Once again I have neglected to update the blog so here goes:

Phillip Island MotoGP

Two words: Very loud! We arrived early on the coach so had a wander around and found a good spot to set up camp. Neither of us really keep up to date with bike racing so we didnt have a clue who most of the people were but it was great fun watching them zoom past us. There were a couple of people who missed the bend and ended up in the gravel near us (not in the main race) but luckily no big crashes. Leaving the island was amazing because all the residents lined the streets and waved at everybody driving by.

Sovereign Hill, Ballarat

There's gold in them hills! Alot of towns in Victoria, including Ballarat, were built during the Goldrush of the 1850's. Sovereign Hill is an outdoor museum which recreates what it would have been like to live in one of the goldrush towns back when gold was first discovered and thousands of international people arrived to make their fortune. We got to try panning for gold - didn't find any , go on a horse and cart ride and go down one of the mines. All the staff wear costume and put on some performances throughout the day which was good to watch.

Melbourne Cup Day, Flemington Racecourse

We started the day in the appropriate manner - with a champagne breakfast, well actually it was Prosecco but it was still bubbles all the same. We were lucky in that the weather was very well behaved; it was a beautiful clear sunny day. We arrived at the racecourse just in time for the second race so we headed straight for the bookies, put a couple of punts on and then found ourseves a good spot to watch the race. Davie was in luck, he picked a winner, so we celebrated with a couple of drinks. Davie was in fact very lucky that day, of the eight races we put bets on he won five and I won one so we made enough dollar to pay for the day.

It was a great place to people watch, some of the outfits and hats were stunning, I'm very pleased to say that I kept my shoes on the whole day which is more than can be said for some of the other women - some of them had given up by lunchtime!

All in all we had a fantastic day, we moved around the track so we got some good views of the races and the general atmosphere was one of merriment.

After the races we headed to Lygon Street in Carlton which is also known as "Little Italy" both sides of the road are packed with Italian restaurants, bars and cafes most of which have tables outside on the street so walking along it feels a lot like being on holiday. We enjoyed a couple of drinks in a bar and then made our way to a restaurant for some dinner. It was bloody delish!! I tried baby octopus for the first time as well as an oyster - who'd have thought that less than seven years ago I didn't eat any seafood at all??!

Phillip Island

We didn't see much of the Island when were there for the MotoGP so we decided to go back for a weekend of exploring. It was great to get out of the city for a weekend and relax in peaceful surroundings. We hired a holiday apartment which had an outdoor deck so it was great to just sit out and hear nothing but the birds singing, it was total bliss.

We explored the beaches and took a trip to The Nobbies which is home to Australia's largest seal colony. Seal rock was a couple of kilometres away so we had to view the seals through binoculars. The mainland is home to lots of nesting birds, mainly seagulls, so there was lots of squawking. There were also some spectacular views of the islands coastline. After the nobbies we headed to Swan Lake which is the only lake on the Island. Whilst at the lake we saw lots of black swans, some cape barren geese, a few lizards and some wallabies. From Swan Lake we went onto the Penguin Parade where we got to view the little penguins in their natural habitat.

Each night at sunset the penguins swim to shore and waddle their way across the beach and into their burrows on the shore. They were soooooooooooo cute!! We sat at the bottom of a tiered seating stand so were right next to where the penguins made their way across the beach and began their climb up the rocks, they were so small but so quick. After they made their way across the beach we were able to move to the boardwalks where you can get an even closer view of the penguins making their way to their burrows. Photography is not permitted so I have no photos to share I'm afraid.

The next day we paid the Koala Sanctuary a visit. The sanctuary had lots of boardwalks and woodland walks which allowed you to see the koala's in their natural habitat, most of them were asleep - they sleep for 20 hours a day!!! Lazy b*****s!! We were however fortunate enough to come upon one that was awake. He climbed down his tree and jumped onto the boardwalk railing, walked along, did his business then climbed into another tree where he tried, unsuccessfully, to wake another koala. Afterwards we had a game of crazy golf at a really good course, went to the chocolate factory then left the island to go back to the city feeling all refreshed after a great weekend!