In order to travel to Melbourne, we needed to get a permit to enter the state of Victoria. We had also planned to go to Sydney during the break but was unable to go due to Victoria border restrictions. For Victoria, Sydney was considered a red zone at the time and if we visited Sydney prior to Melbourne, we would not have been allowed to enter. Each state and territory have their own border and travel restrictions which was stressful to monitor and often made us wonder if our holiday would happen. The pandemic has taught us that things can change suddenly, and we need to try our best to adapt. As I write this, Victoria has just announced a 5-day lockdown after an outbreak in Melbourne and borders are closed again.
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Our flight was mostly full, and we were served snacks and drinks for the 50-minute flight to Melbourne. I sat with the kids and Phil sat across the aisle in the same row. It was exciting to finally be on an airplane again.
Once we arrived at Melbourne airport, it was quiet. We picked up our rental car for the week at Enterprise where we were the only customer. Our Toyota Yaris was a bit tight for all of us and our 3 bags at the time, but we managed. We drove out to see John and family after that and had a lovely reunion.
Sunday, 24th January
38.8°C sunny
VA256 (Boeing 737 800 Jet) depart CBR 8:30AM, arrive MEL 9:40AM
Enterprise car rental (white Toyota Yaris) MEL -> Moonee Ponds -> Melbourne city
Darling Street Espresso* (good coffee and milkshakes), Torasan Ramen (best gyozas*), Top Tea (refreshing Rosella Cherry Fruit Tea*)
Avani Melbourne Central Residences
In the afternoon, we drove into the city via picking up our online grocery order at Moonee Ponds Woolworths to check-in to our hotel for the next 2 nights. We were given a spacious 2-bedroom apartment on the 29th floor. Parking at the hotel was full, so we had to park our car at a car park a couple of blocks over. Phil dropped us off and the kids and I took our trolley full of stuff up to our room after several attempts to catch a lift. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only 4 people were allowed on the lift at a time and mask wearing was required. It was busy at the hotel, so we had sometimes had to wait. There was also a waiting list for the pool.
We had Japanese takeaway for dinner that night. Catherine and I also discovered the plethora of bubble tea shops in the city. We had refreshing cherry and watermelon flavoured drinks from Top Tea. We also signed up for the pool waiting list but did not get in that day.
Monday, 25th January
39.2°C sunny
Victoria State Library, Melbourne Central, Avani Melbourne Pool*
Subway, Torasan Ramen, Mansae Korean BBQ and Bar*, McDonald’s
It was another hot day in Melbourne. We walked around our area in the morning before it became too hot. The Victoria State Library was pretty to look at, but we were not allowed to go up to the dome. We walked over to Melbourne Central to get some drinks from Starbucks before going back to the hotel to wait for our turn at the pool. We were able to go in at 12.30pm. It was nice to have a pool mostly to ourselves. A father and son were also there but staying on the other end of the pool. There was a sauna and steam room which Phil and I tried separately for a few minutes, but we got too anxious. We were in the pool for an hour and it was nice. We had a late lunch and rest in our room afterwards.
I convinced the family to go out for Korean bbq for dinner that night. We ate outdoors and the restaurant was very efficient and COVID-19 safe. We had a satisfying meal but one that Nicholas did not appreciate much so we got some Maccas for him afterwards.
Tuesday, 26th January (Australia Day)
19.3°C
Melbourne -> Tooradin -> Ventnor, Phillip Island
Queen Victoria Market*, Tooradin*, Phillip Island, Penguin Parade*
Ventnor Beach* The American Doughnut Kitchen*, Ronnie Z and the Fabulous Juice, Roasted@QVM, Tooradin Bakery*, Tooradin Ice Cream Shop, Kristo's Charcoal Rotisserie*
Ventnor Beachfront Airbnb
We had a lovely and quiet morning at Queen Victoria Market before we checked out of our hotel. We bought fresh jam donuts and juice then browsed and bought souvenirs. Not many people were out, and the market stalls were still slowly opening.
Check out was easy and we were quite happy with our stay. We drove to Phillip Island via Tooradin which was the half-way point. John and family were there for two nights so we met up with them for lunch. It was an overcast day and quite windy when we attempted to go to Tooradin beach. We had a good lunch from a busy Tooradin Bakery.
After a 2 hour drive, we arrived at a sunny Ventnor Beach on Phillip Island. Our Airbnb for the next 3 days was spacious, comfortable and conveniently located across the road from a rugged beach. It was lovely to see the water every day.
Later that evening we went to the Penguin Parade after an early dinner. Almost everything seemed to be closed due to the public holiday (Australia Day), but we found delicious chicken and chips. The Penguin Parade was booked out that evening, but it did not feel crowded. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for the freezing cold so that dampened our experience a bit. It was exciting to see the (tiny) penguins emerge on to the shore and make their way to their burrows for the night. We were able to walk along with them – humans on the boardwalk and penguins on the sand. We were lucky to do this during COVID-19 times as I think it would not be the same if large crowds were allowed.
Wednesday, 27th January
23°C
Koala Conservation Reserve*
Cowes Beach*
Riley’s fish and chips
We had a slow morning and took our time getting ready. I had some quiet time reading on a bench overlooking the beach below. We later went out to explore the Koala Conservation Reserve. We found almost all the koalas (about a dozen) we were meant to find. Nicholas was great at spotting them from afar. It was amazing to be able to go up so close to some of them.
In the afternoon, we met up with family at Cowes beach and the cousins had a lovely time together. It was warm and sunny. We had fish and chips dinner and ice cream together at their accommodation. After the youngest ones went to bed, we played Cards Against Humanity Family Edition.
Thursday, 28th January
32°C
The Nobbies*, Churchill Island Heritage Farm*
The Haven Wave Café, Xpress Gourmet Pizza & Pasta Cowes
The day started with a family outing to The Nobbies. Despite the wind, it was a pleasant morning adventure. We walked on the boardwalk, saw lots of seagulls, a snake and was surrounded by beautiful and rugged coastal views. It was a popular place to be by the time we left.
For lunch we ate out at The Haven Wave Café before we went to the last place on the 3-park pass, Churchill Island Heritage Farm. The farm was another pleasant surprise. It was still very windy that afternoon but we enjoyed the exploring and experiencing the activities that were on. Catherine milked a cow, we saw a sheep being sheared and a working dog rounding up sheep and a whip demonstration. We enjoyed the surrounding gardens and animals.
Dinner was back with family. We picked up pizzas and pasta along the way. Our two took their toddler cousin on the bouncing pillow afterwards. John also baked a delicious chocolate cake for dessert, and we sang a belated happy birthday to Nerida. More games to end the evening, this time we were introduced to Exploding Kittens and the sibling competition briefly reared its head.
Friday, 29th January
25°C
Phillip Island -> MEL
G’day Tiger, Subway, Baker’s Delight, Virgin Lounge
VA287 (Boeing 737 800 Jet) depart MEL 6:45PM, arrive CBR 7:50PM
We woke up to a lot of rain. We checked out of our place at 11am and went over to join John and family. We spent the rest of the morning there before going into Cowes to grab some lunch. The cousins played dominoes and had cuddles with the youngest. We said our goodbyes at Cowes and drove about 2 hours to Melbourne airport. We were able to hang out and get some food at the Virgin lounge before boarding the plane. The air crew back were not as attentive as the ones on our first flight. Other than that, our journey home was uneventful. We briefly ran into one of our neighbours at Canberra airport. It was nice to be safely back home.
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