A Little Trip Away

We had a little trip to Melbourne – ten days.  It was so lovely to escape for a little while.   We caught up with relatives, ate way tooooo much baklava and visited some places that refreshed my spirit.  In other words we had a FABULOUS trip.

Ben was seriously excited about the plane trip!!  Oh and of course we had to take Lego!!! I am sure Ben thinks Lego is more important than oxygen!   It was a short flight (2.5 hours).  He was pretty good.  He did knock the seat in front of him a couple of times.  The lady sitting there was a bit of a dragon.

Our first few days were spent with family.  It was so lovely to see everyone.   My Mum and Dad also came for the first few days.  It was a bit of a family union…… lots of hugs, laughs, food and great conversation.  Some of us took a trip to the Melbourne Zoo.  OH MY it was HOT!!!  Other than the incredible sticky heat and the animals hiding to get out of the heat we had a great time. Ben loved spending time with his cousins Jordon and Madison.

After a few days with family Andrew, Ben and I ventured off on a little adventure.  The weather had changed and it was now freezing.  It was a nice change to put winter clothes on.  Ben gave us lots of snuggles to keep warm.  Our first stop was Phillip Island to see the penguin parade.  The Little Penguins did not disappoint. At sunset, wild little penguins emerge for the sea and waddle across the beach up to their sand dune burrows where their babies are waiting.  Phillip Island is the home of one of the largest little penguin colonies in the world……. totally awesome!! Sunset was not until after 9pm and it was windy and raining but that did not deter us.  It was pretty cool.  As you can see from the pictures Ben was totally knocked out from it.  He slept the next day away.

From here we made our way to Victoria’s famous ‘Great Ocean Road‘.  I was a little nervous about the signs regarding how to drive in Australia…… shouldn’t people already know that?!!  Andrew found them amusing.  Our first stop Bells Beach.  This place was magical.  It was my favorite stop of the entire trip.  We were pretty much the only people there…… I just soaked it in.  I could have stayed their forever but we had a schedule.

Oh yeah, we also went to Panny’s Chocolate Factory at Phillip Island.  Ben loved it!!  It’s great for kids.  You could write your name in chocolate, make your own chocolate bar, and play ‘side show alley’ like games to win chocolate.  I just have to say that I won Ben two chocolates and Andrew won zero.  I’m not competitive though (heheheh).  We also stopped there for lunch.  The food was a little so so but the hot chocolate….. to die for!!!  The best hot chocolate I have EVER had…. yummo!

And….. I also forgot to to mention that we took the ferry from Sorrento to Geelong.  I loved Sorrento.  A beach side town full of interesting little shops and cafes.  I must return there one day.  The ferry ride was a little choppy.  But it was pretty great to watch the dolphins swim next to the ferry.  Andrew and Ben missed the dolphins.  I had a great view as my head was hanging over the side.  I wasn’t feeling the best!

We stopped at many of the little beaches on our way to the Twelve Apostles.  Each beach took my breath away.  The cliffs…. amazing.  (NOTE – The sand was very grainy.  Not the beautiful white sand we have in Queensland heheh).  Ben was not impressed with the Twelve Apostles as you can see.  We had to wake him up.  His not good waking up much like his mother!  He did warm up though.

At one stage of our journey the GPS had a slight hiccup and took us on country roads.  The roads were narrow, windey and hilly….. perfect for motorbikes.  Andrew thought he was a rally car driver and I was holding on for dear life.  Andrew enjoyed it.  The scenery was pretty though.  We also took a detour to see a lighthouse somewhere (I can’t remember where).  We never did see the lighthouse but we saw more koala’s in the wild than we have ever seen before.  There were hundred’s.  We kept stopping and watching them.  We just couldn’t believe it.  I love the picture above of the mum cuddling her bub.  At Lorne we also had Cockatoo’s visit.  There was five sitting on the verandah rail at one stage.  Such a treat.

After the Great Ocean Road we made our way to Melbourne city.  I was seriously excited.  It was time to SHOP!  But unfortunately this wasn’t to be…. by this stage Ben had had just about enough and needed some time out.  But Ben and I did find this amazing wooden tram in a quirky shop in Little Bourke Street and  I fell in love with La Belle Miette in Hardware Lane.  The caramel macaroon is the stuff dreams are made from……. MMMMmmmmmmMMMMM!    Andrew found his ideal shopping street.  A whole entire street full of ski and outdoor shops.  We had to buy another suit case to bring his booty home.   And of course we spent time in cafes taking in the scenery while Ben played Lego.  He nearly exploded with excitement  when he saw the new Super Hero Lego!

From the city we headed to stay with my cousin and her family.  What a hoot – thanks xo!  I can’t believe we did so much in such a short space of time – Shopping, shopping and more shopping (do you like the shoes Ben picked for me?!), cake shopping in St Kilda, visiting the Melbourne Aquarium, eating seriously amazing Vietnamese noodle salad, and kite flying (Andrew bought a couple of kites).  Andrew likes two string kites.  They are a little tricky to fly.  He is pretty great at it and to my surprise I was pretty darn good too (bit proud of myself!!).

It was unfortunate that the holiday had to end.  We could have stayed another ten days!  We won’t leave it so long before we return xoxo