As expected, traffic on the Friday night of a long weekend was crawling out of Melbourne but we stopped for a bite to eat and pushed on to arrive at our accommodation around 10.30pm which wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be.

The Saturday was bleak and very cold and I wasn’t thinking much of Lakes Entrance at that point and wondering if it really was going to be a “long” weekend.  They had a Hot Rod car display on so the main street was closed off with hundreds of old cars parked along the side.  Can’t say I was overly enthusiastic but there were a couple of interesting antique vehicles to admire.  I like some of the 60s and 70s ones with “interesting” colours (aka purple, bottle green) and some with painted designs on the doors and bonnet.

Our dinner at the Central Hotel in Lakes Entrance that night was a disaster.  The man taking our order was very rude to Andrew about his request for a modified meal due to allergies and when I got my schnitzel and took a bite, I realised it was burnt underneath so they had just served it with the good side up hoping I wouldn’t notice!  Another meal of seafood stirfry was not served with rice, just a bowl of seafood with a soupy sauce!  I wouldn’t recommend it.  On the other hand, the bowling club the next night was fantastic - definitely the better pick.

I enjoyed Sunday better with a trip to Buchan Caves, about 40 mins away.  We did a 45 minute walk through the Royal Cave.  The limestone formations including stalactites and stalacmites were beautiful.  I was a little nervous because I do get claustrophobic but after the inital walk down into the cave and a few minutes of beating heart and slight light-headedness I adjusted and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On the way back we also visited Lake Tyers and took a short walk on the 90 mile beach which was great.  I’m a big fan of a deserted beach with the waves crashing in and a lone fisherman on the shoreline. It always reminds me of childhood growing up in Port Kembla beside the sea. There were lots of shells in the sand too.

We stayed in a cabin at a caravan park which was adequate for the four of us, a good kitchen and large bathroom.  The bed was hard and the pillows lumpy so we ended up with slightly sore necks.  We are too used to our pillow-top bed and osteopathic pillows!

As we departed Lakes Entrance on Monday, I finally got a glimpse of why Lakes Entrance would be appealing in Summer.  The sun was out and driving up the hill we had a beautiful view of the water dotted with a number of islands and boats.  We hadn’t seen these views when we arrived because it was dark.

So one Saturday morning towards the end of March we headed out to Essendon airport and along with another couple of guys, Andrew had his 15 minute ride over Melbourne.  I happily stayed back in the terminal and watched as the blades started up and they flew off and when they landed again.  It’s pretty amazing how they can just lift up into the air and hover in the one spot.

Some interesting shots were of the Fitzroy and Treasury Gardens which are in the shape of the Union Jack, not something you realise from the ground and testament to our British allegiances!

The view over the Yarra including Southbank and the Eureka tower is spectacular.  You can also see a photo of the new soccer stadium being built which is now virtually complete, just in time for the World Cup in South Africa.  It should be an exciting couple of weeks of soccer with a few tired people at work after watching the games.  Ian will be attending a few parties also when Australia plays Ghana!

Preparations are definitely under way here for celebrations. They have moved the city viewing venue to Birrarung Marr which is a large park area on the north side of the Yarra instead of Federation Square where it was located last time.

We had a wonderful week away, camping for 3 nights at Cape Otway with Nick, Zaida and Marta then 2 nights by ourselves at Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road.

The week started in Melbourne gathering all our camping gear, grocery shopping and experiencing a huge hail storm the day before we left which did not bode well for sleeping in tents.

Sunday morning was raining so we were already a bit muddy setting off - the possums had pooed in the driveway overnight so my hikers were well and truly (re)christened getting into the car.  Nick, Zaida and Marta had camping gear packed all around them in the back seat so it was an interesting exercise every time we wanted to get out.

We took a leisurely drive down the coast stopping for devonshire tea and other goodies at Aireys Inlet lighthouse and then lunch at Lorne.  Playing some word games initiated by Nick and Marta made the time pass quickly.

We saw the first 3 of about 25 koalas in the wild driving into Cape Otway. That area has an abundance of them and by the end of the trip, it was a commonplace occurrence to see one cuddled up in a tree.

Andrew and I have stayed at Bimbi Park before so we knew it had a good kitchen and facilities. We were offered 2 camp sites to choose from and after some perusing, we selected the bush camp because, being a long weekend, the other area was jam packed.  It was amazing the difference on the Monday though when everyone cleared out.

Setting up the tents was “interesting”.  We left it a little late, not anticipating a couple of hitches… It was at this point that Nick realised his tent was not with us. We were puzzled, wondering if it had been left on our driveway, but Nick felt sure he had seen Andrew pack it into the car the previous night.

Luckily we found that the tent I had borrowed from our friends was very large and Nick, Zaida and Marta could very comfortably share it.

It took us a long time to put up the borrowed tent, not being familiar with it, and the weather was not looking good.  It started raining whilst completing this task but luckily we were well on the way to getting the tent up by then. Nick and Andrew did a stellar job of securing the large tarp we had bought to trees and tent pegs to keep the rain off.

When setting up their beds, Nick and Zaida noticed they had an extra sleeping bag. They then deduced that this is what had been brought down instead of the tent which was still in Sydney.

We then had a wonderful few days, managing to dodge the rain for the most part while we were out and about. The wind did howl around the tents at night though.

On a long 4 hour walk through the bush to Station Beach near the campsite on the first day, we did get soaked but the sun soon reappeared and we quickly dried off.  We were glad that we decided to persevere because being up close to the pounding waves of the Southern Ocean on the deserted beach was spectacular. We walked along the beach to Rainbow Falls, limestone rocks with water flowing from a spring, down to the rocks beside the ocean.  The cliff rock is interesting in colour and texture. Nick and Marta took a dip under the falls while I soaked my feet in the cool running water and enjoyed a massage from smooth pebbles underfoot.  It is a great memory.

Other wildlife we saw around the campsite included tawny owls, millipedes invading our tent, bull ants biting poor Andrew in our tent, spiders, dragonflies and kookaburras.

Another highlight was toasting marshmallows by a fire organised by Nick and on our last night, Marta’s delicious hot chocolate cooked on the stove with melted chocolate, cocoa and some interesting additions of pepper and ginger to spice it up.

On another day we visited the 12 apostles, Gibson Steps Beach, Port Campbell and Loch Ard Gorge.  These never fail to impress me and make me wonder at our existence.  It was a windy day which makes it even more spectacular.

Nick, Zaida and Marta departed mid-week and Andrew and I then spent 2 nights at Apollo Bay in a lovely apartment, about 20 mins from Cape Otway.  After camping, we really appreciated the soft bed and spa! There was a view of the ocean and a BBQ on the deck - so relaxing.

We did another bush walk to Lake Elizabeth where platypus live but didn’t see any (unlikely in the middle of the day). Tree trunks protrude from the water of the lake which was created about 50 years ago after a major landslide dammed the river. The trees preceded the existence of the lake. We also did a tree-top walk near the Otways.

On the Friday, we headed back home inland via Dean’s Marsh in the hinterland behind Lorne, stopping at a berry farm to pick strawberries and blackberries. We also purchased some tomatos and zucchini at a farm-gate stall. The tomatoes tasted so good!  It’s an honour system so we just put the money into a tin left there for that purpose and took the produce. We also stopped at an olive farm.

It was a fantastic break away and will stay in my memory for a long time to come.  Thanks Nick, Zaida and Marta for sharing it with us and hope you like the photos.

View the photos from our Otways trip.

They also played their new album ‘The Incident’ from start to finish. The theatre was lovely too - very old with decorative ceilings and walls, several levels to view from with some couches to sit on as well.

Monday night was our French lesson and I can now say ‘My name is…’ and ‘How are you?’ proficiently along with a little falteringly phrases like ‘I don’t understand Italian’ or ‘I don’t speak Spanish’.  It will be fun to try it out in the next couple of years if we make it to Europe.

Saw Avatar on Thursday night which was spectacular though I found the plot pretty lacking.  I was expecting a lot so was probably a little disappointed.

We started the weekend with a lovely dinner at Comme Kitchen restaurant off Collins St and stayed the night in the city.

No wonder I needed to have a little lie-down yesterday afternoon and napped for 1.5 hours!

For 2010 NYE I was in Melbourne - surprising to think that I’ve lived here for over 4 years now too. If you had asked me in 2000 where I would be in 10 years, I may have said Melbourne as a possibility but it would have only been a vague notion that I might have moved somewhere other than Sydney by then.  And if I hadn’t met Andrew, likely that it may never have happened. But I’m very glad it did!

We celebrated NYE with some of our immediate family (from both sides which is a rare occasion) at our favourite restaurant, Afghan Village in Camberwell. It was fantastic and a great way to start the year. The rain bucketed down at 10pm so we were quite glad we hadn’t decided to go into town to watch the fireworks also!