It was a nice day today, so I went to the Yarra Bend park for a walk. What do I see? A bat colony. Hundreds and hundreds of sleeping and screeching bats (flying foxes). Niiiiiccceeee. Oh, and Ewa jumped on msn chat today. She’s all fine enjoying the nice Monkey Mia beaches and outdoors. Miss her. Can’t wait to jump in the car and hit the gas. 12 more days till the Adelaide reunion.
As you already know (from Jakub’s post), I am in Perth. The weather is a lot nicer here than in Melbourne: sunny and warmer. This is my second full day in the city. I have been exploring it with Renee (from the Netherlands-I get some Dutch lessons now and then). Today we were at Kings Park, which is up on a hill, overlooking the city. I did take a photo of the nice view, but it will be posted when I am back with Jakub. The rest of the park offered palm trees and parrots, and many people out for picnics. Last night, Renee and I cooked dinner together at her hostel, tonight we are cooking at my hostel (the hostel she is staying at is booked for the weekend, therefore I am elsewhere).
Tomorrow, I am off to explore Western Australia. I am sharing a car ride with two other people - French and Swiss, girl and boy, around my age. We met on Saturday to think about where we want to stop at: The Pinnacles at Namburg National Park, Kalbarri National Park, Geraldton and Monkey Mia. Monkey Mia will be my last stop, while they continue north to Darwin. I will take a bus/car ride back to Perth (see how it works out). Then it will be a train ride from Perth to Adelaide, takes 3 days! I am looking forward to the experience.
Ewa packed her bags this week, grabbed the tent, a backpack and flew out to Perth on Friday. She’ll be touring a bit of Western Australia on her own for three weeks. I’m happy for her. She said she wants to see some dolphins in Monkey Mia. Woohoo :) Nice. In three weeks time we’ll rejoin in Adelaide and continue the trip northwards to Darwin, and Brisbane. As she enjoys the warmer weather and sunny beaches, I’ll be wrapping up my contract at Sensis.
Thursday night Ewa also made a delicious dinner (correction: she always makes delicious dinners). Some gnocchi with veggies, beans and wine and cheese. Mmmm. I’ll miss her French onion soup. :)
Now my mind is on preparations. Another meeting with the mechanic on Monday. Selling unwanted stuff like the bed, mattress, and books. And buying wanted stuff like … mmm…. water containers, and ….mmm… insect head nets (just heard the bugs can get annoying in the desert). :)
We set out for the Great Ocean Road this long weekend. We’ve seen the 12 Apostles - rock formations – of which really there are 8 or so left as they are being washed away by the sea. A bunch of cool free standing rocks in the middle of the sea - a bit overrated in my opinion. Driving through the coast lands we also bought some brie and herb cheese, and fresh tomatoes at some local farms. Then we spent one night in a tent through a storm with some of the moisture dripping through. Yeey. The next day we got stuck on some muddy grass with our lovely Toyota on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere in the Otway National Park while making a turn. Luckily some very friendly Aussies pulled us out. While driving home, we’ve seen a rainbow over Melbourne. Another hard, but well spent weekend.
I did a solo trip to Philip Island. This is a place 140km south of Melbourne. Once I crossed the bridge onto the island it was about time to have some lunch. After a few photos of the pelicans, I sat at the jetty and ate my home-made sandwich and salad. The water from the open ocean was floating in quickly past me. There were people fishing there and sadly one of them caught a bird by accident. I was very sad for the bird. I think the hook was in its throat, meaning it will come to a slow death due to starvation.
I had to put it out of my mind and decide how to spend my time on this island. I bought a pass for three of the attractions: Churchill Island (a much smaller island with a farm and historic house), Koala Sanctuary and Penguin Parade. It between the attractions, I also admired the views of the shoreline, overlooking the open ocean. The main attraction of the island are “the little penguins”. They are the smallest penguins in the world. Again (in reference to the bird mentioned above), I left sorry for the penguins. There are huge amounts of tourists walking around these 20-30cm creatures. The rangers asked for people to respect the habitat of the penguin, but people still left garbage and made lots of noise. I admired the penguins for their beauty and funny ways, but was disgusted with people there.
I volunteered with Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) on two separate days: June 4 at Friends of Toolern Creek (Melton) and June 5 at Moomba Park (Fawkner). Both of these projects consisted of planting native plants and shrubs at the parks. It is rehabilitation work to bring back plants that use to grow there 1000s of years ago, in hopes to bring some of the native animals back to the area as well. It is great fun to volunteer. There are many different opportunities to suit your interests (just search through the web). For me CVA was the number one choice because I like the outdoors and the physical work (I really felt it in my muscles afterwards, but it is a good feeling). Plus it is a great way to meet the locals.
We’ve been watching quite a bit of movies over the couple of last weeks while in Melbourne. This week we’ve just seen The Lives of Other’s (Ewa’s and Jakub’s two thumbs up) over at Dendy Cinema, which plays quite a bit of foreign flicks. Last week we’ve visited Cinema Nova and watched Paris, je t’aime. Loved both movies.
Tips: Here are some tips in saving money watching movies while in this cool city:
Went to Melbourne Botanical Gardens for a stroll - nice little park. What I liked more though was a visit to Lentil As Anything. The place is a cool little restaurant with an upside down business model. You come in, order what you want, enjoy the meal, and upon exit no one asks you for money – because you pay what you want into a little karma bound thank you box. Great experience. To close off the night we visited L’Aperitivo for a hot chocolate – same as in San Churros, maybe a touch thicker. Woohoo.
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