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| Above is our mini – manual rental car we drove for 4 days with 4 people and 4 bags. It was the very last car available at the airport. |
We spent the first half of the day walking around the Melbourne Botanic Gardens.
And found out it was $25 per hour!
We made a stop by the stadium where the Australian Open was played a few weeks before. (We had the opportunity to go with Tom & Lynne, but turned it down @ the last second. But we’re hoping to make it next year!)
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| Hanging with Rod Laver |
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After spending the day in Melbourne, we drove for a few hours in our compact, mini 2-door car to Phillip Island. Phillip Island is a small Island directly south of Melbourne. The island is home to the smallest penguins in the world and we had the opportunity to see them!! Check out this 1 minute video of the penguins and Phillip Island: |
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| The Great Ocean Road has a lot of similarities to Highway 1 in California. There are steep cliffs covered with rainforest terrain that drop directly into the ocean. The road is windy and the 2 lane highway is tight, but the ocean views are spectacular! |
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| My dad tried to teach me how to take a good photograph, given the difficulty with the gray skyline and the white light house.First photography lesson of the trip: white on white background will not make a good photo (as shown with the light house picture on the left).Second lesson: don’t put people directly in the middle of the photograph (as shown below). |
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Lindsey had to show per parents her best dance move (something she has perfected over the past few months). Luckily, Perry got it in action. |
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We stopped at a town called Lorne, which was a bigger town than where we stayed in Apollo Bay. |
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Lots of wild koala bears at Otway National Park
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| 12 Apostles is the highlight of the Great Ocean Road. 12 rock formations rising from the water. Only 6 or 7 left as the Pacific has taken down a few of them. |
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| The professional at work |
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My parents flights were cancelled twice on their way out to Sydney! The first night, United claimed that the aircraft had some sort of malfunction and provided hotel arrangements for the evening along with a $30 voucher for breakfast (Hmmm.. $30 breakfast for two??). Then on Superbowl Sunday, they got on the plane and sat there for 3 hours before customer service came aboard to say there was another malfunction with the aircraft. United required everyone on board to re-book their seats on the flight leaving the next day! After more than 4 days of traveling, they finally arrived in Sydney, 48 hours after they were supposed to. Luckily, United offered to move their flights home back 24 hours without charging. So, we spent the last 24 hours eating sushi and spending the morning at Balmoral Beach! |
Rob and Linds 