Victorious in Victoria!

Happy September!

As most of you cringe at the thought of summer ending or heading back to school, things are really heating up here in Sydney. The shorts and surfboards are certainly out and the sun freckles are suddenly appearing!

My good friend and old room mate from DC Shari is here visiting and she is really doing Australia right! Last week we did the whole Sydney kit 'n kaboodle and on Wednesday headed west for our Victorian adventure starting in the cultural capital of Melbourne.

Thursday morning was spent perusing good old Queen Victoria Market where we were able to buy everything from cashmere peacoats to boomerang gifts and gluten free gourmet pizza. Following our spree, we explored the rest of the central business district and the famed Federation Square. Everytime I go to Melbourne I find myself in complete amazement of the modern architecture and the trendy folks. After eating lunch in a hidden gem of an alleyway full of paninis and soups, we bravely rented our car and hit the (Great Ocean) Road.

Shari was the first of us to attempt driving on the left and she was a pro! Once we got on the freeway it was smooth sailing. Our 3 day adventure out west consisted of the following highlights:

-driving on the Great Ocean Road of Victoria. Possibly one of the most scenic roads in the world, you have the ocean on your left with lush mountains and wild koalas on your right.
-stumbling upon some grazing kangaroos on a golfcourse in the town of Anglesea, population 400.
-finding the incredible Erskine Waterfalls
-hiking through the Maits Head rainforest
-cuddling by the fire in our AMAZING hostel in Apollo Bay. Seriously though- best hostel I've stayed in!!
-the pinnacle of the trip: witnessing the Twelve Apostles. They are amazing limestone rock formations in the middle of the ocean that exist due to thousands (millions??) of years of erosion from the arctic winds and waters.
-the drive back to Melbourne was great too! We passed hundreds of sheep and wineries and even stopped at a few!

Our most recent adventure was a day trip out to the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains in New South Wales, just 90 minutes outside of Sydney. These mountains go on FOREVER! (really over one million hectares) They are called the Blue Mountains due to the fine mist of oil exuded by the eucalyptus leaves that inhabit the valleys and gorges. Just like the postcards, we got great views of the famed "Three Sisters" rock formations and Wentworth water falls. After an hour or so of hiking through, we took the steepest railway ride in the world (52 degree incline) down to the rain forest section and then promptly took the cable car option back up and slowly made our way home to Sydney.

I had such a great time with my second visitor and feel so honoured that these friends are choosing to spend their vacation days (and money) with me in this charmed country!

Cheers,
Aviva