Melbourne, Australia 2013 - Day 6

07th August 2013

No bacon on toast today as we are on vegetarian diet (with dairy products allowed) until 12 noon. Breakfast is simple with toasted raisins bread, instant noodles, cereals and milk. Staying in an apartment definitely has its advantage. We have the benefits of a kitchen to prepare breakfast which really saves us a lot of troubles on this vegetarian day.

Checking out from the hotel, we set off on our journey back to Melbourne City via Colac which will take an estimated 4-5 hours’ drive. Before that, there is one activity that must not be missed. Each year, roughly between late May and early October, Southern Right Whales return to their nursery at Logan’s Beach to give birth and raise their calves. Since we are here during the said time, we decided to "gamble gamble" and see if lady luck is with us on whale watching at Logan’s Beach. 

Logan’s Beach is a short 5-10 mins’ drive from The Gallery Apartments. Once again, it’s another rainy day. Arriving at the whale viewing platform, only a few people were standing around. They are fully equipped with binoculars, thermal flask and snacks. Bet they gonna stay there for the whole morning. Not aware of how the whales will appear, one kind Aussie pointed and guided us to our first encounter with wild whales. With no binoculars and focusing real hard with our naked eyes... 

"YES, WE FINALLY SEE THEM."

 Wow, never have we imagined to see whales from the shore!!  Adrenaline fills us with excitement as we pointed out their location to Mum. They are not like what we see on TV – whales jumping out of the water in the air. They were just swimming close to the water surface. You can catch a glimpse of their fins or sometimes blowing water out from their blowholes. We spotted about 2-3 whales but couldn’t differentiate if it’s the mother and calf or single swimming alone. After about 30-45 mins stay and contented with what we saw, we left for Melbourne City.

Whale watching @ Logans Beach

Whale watching @ Logans Beach

Logans Beach Viewing Platform

Can you see the fin?

Can you see it swims close to water surface?

Not sure if they are mother and calf but there are two whales

Not sure if they are mother and calf but there are two whales

Click to find out more.

Credits : Visit Warrnambool

Other than being wet, it was a very cold day too. We came to a small beautiful town called Terang and decided to stopover for some coffee to beat the cold after a short drive. Then continue our long drive through farmlands before arriving at Colac for lunch.

Colac is another big town and is the inland route to the Twelve Apostles for those who could not afford the time driving down the Great Ocean Road and yet do not want to miss the opportunity to see this beautiful attraction of Victoria. Frankly speaking, it is definitely a better choice to go by The Great Ocean Road drive. So please, at least, plan for a two days trip. It is not advisable to rush through the drive within one day because first, you will not enjoy the whole journey and second, it is very tiring for the driver. Be more considerate, sit down and take a little bit more time to plan the itinerary so everyone can have an excellent trip.

Ok, back to the trip report. Since we are all craving for hot soup on this wet and cold day, nothing beats having a bowl of hot n spicy Tom Yum Goong for lunch. Alright, it’s Thai food yet again. Lemon Grass restaurant is owned by an Indonesian (I think we saw the owner himself). The food was SUPERB and quite authentic. On top of that, the price was good too!! They served very affordable lunch sets at AUD9.90. We ordered a “FEAST”. It was so sweet of the owner who even offered us complimentary hot green tea and keropok (Asian prawn crackers). Korb kun krup or Terima Kasih?

Stir fry Garlic Pork with Rice

Sweet and Sour Fish with Rice

Stir fry Vegetables with Oyster Sauce

Phad Thai

Thai Green Curry Chicken with Rice

Tom Yum Goong

Still pondering over the lunch, we are back on our drive again through more farmlands. 

Farmland

Farmland

Farmland

Farmland

Cute little cloud

It was late afternoon when we finally arrived at our accommodation in Melbourne CDB – Milano Serviced Apartments on Swanston which is located at Franklin Street, opposite RMIT University and minutes to Queen Victoria Market. Luck was once again with us because our Budget rental car drop-off location is just next to the apartment, making things very convenient for us. We were delighted to discover this unplanned episode. Nothing can be much better than this. It’s almost like you have reached home, dropped the bags and then “parked” the car.

Oh! Before it slip out of my mind, one point that we would like to share with those who plan on self-driving in Melbourne.

Tips: 

Renting a SUV is better than a sedan as

#1 - Wind can be very strong in Melbourne suburbs, making the car swirl as you are driving. SUV will make your drive sturdier;

#2 - It can easily “concur” the muddy drive because it’s 4WD which comes in handy when you stopover at the side of the road to take photos of the wild koalas during Cape Otway Lightstation detour.

#3 - It is spacious and can accommodate five adults with lots of luggage.

Back to Milano Serviced Apartments. We have booked a 2-bedroom 2-toilet apartment, however the room was not available due to a damaged pipe so they are relocating us into a 2-bedroom 1-toilet apartment for the night then change our room to a 2-bedroom 2-toilet apartment tomorrow. We have a 3 nights stay in Milano.

Milano Serviced Apartments

Milano Serviced Apartments - Bedroom 1

Milano Serviced Apartments - Bedroom 2

Milano Serviced Apartments - Living Room

Milano Serviced Apartments - Study Corner

Milano Serviced Apartments - Kitchen

Milano Serviced Apartments - Balcony

Panoramic view of Melbourne City from our room

Panoramic view of Melbourne City from our room (with effect)

Click to find out more.

Credits : Milano Serviced Apartments on Swanston

Check-in at last. Had some simple dinner at a nearby Japanese bento outlet. Rain doesn’t seem to be stopping for the rest of the night hence it’s better to stay indoors. We bought our myki cards and head off for some pokies in Crown Entertainment Complex. 

"SHOW ME THE MONEY"