The great ocean road and Phillip Island

After Christmas I was lucky enough to have a friend here in Melbourne with me, and we had the time to do all the things we wanted to do here. As many of you already know, I was really sick for the first few weeks of this year and due to that sickness I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted. I got antibiotics and it got better in a week. We did the great ocean road in 2 days and went to the Phillip islands. We really wanted to see the penguins but they show up around 8 PM and it's 2 hrs drive away from Melbourne so we couldn't stay that late. Luckily, there's penguins in St. Kilda as well! And I already went to see them last Friday. They're so cute.

Anyway, back to the great ocean road.
We drove the fastest way possible to Warrnambool, which is a small town on the other end of the GOR. We spent the first day there, mostly in the Place called Tower Hill wildlife reserve, short 20 min drive away from the town. I highly recommend this place! All the animals there are free, wild animals, not caged or captured. We did 1 hr long walk to the volcano and back, on the way we saw Koalas, Emus and Kangaroos. I could've easily spend the whole day there. Later that day we went to check out the beach and the whale lookout point. It's not the whale watching season but I can imagine how beautiful it would be during the season. The beach was clean and beautiful.

The first time I've seen a koala in the wild.

The next day we drove down the great ocean road and stopped at the 12 Apostles and all the best beaches. It was beautiful and a perfect day despite the 40 degree heat. It's a beautiful drive and definitely worth seeing.

Few days later we went to the Phillip island and it was another perfect day. There's a chocolate factory, multiple beaches, including the penguin point, the animal reserve and multiple restaurants. I can't begin to tell how much I love animals, so to me the animal reserve was the best thing. I fed kangaroos, wallabies, Emu's and cassowaries.  Another priceless experience.

Last few weeks I've been working and getting back to the normal work routine here in Melbourne. Next weekend is a long weekend, so I'm going to Huskisson with bunch of friends. Can't wait! The beaches there are amazing. All about that next week!

Happy incoming Australia day all!

Can there be Christmas in the middle of summer?

Oh Christmas..

What a wonderful time of the year. It's dark and chilly. There's only Christmas lights and white snow.
Days go by under the blankets drinking hot chocolate or warm Glogg. (Traditional Christmas drink)
Christmas songs play everywhere and you spend time with the whole family. And for once nobody is fighting or arguing.

At least that's my vision of Christmas.

In Australia on the other hand, October to March it's summer! The temperatures in Sydney and Melbourne can go up to 46 degrees. People eat prawns and other seafood and go spent their days by the beach. Despite the Christmas decorations I can't feel like it's Christmas. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like I've skipped 2 Christmas's already.

Then again I'm loving the sun. Christmas week only I went to the beach 3 times and I'm going to keep going. I'm willing to give up Christmas in order to enjoy the sun.

This year I did all in my power to feel more like Christmas. My brother brought me some specific food's to Bali and I managed to make a pretty good traditional Christmas dinner with potato and carrot bakes, pickled turkey with Finnish creamy mustard, traditional creamy brown sauce and cinnamon buns. I even managed to find German Glogg from Dan Murphy's. It was close enough.

I moved back to Melbourne on Jan 24th. I've already done heaps of exploring and will write about those adventures later.

Ps. No new years resolution for me, I'm still trying to fulfill the promise I made 3 years ago.