Monday Feb 4th:
Today is our last day in Maui. We hit the pool before checking out and heading to a cool beach town called Paia. We walked down the main drag and checked out some cool shops. We had some lunch and then headed towards the airport area where we moped through a K-mart before checking in for our flight. We were quite early and ended up jumping on an earlier flight and 25 minutes later we were in Honolulu! There was a local gem called Byron's right next to our hotel so we had dinner there. It's been there for 47 years and unfortunately it's closing at the end of the month. The clam chowder was thick as mud and was gross. The burger made up for it though.
Tuesday Feb 5th:
This morning we woke up early for our 7:30 flight to Melbourne. The flight was good but nearly 11 hours long which is a bit rough. There was a young kid who was throwing up steadily for the last 3 hours of the flight. Luckily we weren't too close to him.
Wednesday Feb 6th:
Thanks to the international dateline we landed this afternoon in Melbourne. My friend Julie picked us up from the airport and after dropping our bags off at our hotel we all went for dinner at a cool place by the water. We then watched the sunset atop the tallest building here called the Eureka tower. It is tall! We were on the 88th floor! Amazing views greeted us from all directions and Jules was able to point out some local landmarks. After a long walk around the city we called it a night!
Thursday Feb 7th:
Today we went on a bus tour that we found on Groupon before leaving home. The first stop was for morning tea and a cake called a lamenton. Its like a sponge cake covered in a chocolate cream and rolled in coconut. Very tasty! After we finished up it was time to feed the big cockatoos. These were big white birds with lil yellow mohawks. Adorable as they were from a distance as soon as we entered their little yard they swarmed and perched themselves on our shoulders and arms. It was really cool but their claws were very sharp so my arms got a few scratches. The next stop was a ride on the famous Puffing Billy steam train... due to it being dry and 35 degrees the train wasn't puffing because of the total fire ban. Today is the 4th anniversary of Black Saturday- the peak of a massive fire that devastated local areas and claimed over 150 lives. On a happier note, most of the trees have regenerated and lots of places are rebuilt after the tragedy. After the train ride we stopped at Fergusons winery for an amazing roast beef lunch. We sat with a nice aussie couple that we chatted with most of the day. There was also a young couple who were either dating or siblings. We leaned towards the siblings option in light of their matching facial hairy moles. They were either genetic, or perhaps their similarities drew them together. Next was the Healesville sanctuary!!! home of several native Australian animals such as koalas, wombats, platypus, kangaroos etc. We headed straight to the koala area! if you've seen the youtube video of Kristen Bells reaction to a sloth then you can imagine how I looked as we came face to face with multiple koalas. My life is now complete. Simple as that. The neat thing about this place was the ability to be in close proximity to the animals. The kangaroo area consisted of a large area with a pathway winding through it. There was nothing physically stopping us from going right up to them. Although I'd never want to bother one of them by going too close, it felt cool to have the option. We saw a really cool birds of prey show and then saw a couple barn owls hump! They were in separate tree trunk holes and then one flew into the other guys tree hole and hopped right on top of him! He stayed there a couple minutes and they made some interesting sounds. Google will have to confirm it, but I'm sure it was owl sex. Our driver was awesome and quite funny. we passed roadwork and he commented how nice it is that the flag people point for you to drive next to them. He said something like, "oh thanks there, I was actually going to drive right over you and into the back of that truck." I found this snarky joke particularly hilarious. On our way home from dinner we passed a set of twins. They were super cute with matching outfits from shoes to their shoulder bags. The interesting bit is that they were 50 year old men!
Friday Feb 8th:
Today we took a city tram to St. Kilda- a beach area 20 minutes outside the city. We enjoyed a nice tapas lunch, tanned, and watched some beach volleyball as there was a tournament going on. We went to a brew house for dinner and tried to watch cricket on the TV there. We then came to the conclusion that cricket is only popular due to its history; it's not a sport that you discover and become a fan of. Aussie rules football and Rugby: both sports that you instantly become a fan of, however.
Saturday Feb 9th:
Today Jules picked us up early and we headed for a drive down the Great Ocean Road. The road is long and windy and is full of stunning coastline views of the cliffsides, the beaches, and awesome waves breaking along the shore. Our ultimate destination was the 12 Apostles. These are a series of monoliths (rock chunks) that stand alone meters away from the natural cliff-face of the shore. Years or erosion wore away at the cliffs but these large chunks remain as standing soldiers surrounded by water. It was a stunning landscape to witness. There are 8 or 9 remaining, as a few have succumb to the pounding waters over the years. We enjoyed the best chicken sandwich of our lives when we stopped at Apollo Bay on the way back. Food here is spot on! Everything we've eaten has been a step above the average level of food we'd expected. After more driving and a few koalas spotted along the way we were back at our hotel by 7:30. A nearly 12 hour day! A subway dinner with liquor store beers capped off our day as we watched some 'footy' on TV.
Sunday Feb 10th:
This is our last full day in Melbourne and in keeping with tradition we enjoyed a Maccas breakfast. (This is Aussie slang for McDonalds). We shopped and enjoyed the Chinese New Year festivities. Pretty mellow day as we fly out tomorrow morning for the Gold Coast.
Monday Feb 11th:
We arrived at Gold Coast Airport!