Victoria

We went to the Australian state of Victoria for a week during the spring school holidays. We flew to Melbourne where we stayed 3 nights at Aspire Melbourne Hotel. It was conveniently located close to Southern Cross Station, Queen Victoria Market and the city’s Koreatown. Our comfortable apartment was on the 49th floor with amazing views – watching a storm pass through one night was a highlight.

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We enjoyed a few days of city living. I went for a quick walk every morning in search for some coffee. We caught up with family and I with an old friend. We ate good food and had so much to choose from. We explored the city and hung out at Queen Victoria Market, Degraves Street and Emporium Melbourne. Phil and I were able to have a speedy date at the new Mercato Centrale where we had delicious oysters and pasta balls. The pizza and cannoli we took back were also pretty good.

On the third day, we checked out of our hotel and picked up our hire car, a Toyota Corolla Cross, from Sixt, Southern Cross Station. We drove to Apollo Bay with stops at Torquay to get groceries for the rest of our holiday, at Bells Beach to watch the surfers and at Anglesea where we had fish n’ chips for lunch.

Our Apollo Bay Airbnb was easy to get to and right off the Great Ocean Road. It was conveniently located and just a 2-minute walk away from the main strip and no more than a 2-hour drive away to the main sites of the Great Ocean Road.

There were showers on our first full day at the coast, but we managed to get out when it wasn’t too wet. The first stop was Carisbrook Falls where Phil and I felt moments of déjà vu. It was a good hike up to the lookout and back. We drove out to Kennett River, but we didn’t find any koalas. The showers were getting heavier by that point, so we abandoned that idea. We made a brief stop to take in the view from Cape Patton Lookout and almost blew away. Phil and I ended the day with a walked out to Pt Bunbury.

Like last time, we drove out to Great Otway National Park and explored Maits Rest Rainforest Walk. It was a pleasant walk admiring the tree ferns and walking through the rainforest habitat. We also hiked up for about 10 minutes to Marriner’s Lookout to take in the lovely view of Apollo Bay. We could see our accommodation from the top.

The best day weather-wise was on our last full day where we saved the best for last. We drove along the Great Ocean Road and did the tourist thing. We stopped at The Twelve Apostles first where a modern viewing platform had been built since the last time we were there. The views and the scenery were amazing and still breathtaking. There’s just something about the ocean and seeing the effects on the landscape – it’s powerful. We stopped at Loch Ard Gorge, The Razorback, Mutton Bird Island Lookout, The Arch, London Bridge and The Grotto. Our very last stop was Gibsons Steps. Catherine decided to stay at the top while the rest of us walked down the steep and narrow steps to the beach. It was a great place to end the day and reflect on the beauty that surrounded us.

It was a nostalgic trip, and it was the first time in a while that I was sad to go home from a holiday. I first went to Apollo Bay in November 1996 when I joined a day trip to the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne. I was there again in March 2010 with Phil and Nicholas which was their first time, and I was pregnant with Catherine. Being there with our family being older was a different experience and it was lovely to show them this part of Australia again. 

The Details

Thursday, 3rd October - 26°C

VA 274 CBR to MEL (Seats 2F, 3DEF)

Barbeque dinner at Moonee Ponds

Check-in Aspire Melbourne Room 4901

Friday, 4th October- 24°C

Coffee from House Blend

Morning tea with Jayne at The Quarter on Degraves Street

Lunch at Queen Victoria Market with family: Drago’s and The Borek Shop

Paper Republic at the Royal Arcade

Dinner from Gangnam Pocha

Saturday, 5th October - 20°C

Coffee from Project Zero Coffee

Queen Victoria Market shopping

Lunch from Alex Canteen – Banh Mi with iced coffee and a watermelon smoothie

Watched Runt at Palace Penny Lane Cinema with family

Dinner from Mercato Central – oysters, pasta balls, margherita pizza and cannoli

Dessert from Bing Chillin – Coconut Pandan

Sunday, 6th October - 21°C

Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid from Sixt

Woolworths Torquay

Bells Beach

Lunch from Fish by Moonlite, Anglesea

Checked in Apollo Bay Airbnb, Stone’s Throw

Cooked dinner – sausages and Caesar salad

Monday, 7th October - 18°C

Rainy and cold day

Lunch from Apollo Bay Bakery – scallop pie, ham and cheese roll and rainbow cake

Carisbrook Falls

Kennett River – no koalas, but rainy

Cape Patton Lookout

Pt Bunbury

Tuesday, 8th October - 14°C

Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, Great Otway National Park

Mariner’s Lookout

Wednesday,9th October - 17°C

Breakfast at Birdhouse

The Great Ocean Road

Twelve Apostles

Loch Ard Gorge

The Razorback

Mutton Bird Island Lookout

The Arch

London Bridge

The Grotto

Gibsons Steps

Dinner from Pit Stop Bros (American themed diner) – bbq ribs and an amazing monster thick strawberry field milkshake

Thursday, 10th October - 20°C

Drove back to Melbourne Aiport 

Stopped at Lorne

Lunch from Grandma Shields Bakery with aggressive cockatoos outside

VA 281 MEL to CBR (Seats 2F, 3DEF)