Brighter than the sun

Where did I stop the other time…

Oh, after the Great Ocean Road, another highlight was visiting the National Parks, where we got to stay in something similar to log cabins. It really reminded me of those camp-ish stuff you read in books when we were young. You can camp in the woods – sounds like something Barney & Friends would do haha! Start campfires and toast marshmallows and swim in the lake and fish and see the marching ants hahaha :)

The log cabin, something like a little cottage, has a fireplace and even a book of instructions on how to start a fire, and how not to let it get out of hand. The book says that there was one incident where a couple started the fire but left to visit another friend’s cottage without closing the metal ‘gate’ to the fireplace and guess what? The rug caught fire.

On the topic of fires, Australia’s a country prone to bushfires/wildfires that can get out of hand really easily, because of the hot and dry weather during summer. While the people living there have the privilege to experience more than one season and get a bountiful of opportunities for adventure and fun, they’ve got to deal with the natural disasters that come occasionally too. It’s not easy having to deal with them, especially for families who lost loved ones/livelihoods to the fires :(

As we were travelling, the rural areas had Fire Meters to generate fire danger ratings for grassland areas. Oh there are also designated areas with a Total Fire Ban – no starting of campfires or anything fire-related. The bushfires got so bad once that major roads were damaged, so some towns became inaccessible and it badly affected the people living there. Despite everything, it’s really commendable that everyone living in the same town would come together to help each other out, and help others tide over difficult times. Over at the little town we visited, the people published a photo book portraying the damage of the wildfires, coupled with short testimonies/stories from their town people. Their community spirit is really strong :)

Time for some photos – in no particular order:

Graffiti artists, first time seeing them in action!

 
A part of the christmas decorations at the main shopping street of Melbourne

 
Christmas carolling outside the Victoria State Library! :)

 
Awesome view at one of the many lookouts along the Great Ocean Drive/Road

Some plant that got stuck on my brother’s shoe and he captured it on the cam. Very interesting meh? But will post it here anyway haha, the camera’s filled with quite a few other random photos that my brother took when he was bored, it’s quite amusing! :)

WILD KOALAS!! :) They were so cute. You can spot them on eucalyptus trees that flank the roads.

THESE TWO SLEEPING ON THEIR NOSES. So adorableeee :)

Walking in a temperate rainforest for the first time! It was cold, cos of the shade provided by the canopy. I’ve forgotten all the Geog stuff we learnt back in Sec 2, like the different types of plants that survive in different rainforest types. Still it’s a whole new experience being in a temperate rainforest instead of a wet, tropical one.

Oh, we came across this place that looked so ordinary on the outside,
 

BUT SO PRETTY ON THE INSIDE!

We call it the Forbidden Forest, because it totally felt like we just entered some Harry Potter universe or jumped into a Twilight movie. And it lives up to its name – check this out:

Some supernatural stuff starring my brother hahaha.
These trees were planted long ago by the British I think, so it’s not one of the naturally found tree species in Australia. It’s quite interesting cos the branches don’t really grow towards the interior of the group of trees but grow outwards, i.e. towards the sunlight I think! As a result, the interior of the group of trees are branchless which makes it very beautiful on the inside :)

And this is what you get when you look upwards, amazing:

Random dog digging a hole! :)

Didn’t know you could use the scooter bike at skate parks! I’ve never seen people in Singapore go to skate parks with scooter bikes, usually they’d be on their skateboards/rollerblades. Hahaha cool, wonder when people will start trying this out here. I thought usually only young kids play with scooter bikes!

 
You can always find playgrounds in every town – when there’s a park/green space, there’s probably a playground. Their playgrounds usually have the standard stuff – slide, monkey bars, but the best part is that they’ve got nice swings. Usually it’d be one normal swing and one for babies/toddlers.

My brother trying to be one. (a toddler) (hahaha I tried it too and so did my sis) Anyway, they don’t use sand, but something like wood shavings except bigger? It smelled quite like a hamster cage, but it wasn’t the put-people-off kind of hamster cage smell :)

 
Our sleek car for the trip :) The sky was gorgeous.

Everybody was kung fu fighting~~ A really, really nice jumpshot/kickboxing shot :)

They call this (above formation) the London Bridge. The two rock formations were once connected and thus the name, but it collapsed :( London bridge really fell.

Remember the little cabin/cottage I mentioned? This it the kitchen/dining area!

 
This is it! See the chimney? :)

 
The very pretty MacKenzie Falls!

We could see rainbows because there were so many opportunities for them to be formed :)

Gorgeous view of the valley from… not the peak of a mountain, but a normal lookout. Couldn’t believe that was how high up we were.

 
TOP OF THE WORLD!!!

Wild kangaroos at our doorstep. Half the time, people living in those cottages were kangaroo-watching, and in full gear – tripod, camera, HUGE camera lenses etc.

Oh we went for this quad bike adventure thing, it was quite fun! I thought we all looked like and would feel like Power Rangers because that vehicle looks so like the transportation the Power Rangers use. But… on hindsight, we look nothing like Power Rangers, and definitely didn’t feel like one, at least for me, because I veered off course/track so many times haha.

Looking so professional! Only my parents dared to stand up while riding it.

My mum saw the photos and said there’s something missing in them – they don’t have the vroomvroom I’m-going-very-faaaaassssttt feeling. We came to a conclusion that it’s probably because there’s no smoke piping out from behind, not like those you’ll probably see in F1 cars. Haha! I only dared to go up to slightly above 20km/h, sounds like I’m almost crawlingggg.

VERY DELICIOUS ICE-CREAM! The weather was scorching hot during the last few days, and there’s nothing better than having an awesome cookies-and-cream ice cream to cool off :)

One of the highlights of the trip – meeting a baby Joey close-up! It was amazing. There was a field full of wild kangaroos, and we managed to spot one with a bigger-than-usual tummy, and turns out that she had a baby Joey in her pouch. The little Joey would poke her head out of the pouch to nibble on the grass while the mother eats.

It’s a bit blur but can you see the Joey’s leg sticking out from the pouch? That’s it! Pity it’s head wasn’t sticking out when we got this photo.

Ohhh it’s getting quite late, but in a nutshell, the trip was a really enjoyable, because it had a bit of the city, a bit of the coast/sea, a bit of the woods & a lot of the sun :) I’d recommend everyone to visit Melbourne, Australia and its surroundings one day! The whole experience the areas have to offer were very well done, and the tourism board really put a lot of thought into their attractions and how tourists can access everything.
There are easily accessible Information Booths and friendly guides who will joyfully share with you the sights, sounds and experiences of their home. Kudos (Y)

:)