Part 5 Melbourne: Day 6, 7 & 8 (26-28Nov09)

This would be the last part of the trip update and it would be long to cover 3 days.

Day 6: Thurs 26Nov09 San Remo & Philip Island

For Philip Island, we purchased online for the “PICNIC DEAL 3 PARKS PASS” which was AUD 134.75 (for 2 Adults + 1 Child) and consisted:
• Afternoon or morning tea at Churchill Island
• Entrance to Churchill Island (10am-5pm)
• Entrance to Koala Conservation Centre (10am – 5pm)
• Entrance to the Nobbies Centre (11am – 1 hour before sunset)
• Lunch at the Nobbies Centre (two course and drinks)
• General penguin viewing at the Penguin Parade (Visitor Arrival Time in Nov 715pm)

Our aim was to arrive there to have our late morning tea at Churchill Island and late lunch (early dinner) in Nobbies Centre.

PaPa took the wrong turning because we misinterpreted the GPS instruction that we ended up rounding the Melbourne City. We were late for the morning tea that Mummy called to inform them and they were nice to tell us it was ok to extend the timing.

By the time we arrived San Remo which was located just before the bridge crossing to Philip Island, we decided to stop to let the kids see the ‘Pelican Feeding’ which was suggested by the Customer Service in Melbourne City (our 2nd day in Melbourne). ‘Pelican Feeding’ is free to view daily at 12pm. JL enjoyed watching the big pelicans and even asked for some money to contribute towards taking care of the pelicans. The lady who fed the pelicans was also doing on volunteer basis.

Then we drove across the bridge to Philip Island and from there we went to Churchill Island. The staffs were so nice and immediately got us a nice spot to side facing a beautiful countryside enjoying our coffee and scones. JL was enjoying his hot chocolate and scone too. AL was sharing the hot chocolate with JL when one of the staff decided to make another hot chocolate for AL in a small cappuccino cup for free. This was our first meal in Melbourne which was not home-cooked.

The staff was nice to call Nobbies Centre to request the kitchen to extend the hours for us so that we would have a dinner (rather than early dinner) just before the Penguin Parade at night.

We had a walk and stroll at the countryside and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. We visited the Amess House, orchard and the farm area. In the farm, there were a lot of activities which included ‘pat baby animal’, milking cow, blacksmith demo, sheep shearing demo and working dogs with sheep.

After that, it was about to rain heavily that we had to postpone the visitation to the Koala Conservation Centre to tomorrow.

We went and check-in at Cowes Holiday Unit. The owner built a self-contained 2-bedroom just behind his own house. It was not a hotel but it was a home will full facilities. JL decided he wanted to sleep by himself in another room.

We took our shower and then drove to Nobbies Centre to have our dinner. The view was spectacular that we decided that we would drop by this place tomorrow early morning before Koala Conservation Centre since it was late and rainy. We had Fish & Chip, coffee and a slice of cake. JL had his hot chocolate.

After dinner, we went to the Penguin Parade to walk around trying to understand how the work being done to preserve this little penguins and then proceeded to the beach to view the coming back of the penguins. The benches were wet because it was raining heavily. JL decided to sit on the sand in front to have a better view of the penguins. We were walking along the wooden paths built surrounding the penguins’ homes. JL was running along following to see where the penguin went. After that, JL wanted a mini penguin soft toy and we bought for him As for AL, she ‘geli’ seeing and touching soft toy that we ended up didn’t buy for her.

We went back to zzzzzzz…………………………..

Day 7: Fri 27Nov09 Philip Island & Puffing Billy
Mummy woke up early to cook breakfast and also packed our lunch (yes, picnic lunch again after a nice lunch and dinner which we paid with the package). We sat down as family and had our breakfast. Before we left, we cleaned up the Holiday Unit and returned the key.

That morning, we went to pump petrol to the car and went to Nobbies Centre to have a morning walk.

From there, we went to the Koala Conservation Centre to see Koalas and we also saw wallabies.

We had to cancel our visit to the Chocolate Factory in Philip Island and also we supposed to go to Myuna Farm in Dandenong was also cancelled because the slot was taken for Koala Conservation Centre (which we didn’t make it the day before due to rain and late arrival).

We went to Belgrave to catch Puffing Billy- Steam Train. The time we went there was no Thomas Train. We decided to purchase the tickets from Belgrave to Lakeside. It was a long but scenic travel. We had our picnic lunch of pasta and salad at the picnic bench at Lakeside. From Lakeside we took a short stroll and catch the return train where the kids took their nap in the train.

From Belgrave we drove back to Aunty LL’s home and we had dinner together at home.

Day 8: Fri 28Nov09 Victoria Market

 

We planned to have easy going day before we catch the 1am flight on Sunday. We took a train to the city and stopped in front of Victoria Market. Aunty LL and YH joined us along. We drove and parked the cars at Aunty LL’s aunty’s house and took the train. Aunty LL’s uncle was nice to drive PaPa to purchase the tickets from a nearby shop while the rest of us sat at the train stop.

The Victoria Market was amazing with lots of variety of goodies from food to clothes to shoes. PaPa got himself a leather belt. We also purchased some avocado and mangoes which was selling by box. We would be sharing with Aunty LL. By noon, everything especially food would be on sale at a very very cheap price. For example the big box of mangoes or avocado (or any fruits) were selling for less than AUD10 (Mummy could not remember the price).

Then, we took the train back and drove to a town where the set-up of the shop lots was similar to Asian. A lot of the shops and market stalls owners were from Asian countries. We had a very nice Dim Sum made by Hong Kong chefs.

After lunch, we went back home and started to do some packing. We spent the whole evening and night at home. Aunty LL made sushi for dinner which was lovely. Uncle KM came back from his outstation and followed PaPa out to pump petrol the rented car and returned the car back to the car rental. The agreement was we would take and return the car with full petrol tank. About 10+plus, Uncle KM drove us to the airport. At the airport, we started to pack the carseats into the box and send for extra plastic wrap in the airport.

We walked around the airport and JL was too tired that he slept even before we boarded the flight. The staffs were nice to allow us to enter the airplane first and to make sure we settled down before the other passengers came on board.

It was tiring but fun….Overall the weather was ok when we were there. The temperature was not as high as in Sydney and Perth during the same time we were there. Mummy's colleagues who were in Sydney and Perth at the same time we were in Melbourne were hit by high temperature and it was extremely hot. If not, Mummy would be worried about everyone skin and trying to get for zit remedies.

How much was the whole trip? Email Mummy for details....

We planned to go Melbourne again when the kids were bigger to cover other places which we didn't manage to go especially Great Ocean Road and Yarra Valley. Hopefully, by then, they would learn to appreciate the scenery and view of that few places that we didn't go during this trip.

Thanks sooo much for all the great hospitality by Aunty LL, Uncle KM and YH…We will miss you all a lot. Hope to see you soon…. Take care.

Part 1 Melbourne: Planning before the Trip
Part 2 Melbourne: Day 1 & 2 (21-22Nov09)Part 3 Melbourne: Day 3 (23Nov09)

Part 4 Melbourne: Day 4 & 5 (24-25Nov09)