The Melbourne GOR

It seems that Monday is the day for updating the travel blog. So over the past week I have moved myself about 1000km further south to Melbourne where I have been since Wednesday, staying at lovely Airbnb in St.Kilda beach, a bit outside to the west of the city but close to the beach. I seem to prefer that much more than inner city. It's like having a big playground in your backyard.

What to say about Melbourne?? Well, it is a big city with high rise, lots of shops and restaurants, the usual attractions such as musea, exhibitions, gardens, etc etc... Not so dynamic and touristic as Sydney but I think I do like the atmosphere more. It feels somewhat European. It made me realise though that visiting cities in this country is becoming very much alike. I am getting the feeling of 'if you have seen one, you have seen them all'!. Of course each one is different and Sydney is definitely unique with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge but still.... As the English say; 'not sure if this is my cup of tea'. That's why you will not see a lot of "city" pictures either. Just missing the inspiration of it.

So, that said, after two days of exploring and wondering around I had put my focus on the Great Ocean Road. I knew extremely bad weather was expected so I had to be fast. Woke up on Friday, ran to the first rental car company in the neighbourhood ( which turned to be a shabby one so I am happy I made it back alive. Never buy a Hyundi!!! Or maybe don't rent a 15 year old one from unreliable rental company...haha) Anyways......

The G.O.R. A stretch of about 250km along the western coastline that start approx 50km outside Melbourne and finishes in this beautiful historic fishing village called Port Fairy. The latter by the way I never got to see as the weather turned drastically yesterday to 11 degrees, buckets of rain and heavy windstorms. Where's my winter jacket?? But the two days prior were amazing. This is absolutely spectacular, in every way. The route takes you along the most beautiful beach and surfspots, then turns a bit land inwards to dark green mountain rainforests, after which it goes back to the coast where you drive about 100metres up on steep cliffs towards the main highlight (and tourist attraction) The Twelve Apostles. This is a very famous rock formation in the ocean that make stunning photography and of course millions of selfies with your selfie stick. Ask the Chinese.....

The nice thing was that a friend of mine, Felix Jondal, had another friend who owns in pub in Warnabool, close to Port Fairy and offered me to stay there. I remembered him from Felix's wedding 9 years ago. Naturally I did not refuse the offer and was really nice meeting up with him and meeting his family. Yesterday morning I woke up with the earlier mentioned 11 degrees and decided to take the fast route along the M1 Princess Highway back to Melbourne. This 3 day, 700km road trip is an absolute must when you visit Aussie and it is one I would have never wanted to have missed.

So here I am, back in St. Kilda and with a cold, windy autumn day it feels like I should just stay in and watch Netflix. But no, I will put on my travelers cap once more and hit the road. I am sure there are still hidden treasures in the city to be found.

Throughout these 5 weeks I have kept a little journal with notes on what I really feel about this country. Not just from a scenic point of view, but the small things in behaviour of the people, how certain systems work, what drives them, their passion for sport etc etc.... My next, and probably final blog, will be dedicated to these inner thoughts. No pictures to go along but you may find it interesting to read......

So long friends.