2 MONTHS GONE

My oh my, has it really been 2 months since the last update? Yes. That is correct.

Since we last spoke i have been all over Australia, currently in a little town called Portland about 4 hours from Adelaide.

We did eventually find jobs in Sydney. Which meant we had to drive 40 hours straight to make it back to the big city in time to begin. It was at a fruit farm, pruning flowers and then the fruit later on. It started out okay, good enough pay for what it was and we had a cheap campsite. Eventually though we had to leave because they were in trouble with the council and then finding somewhere to stay became harder and more expensive. In total it was around 5 weeks before we packed up and left. We had almost two weeks without any work because the fruit was not growing as quickly as expected and we felt we were being treated unfairly. Our friendly employers were becoming not so friendly. So we left. For me it was only two days before i was scheduled to leave anyway but for my companions it was a good couple of weeks. But y'know, some things work out for the better.

We stayed in Sydney for around a week and my friend from the UK flew in. Then we decided to drive to Melbourne and do the Great Ocean Road. This is something me and George have already done about a month into our Australian adventure, but it was amazing and it wasn't entirely the same, we made sure the change it up. Including going to a wildlife sanctuary and seeing the cutest baby dingo i have ever laid my eyes on!

Just before we hit Melbourne we decided to rent a house on Phillip Island, infamous for it's penguin parade every evening. Here we celebrated my 20th birthday and then a few days later got robbed. Yup, this happened to us whilst we were having a lovely walk along a beach and came back to find our lock had been forced and i was short of my wallet. An Ipad and a camera were also in the mix. Not a lot got taken, but the most valuable to us. My wallet has two memory cards full of pictures from the past 7 months, which have now gone forever pretty much and the other two were also full of photos. C'est la vie. We didn't let this hold us back. Just a few tears were shed.

That evening we drove into Melbourne were me and Jordan were booked into a hostel for the night. One of the best i have stayed in so far, might i add. (Discovery Hostel) It was bang slap next door to The Queen Victoria Markets. We went for lunch with a lovely couple he had met on his flight over. We explored the markets, bought an engraved ring for $15! and a dog tag for my dog back home. We also went to the Eureka Tower which is the tallest building in the city and from there we could see the MCG and watch the AFL final! Pretty awesome. We also went to a market called Finders, which was full of independent stores and, dare i say it,  basically Pinterest as a market. Cute little knick-knacks and food and drinks everywhere! I loved the place.

Our next stop was the Great Ocean Road, i have written about it in a post before and nothing has changed. It is just as beautiful. Except this time we went swimming in Loch Ard Gorge and saw an awesome sunset. The weather was in the high 30's for a change so it was a lovely drive.

The next few days are going to consist of wineries, German towns and Adelaide. After that we will all go our separate ways until Christmas! I am going to explore Western Australia, the others are finding work and Jordan is popping back to Melbourne before meeting me in Perth.

I'm excited to see what the next few months bring me! See ya! x

EDEN | PHOTO DIARY

We drove across a lovely bridge which took us over a beach in Merimbula. As we were trying to get to the Victoria border we decided not to stop here and continue to the next town along; Eden. 

It was a very hot day so we parked Julie under the shade and walked across the road to the beach in Eden. This is the last town before the border into Victoria.

The beach was very long and stretched along the bay. 

I had to take a photo of the ship called 'Norfolk', which according to the story dropped anchor in the bay on one of its journeys.

PEBBLY BEACH | PHOTO DIARY

Pebbly Beach is a little place just off the Princes Highway, between Bateman's Bay and Ulladulla. Originally we had not planned to stop here but we spotted the name on a map and decided it sounded interesting. So we drove down the dirt track for about twenty minutes until we came across it. It cost $7 to park, due to the beach being situated in a National Park. 

The first thing we noticed when we got onto the sand where the wild kangaroos!

Then we noticed the bluebottles lining the shoreline, due to almost standing on a couple! 

We took a wander across the rocks and the way the stone had been carved by the waves was spectacular. Look how neat those lines are! 

Looking out to sea from the tip of the rocks.

The tide was coming in and the waves where getting choppy so we didn't spend too long at the end of the rocks...

But there was a couple of lovely little nooks that had been created by the sea.

Once back on shore we went back to the Kangaroos. Yes, I know you shouldn't approach wild ones.

This one was very cute and soft. Please ignore how red I am, i can assure you it's just the setting on my camera! 

In the end it was a good $7 spent. 

SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE, AND THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

Hello again!

Nine days ago we picked up our campervan from Jucy rentals in Botany Bay, ready to start our adventure. Now i could spend forever talking about everything i did and the places i've been too, so i'll try not too go on for too long. I will add photos of all the places we stopped, but i'll make each place a separate post and include more photos.

First of all, after getting some supplies from a supermarket, we headed into the Royal National Park. Our first view of the roadtrip was honestly quite breath taking.

We stopped a couple of other times throughout the park before joining onto The Grand Pacific Drive, which took us across Sea Cliff Bridge. Before finally heading to our first planned stop, Kiama Blowhole, very behind on schedule. Because the sun was setting fast we decided to go straight to our planned sleeping spot, but we got lost and didn't arrive in Huskisson on Jervis Bay until 10pm meaning we had no chance in getting a camp site for the night and ended up having to pull up in a carpark. 

After a surprisingly decent nights sleep, we were awoken to the sound of a kookaburra perched in a tree. When we had pulled up the previous night we were surrounded by water, but by morning the tide has gone out and we were parked up next to a white sand beach that stretched for miles. 

Mollymook was next on our list, with a lovely yellow sand beach. Two minutes up the road and we were in Ulladulla. Searching for a place to stop on our map, we came across a place called Pebbly Beach. And am i glad we did decide to go here. When we arrived, after what felt like miles of dirt track roads, we stepped on the beach only to find it scattered with wild kangaroos. We spent a good couple of hours wandering around the rocks and watching the animals. Once done we headed straight to Narooma to find a campsite, this time with luck! 

Day 3! We drove to a little town called Bermagui and found a naturally formed swimming pool carved into the side of the rocks. It was yet another beautiful place. Then to Meribula and through to Eden, the last town before crossing the border into Victoria. Greeted to a bush fire. 

Towards the end of the day is when things start to get exciting... 

We decided to go and see the big sand dunes in Croajingalong National Park, by the Thurra River. But our van isn't sounding so good so we pull off to a campsite in the middle of nowhere called Tabooma. Were we actually brake down. The only plus side was that the sunset was stunning and lit the sky red. 

The following day was mainly spent in a town called Orbost, getting the exhaust fixed. Turns out it has been pretty much ripped apart and sounded like a Harley Davidson! Our next stop was a place called Lakes Entrance which was a town situated on the entrance to the Gippslands Lakes. Afterwards we tried to find a place to stop in Metung, with no luck, but got to see the lovely views it had to offer and instead found a cheap campsite along the highway.

Back on the road again with a working van we headed to Golden Beach, also known as Ninety Mile Beach due to it being, well, ninety miles long. It was stunning and full of shells scattered along the shoreline. 

We then drove to Phillip Island, famous for its Penguin Parade, which we were too late for and glad we didn't get to see in the end. But we did get to camp on the island and visit the Koala Conservation Sanctuary to see them close up. Early evening we made it to Melbourne to catch up with the girls we had met in our Sydney Orientation. It was Grand Prix weekend though so there was F1 gear on literally every corner and every other person! 

Saturday night was spent at the beginning of The Great Ocean Road in a place called Torquay, which thankfully we were allowed to camp in even after the office had closed. 

The first place along the famous road is Bells Beach, famous in itself amongst surfers who flock every year to take part in the Rip Curl Championships. Then we passed under the Memorial Arch. Between here and the next village of Lorne we stopped about every kilometre to take photos of the scenery. Then finally we made it to Apollo Bay, situated directly on the Great Ocean Road. 

Our second day on the Great Ocean Road was amazing. First of all we did the Maits Rest rainforest walk in Otway National Park and then headed to Cape Otway. The drive to the lighthouse was filled with wild koalas clinging onto the trees that lined the road. 

Then we drove for a bit longer until we reached Gibsons Steps which lead down to Gibsons Beach which two of the apostles are situated on. After walking back up all of the steps we drove merely 100 metres before pulling off to the Twelve Apostles lookout. It was quite spectacular to finally see them in real life. The next place along The Great Ocean Road is Loch Ard Gorge which has to be my favourite place along this stretch. It was so tranquil. 

We spent the night in a very small town named Port Campbell before finishing off The Great Ocean Road the following day. The Arch, London Bridge and The Grotto were the names of the limestone rock formations situated between Port Campbell and Peterborough. The Grotto was very pretty and had a little fairy pool in it. We continued west until we hit Port Fairy which wasn't as nice as i heard it was, still glad i visited though. Knowing that we had to drop the van of in Melbourne we decided to drive straight to Colac which we worked out was roughly half way. And there we spent the night before heading straight back to the city to get rid of our loved Jucy Julie.