Who the hell is Ned?!
After a two hour wait at the airport (with Adam saying 'they'll be next' after almost every person!) my Mum and Dad finally came through customs. It was so good to see them again and although we didn't get to the city till about 10.30 we headed straight out to a bar for a "few" drinks and a very excited catch up.
We'd planned to spend a couple of days in Melbourne before introducing my folks to the nomadic lifestyle we have become accustomed to and so what better way to introduce them to Australian life than visit . . . . . the set of Neighbours!! Couldn't believe how small Ramsey Street is and did you know that they just put the Erinsburgh School sign on the fence of some random primary school whenever they want to film in that location?! After visiting some of the sets it was time for us to meet one of the stars of the show - would it be Toady, Doctor Karl, Suzanne (PLEASE LET IT BE STEPH SKULLY!!)? Oh no, we got Ned, who on earth is Ned?! I actually stood pretty close to him and asked Mum when the star would arrive only for her to nudge me and point out that he was already there!
All too soon it was time for us to leave Melbourne and head off along the Great Ocean Road in our Camper Van. After spending about 3 hours being shown by a very annoying little man how to operate every device in the van (including the light switches!) we set off. Got to say that it wasn't the most comfortable of vehicles to travel in, especially for those who got to sit in the back and were subsequently bounced out of their chair every time we went over even the smallest of bumps but it was lots of fun.
The Great Ocean Road was simply stunning. The coastline itself is really impressive, swapping between rugged cliffs and pure white beaches. The road is also periodically dotted with great attractions (lots of which were free to visit much to Adam and my Dad's delight!) and cute little towns.
Highlights for me - well, I loved walking along the sky top walkway through the rainforest in the Otways. It was so amazing to be walking amongst the treetops and looking down at the forest beneath us, not quite so enjoyable though when we were standing on the cantilever walkway and Ad started to jump up and down to see how much he could make it sway! However, the best bit has got to be the twelve apostles (why they're called that when there are only about seven of them I don't know). These rock formations that have been left standing on their own just off the shoreline are simply stunning and even managed to make a complete non geographer like myself wonder about how on earth erosion had caused just those bits to be left (Katy - you would have been proud!).
After about four days on the Great Ocean Road we headed west to a farm where one of Mum's friends children lives. After a few too many beers Ad decided that he would offer to help with milking the following morning and was subsequently woken up at ten to four to honour his promise (he'd only been in bed about two hours!). Surprisingly though he really enjoyed it - maybe because he got to ride a quad bike around and to be fair he hadn't stopped drinking long enough for the hangover to have set in! (IT'S LUCKY THERE ARE NO DRINK DRIVING LAWS ON PRIVATE LAND OR I WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING SOME TIME IN THE SLAMMER!).
Our travels around Victoria ended with a visit to Philip Island, home to the Little Penguins. We wrapped up warm and sat down on the beach ready for the little creatures to appear out of the sea and head up along the beach to their burrows. We waited and waited and waited. Finally a group of about fifteen penguins braved it onto the beach only to turn around and head straight back into the sea as they were scared. This happened about a dozen times - very amusing at first but it was getting pretty cold and seeing the penguins waddle along the beach was falling lower and lower down the priority list whereas returning to the warm van and having a glass of cold wine was shooting upwards fast! We did sit it out though and the Little Penguins (that is their actual name by the way!) were very cute as they waddled up the beach, cuddling together in little groups for protection.
We'd planned to spend a couple of days in Melbourne before introducing my folks to the nomadic lifestyle we have become accustomed to and so what better way to introduce them to Australian life than visit . . . . . the set of Neighbours!! Couldn't believe how small Ramsey Street is and did you know that they just put the Erinsburgh School sign on the fence of some random primary school whenever they want to film in that location?! After visiting some of the sets it was time for us to meet one of the stars of the show - would it be Toady, Doctor Karl, Suzanne (PLEASE LET IT BE STEPH SKULLY!!)? Oh no, we got Ned, who on earth is Ned?! I actually stood pretty close to him and asked Mum when the star would arrive only for her to nudge me and point out that he was already there!All too soon it was time for us to leave Melbourne and head off along the Great Ocean Road in our Camper Van. After spending about 3 hours being shown by a very annoying little man how to operate every device in the van (including the light switches!) we set off. Got to say that it wasn't the most comfortable of vehicles to travel in, especially for those who got to sit in the back and were subsequently bounced out of their chair every time we went over even the smallest of bumps but it was lots of fun.
The Great Ocean Road was simply stunning. The coastline itself is really impressive, swapping between rugged cliffs and pure white beaches. The road is also periodically dotted with great attractions (lots of which were free to visit much to Adam and my Dad's delight!) and cute little towns.
Highlights for me - well, I loved walking along the sky top walkway through the rainforest in the Otways. It was so amazing to be walking amongst the treetops and looking down at the forest beneath us, not quite so enjoyable though when we were standing on the cantilever walkway and Ad started to jump up and down to see how much he could make it sway! However, the best bit has got to be the twelve apostles (why they're called that when there are only about seven of them I don't know). These rock formations that have been left standing on their own just off the shoreline are simply stunning and even managed to make a complete non geographer like myself wonder about how on earth erosion had caused just those bits to be left (Katy - you would have been proud!).After about four days on the Great Ocean Road we headed west to a farm where one of Mum's friends children lives. After a few too many beers Ad decided that he would offer to help with milking the following morning and was subsequently woken up at ten to four to honour his promise (he'd only been in bed about two hours!). Surprisingly though he really enjoyed it - maybe because he got to ride a quad bike around and to be fair he hadn't stopped drinking long enough for the hangover to have set in! (IT'S LUCKY THERE ARE NO DRINK DRIVING LAWS ON PRIVATE LAND OR I WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING SOME TIME IN THE SLAMMER!).
Our travels around Victoria ended with a visit to Philip Island, home to the Little Penguins. We wrapped up warm and sat down on the beach ready for the little creatures to appear out of the sea and head up along the beach to their burrows. We waited and waited and waited. Finally a group of about fifteen penguins braved it onto the beach only to turn around and head straight back into the sea as they were scared. This happened about a dozen times - very amusing at first but it was getting pretty cold and seeing the penguins waddle along the beach was falling lower and lower down the priority list whereas returning to the warm van and having a glass of cold wine was shooting upwards fast! We did sit it out though and the Little Penguins (that is their actual name by the way!) were very cute as they waddled up the beach, cuddling together in little groups for protection.
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