Roadtrip! (Canberra Leg)

September 20, 2007

We started our journey to Canberra late in the afternoon due to my renal function test over at the Royal North Shore Hospital. They took 7 full tubes of blood from me and they collected a reasonable amount of my urine.

Like previous Canberra trips, I directed Dad onto the Hume Highway and off we drove down south. After turning off left onto the Bass Highway, I pointed out an enormous lake to Dad called Lake George.

"Where?"
"There, this entire place is Lake George!"
"Huh? Where? It's all grass leh..."
"Exactly".

Haha.. trying to convince both he and Mum that the 'field' was once a lake was so hilarious. But it saddened us as well because it showed how dry Australia has been all these years. And to think that Sydney welcomed the month of December with rain (it's still raining now even).

By the time we arrived in Canberra, it was nightfall. For your information, Canberra is like Putrajaya, or should I say it's the other way around. You keep driving in circles and end up feeling very frustrated because every single precinct looks the same! Bah! When we finally found a place with shops OPEN, we had to fork up a hefty sum for only a passable meal of Thai cuisine. Premonition of things to come: no good at all. Speak about cari makan. Cari tempat tidur also susah. Gosh! All the places we saw along the way were fully booked! Last resort was a caravan park and thankfully, they still had a family unit. Throughout the entire trip, this was the cheapest place we stayed in. Did I mention that it was the dirtiest as well? It wasn't filthy or anything but because I was comparing it with the other places we'd been, it was not up to par. Oh well, as long as it had hot water and GIN AND TONIC! Wahaha, love that conconction - makes me sleep like a log.

September 21, 2007

Rays of bright sunshine seeped through the lace curtain. It felt as thought it was crying to be drawn to allow the overflowing radiance into the room. Yes, we were going to have beautiful weather at the Floriade and so we wasted no time.

The Floriade is an annual tulip festival held in Canberra during spring. It also showcases other types of flowers but they mainly use a variety of tulips. While we attended the Floriade a tad too late last year (the flowers were all withering), we were too early this year as many of the bulbs had yet to bloom! Mum was delighted to see the array of colours. Dad, on the other hand, thought it was nothing like the Chelsea Flower Show. But of course it wouldn't be, the Floriade is like 300 times smaller!

Personally, I thought the colours and combination of plants this year wasn't as attractive as last year's. Maybe it was the theme they used. Last year it was according to countries. This year, they went by an Australian theme. I don't recall what it was exactly but it was probably something to do with Australian landscape. To illustrate, here are the pictures:

Have you seen the inside of a tulip? Let me show you:

There was a pair of goslings with their mum (or dad?):

And I was fascinated by the pinecones still attached to the tree:

Having soaked up the sun and when Mum was satisfied with her tulip-watching, we looked up the map to follow the highway that heads up the mountains. Along the way, we stopped by a small 'town' comprising 8 houses to have lunch. An elderly couple ran the place and served us pies, pumpkin soup and coffee. They had a fat cat that was just adorable (look in the picture hard enough and you'd be able to spot the fuzzball)!

Kept wanting a piece of my pie! Surprise of all surprises, they were happy to learn that we were from Malaysia as the old bloke himself spent some time in Butterworth as a soldier during the Vietnam War.

Oh, I should really share pictures of what we see while we drive:

After passing by that tranquil cottage, it was bye-bye Monaro Highway at Cooma and hello Alpine Highway! Yes, we were driving across the Great Dividing Range into the Kosciuszko National Park. We stopped at Jindabyne to have a look at Lake Jindabyne. Funny how I've never been skiing and have always wondered what Jindabyne looked like. Now, I know.

Next stop was Perisher Blue. Well, it wasn't much of a stop. We could see the mountain and the snow from the Skitube. And there were kangaroos hopping about so Mum made us stop at the side to take some pics.

So I've ticked Perisher Blue's box. Next box to tick was Thredbo. As Thredbo is in the park, we had to pay a stopping fee because we were going to stop the car to take pictures. If we decided to just drive through, we wouldn't need to pay the $25. And you know what? There was PLENTY OF SNOW! This year, Australia had a bumper harvest of snow. Normally, the ski resorts would be closed by August but hey, it's September and there was still plenty of it! That was the first time I saw real snow! I did not feel cold. It was like a nice spring day but when you TOUCHED it, whoa, freezing!

Dad just couldn't resist the temptation to stop at a lookout to take pictures of the snowcaps. Breathtaking. Oh, and not to mention freezing. It was so hard to keep myself from shivering when Dad took his own sweet time adjusting the lighting and what not. So funny watching Mum take hers - she could hardly smile!

Before the sun went down, we managed to take pictures of the pastures we'd been driving past. Rolling green hills... aah... endless sea of green...

Then Dad spoilt it by mentioning one lecture he had lightyears ago in Oxford. Every beautiful scenery comes with a price. Just imagine the amount of trees fell to create this picturesque scenery. And they want us to keep our rainforests for them. Wah, so unfair - they get to make money by slaughtering cattle while we get zero for keeping our trees.

We then drove off into the sunset in search of our next slumber chamber. We drove and drove and drove until we felt a slight tinge of hunger. We managed to catch a glimpse of the enormous Lake Hume (it took us close to 45 minutes just to drive around it!) in the moonlight. We decided to stop in Wodonga where there was a twin room with Golden Chain. Mum prefers Golden Chain over Best Western because they are cheaper and greener.

And what's with motel owners? When he found out that we were Malaysian, he quickly praised our cuisine. He enjoyed his stay at Penang because of the food! The young English chap then recommended a Thai restaurant in town.

Roadtrip! (South Australia Leg)

September 16, 2007

We crossed into the state of South Australia by quickly eating the apples we bought and throwing them at the border of Victoria and SA, where they had a specially provided bin (and a huge signboard warning us not to bring fresh produce into the state). We also had to re-set the time on our watches, mobile phones and car clock back 30 minutes. SA is in a different timezone to VIC and NSW.

Rain greeted us into town but it did not make our stop at Mount Gambier any less exciting. If anything, it made it all the more challenging to get good pictures. When we ascended the mountain, there was a stench of raw egg. It was the smell of sulphur the lake was emitting. Lake Gambier, which is atop the mountain, is actually a volcanic crater. The colour of the water changes according to the weather. If you look carefully, you could see the beautiful turquoise/emerald-ish colour of the water.

There were more than one lake but we decided not to stop anymore because we had to reach Hahndorf by nightfall. So on we drove and yes, we did make it to Hahndorf in time for dinner. We were lucky to get the last remaining room in Best Western and learnt that hotel actually means 'the place you eat' and motel means 'the place you live'. Wah... all these years without knowing that in Sydney...

As I was here only in winter, I knew Hahndorf pretty well. Had to bring them to where I had the yummy ribs and German sausages. Dad was very happy with that meal.

September 17, 2007

I was glad I decided to spend the night in Hahndorf and not somewhere in Adelaide city. Why? Because, the next day, we woke up to a very beautiful morning in Hahndorf. Mum and Dad just loved the place. The original architecture, the landscape, the food... aahh...

Not all the shops were open but the lolly shop was so that was enough to leave us with good memories of the place.

When you are in South Australia, one thing which is on your Must Do List is to visit the vineyards. I mean, come on, who cares if it's the right time of the year? It's where all the best wines in Australia (and probably the world) come from! So yes, off we went driving on gravel roads to see hills and hills and hills of endless grapevines! What a sight to behold! Well, they were more or less still bald but still picturesque nevertheless.

In between, we also saw trees with white blooms and Mum concluded that they were pear trees. Those with pink blooms were apples, which there were very few off due to the wrong time of the year. Occasionally, there were the oranges and lemons.

Lunch for the day was curry chicken pie and boy was it good! We had it at a small bakery near Whispering Wall. I totally recommend homemade pies in small towns and villages. Whispering Wall was nothing much - it did not impress Dad as much as I hoped it would. Sigh, architects don't get excited by stuff like that, unlike their offspring.

As I found a lavender farm near Whispering Wall, we headed there.

It was more like a lavender 'showroom', not a farm. It housed 52 varieties of lavender and the smell, wow! But I'd have to admit that I've never seen that many lavender patches in the same place before.

Behind the farm, there was a field of wild flowers of yellow and purple. The contrast of colours was irresistable so yes, it was photo-snapping time! You can imagine how crazy Mum went - she's a flower freak.

Dad felt adventurous and decided to take smaller roads into the city. We got lost and were frantic as we were worried that we wouldn't be able to return the car in time to Europcar. Worse, we were worried that we would miss our flight! However, it was all worth it as we were rewarded with these:

The mustard fields were just a sight to behold!

Finally, it was time to bid Adelaide goodbye. We were extremely lucky as Europcar had a one-hour leway (how do you spell that word?) and we weren't penalised. Also, our flight was delayed due to the bad weather in Sydney. Phew!

Spent some time browsing through Adelaide Airport and I asked Mum to swap seats with me because I wanted to take pictures of these:

Thank you SA for a wonderful time!

Roadtrip! (Melbourne Leg 1)

Warning: The next few entries are going to be really long-winded.

September 12, 2007

DJ888, 8:15pm. I arrived in Melbourne with only one backpack. Amazing? Not really. I've always enjoyed traveling light. All 6 days packed in one backpack. By the time Pei Shin and I got home from Glen Station, it was close to midnight. Or was it past midnight? Don't recall. It was great to be with my cousins again.

September 13, 2007

I think I was at home all day. The girls had something to do in school/church so I was left to my own devices. When they got home, Pei dropped me at the bus-stop for me to catch the bus to Monash. Was meeting up with my beloved CPU buddies for a Mooncake Festival dinner.

Mei was watching Gilmore Girls on DVD when I got home and of course I had to join in the fun! I watched till Pei got home from her friend's birthday bash (around 2:00am). Watched till about 4:00am and we slept in the hall.

September 14, 2007

Mum and Dad arrived while I was having dinner with Cheng Cheng Jie Jie.

Yes, I have yet another cousin in Melbourne. It was a dinner to celebrate the completion of my degree. And she gave me a cute soft toy dog wearing a mortar board and a scroll in its mouth to make up for not being able to attend my graduation. How sweet. She's always been very caring towards me. A friend of hers came along as well. Very friendly fella who drives a Silvia. Damn cool.

Then when I finally met up with Mum and Dad, I WAS SO HAPPY! Finally! I think Dad scared the hell out of Jie Jie when he hugged her. Haha.... As they were hungry, they had makan at a HK cafe (similar to Char Chan Teng) in Glen. And guess what? I bumped into Wil Min! 5 years since we'd left college and we meet in Melbourne! And I don't even live in Melbourne... haha...

After that, Mum and Dad sent me back to the girls' house while they spent the night at bro's. I continued GG and slept in the hall again while Pei 'flirted' over the phone. Man, it's so obvious you're in love la girl...

September 15, 2007

What is it with breakfast places in Glen? Breakfast means morning meal means YOU HAVE TO BE OPEN BEFORE 9:00am!!!! Anyways, we settled for this posh-looking place and I'd have to admit, their food was pretty good! I shared a large omelette (how do you spell that??) with Mei and we still couldn't finish it. So, it ended up being quite worth the money. After bringing Mei and bro back to their respective homes, it was time for us to begin our journey West.

First stop: Geelong. Had to stop to walk around eh? I mean, who wouldn't? So Dad and I bought coffee and we walked around to see the bollards. Very interesting and some were funny! They each have a story to tell. Simple idea but effective. We then drove on to the Great Ocean Road.

Second stop: 12 Apostles. One word: magnificent. Too bad we were in the wrong direction of the sunlight. Made taking pictures slightly more tricky.

We then continued on to London Bridge and Loch Ard Gorge.

To me, it wasn't the sea view and the rocks that took my breath away. It was more of when I was in the car (we rented a brand new Nissan Outback, by the way). It was just unfathomable, the power of a more powerful 'someone' or 'something' up there (sorry for my lack of a more expansive vocabulary). One wide side of the highway, it was the vast and fierce sea. On the other, it was peaceful plains and green pastures.

We took the less trodden paths and we were rewarded with spectacular views. It was the first time I've ever seen a wind farm!

And no wonder it was there - the wind very nearly swept me off my feet! I mean, how can it not when even the four-wheel drive was shaking!!! If you look carefully, you'd be able to tell that I was barely able to keep my eyes open! Scary!

It was a VERY LONG DRIVE from Melbourne to our next stop. After an entire day, we decided to rest in a middle-sized town called Warnambool and stayed at Best Western for the night. We didn't get to see much as it was dark but I do know that it was a place famous for it's seafood and whale nurseries.