Yarra Darra Doo!

After exploring Australia's answer to California's Pacific Coast Highway, we took on their answer to California's Napa Valley.  Our tourguides for the day: Jeff and Daniel.  Since we still hadn't seen a wild kangaroo, Jeff thought we'd swing by a park where he heard would be good to spot one.  We stopped at a few locations, with no luck, and then it started to lightly drizzle.  As we're about to give up and head to Yarra Valley, Kavita spots a small herd of kangaroos hopping along side the road.  They quickly hopped away, but we managed to steal a few pics before they did.

I can't remember the names of the wineries we visited... hooray for pictures!  But I do recall where we had dinner: Zonso's at Train Trak.  How could you forget all-you-can-eat gourmet pizza, with bottomless sides, which resulted in us having sideless bottoms by the end.  I believe Daniel and I each had two whole pizzas, and who knows how many sides.  While I heard that Daniel later threw up that night, I managed to allow it all be be absorbed into my bloodstream.  And I think on that night, while my weight hit a new high, as a human, I hit a new low, and decided that I must eventually get back in shape...  But before I move on to the pictures, a HUGE shoutout to Daniel and Jeff for showing us around, and especially to Jeff, who managed to stay awake and drive home after all that food, not to mention the wine consumed earlier in the day (and of course waiting a safe number of hours after drinking before driving home...)

I think we forgot to turn off the "Sepia" setting on the camera

Unfortunately, the only food picture we took of the magnificent feast

Australia's Answer to the PCH

Kavita and I booked a tour to explore the Great Ocean Road, which was somewhat inspired by our beloved PCH.  Not the one in New Zealand, but the one in California.  The top attraction is/are the 12 Apostles, though supposedly there never were 12 to begin with, and every few hundred years, one of the Apostles tumble into the water, so the true number of Apostles remains a mystery.

The tour picked us up from the hotel, and first stop was Bells Beach, setting for the final scene of Point Break.  Had some coffee and cookies provided by the tour, watched a couple early morning surfers, then continued on our journey.  Oh, and we might've seen our first wild kangaroo, except that it was sleeping in the grass a good distance from the bus, and could've been just a pile of mud... who knows...

Surfers at Bells Beach

Along the way, we played "Two Truths and a Lie".  I said that I was 31 years old, donated over 100 pints of blood, and was 25 years old.  I forget what Kavita's truths were, but her lie was that she really really had to go to the bathroom.  Apparently, the driver mistook that for the truth, and nearly pulled over.  We eventually did stop, at a small park, where did get in touch with some wildlife.  We spied a koala hanging out in a tree.  While technically in the wild, I get the feeling this koala is specifically placed in this tree to please tour buses passing by.  We also met some cool parrots... I even let one land on my arm and eat seeds out of my hand.

Our first wild koala

Our second

Before getting to the main attraction, the 12 Apostles, we made one more stop to do a quick nature walk.  The walk was more interesting than I expected, and the guide was extremely knowledgeable about all sorts of things nature, including some crazy tree ferns, which act as nature's composters, catching dead leaves and bugs in it's dish-like arrangement of branches, and absorbing their nutrients.  How carnivorous!

Cool tree fern

Finally, we made it to the 12 Apostles.  These structures are caused by centuries of ocean waves crashing against soft rock carving... well you get the point.  The Apostles are truly a magnificent sight, something unique and fleeting.  In 2005 and then again in 2009, major portions of the Apostles have crumbled into the sea, so who knows how much longer they'll be around... but over time, the oceans will eat into the shoreline and form a new set of Apostles, and the cycle of life continues.

12 Apostles

Back in MelB

We're back in Melbourne, but only for a week or so, before we head back to Singapore.  We want to use time to catch up with some friends and family that happen to be in Melbourne.  We caught up with Tejas in the CBD, and he took us out to a few cool, local bars in the area, including a chill rooftop bar.  However, the major drawback was that the elevator wasn't working, but as this place was very highly regarded, we braved the 6 story climb.  It reminded me a lot of the bar at the Standard in LA, though not nearly as swanky, which made me really enjoy this bar in Melbourne.

We also took this opportunity to try out some schmancy restaurants in Melbourne.  One of the nicer ones was conveniently located within our hotel: Collins Kitchen.  They have an open kitchen style restaurant, where you can look into the kitchen and observe the chefs, as if they are animals in a zoo, or scientists at Jurassic Park.  But it's nice that you can also interact with them, so of course, when there were few vegetarian options available, we could speak directly with the chef, who could then personally customize the meal to our tastes.  But the highlight for me was the dessert sampler.  Already stuffed after the main course, for some reason, we ordered the "Sharing Plate (for 2)".  We discovered a typo, and the "for 2" should've read "for 8-12".  Still, we (I) devoured the desserts quite handily.  And I continue along my downward spiral into obesity.

On an otherwise regular Thursday evening, we took in a movie... Unstoppable.  For this, we picked the Botanical Gardens as the venue, and watched the movie under the stars in the Ford Fiesta Moonlight Cinema.  With beanbags, blankets, and a picnic dinner, we couldn't help but enjoy the movie projected onto a 30 foot jumping castle of a screen.