08.09 Day Trip to Lorne

With the purchase of the vehicle complete and a picnic packed, we decided that we'd take a drive down to Lorne. Lorne is located at the end of the Great Ocean Road and is about two hours from Melbourne.

Our first stop-off on the way was Torquay, and the surfers beach. It was a very popular spot for those learning to surf, perhaps this is where we'll end up once the summer starts to take up surfing lessons!

We ended up staying a little longer than planned, as when we came back to the car the battery was flat (an issue that needs to be sorted), but fortunately we found a hardware shop with some jump leads and a very helpful gentleman who gave us the extra oomph we needed to get started! The engine wasn't switched off until we reached Lorne!!

A very familiar sight from our visit last year, although we were heading in the other direction!

Made it to Lorne without any further issues and made our way to beach-side cafe to sit and relax in the glorious sunshine!

What a surprise! Another pier!

A small drive out of Lorne takes you to Teddy's Lookout, where you can get these great views over the Great Ocean Road winding round coast! A drive in the other direction takes you to Erskine Falls...

There some warnings that we hadn't seen before, such as 'falling trees' and 'snakes'!

On our way back we passed Pole House, which you can stay in! Interested? For more information click here. There were no more car issues and we got back safely. I'll post a blog about our car soon, when we have some decent photos & when I've got a bit more time!

Anyway, here's a picture of the beast! It's a Mitsubishi Magna Wagon, 3.0l V6 and once its issues have been sorted will be transporting us around Australia!

06.09 AFL: St. Kilda v's West Coast Eagles

We went to our first AFL game at the Telstra Dome with our friends Kevin & Michelle. The match was between St. Kilda and the West Coast Eagles. Kevin is a St. Kilda fan and it was very important for them to win to stay within the top eight. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out, but we had a great time!

The AFL is set out like a conventional league (playing for points) until there is a cut-off where the top eight go through to a knockout, which results in the Grand Final on the 29th September. Apparently the whole of Melbourne shuts down that day! We'll be installed in a bar somewhere, I'm sure!!

06.09 Altona Beach

We borrowed the rellies car again one weekend in August. It was actually the International Lighthouse Weekend, but we didn't want to travel that far. So we thought that we'd travel down the other side of the bay following the Yarra Scenic Route. This took us through Williamstown, down to Altona Beach and onto Werribee.

The Yarra Scenic Route takes you via the Williamstown coffee strip (we didn't stop, as its only a few minutes from where we live by car) and on to Point Gellibrand.

On Point Gellibrand is the Timeball Tower. The tower was used by ships, when the ball dropped, to reset their chronometer. The group of people at the base of the tower are using the it as an ariel for an amateur radio station - call sign VK3WI.

Altona Beach!

Beach Sculptures!

Just chillin'!

The drive down the coast reminded us of South Australia & Adelaide. The route took us inland, where we drove through the cabbage fields ('phew, was that you?!') to Werribee. So there wasn't much to take photos of I'm afraid!

05.09 Classic Bogan TV!

Sunday evenings haven't been the same since the start of the new series of Kath & Kim. This is only the 3rd series to be made, but I remember seeing the others on BBC2 at home - Jo watched the others on the plane last year.

05.09 WANTED: Bisto Gravy!

Expats take stock, and eat stock!

When we last saw Sam & Dan, they gave us some lovely gifts, one of which was a jar of Bisto Gravy. We couldn't believe our luck when we were given this very rare commodity! Unfortunately, we loved it so much that we've almost run out. The gravy here in oz is very different to the stuff you can get at home, it doesn't thicken! Not even the BrandPower lady has an answer!! And its not even in the 'english' section of the supermarket either :(

05.09 Southern Star Observation Wheel

The face of Docklands is constantly changing, so just to show you what can happen in six months around here, I've added the following photos of the developments happening at the back of our apartment.

When we arrived in March there were four and half days (with Friday afternoons off), from 7am to 5pm, of constant banging from the driving of piles into the ground! Since then the banging has stopped and is now on the other side of Docklands as they continue with the extension of Collins Street - thank godness!

The ground is prepared, with more piles than you could image, and I think we heard each one go in! They had about five machines all working at the same time.

The support struts of the wheel were the first parts to be pieced together.

Almost one of the wheel supports has been completed at this stage. The other white objects lying on the ground behind are the legs for the other side.

The two completed supports are now free-standing and now have 'top-hats', which will be used to support the bearings of the giant wheel. The actual wheel is being constructed on the ground to the left in the yellow scaffolding (see below).


The hub of the wheel is lifted into place. The building under construction to the left is a shopping precinct, with another one planned on the other side of the wheel. So the wheel itself will pass through the middle.

As you can see from the photos, progress is pretty rapid round here. Not sure that it'll be finished in time before we leave though, but we'll see....

03.09 Hong Kong - Only 6 Months Late!

It's been six months to the day since we landed in Australia, so we thought it was about time that we had another look at some photos we took in Hong Kong!

I think after this we are just about up to date, apart from the little adventures we've had in the last couple of weeks! I will try my best this week, before we head off to Queensland!

04.09 The Kaisers Come to Town!

At the beginning of August we saw the Kaiser Chiefs at Festival Hall in Melbourne, which luckily for us is just down the road! They were supported by a very good band called 'Operator Please' (they do the music to the VirginBlue advert here), who are now touring the UK. Plus, another band called 'Wolf & Cub', who again were very good, well I liked them because they had two drummers!

A little bit of final tweaking before the headline band come on stage.


I wanted to put a video here, but YouTube didn't like it - bit of copyright infringement possibly?! We both had a great evening, and can't wait until the next band comes along. Well someone managed to get a single ticket to the Killers, while I'm looking into the Chemical Brothers in March. What a busy month March will be having just purchased the same seats at the Grand Prix too!