Following Sydney, we flew to Melbourne - the best city in Australia according to Virgin Blue flight attendants :) The weather was incredible - sunny and hot everyday! We spent 3 nights in Melbourne; stayed in hostel located in the Central Business District, in close proximity to everything - Queen Victoria Market, Federation Square, St. Kilda Beach, street and alley cafes, Chinatown, city parks, shopping, etc. We really enjoyed the culture the city had to offer. Melbourne is a very diverse city and it shows - through the variety of cuisines offered; the various art, architecture and modern structures and museums; the culture at St. Kilda Beach; and the variety of people who've come to live the Melbourne-lifestyle. We really enjoyed the food that Melbourne had to offer, especially Chinese food! Our favorite restaurant was this simple Noodle house, a hole-in-the-wall-type, located near Chinatown. The noodles were freshly-made everyday and the sauces/soups were savory - Hong Kong and Shanghai style at its best! The cheap prices didn't hurt either ;)
Next was the Great Ocean Road. We thought it would be fun to rent a car for a couple of days and drive along this famous and scenic route (200 km southwest of Melbourne). What an adventure it was to drive on the other side of the road and on the other side of the car! Ben did a fabulous job driving. On our first day, we stopped in the surf towns of Torquay, Lourne, and Apollo Beach to soak up some rays and window-shop. At Lourne, we ventured into the Otway National Park and hiked a few hundred yards to a waterfall. At the end of the day, we stopped to see the 12 Apostles, twelve beautiful rock formations along the shore, before stopping in the town of Port Campbell for the evening. The next day, we drove back east towards Melbourne, stopped by Apollo Beach, Lourne and Split Point to see the Lighthouse. Our evening was spent in Geelong, a small city 60km outside of Melbourne.
The next day, we flew out to Adelaide, located in South Australia. We have been here for the past 3 days and will stay another three. We have enjoyed everything from Rundal Street with it's many retail shops, restaurants and cafes, the Fringe Music Festival that is going on this week, the Central Market, Chinatown, Gouger Street with its diverse selection of restaurants and bar scene, and the beautiful Botanical Gardens. The Central Market here is the largest indoor market apparently in the world. We bought some produce and kangaroo fillets which we grilled up the other night - deliciously lean and very red meat! We plan to visit the wine country and the beach over the next couple of days before flying out to the Gold Coast on Wednesday, the 27th. The famous Barossa and McClaren Valley are located outside of Adelaide - wineries include Jacob's Creek and Penfold's.
Hope all is well back home...We think of all our loved ones and friends back home all the time! We miss you!
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