There’s something exciting about having a flight after work. Watching the clock tick closer with panic about rush hour traffic acting as your excuse for leaving early despite taking a train instead of a car.
We arrived at Sydney airport with plenty of time to spare, heeding everyone’s warnings about public holiday travel. The airport was empty. We breezed through security and found ourselves landing in Avalon just as I opened my eyes.
With the knowledge that Avalon airport was closer to the Great Ocean Road, I thought it was a smart move to book our outward flight there instead of Melbourne. Until we discovered that there was no accommodation and we needed to get to the city centre for our rental car. We had fifteen minutes from landing to exit the plane, grab our luggage, buy a sky bus ticket and then board the sky bus. We needed six.
Melbourne was surprisingly sleepy - so much for the ‘late night’ city image - but the Selina hostel was rowdier. We hid in our rooms, aiming for a good sleep before an early start.
We crawled out of bed earlyish, excited for breakfast at the famous Lune croissanterie. Joining the queue full of tiktokkers, we were kept afloat on the scent of butter and sugar, eager to tuck into our choices.
Fuelled and caffeinated, with a ‘no arguments while driving in the city’ pep talk, we set off with James at the wheel (I won that “debate”). First stop was Torquay: the home of surfing. Off to meet my fellow people! It was cold, grey and drizzly - not quite the surf coast welcome I was expecting. A quick stroll along the beach and then onwards to the Great Ocean Road. We swung by Bells Beach, the Ripcurl Pro called off for the day, and fought the wind and wet for a glimpse of the famous waves. After a soggy walk - and an even soggier and slightly grumpy James - we hopped into the car, blown away by both the wind and the view. Regardless of weather, the sea never stopped being its piercing blue against orange rocks and green cliff tops.
We got into Anglesea slightly late so chased around looking for a lunch spot before stumbling on a laneway cafe that looked very much like we were sitting in someone’s garage. Next, we stopped off at Airey’s Inlet to gawk at more coastline and wander around Spit Point lighthouse, then a final few snaps at Cape Patton before finishing the day in Apollo Bay. We dried off in the motel rooms and then walked through the quaint seaside town bustling with Easter travellers, looking forward to dinner at the pub.
Day two on the road started with a very cold and drizzly dip - are we sure we’re not back in Scotland? We grabbed breakfast and then I sat behind the wheel, declaring our only mission of the day to be the finding of a wild koala. We headed towards Cape Otway Lighthouse, winding through Otway National Park (prime koala spotting territory). After nearly an hour of James yelling at me to keep my eyes on the road while I inspected every treetop, I resigned myself to the fact that no, Australia was not absolutely heaving with Koalas. At this point, we spotted three cars pulled over with the passengers out on the roadside staring upwards. This was it! We found a koala! Arms clinging to the branch, it was fast asleep and hiding from the rain. And it looked exactly like all the cartoons. Just opposite, there was another one! Also fast asleep with arms interlaced between branches for balance. Very happy, I returned to the car and drove on to the lighthouse before deciding not to brave the car park and instead drive back to the main road.
Still grinning, we pushed onwards to Lavers Hill: “a small yet charming town”. It was definitely small. We realised we were in the Aussie countryside now. Greeted by mullets and gumboots, we wandered into the only pub in the logging township for unexpectedly luxurious lobster rolls.
Next stop was a very unassuming wildlife sanctuary that I’d read on a blog somewhere and convinced James we had to check out. A small sign indicated right and we entered the quaint cafe which was also its reception, listening to the park brief about the family-run business. Worried I’d just put James out of pocket for what could be, in effect, a glorified farm - made even clearer by the “herd animals” section - I entered apologetically. We had bought two feed bags and walked into the “feeding area”, warily watching the solitary emu which seemed to be standing guard. However, making it past, we stood alone in an area where wallabies were sunning themselves and kangaroos sheltering from the wind. No park ranger or zoo keeper, no other visitor in sight, we crawled slowly over to the wallabies with the feed in our hand. They showed little interest but after some persuading, the kangaroos became more curious. This was the first time I had every seen kangaroos and I was in English tourist heaven. One kangaroo started eating out of my hand, holding his paws either side to steady himself. It was utterly surreal. Having exhausted my levels of excitement for the day, we moseyed through the rest of the park, learning about dingoes, dodging the hungry donkey and finding a wilder kangaroo under the lake bridge - in true troll style! And this one needed much less persuasion to eat…
We continued on to the pièce de la résistance of the trip, the reason we had started this journey in the first place: the Twelve Apostles. I kept my expectations low as we pulled into a heaving car park, filled with coaches and bus loads of tourists. This was the highest number of people we’d seen so far and I realised that this must also the most overrated landmark on the route. Elbowing through heaps of selfie-takers was not fun: a true Instagram vs reality moment. We edged through the crowds, hoping for a glimpse of a few rocks. And then there they were. And we suddenly understood why there were so many people, why they had travelled from all over the world to see this view. It was completely worth it. An iconic sight, replicated in so many photos and paintings and postcards and posters. Sketched out before us, tall stacks and stumps burning orange in the ice blue water. Not overrated. At all. We wandered away from the viewing platforms, ridding ourselves of the masses by threading through the pathway to Gibson’s Steps. A steep staircase down and then a rust-coloured stretch of sand being beaten by rolling waves. We dodged the rain and raced back to the car for the final stretch to Port Campbell, pulling off for every new sight of the sun setting. A final and glorious view of it over the Bay of Islands before checking into our hostel at Port Campbell and laughing at the fact that I had booked a 4-man dorm just for us.
An early start in the morning back to Melbourne to beat the rental car clock and then checked into the Adelphi hotel, feeling slightly out of sync in our grubby road outfits. We headed out to explore the big city, ready to eat our way around Melbourne. Armed with pastries from Brunetti - a must for any Melbourne tourist - we trekked over to the Queen Victoria Market. Wandering up and down aisles and aisles of fruit & veg, cheese, meat, fish and deli produce, we were amazed at the vast selection. However, when it came to actual lunch food to eat there, the options were far slimmer. Instead we walked to the NGV and explored its equally vast selection of art before hunger and thirst got the better of us and we settled at a floating bar.
A quick and freezing dip at the hotel, some obligatory lounging in bath robes and then we headed out for a more hopeful foodie experience. Having been recommended Chin Chin, we added ourselves to the walk-in waitlist, squeezed amongst everyone else who seemed to have received the same recommendation. Just around the corner from another recommendation - Eau De Vie - we hunted down the speakeasy and tried their experimental cocktails underground. Another Melbourne must!
At Chin Chin, we opted for the Feed Me menu and wow were we well-fed. Plates and plates of the most delicious South East Asian food washed down with more cocktails, and we rolled out two hours later with not an inch of space for a nightcap.
Monday morning started slowly with a drizzly run around the sports stadiums and then we checked out of the hotel. Struggling to figure out the tram system and refusing to purchase a Myki card for one day, we explored the Docklands on foot and then ubered to Chapel Street to meet with an old friend. More cocktails later - and some very entertaining stories of Aussie country life - we headed back to the airport and back to reality.
A jam-packed country / city getaway made for the perfect Easter treat and a good stepping stone to start off what we came here to do: explore Down Under! Although, it was a bizarre feeling returning back to our little house in Sydney and what we know. Is this place home now?
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