Albany Day 3

We decided as a group to pay a visit to the Valley of the Giants and experience the Tree Top Walk, despite the fact that it was pretty out of the way and we were told that it wasn't that worth it. But when else would we get the chance to walk above giant trees?! So about an hour's drive up took us to Walpole to traverse the (really safe) suspension bridges atop reaaally tall trees.

Valley of the Giants.

It was fun at first, looking below and digesting how high we actually were above the ground, and jumping on the bridges to make them shake. But after a while, the height and the shakiness of the bridges lost their kick, and we hurried to the end. Alas, all hopes of seeing creatures swing from branch to branch were dashed. I, for one, was really hoping to see some monkeys! But besides the few we had in our group, we saw ZERO animals, making it a pretty boring trip. But I mean, if you're already in Albany, you might as well go to Walpole, because as boring as it is, it was still an experience! Who knows, it could save you awkward silences at a dinner table. :P

Looking for possums from the bridge.

We then explored the Forest of Tingles. Tingles are trees which can apparently cope with bushfires and can still grow, despite having a very burnt look. The place looked like the Shire, and so naturally, I was the one to take give them a tour of the place. Tim took up the initiative to play the theme tune of the Shire from Lord of the Rings from his iPhone (which was really cool!) while my tour went something like this: "Look guys, welcome to my humble abode, and yes, that is where I will stay with my future hobbit husband when we get married."

"Home is where the heart is."

Posing with a Tingle Tree!

Abit more fooling around the place, as is shown below, then we headed back to Denmark to try their award-winning pies. :)

"Is that joy I see in their faces?"

"What is that smell?!"

Pies weren't too bad, but I found them a tad bit too salty for my liking. Their lamb and rosemary pies however, were THE BOMB! Loved it so much that we bought two more to bring home for mom and dad.

Satisfied faces at the Denmark Bakery.

Award winning pies.

While in Denmark, we visited the Bert Bolle Barometer, which no one took pictures of, unfortunately. I don't understand why it has to be so big, but i guess its size contributes to its grandeur. It was really good timing as well, at the time that we went, because there was a notice there saying that Mr Bolle wanted his barometer back due to people in Denmark not appreciating it enough. So that was the last chance of ever seeing the world's largest barometer, lucky us! :)

Mr. Bolle's Barometer

Next place we went to was the Green Pool, which was a little sea pool that looked a little green. Lol. What? Perfect description, kay. (Go google if it doesn't hit the spot for you! :P) Personally, didn't think much of the Green Pool, but there was a crocodile rock formation though, and of course, rocks and water = picture opportunities!

The Green Pool.

Us on the Crocodile Rock. (Trust me, it did look like a crocodile)

Then we climbed up and down hills to see the Elephant Rock, which only looks like an elephant from one angle. You can't miss it! (I don't know how my brother did, though. -.-)

The Elephant Rock. (and Elephant Butt)

Up close.

Determined to explore the entire place, more climbing up and down stairs and rocks brought us to a quiet little cove, where we enjoyed the scenery and took more pictures. :)

Zen Albany.

Rick and the girls.

We all dressed up to eat out on our last night in Albany - ended up at this place called Mean Fiddler. Food was awesome, except I made the mistake of ordering Shark n Chips - so ordinary. :( Oh wells. Had a taste of the others, the Garlic Prawns are a must-try. They were really yummy!

Us at Mean Fiddler.

Work of art by Kim. Pure genius :)

Ended the night just chilling, watching tv, listening to Yo Mama jokes, and laughing ourselves silly.

One of our better car shots. :)

All snuggled up in PJs :)

Albany Day 2

We woke up heaps early so that we'd be able to get to Whale World at 9.00 am for their first tour, only to reach there and find out that their first tour starts at 10.00 am! Even the ladies on duty there laughed at us. Pree-ty embarassing. Oh well. So what better way to kill time then to explore the place, pose and take heaps of pictures, and go crazy on the playground? :D

Seaside @ Whale World.

Cool blue 3D glasses with the bro and sis!

Sta decided she was too cool for blue.

L-R: Sta, Rick, Jess, Kim, Me, Tim, Sam, Greg.

This was what I meant when I said 'going crazy on the playground'.

The biggest monkey of the lot. No kidding. Who could've guessed?!

Whale World was pretty awesome - we learnt about whaling, and observed huge-ass machinery responsible for slicing and chopping up whales and extracting oil from blubber.

Whaling: The dirt, the grime, and the gore.

Downside of Whale World: Visual media (3D movie, video, LCD projection) bored us all to sleep.

Best part about Whale World: seeing the GINORMOUS pygmy blue whale skeleton! (imagine how big a true blue whale would be! :O) Oh, and exploring the Cheynes IV, a whaling ship! It was cool, climbing up and down the decks and stairs. I tried to do the classic 'Titanic' pose, which failed for 2 reasons: 1. There was no boyfriend to support me from behind, and 2. In the end I needed 3 people to hold me up. So yeah, pretty failed attempt. :P

W.O.W.

Ahoy, Captain!

Love you guys long time! :)

Back-Front, L-R: Greg, Nick, Sam, Sta, Jess, Tim, Kim, Me, Rick

We then went to see the Blowholes. Man, walking towards the Blowholes was probably THE most tiring walk of the entire trip, the worst part about it was that we didn't see no blowholes! FAILLL. Lol. But the Blowholes (or areas around the blowholes, rather) remain my favourite place in Albany simply for this reason:

"To be with myself and center

Clarity, peace, serenity."

-Big Girls Don't Cry, Fergie -

Just listening to the sound the waves were making against the rocks, and just being still and quiet, and also ignoring the fact that there was a huge lizard staring at me from between the cracks of rock, I felt tranquil and very much at peace. It's therapy for the soul, I'm telling ya. I remember thinking, 'I could stay here and watch this forever.'

We had to literally drag ourselves back from the Blowholes (because of the steep climb uphill, and I really didn't wanna leave that place!). Drove down to The Gap and The Natural Bridge. It was terribly frightening, looking down that deep deeeeep crevice separating the rocks, but it was absolutely breath-taking at the same time.

Rick and I at The Gap.

The Natural Bridge.

Look how tiny we all look!

[Hmm, interesting thought: There's just something about water and waves that I find so appealing, it may have something to do with the fact that I am a Pisces? :) ]

We headed back to Middleton for our BBQ Lunch, which I reckon was one of the BEST meals we had there, second only to the restaurant that we went to for dinner on the last night.

*sizzle sizzle*

We had some time to recuperate (ie. spa, i swear, we're addicted) back at Middleton, then off we went to the Wind Farm! Most exciting part was catching a glimpse of a wild roo and a joey, and while we were ogling at the creatures bounding away, we heard a voice coming from the loos shouting, 'Where? WHERE?!' and then we see Jessie dashing out at full speed. :D But back to the topic, the sheer size of them windmills had us all astounded.

The Wind Farm and us.

View from the Wind Farm.

"And how can I stand here with You

And not be moved by You?"

- Everything, Lifehouse -

After an uber eventful day, we decided to stay in for dinner and eat leftovers, and then ho ho ho, it was time for Circle of Death, Pt. II! :D

Everyone else: OK. Me: Halfway gone.

Albany Day 1

How exciting, my very 1st Roadtrip! There were 9 of us in total - the Ting(les), KimSam, Ricko, Gregs, Tim and Jessie.

Rick, Nick and I in the car. Sta was comatose.

Drive time - 5 hours on average (including stop times). I made up a Roadtrip playlist, which obviously failed to please everyone in the car (Rick and my siblings) seeing as it was MY playlist. pfft. :P Go find yourselves another DJ!

Anyhoo, reached Albany, where we had Maccas for lunch (LOL), then went to pose with the Dog Rock in the rain. I will never, for the life of me, understand how Rick saw the dog as a dolphin.

(ok, Blogger refuses to upload this picture in the right direction, so tilt your head to the right. It's obviously a dog, right?!)

ANYWAY. made our way back to Middleton Beach Holiday Park, where we checked out the facilities, swimming pool and spa. Took the opportunity to jump into the pool and spa, rather, I was dragged into the pool, and then fled as fast as I could to the hot welcoming spa.

Look, a Kim-sized pool!

Jess, Nick, Tim & Sta in the Spa. (hey, that rhymed!)

We later made our way to Woolies to stock up on alco, as well as BBQ stuff for lunch the next day. Then we climbed up Mount Clarence (with the help of stairs, of course, what else did you think?) to enjoy the view of that quiet little town called Albany.

The view from Mt. Clarence

Spent the night eating spaghetti (courtesy of KimSam & Mom) and winning poker. On a sidenote, I think I have taken quite a liking to Beez Neez. :)

Yea boi! :D

Melbourne Adventure Day 4

Sabbath Day - followed Tiff to All Hallows Catholic Church. The alternative plan was to head to Camberwell Methodist Church, where I would've gotten the chance to meet up with Pastor Shirley. Alas! That was not the case that day, because I decided (and it was a really hard decision to make too!) that Louis was going to take precedence over her for the day. No offense meant though! :P Just that I hadn't seen him in a long, loooong, looooooooooong time.

All Hallows

It was pretty exciting attending a Catholic Mass. It was my first time too! So while people were sitting, praying, kneeling, standing, I was ogling at the stained-glass windows, kneeling and standing a whole 2 seconds after everybody else (I still don't know when to sit/stand/kneel lol.), and was trying to inconspicuously snap a few pictures with my camera. :D Did manage to spend time with God, albeit being a bit distracted.

Then Tiff took me to her high school - Genazzano. Very pretty, very big, very Hogwarts. Me likey.

Genazzano College

We visited Camberwell Market - very Sunday-market-y. I was going to describe it as the 'Guai-Lou' version of the Malaysian Sunday Market, but now that I think about it - a fair bit of the crowd was Asian. It had the same feel to it - the crowd, the hustle and bustle, the noise, the haggling - the only thing missing I thought, was the occasional waft of freshly made kuih that I always took for granted back in Kuching markets.

Camberwell Markets

Lunchtime! :) Met Louis in Glen Waverley, had Yumcha at Hakka Tea House. Caught up over lunch, headed over to Chadstone Shopping Centre (which was huuuuuuuuuge) and caught up some more. Louis' quote of the day: "What Mel, you shop?! Man, I'm disappointed." What's with all this fuss about me shopping?! A girl's gotta do what she's gotta do, right? LOL.

Shopping never fails to make me tired - Tiff and I made one last stop at Box Hill to have some Viet food before heading back. Box Hill = Very Asian Suburb.

Box Hill

Bun with Grilled Pork & Viet Pho @ IndoChine.

Louis, Tiff & I. :)