Fitzroy Falls, Australia Trip (Day 6)

21st Feb 2019, Thursday

Woke up late today and step mum was already preparing breakfast outside. We had breakfast and got ready for our adventure today. We decided to go visit Fitzroy Falls which was nearer to our cottage. So we headed out and it was really foggy when we reached the park entrance. It was raining slightly too and the ground was wet. The car park fee costs AUD$4 for the whole day and we headed into the park. Luckily the fall lookout was 200 metres away from the visitor centre and we walked out to see the falls. It was cold outside but we were not able to see anything, even the falls cos it was too foggy. We only managed to catch a glimpse of the falls at the corner from the lookout.

Giant Spider in the visitor centre

Fitzroy Falls (too foggy)

Giant tree

2nd Breakfast

After that, we walked back to the cafe and bought some food for snacks. We also wanted to wait and see if the fog will clear away. We decided to walk back to the lookout when we saw the fog clearing abit. But it was still not totally clear and we were just able to see the falls abit more. So we left the park and headed to Kangaroo Valley Fudge House for ice-cream.

Gelato

Lunch

We reached back kangaroo valley town around 2 plus and we went to the gelato shop. I got the mango flavor which was very nice. But my dad was on the phone (work issues).  After the nice gelato, we just walked down the street. We went in to one of the cafes to have lunch as my dad was complaining hungry. We ordered fish &chips plus salads, i went playing pokemon go while waiting for the food. We tabao the leftover food back as we were unable to finish them all. My step mum also bought southern pies back for dinner. So after that, we went back to the cottage for a rest.

After the nap, my dad drove us to Bendeela Recreation Area to find the wild wombats. It was a short drive away from our cottage. Along the way, my dad and step mum shouted when a wild kangaroo jumped onto our drive path. We saw a group of kangaroos on the greens when we approached the campsite. We alighted and tried to take photos of the kangaroos but they jumped away when they sensed someone walking near them. There were a lot of poos on the grass too, so we carefully avoided the poos when we walked on the grass. After that, we drove further into the campsite. I went to toilet first and when i came out of the toilet, my dad they all were taking photos near a parked van. So i headed towards them and found they were taking photos of a huge and fat wombat. And, the wombat did not bother with our presence and kept on looking for food. I tried to touch the wombat and it felt warm. The old couple (of the van) told us the wombat came sneaking on their van last night, looking for food too.

Southern pies

Birthday cake

After that, we walked into the campsite and managed to see some more kangaroos and wombats. They were all so carefree there. We stayed around for photo taking and left the site around 6 plus. When we reached the cottage, we started to prepare our dinner. My sister brought out a cake slide and my dad said it was for my birthday (that they forget to buy on the actual day). After that, we showered and got ready for bed as we will be leaving for Canberra tomorrow.

Places visited:
Fitzroy Falls National Park
Bendeela Recreation Area

Hotel Stayed:
The Heavens Mountains Escape (Elysium Cottage)

Featherdale Wildlife Park, Australia Trip (Day 4)

19th Feb 2019, Tuesday

Today, we are leaving Sydney and moving to Kangaroo Valley. But first, we will head to Featherdale Wildlife Park (To bring my dad to see live jumping kangaroos..hohoho). We got up early and got ready. I went down to get a hot chocolate when the others packed the luggage. After that, we checked out from the lovely apartment and headed down to Featherdale Wildlife Park.

Park Entrance

The ride was around 45 mins from Sydney to the park and it's located near Blacktown. Along the way, my dad saw a sign directed to a Blacktown Shopping Centre. So he said to go have a look later after the visit to the park. We reached the park and parked the car in the car park opposite the entrance. Then we walked to purchase the entrance tickets and went in the park. We also bought a cup of kangaroo snacks to feed the kangaroos in the park.

Kangaroo with baby kangaroo

Small kangaroos

Crane

Snake

Big kangaroo

There were a few kangaroos near the entrance, so my dad went ahead to feed them. Then we walked further in to see other animals such as ghost bats, bilby, kola bears, snakes, etc. After some time, my dad and step mum went to take a rest while mi and my sister went ahead to check out the park. We also waited for the feeding time for the only giant crocodile in the park. There was a park guide introducing the crocodile and she prepared the meat to feed to it. The crocodile was not really interested in the meat when the guide lowered the meat. But when the meat got the attention of the crocodile, it jumped up and swallowed the meat up. After that, we walked a little longer in the park and collected the cute stamps. Then we went to find my dad and step mum.

Ninja Turtle

Fish & Chips

Fried Rice

After that, we left the park and drove to Westpoint Shopping Centre in Blacktown (think my dad wants to go shopping). Once reached the mall, we headed to the food court and had our lunch there.  After lunch, we split out to go for our own shopping. So mi and my sister went ahead and checked out our own interests, toys and supermarkets..hohoho...We bought some tim sum biscuits and snacks.  After shopping, we headed out to kangaroo valley but the car's gps did not have the route to our booked cottage. So we set the navigation to the tourist office in Kangaroo Valley and decided to look for the cottage when we were near the area.

And as usual, the car's GPS was giving funny routes again, different from google map from the phone. So i decided to direct my dad to follow the route from my phone, just directing him not to turn or turn when the car's GPS directed in a different route. And, i got to learn that the car's GPS would change the route to the one from the phone eventually. It was a long ride, it took around 3 hours to reach in Kangaroo Valley's area and we encountered some roads which were foggy. And the cottage was some distance away from Kangaroo Valley town and the signboard was quite small (easier to miss it). So we did drive past the entrance of the cottage and had to uturn back. But we managed to reached the cottage, and we parked our car in front of the cottage.

Dinning Area

Living Area

Master bedroom

Common bedroom

Bathtub

We were wowed away by the surroundings, mountains and goats surrounding the cottage and the weather was cooler than Sydney. So we carried our luggage and went into the house...the house was soo cold inside. The house was big, there were 2 bedrooms, connected by the toilet (almost one room size)...and there was a dinning area and a living room. Plus, a space for light cooking. There was a distribution on the garbage too. There was a food waste collection which the owner requested the guests to distribute for her chickens and pig). After some time, Jan (the owner) drove by and introduced herself to us. We also checked with her if there were some eating places opened for dinner as it was around 6 plus. My step mum did not want to drive out as it was getting dark, so we ordered some frozen food items from the owner (Should have really tabao the roasted chicken earlier...).

After the owner left, we tried to settle down in the house and agreed to leave the toilet door open on both rooms (One door on one of the rooms can't be locked). After some time, the owner came back with the food items we ordered. Mi and my sister heated up the food and we had our dinner....After that, we took turns to shower. My step mum was bothered by the full length mirror reflecting on the beds, so she took the newspaper to cover it (Chinese superstitious)... ^_^.

I went to lie on the bed early (writing postcards) and was feeling hot even if the aircon was on. So i asked my sister if i was having a fever. She was scared that she ran off to my dad's bedroom and said dun wan to sleep with mi tonight...hahaa...So i got the whole bed to myself. But later that night, i heard my sister was on the phone in the other room, my dad was yelling over the phone (to his workers) and my step mum was still watching tv...hohoho...Looks like they were enjoying themselves....^_^

Places visited:
Featherdale Wildlife Park
Westpoint Shopping Centre

Hotel Stayed:
The Heavens Mountains Escape (Elysium Cottage)

Great Ocean Road, Melbourne Trip (Day 14)

28th March 2016, Monday

Sandwich

Nice Hot Chocolate

Woke up @ 7.30 am today and took my time to prepare as the tour to Great Ocean Road is 11.00 am. Still left hotel early, thinking to go Queen Victoria Market for breakfast. However, it is not opened for the day...Then i walked back to somewhere near the hotel area, saw 2 cafes side by side. One was having more customers than the other, so i settled for the one having more customers. The cafe name is Hot Poppy. I ordered a hot chocolate and a sandwich for breakfast. The food was nice but the portion was big for me. Anyway i just asked to pack up my other half of the sandwich and went back to the hotel for the tour bus to come pick-up. The bus came @ around 10.50 am and went off picking up the rest of the people at the tour office, which we waited for about 15 minutes or so.

Then we drove off and started our road trip. Our driver is our tour guide too, and he gave us a list of 5 items to choose for our lunch. In the group, there is 2 ladies from US and a guy together, a family of 4, a china couple, a old couple and one Spanish guy and 3 Japanese guys. The mum from the family of 4 was quite nagging, nagging on everything and on the son too. As it was a long long ride, we stopped by Angelsea for a short toilet break before we continued the route.

The Great Ocean Road is a 244km road built by the returned soldiers from WWI as a permanent memorial to those who died in the war and it goes along the coast of the ocean. The soldiers had built it by using just simple tools like shovels and dynamites and with their bare hands. After 3 hours or so, we reached the start of Great Ocean Road which had a memorial arch built. The driver let us off to take some photos there too. After that, we drove off again. The bus driver told us there was a big fire on Christmas Day in 2015 when we passed by a town named Lorne. The fire caused so much damage (many homes were lost) until that the Great Ocean Road had to be closed down for the town to repair. This cost the Australian Tourism Board to lose millions of dollars (as reported in the news).

Chicken Burger

Parrot

Sleeping Koala

The bus driver let us off somewhere along the road for photo-taking on the ocean. Then we set off to have our lunch in Kennett River, in a small cafe called Kafe Koala. We all sat down on separate tables and waited for our lunch (giant burgers....hohoho). After lunch, we were free to roam to the nearby to look for koala bears in the trees. Managed to see 2 sleeping koala bears on the trees and there were many wild parrots too. Everyone was trying to get a nice photo with the parrots and koala bears. There was a outdoor camp located there too. Later, we drove off and continued on the ocean road, which we passed by Apollo Bay and stopped at Maits Rest Rainforest. The bus driver was telling us to go ahead and tried the 30 minutes circuit walk as there were many nature to see inside.
So some of us went ahead to walk while some stayed near the bus. Of course, i went ahead on the trail.

After the trail, we continued on the road again and we finally reached the 12 Apostles (it was like around 4 plus). Once we alighted, there were a lot of people there and a long queue was formed for the toilets too. There was helicopter service too, to see the 12 Apostles from above the sky. I just went ahead to walk to the Apostles lookout and take photos (So many people...-_-"). However, the location did not show the total 12 Apostles, only can see 4 or 5 of them. Then I walked towards the bench area using a long walk trail which leads to Gibsons Steps. When i reached there, the bus driver had stopped by to drop the old couple there. He informed that he will come back and pick us up at a later time and said need to go down to beach to have a look. So i went ahead, climbing down the Gibsons Steps....very tiring to climb up and down on it.

Few of 12 Apostles

Path to Gibons Steps

Gibons Steps

The wind were very strong and can even feel the sea water "flying" in the air. So i just stood there to feel the wind for some time. Not able to see the sunset too as it was too cloudy!! Then i took my time to climb up the steps and waited at the car park for the bus to come. While waiting, i saw the china couple trying to take a jump shot. The gal was fussing about the jump shot was not taken good enough and going to cry out. Then the guy told her to jump another time to take for a 2nd shot. And they really did to take 2nd shot...hahaa). The bus came at around 7.30 pm and the sky was getting dark. Then we were on the road back to Melbourne, at one point, the driver told us there was a bunch of kangaroos behind the bushes. So he stopped the bus and went down, think he whispered to get the kangaroos' attention. I didn't went down as i was getting tired, heard from the rest of them, they did saw the kangaroos.

Red Roaster as dinner

Then the bus driver continued on the road back and it was a long journey too. The bus driver was driving very fast too. He stopped by a town which was having some fast food restaurants to let us go for a half an hour dinner. I went for Red Rooster for dinner (think i had it during my Perth trip too). After dinner, it was a continuous ride back to the individual hotels, with mine the last 2nd in the list.
I reached back the hotel @ almost 11 plus and i packed my stuffs for return flight to Singapore tomorrow...(Holidays ending...)

Hotel Stayed:
Miami Hotel Melbourne

Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania Trip (Day 10)

24th March 2016, Thursday

Breakfast

Dove Lake

Woke up @ 6.30 pm today and we prepared breakfast and lunch too as we were going to explore the cradle mountain national park. The park does have many walking trails suitable for all, the hardest one will be the one which will take 2 to 3 days to go up to the summit. There was free shuttle bus service provided too, starting from the visitors information centre. We drove up to the fifth station, which the dove lake was located. Then we began to walk the 2 hours trail around the dove lake. Luckily the weather was sunny and it felt great too.

Buttergrass

Wild Wormbat

After we finished the walk, it was almost past noon. So we ate our lunch in the walkers registration house and rested for awhile. Then we drove down to the 4th station, Ronny Creek. There, we happened to see some wild wormbats and that scared my friend who doesn't want to continue to walk on the trail. So i went ahead on my own up to the resort house of a man, named Gustav Weindorfer who had the vision to make cradle mountain as a national park. I went in the chalet and exploded, inside was the history of this great man and his vision. There was also a small rainforest outside the chalet, which the family will go during their summer breaks.

There was also a memorial for Gustav Weindorfer outside the chalet, then i just sat down on the bench to enjoy the view down on the big field with butter grass. Then i started to make my way down the hill, when i saw my friend came up on his own. Then we made our way down together, until he pointed to mi there was a black snake some distance away from us. i walked quickly to avoid the snake, then we drove back to the visitors information centre for a rest. Not sure was it the weather, all of us started to have slight headache (thought i was the only one). After the break, i still wanted to go walk walk but my friend wanted to go back to the cottage to rest. So the husband dropped me at the 2nd station for the enchanted walking trail and drove his wife back to the cottage.

King Billy Tree

I made my way towards to the pencil pine fall walk trail, which there was a small waterfall and the pencil pine tree. After that, i walked towards the enchanted walk trail. I was caught by the sight of a small kangaroo when my friend's husband caught up with me, Then we just continued down the trail and we saw 2 wild wormbats, an adult and a young. I went off telling the couple with a small kid who were behind us to see the wormbats. The small boy was very excited when he saw them and then he scared them away...hohohoho.....After the walk, we went for another trail - King Billy Tracks. It was obvious nobody walked on this trail. It was a rainforest trail and there were a lot of dead trees and fallen trees lying around. And one thing bad about this trail was it was with a lot of steps.

Dinner

After walking the tiring trail, we drove back to the cottage and had our showers. We prepared our dinner and had a tasty dinner while watching the tv program.

Hotel Stayed:
Cradle Mountain Wildness Village

Places Visited:
Cradle Mountain National Park