Melbourne

We spent two days in the Melbourne area before traveling along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. We rolled into town after departing the Albury caravan park a few hours earlier. After squeezing the Warrior into a narrow parking space downtown, we wandered around the city in search of food and long term parking. Conor and I visited Melbourne last November for the Melbourne Cup and enjoyed our time spent there very much. This trip was rather quick, and without a definite place to bunk for the night lined up, we were a bit panicked as we strolled along the river.


A friend of mine from Brisbane moved to Melbourne a few months back, and we had plans to meet up with her and one of her roommates on Lygon Street later that evening for some good Italian. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot near Katie's house and after enjoying some dinner and three free bottles of wine with the two girls, they invited us to stay at their cute little terrace house for the night. We showered at their apartment and crashed on their floor - perhaps this does not sound like a treat, but it was.


The following day we headed to Philip Island, a two hour drive southwest of Melbourne. Our plan upon arrival was to purchase tickets for the penguin march that takes place every evening on the island. After paying a visit to the Philip Island Information Centre (these centres have been our toilet saviors along the trip - much nicer, cleaner, and warmer than most rest stops) and snagging our four tickets for the show, we drove around the small island, enjoyed some lunch on a secluded beach, and then lined up almost two hours early to get a good seat for the penguins. 


This stop was probably the second most spectacular on our trip thus far, with Sydney Harbour being the first. We sat in the cold for approximately 45 minutes waiting for almost 1,000 "little penguins" to wash up on shore, make their way into the dunes, and then travel on to their grassy homes. The penguins were adorable - weighing approximately one kilogram each, with a beautiful, sleek blue and white coat. They washed up on shore in rafts of 8-15, waddled together across the sand and scurried off into the grass. They were amazing!


After spending a couple of hours with the penguins we hopped back in our van and drove back north to the Mornington Peninsula. We found a fairly nice caravan park that had agreed to stay open for a late check-in. If memory serves me correct, this was the first time we attempted to sneak in two of our campers. Caravan parks are funny places. They charge per head, not per vehicle and after paying $50 to stay at one park, we decided to draw the curtains in the back of the Warrior upon arrival to the parks from that point on. We were somewhat nervous when the gentleman at reception insisted on walking along our van to guide us to the site. But $30 and fifteen minutes later we were enjoying pasta and a few beers in our van.


The evening spent on the Mornington Peninsula was the coldest we camped through yet. They four of us woke up multiple times throughout the night, shivering and complaining. At one point I got up, put a sweatshirt on and then jogged around the park for five minutes before returning to bed. The next morning we quickly exited the park and drove to the Mornington Peninsula Ferry. After crossing the harbour we began our journey along the Great Ocean Road!