Travelling overnight on the train to avoid paying for a nights accommodation didn't come without it's downsides. After a very "on - off" nights sleep we arrived in Melbourne Station to find ourselves a 40 minute walk away from our hostel at a time in the morning where the trams weren't even running. Refusing to pay the extortionate price for a taxi (they make the UK look cheap!) we set off on foot carrying all of our luggage and were delighted when the hostel's doors were finally in sight.
After our last experience of a hostel back in Sydney we were a little wary of what we might find awaiting us, but as we looked around the Melbourne Metro YHA we were pleasantly surprised to find a comfortable, clean and warm environment that didn't cost the earth to stay in. After a much needed hot chocolate in the hostel's cafe, we headed straight out to explore the city with the use of the free shuttle bus.
Unfortunately it was difficult to say that the weather we had in Melbourne was any good, so making use of the free bus (13 stops around the whole city) and the free tram (a loop around the Central Business District) frequently saved us from the cold and sometimes wet conditions while providing a great way of learning the layout of the city.
The second night of our stay in Melbourne we booked to go and see the famous Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. This is the official title given to the homeward journey each night of Little Penguins (that is their actual name and not a description) as they come back from their day at sea. As they grow to only a maximum of 30cm high the penguins are quite vulnerable to attack from larger birds during daylight hours, and so they leave and return to their burrows under the cover of darkness when the predators have gone back to their own nests. The phenomenon was first recorded back in the 19th Century, and it has now gone on to be a fully fledged tourist attraction with a visitor centre and seating areas from which to observe the penguins. Each night hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of penguins make their way out of the water, and the subtle lighting placed on the beach allows the spectators to watch them as they make their way up to 1km inland to find their burrows. It really is quite a sight, but unfortunately no photography is allowed as camera flashes have been proven to damage the penguin's eyesight.
Although we had planned to stay in Melbourne for 6 days, we actually decided to change our plans and head down to Apollo Bay where the YHA hostel was offering 3 nights for the price of 2. The main reason however for our visit was our desire to travel the Great Ocean Road. With private trips being expensive and short term car hire not being possible, we found that by booking a trip with V-Lines (bus and train travel) to Apollo Bay from Melbourne we could travel the Great Ocean Road for a couple of hours on the way to our destination. Not only that but it was far more economical.
Some of the coastal views over the rocky landscape are very impressive, and in places reminded us of Cornwall but with added sunshine! For it's low cost we were gobsmacked to see how good the YHA Apollo Bay Eco Hostel was. Not only that, but when we arrived we were upgraded from our dorm room to a private double room for no extra cost, despite the private rooms being 3 times as expensive! It actually ranked as one of the best we have stayed in on this whole journey so far, and with it's clean cut feel it was a great example of how less can feel like more. The hostel is 50% more energy efficient than other hostels of a comparable size, but the facilities were just as good if not better.
On that first evening we went for a stroll down into the harbour and were shocked to see not only one but 2 stingray in the water that measured around 2 metres across. They were certainly bigger than any that Vicky and I have seen before! Only around 10 metres further round the harbour where the water was getting shallower, we found a pufferfish living among the rocks and plant life among many other smaller species of fish. It was certainly a surprise to see so much from dry land.
The next day we set off to try out some of the Great Ocean Walk which was opened in 2006 (the reason for only walking some of it being that it is 91km long). However due to the poor signposting of what is supposed to be the most impressive walk around led us to lose the path within half a kilometer, and we ended up walking around 7km by the side of the Great Ocean Road. After those 7km we managed to find a trail that linked our position back to the correct path and so we used that to make the return journey. Along the way we had a close encounter with a Tiger Snake (the 2nd most poisonous snake in that area) as well as bumping into a couple of Echidnas which are a lot larger than we thought they might be!
Before we knew it our final day in Apollo Bay was upon us and so we took the opportunity to go and gaze at the wonderful shoreline one more time, this time walking in the opposite direction to the way that we had previously gone. We checked in on the harbour on our way back to find our pufferfish still there and several more smaller stingray had also arrived.
A couple of days worth of travelling was now in front of us as we would make our way round to Wauchope on the East coast where we would be picked up to go to our work exchange project for 2 weeks. The return Great Ocean Road journey took us back to Melbourne where we had most of the day to wander the city again before we boarded the overnight train to Sydney. At Syndey we would have nearly 5 hours to waste before our connecting train to Wauchope that would last 7 hours.
Next time's installment will feature the work exchange project in more detail, and that should be online in about 2 weeks time. See you then :)
After our last experience of a hostel back in Sydney we were a little wary of what we might find awaiting us, but as we looked around the Melbourne Metro YHA we were pleasantly surprised to find a comfortable, clean and warm environment that didn't cost the earth to stay in. After a much needed hot chocolate in the hostel's cafe, we headed straight out to explore the city with the use of the free shuttle bus.
Unfortunately it was difficult to say that the weather we had in Melbourne was any good, so making use of the free bus (13 stops around the whole city) and the free tram (a loop around the Central Business District) frequently saved us from the cold and sometimes wet conditions while providing a great way of learning the layout of the city.
Melbourne's free city circle tram
The second night of our stay in Melbourne we booked to go and see the famous Penguin Parade on Phillip Island. This is the official title given to the homeward journey each night of Little Penguins (that is their actual name and not a description) as they come back from their day at sea. As they grow to only a maximum of 30cm high the penguins are quite vulnerable to attack from larger birds during daylight hours, and so they leave and return to their burrows under the cover of darkness when the predators have gone back to their own nests. The phenomenon was first recorded back in the 19th Century, and it has now gone on to be a fully fledged tourist attraction with a visitor centre and seating areas from which to observe the penguins. Each night hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of penguins make their way out of the water, and the subtle lighting placed on the beach allows the spectators to watch them as they make their way up to 1km inland to find their burrows. It really is quite a sight, but unfortunately no photography is allowed as camera flashes have been proven to damage the penguin's eyesight.
Although we had planned to stay in Melbourne for 6 days, we actually decided to change our plans and head down to Apollo Bay where the YHA hostel was offering 3 nights for the price of 2. The main reason however for our visit was our desire to travel the Great Ocean Road. With private trips being expensive and short term car hire not being possible, we found that by booking a trip with V-Lines (bus and train travel) to Apollo Bay from Melbourne we could travel the Great Ocean Road for a couple of hours on the way to our destination. Not only that but it was far more economical.
Some of the coastal views over the rocky landscape are very impressive, and in places reminded us of Cornwall but with added sunshine! For it's low cost we were gobsmacked to see how good the YHA Apollo Bay Eco Hostel was. Not only that, but when we arrived we were upgraded from our dorm room to a private double room for no extra cost, despite the private rooms being 3 times as expensive! It actually ranked as one of the best we have stayed in on this whole journey so far, and with it's clean cut feel it was a great example of how less can feel like more. The hostel is 50% more energy efficient than other hostels of a comparable size, but the facilities were just as good if not better.
The shore line at Apollo Bay
On that first evening we went for a stroll down into the harbour and were shocked to see not only one but 2 stingray in the water that measured around 2 metres across. They were certainly bigger than any that Vicky and I have seen before! Only around 10 metres further round the harbour where the water was getting shallower, we found a pufferfish living among the rocks and plant life among many other smaller species of fish. It was certainly a surprise to see so much from dry land.
Pufferfish. Currently all out of puff!
The next day we set off to try out some of the Great Ocean Walk which was opened in 2006 (the reason for only walking some of it being that it is 91km long). However due to the poor signposting of what is supposed to be the most impressive walk around led us to lose the path within half a kilometer, and we ended up walking around 7km by the side of the Great Ocean Road. After those 7km we managed to find a trail that linked our position back to the correct path and so we used that to make the return journey. Along the way we had a close encounter with a Tiger Snake (the 2nd most poisonous snake in that area) as well as bumping into a couple of Echidnas which are a lot larger than we thought they might be!
The first Echidna that we met. He's actually bigger than a size 5 football!
Before we knew it our final day in Apollo Bay was upon us and so we took the opportunity to go and gaze at the wonderful shoreline one more time, this time walking in the opposite direction to the way that we had previously gone. We checked in on the harbour on our way back to find our pufferfish still there and several more smaller stingray had also arrived.
A couple of days worth of travelling was now in front of us as we would make our way round to Wauchope on the East coast where we would be picked up to go to our work exchange project for 2 weeks. The return Great Ocean Road journey took us back to Melbourne where we had most of the day to wander the city again before we boarded the overnight train to Sydney. At Syndey we would have nearly 5 hours to waste before our connecting train to Wauchope that would last 7 hours.
Next time's installment will feature the work exchange project in more detail, and that should be online in about 2 weeks time. See you then :)
A shame there was no photos of the little penguins, that must have been a sight worth seeing
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