After spending several days on the beach on the Sunshine Coast we decided to go for a couple of hikes. We did our first walk in the rain forest at Kondalilla Falls. The hike was not very hard but we did not realise how wet it would be. Flip-flops was probably not the ideal choice for footwear especially afterwards as we pulled leaches out from in between our toes. But the falls were beautiful, and they even had water!
After hanging out on the beach at Mooloolaba (thanks for the recommendation Paul) we checked out some of the volcanic plugs at the Glass House Mountains on the way to the Brisbane airport. We thought we were going to drive to the lookout (since we were on the way to catch our flight), but when we got there the sign said 800m. We figured ok, not too bad, until we started going up and up and up. The ramps were so steep, not sure why they did not have stairs and we had to go double time so that we would not be late for our flight. A tough workout first thing in the morning, and a little intense with all the bugs (not sure if the idea that they are attracted to banana eaters is a myth, but I am taking a break from them until we finish all our hiking :)
Throughout our time on the Sunshine Coast, Noah enjoyed many a meat pie. His only worry was that they were a local specialty and that they may not be available in Melbourne.
For our day in Melbourne we woke up and went straight to the Queen Victoria market to get some fresh food to make sandwiches. We then got on the free tourist shuttle and rode all over the city. We first went to Docklands, their new area by the marina.
When we made our way to the botanical gardens, we checked out the Longest Lunch, the first event of the Melbourne Food Festival. We watched as the feasters enjoyed several courses, we tried to join in but the $150/plate pricetag was a little high for our backpacker budget.
The next day we got our campervan for the Great Ocean Road. Noah was so excited!
We learned early on that the Great Ocean Road is actually the largest war memorial in the world, built by 3000 returned Australian soldiers of WWI in honor of their fallen comrades. Australia actually had a really high casualty rate due in part to the battles at Gallipoli.
Our first stop was checking out the beaches of Torquay including the legendary Bell's Beach where they have the Ripcurl surf competitions.
We checked out many of the beaches on the surf coast including Angelsea and Lorne, where we spent out first night in the camper, but the real excitement began the next day as we headed toward the koalas at the Kenneth River National Park. The plan here was to drive 6km up a dirt road to the area where the kolas live. Our van though did not like the lack of pavement, so we started to walk up hoping to see something before we got overheated. After spotting some beautiful birds, we quickly spotted a koala in the first eucalyptus tree we found. The first few we saw we a little shy and only showed us their backs, but finally we spotted one sleeping on a low branch.
Wow, seems like we're not going to catch up in one post. More soon!
Throughout our time on the Sunshine Coast, Noah enjoyed many a meat pie. His only worry was that they were a local specialty and that they may not be available in Melbourne.
For our day in Melbourne we woke up and went straight to the Queen Victoria market to get some fresh food to make sandwiches. We then got on the free tourist shuttle and rode all over the city. We first went to Docklands, their new area by the marina.
When we made our way to the botanical gardens, we checked out the Longest Lunch, the first event of the Melbourne Food Festival. We watched as the feasters enjoyed several courses, we tried to join in but the $150/plate pricetag was a little high for our backpacker budget.
The next day we got our campervan for the Great Ocean Road. Noah was so excited!
We learned early on that the Great Ocean Road is actually the largest war memorial in the world, built by 3000 returned Australian soldiers of WWI in honor of their fallen comrades. Australia actually had a really high casualty rate due in part to the battles at Gallipoli.
Our first stop was checking out the beaches of Torquay including the legendary Bell's Beach where they have the Ripcurl surf competitions.
We checked out many of the beaches on the surf coast including Angelsea and Lorne, where we spent out first night in the camper, but the real excitement began the next day as we headed toward the koalas at the Kenneth River National Park. The plan here was to drive 6km up a dirt road to the area where the kolas live. Our van though did not like the lack of pavement, so we started to walk up hoping to see something before we got overheated. After spotting some beautiful birds, we quickly spotted a koala in the first eucalyptus tree we found. The first few we saw we a little shy and only showed us their backs, but finally we spotted one sleeping on a low branch.
Wow, seems like we're not going to catch up in one post. More soon!
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