birds come from everywhere and also at unexpected moments.
The second stop was at a beach where we surfed!!!! Yeah, I surfed again! Surfing is really addictive and I really love it! I was able to stand up again and that feels really good! After two hours surfing and a little bit sunburned we had to go to our next stop. At the next stop we had a beautiful view of the coastline! Just sat there and enjoyed the moment.
Around 6 pm we arrived at the place where we were going to sleep. We were going to sleep in a tipi. It was way more beautiful and bigger than I thought! On the inside was a campfire and after dinner (barbie) we were sitting around it and playing some songs on the guitar. It was a lovely day with also beautiful weather. The weather changed that night. It started to rain and there was a strong wind. I woke up early in the morning and realized that my whole sleeping bag was wet. I was sleeping on the only spot where the tent was leaking, of course. But again an experience and you won't hear me complain, because it was awesome to sleep in a tipi!
After breakfast we were going to the twelve apostles. It is a tourist attraction, but it is really beautiful. The pictures would be more beautiful when it was more sunny, but now I had more fun with the strong wind! Sometimes I had to hold on to the railing, otherwise I would fall. You could see the strong wind on a film I put on Facebook.
After another stop at a beautiful place (I know I use the word beautiful a lot, but it was!) we went back to Melbourne. In the evening we caught up with all of the people in a bar. Again I met the last two days an awesome group of people!
Wine tour
On the 9th I booked a wine tour. It started at 10.30 and we went to three different wine tastings (tried 24 different wines) and we went also to a chocolate tasting! I love chocolate! After the wine tour they had more free alcohol in a bar. At the end I went back to the hostel at 9.30. So it was a long day of tasting different things. I think I've drunk enough for the whole week.
The next day I went to the library to start writing this story. I really didn't write for a long time, that's why this story is so long. I also went to the market to get some cheap fruit and vegetables. I like the market at closing time. Then it's so much cheaper!
The next two days I went to different beaches, just sun and relaxing with people I met. I also went to the war memorial over here. After a long walk (I could take the tram, but I want to do more exercise) we found out that we were 5 minutes too late. It was closed. Still had a nice view.
Yesterday it was too warm to do anything. The weather is really strange over here and I think my body reacts to it. My throat hurt for a couple of days and my whole body is tired at some moments (just feel weak sometimes).
In the evening it was still warm, but I walked around in the city with two girls I met in the hostel. We saw nice Christmas lights, lots of firefighters and the last thing we saw was a building where they were playing a sort of movie. The whole building was lit up and it showed a couple of cute Christmas characters. Finally I got a little bit of a Christmas feeling!
Today (14th of December) I'm sitting in the library again to finish my story. Later on I will walk around the city to see more street art. This evening I will fly to Perth! I really enjoyed my stay Melbourne, but I'm ready for the next city and see family over there.
Hope you all enjoyed my story and hope you didn't mind it was that long and in English.
Lots of love,
Lonneke
Like I told before, it’s a long time since I wrote something. So here comes my next story and this time in English! So now also the people in Australia can read it!
Canberra
21st of November I was still in Canberra and enjoyed my stay there. We were going that day to the Snowy Mountains. It was a long drive, but we had a lot of fun in the car. I was together with Henry and Elizabeth and we tried to take pictures of signs along the road. No worries, not every sign only the one with an animal on it (kangaroo, koala, etc). I have to say that it is quite hard when you’re driving on a road with a lot of bumps.
It was really nice to see that the landscape is changing constantly. When we finally arrived at the snowy mountains we found out that it was too expensive to go to the snow unfortunately, but on our way we saw a lot of other beautiful views. So it was really worth it to go!
The day after I decided that I wanted to do some more exercise, so I went to the shops and bought some running shoes! Of course I used them the same day. I have to say that it’s a good life over here. You go for a run and after that you could jump in a swimming pool. Not bad at all!
Only today I realized that I forgot my cable for my camera. When I was packing my stuff back home in the Netherlands, I had a lot of cables. One cable I didn't recognize, so I didn’t bring it with me. Now I know where I have to use that cable.
On Wednesday I went together with Amy to Questacon. Good place to learn more about math, science and physics in a fun way. We had a lot of fun together and we really trained our muscles. On a couple of tests you had to spin a wheel and of course we wanted to try it! After Questacon we lunched together next to the lake.
Thursday (24th) Henry, Huw (dog) and I took a walk along a lake and drank a cappuccino. Over here I drink a lot more coffee than back home. Back home I only drink the cappuccino of my mom and over here I drink it everywhere. After the walk I went to Jane’s place to make some chocolate chip cookies and rocky road. Ohhh, that is really delicious! When I’m back home I’m really going to make it again! It’s chocolate and you put whatever you want in it.
The next day it was all about family and I really enjoyed the day. At first I went, together with Amy and the children, to the shopping mall so she and the children could have a picture with Santa. Over here you don’t have Sinterklaas, only Christmas. Everywhere you look there’s already Christmas decoration. I think it very strange, because I don’t have any Christmas feeling at all. Probably because of the weather. Normally back home it’s getting colder and here it’s getting warmer.
In the evening we had an barbie (Australian word for BBQ) with the family. I also met the son and grandson of Otto (Otto is the cousin of my father, where I’m going to stay at Christmas). We just had a lot of fun and I really felt myself a part of this family.
On Saturday (26th) it was a quiet day. Packed my stuff. That is harder than it looks. All the stuff had to go back into my backpack. But I did it! My backpack is only 19.9 kilos. That is almost 6 kilos heavier than in the beginning. Don’t ask me how that is possible.
On the 27th of November I had to say goodbye to the beautiful place called Canberra. I enjoyed my stay and know I’m more than welcome over there! I will come back to see my family again! For now I had to wake up at 5 am and together with Elizabeth and Henry we drove to Melbourne. The drive was about 8 hours.
Melbourne
And then you’re in Melbourne. I have to say that I was a little bit in shock. The last couple of days (or more precisely, two weeks) I spent my time in a calm place with less people and lower buildings. Over here in Melbourne were immediately a lot of people (there was also a protest of Muslim people) and everything was so big and busy. I had to say goodbye to Henry and Elizabeth, but I knew that I would see them tomorrow again.
I arrived at my hostel and it wasn’t that clean as I expected. I booked a mixed dorm room, but there were only guys. Luckily they were very nice. The first thing they asked me was “hope you don’t mind that you’re staying with only guys”. They couldn’t help it and it wasn’t that bad. Only my bed was a nightmare. There were all bunks and I got one on the top. But there were no stairs to mine. It is hard to get up, but going down is even harder in the middle of the night. Yeah, I fell out of my bed. Instead of grabbing the railing, I grabbed my blanket. So I fell out of my bed in the middle of the night.
Back to the evening of the day. In the evening I met Charlotte again. Very nice to see another person I know. We first met each other in Sydney before and now we were drinking a cocktail in Melbourne. Very strange, because normally the chance that you see each other again is not that big. Now we are going to meet each other again in New Zealand. I’m already looking forward to it!
The next day I missed the free breakfast so I bought some over there in a café. It’s a pretty good start to the day. After breakfast I caught up again with Henry and Elizabeth in a park. After a little talk we had to say goodbye. It was harder than I thought. Here in Australia I met them for the first time, but it feels like I know them for a longer time. Thanks again Henry and Elizabeth for the wonderful time you gave me. I felt really welcome!!!
After saying goodbye I went to an information point to get some more information of the city and get a city map. Also went to a couple of travel agencies to get more information about trips. I booked a city walk and a trip to the Great Ocean Road. Already looking forward to both!
In the evening I went to the shop to get some food (pasta and bread for the whole week) and after dinner I joined a group of French people with a drink in the center of the city (CBD, the district where also my hostel is).
On the 29th I saw that one of the people left the room where I was staying. The first thing I did was change the beds. Now I don't have to worry anymore about getting in and out of my bed.
In the afternoon I went to the beautiful botanical gardens. Probably you already saw a picture on Facebook when I was enjoying my cappuccino. And I really did. I was all alone and normally I don't like that, but now it was good for a change.
In the evening I met a couple of Chilean, German and Dutch people. We went out together. Drank something on a beautiful place on the river. Unfortunately it closed at midnight so we had to find another place to stay. We ended up in a casino. Very big, but the people weren't that nice. Too classy and arrogant. But now I can say that I've been in a casino in Melbourne.
The days after was just relaxing and seeing more of the city. Every day I walked about ten kilometers and went out in the evening.
On Tuesday I planned a city walk (a free tour around the city). The night before I went out, but I learnt 's avonds een vent, 's ochtends een vent. So I was ready to go when they called me that the tour guy was sick so back to my bed. No worries I did the city walk on Saturday. I will tell you later more about it. First the Friday!
Friday the 2nd of December I lunched with Anne in St. Kilda. Anne is a girl I met in the Netherlands during my minor sign language. Very nice to see her again and hear her story about traveling and living in Melbourne. After the lunch we walked in St. Kilda and then we said goodbye to each other. In the evening I met other people and went out again. Really strange, apparently I look like a Dutch girl. There was a guy and I don't know him and I only passed him and he said ''you're from the Netherlands, I can tell because of your look''. Then I found out that he also came from the Netherlands. But still, it is strange that someone I don't know recognizes I'm a Dutchie.
On Saturday I finally did the city walk. It was great to see that there are a lot of hidden places in Melbourne. There are a lot of alleys I wouldn't go in on my own. But the tour guide showed us what you can find in the alleys. Really cool, a lot of bars and places where you can lunch. You only can find them if you know that they are there. You see also a lot of street art. There are rules where you can paint and where not. In the Netherlands the people don't mind and put graffiti everywhere. Here you see only beautiful street art on indicated places.
The next day I went to St. Kilda beach, just relax and enjoying the weather. The weather here is really strange. The one moment it is warm and the other moment it's cold or windy. Every day can have the four seasons. The only disadvantage about no wind and a warm day are the flies. They were everywhere on the beach. So we didn't stay at the beach for a long time.
On the 5th of December I went to the botanical gardens again, but this time not alone. I was with a great group I met earlier this week. When I'm back home I’m really going to visit them in their country! However, in the botanical gardens we were laying in the grass and one of the guys was playing on his guitar. That really is the good life! This day I thought of course about Sinterklaas and about the pepernoten (I didn't eat over here). When I try to explain what this is no one over here understands. But I enjoyed my day in the heat! Hope you all have a great Sinterklaas and hopefully you were good this year ;)
On the 6th I had another relaxing day with the people from yesterday, but now we were sitting in front of the 'State Library of Victoria'. In the evening we drank something in a hidden bar in an alley.
Great Ocean Road
The next day was the day I was looking forward to! I went to the Great Ocean Road for two days. We were with twelve people in total and we were sitting in a small van. Normally they have a trailer at the back of the van, but now the organization thought they didn't need it. All of the luggage had to go in the van. That is also a experience! After a couple of stops for just stretching our legs we finally got a bigger stop at a place where we could feed the 'wild' birds and see koalas. I'm not afraid of birds, but sometimes I made a little jump in the air. This is because the birds come from everywhere and also at unexpected moments.
The second stop was at a beach where we surfed!!!! Yeah, I surfed again! Surfing is really addictive and I really love it! I was able to stand up again and that feels really good! After two hours surfing and a little bit sunburned we had to go to our next stop. At the next stop we had a beautiful view of the coastline! Just sat there and enjoyed the moment.
Around 6 pm we arrived at the place where we were going to sleep. We were going to sleep in a tipi. It was way more beautiful and bigger than I thought! On the inside was a campfire and after dinner (barbie) we were sitting around it and playing some songs on the guitar. It was a lovely day with also beautiful weather. The weather changed that night. It started to rain and there was a strong wind. I woke up early in the morning and realized that my whole sleeping bag was wet. I was sleeping on the only spot where the tent was leaking, of course. But again an experience and you won't hear me complain, because it was awesome to sleep in a tipi!
After breakfast we were going to the twelve apostles. It is a tourist attraction, but it is really beautiful. The pictures would be more beautiful when it was more sunny, but now I had more fun with the strong wind! Sometimes I had to hold on to the railing, otherwise I would fall. You could see the strong wind on a film I put on Facebook.
After another stop at a beautiful place (I know I use the word beautiful a lot, but it was!) we went back to Melbourne. In the evening we caught up with all of the people in a bar. Again I met the last two days an awesome group of people!
Wine tour
On the 9th I booked a wine tour. It started at 10.30 and we went to three different wine tastings (tried 24 different wines) and we went also to a chocolate tasting! I love chocolate! After the wine tour they had more free alcohol in a bar. At the end I went back to the hostel at 9.30. So it was a long day of tasting different things. I think I've drunk enough for the whole week.
The next day I went to the library to start writing this story. I really didn't write for a long time, that's why this story is so long. I also went to the market to get some cheap fruit and vegetables. I like the market at closing time. Then it's so much cheaper!
The next two days I went to different beaches, just sun and relaxing with people I met. I also went to the war memorial over here. After a long walk (I could take the tram, but I want to do more exercise) we found out that we were 5 minutes too late. It was closed. Still had a nice view.
Yesterday it was too warm to do anything. The weather is really strange over here and I think my body reacts to it. My throat hurt for a couple of days and my whole body is tired at some moments (just feel weak sometimes).
In the evening it was still warm, but I walked around in the city with two girls I met in the hostel. We saw nice Christmas lights, lots of firefighters and the last thing we saw was a building where they were playing a sort of movie. The whole building was lit up and it showed a couple of cute Christmas characters. Finally I got a little bit of a Christmas feeling!
Today (14th of December) I'm sitting in the library again to finish my story. Later on I will walk around the city to see more street art. This evening I will fly to Perth! I really enjoyed my stay Melbourne, but I'm ready for the next city and see family over there.
Hope you all enjoyed my story and hope you didn't mind it was that long and in English.
Lots of love,
Lonneke
-
14 December 2016 - 12:49
Anke:
Hallo Lon,
Mooi verhaal weer! Je kan tenminste niet zeggen dat je niets meemaakt :)
Hier alles zo z'n gangetje én een stuk kouder dan in Australië.
Goede vlucht straks, hopelijk valt de vertraging mee en groetjes aan Otto en Carol! Luf you!
Hopelijk bevalt Perth, maar dat zal wel. -
14 December 2016 - 17:15
Opa Jan En Annette:
We hebben je verslag gelezen, het is weer een prachtig verhaal .
Zo te lezen heb jij je echt niet verveeld.
Nu op naar Perth .
Heel veel plezier daar, en we wensen je alvast een heel fijne kerst. -
17 December 2016 - 13:09
Antoinette En Cor:
Hallo Lonneke, dit is inderdaad een heel verhaal geworden maar je maakt dan ook veel mee. Leuk om te lezen en voor mij ook goed om weer eens met mijn Engels bezig te zijn. Geniet van deze bijzondere reis. Groetjes xxx Antoinette en Cor -
19 December 2016 - 08:07
Agnes:
Zo dan....goed bezig, lieverd! Zo te lezen is het wel uit te houden -
19 December 2016 - 08:09
Agnes:
Nu lekker genieten in Perth bij de familie! Dikke kus van ons!
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27 December 2016 - 09:36
Simone Van Asch:
Wat schrijf je heerlijk...sávonds een vent...:-), en wat een heerlijk avontuur beleef je! Zo actief, dankzij jou zie ik een glimpje van down under. Geniet XX
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28 December 2016 - 20:56
Gerda:
Hoi lief Lonneke spook,
wat een prachtig verhaal weer. Maar zoals je zelf al zegt wel lang geleden. Gelukkig kunnen we ook nog appen.
Het is fantastisch om te lezen wat je allemaal beleeft en hoe mooi het land is. Ik zou bijna willen dat ik in de gelegenheid was om er heen te gaan.
Ga lekker genieten van Perth en houd ons op de hoogte hè!
Namens ons allemaal nog een goede reis en geniet zoveel mogelijk.
Dikke kus van ons allemaal en een poot van de honden.
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