TravelStream™ news feed for member marcia_octoman on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/marcia_octoman en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:44:57 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/marcia_octoman/1/1211524860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/marcia_octoman/1/1211524860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/marcia_octoman/1/1211524860/tpod.html Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:44:57 -0400 Around Australia in 120 days

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Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Bendigo - Home

During my trip around Australia I drove just on 25000 kilometres and saw many amazing sights. I can't wait to get back to many of them, and am certainly planning more travelling both in Australia and overseas in the future. I can now say that I most certainly have the travel bug! Bring it on!
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Melbourne

I didn't stay in Melbourne, just drove through on my way home. I wanted to show this as a map pinned location to show I followed the coast around back to Bendigo.
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Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia

Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale was my last stop before returning to Bendigo. I stayed for 2 days with my cousin, Narelle and her family. It was great to catch up with everyone again. Aunty Nancy and cousin Rodney were also regular visitors to the house, mainly for babysitting duty of little Abby. Rodney and I played Wii for a couple of hours during the day and Nancy, Rodney and I took Abby for a long walk along the river durin one afternoon. Narelle, her partner Stephen and I went to a trivia night. I wasn't much use to them because they knew most of the answers, however, I was the only one that knew honey is the only food that never goes off!
I had a nice, relaxing stay with family before heading off on the last drive home to Bendigo. It wasn't a nice thought having to go home, but recognised I couldn't escape it forever!
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Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia

Merimbula

Now Merimbula was a nice spot to stay. The hostel was just 150 metres from the beach and at night I could hear the sounds of the ocean crashing against the shore line. To me, that sound is magical. I love it. There was hardly anyone staying at the hostel, so for much of the time I had the place to myself. I also spent time exploring the town and wandered the beaches and boardwalks. For much of the time I was curled up on the couch in front of the heater because it was so cold and plus I had a screaming headache!
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Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia

Batemans Bay
On the way to Batemans Bay I stopped in at Kiama. A beautiful little town well known for its lighthouse and blow holes. The coffee shop on the point is also terrific and had the best lemon meringue pie!
I stayed a couple of nights at the Batemans Bay YHA which was part of the local caravan park. It was a pleasant little spot and not busy which was quite a contrast from Sydney. Birds chirped happily in the trees surrounding the hostel and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. The weather wasn't favourable, so I only did a couple of short drives exploring the town and down the coast to visit some of the beaches and small towns along the way. There wasn't really much to see or do in Batemans Bay itself, so I spent an afternoon watching the Geelong v Richmond footy game on television from the couch in the warmth of the lounge room in the hostel.
Next stop, Merimbula.
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Sydney
During my stay in Sydney I stayed in a motel suite in Kings Cross which was lovely, except it was right across from a construction site and the jack hammers and bull dozers started at 6.10am and were still going at 5.00pm. This was all the excuse I needed to rise and shine early and wander into the city centre each of the days during my 3 night stay in Sydney.
The first day was beautiful and the casual walk into town was good exercise, although it did take 50 minutes to get to the Opera House. I had visited before when the family was in Sydney on our way to New Zealand when I was about 9, and I remembered clearly the steps leading to the entrance. I wandered around the outside, amazed by the architecture. Many people were wandering inside so I thought I'd check out what was happening. An 'Introduction to Ballet' performance was starting in 10 minutes, so I booked a seat and headed inside, just so I could say I attended a performance at the Opera House. I really have no interest in ballet! It turned out to be quite entertaining and worth seeing!
From the Opera House I was walking to Circular Quay when a guy from a harbour cruise company began trying to convince me to climb aboard for an hour and a half tour of Sydney Harbour. He knocked the price down for me, so what could I do, but jump aboard and enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee, cake and commentary of the harbour coastline, buildings and significant landmarks. Of course, the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge was magnificent.
I disembarked at Darling Harbour and wandered around, making my way back to Hyde Park in the centre of the city. By now my feet were absolutely killing me, so I jumped on a bus which took me just a block away from my motel.
The construction noise started again early so I headed off back into town, this time catching the bus instead of walking. I had the beginning of shin splints in my legs and feet but pushed on regardless. I must say, this was possibly the most stupid thing I've done in some time! After wandering down to Darling Harbour, across the walkway to Sky City to see if Phantom of the Opera had a matinee performance showing and finding out they didn't on that day, I could have screamed. I was painfully dying, barely able to walk. I jumped on the monorail which took me around to World Square, just a short walk, thankfully, to George Street, where I watched a movie at the cinema just so I could put my feet up for a while! From there I walked to the mall, into Myer on a mission to buy some small socks to ease the pain from my blisters and a buy a few other bits and pieces. The bus trip back to the motel helped but by the end of the second day wandering around the city, I could barely walk because of the pain of the shin splints. Needless to say I struggled to stand throughout the night and the next day.
Apart from the shin splint issue, the stay in Sydney was most enjoyable. There was so much to see and do and could have stayed longer to do even more. Alas, had booked the next stopover at Batemans Bay, so will have to come back to Sydney again some time.
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Port Macquarie, Australia

Port Macquarie
I had a nice little apartment at the Port Macquarie YHA which had everything I needed. The town itself was quite pretty, with lovely beaches, parklands and lookouts to visit. A little grocery shopping was all the time I had on the first day of my stay after arriving in the afternoon. On the second day, I drove to Tacking Point lighthouse, lighthouse beach, surf beach and main beach. Each had wonderful scenery, although the weather was a little on the chilly side so I didn't get out and venture too far from the warmth of the car. There wasn't much else to see and do in the town so much of my time was spent relaxing on the couch in front of the tv! Terrible, I know, but why the hell not I say.
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Byron Bay, Australia

Byron Bay
Byron Bay was all I imagined it would be. Everything about the town was surfy, hippee and generally relaxed. It was busy with people wandering through the streets looking at the many shops, all with seemingly no agenda but to enjoy the sunshine and chilled out atmosphere the town offered.
The Saturday while I was in town, there was a triathlon being held which brought many hundreds of people to the beach to watch the swimming leg of the event. Just up the beach, others were surfing, body boarding or just enjoying the waters on the beautiful shore lines. I joined them, but a long way up the beach where there was basically no one, to read a book and relax, listening to the harmonic sounds of the tide.
The day before, I had a massage in a local health spa because my back, shoulders and headaches were again driving me crazy. Unfortunately the lady who gave the massage probably did more damage than good, as I walked away sore, having had to ask her to stop a couple of times and reduce the pressure. The following day could hardly move. The bruises on my lower back were a dead set give away!
As a result of the not so relaxing massage, and the day after lack of ability to move freely, my stay in Byron Bay was quiet. I spent some time flat on my back on the bed in my room at the Byron Haven. This wasn't so bad as it gave me time to catch up on what was happening in the world on the news.
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Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia

Surfers Paradise
I stayed in the Surfers Paradise Main Beach YHA for 3 nights. The hostel was right on Mariners Cove so the scenery and facilities were excellent. Just up the road was Sea World where I spent $69 entry for one day enjoying all it had to offer. While there I witnessed a fabulous seal presentation, a ski show and a magnificent dolphin production called 'imagine'. There was so much to see and by the end of the day I felt like I'd walked a marathon. During the morning I had enquired about participating in a dolphin adventure program, however, the limited places were booked out so I was out of luck. Not settling for this, during the afternoon I booked a spot in the 2.30pm session for the following day. Lucky for me there was just one spot left! A cool $175 plus an additional $39 entry fee back into Sea World meant that my two days at Sea World were adding up. Add on to that the purchase of a photo and stuffed soft dolphin toy, just as memorabilia, it was turning out to be an expensive couple of days. The up close and personal dolphin adventure was worth every cent. It was amazing! I had dreamt of doing this for as long as I can remember, and it lived up to all my expectations. Seeing and feeding the dolphins of Monkey Mia was nothing compared to the experience I had at Sea World.
On the third night in Surfers Paradise, I headed to the Australian Outback Spectacular beside Movie World. This was a terrific show and was quite different than anything I'd seen before. The audience was provided with cowboy hats and were members of 2 stations which throughout the night played off against each other, one each side of the arena. The performers played the main role, while taking the audience through a journey of history on a typical Australian outback station. Horses, cattle, sheep even chickens were part of the show and the performers demonstrated exhilarating horse riding skills. All throughout the show, a 3 course meal and drinks were provided to each member of the audience. The arena was set up in rows with table settings in front of each seat. It was quite a site. The food was magnificent and the show terrific.
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Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia

Maroochydore
The drive from Hervey Bay to Maroochydore was scenic and busy. I stopped in at Noosa, although couldn't get a car park anywhere near the beach or the main shopping district. It was Sunday and it seemed the entire city was out and about. The weather was perfect and from the various lookout points I could see thousands of people on the beach. Further south were other ideal beaches, all the way down to Maroochydore along the coast road.
While in Maroochydore I visited Underwater World, which is technically in Mooloolaba, just a 10 minute drive from where I was staying. I must have had a slight lapse in concentration, because once I paid and entered, I'd realised I'd been here before too. It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours anyway. I watched a 'Seals Behaving Badly' presentation at the seal cove exhibit. This was both entertaining and interesting. The walk through the oceanarium tunnel was terrific also.
I also took a drive out to Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo and spent the day exploring. It seemed like I walked miles throughout the day. I'm just a big kid at heart because I loved feeding an elephant a banana and patted a kangaroo and koala. I also watched a bird, snake and crocodile presentation in the famous Crocoseum. I was both inspired and saddened by the personal tributes that still stand beneath the Crocoseum for Steve Irwin. I jotted a note and pegged it among many hundreds that lined the memorial. The zoo itself is quite amazing. It's far better than any I've seen and superbly maintained.
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