Last Stop Melbourne

Feb  21st  - My flight was at 10:00 am and we dropped our car at Europcar well before time. Luckily we didn't bang, so the formalities were done quickly. Our first problem started at Virgin Airline check-in counter. We were 5 of us and we had five bags to check in. Each bag had to weigh less than 22 kg. My bag had my kids stuff as well and it was weighing 28 kg. But my husband was checking in a luggage of only 15 kg. They didn't agree to compensate with my husband's luggage. I had to repack my suitcase to reduce the weight. I found that quite absurd!! Anyways, it was just an hour flight to Melbourne and it was ok. The inflight entertainment didn't work for me and the air-hostess was quite clueless. 

Again, I had booked a car at Melbourne at Europcar. Here, they didn't have the car that I booked. Funnily, my husband and I were recollecting the Seinfeld episode where he is in a similar situation. They gave us a Volkswagen car and we had to wait for such a long time, for them to arrange for a car seat for my toddler. Only after we started travelling, we realised how horrible the car was. Anyways, I had made my reservation at Punthill South Yarra Grand. I had booked a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 nights, which costed me about Rs. 42,000. It took us a good 45 minute drive in the traffic and it felt like I was in a city.

Like in every other place, the apartment had air-conditioning only in the living room. It was quite hot and stuffy in the bedroom. But the location is fantastic. There is a tram station and railway station nearby. The eateries and shopping places nearby are fantastic as well. The people at the reception were very warm and helped us in planning our things to do. The day we landed, it was white night at Melbourne. We went around 5 to explore the place and the atmosphere was just mind-blowing. They were people performing dance, skits and various acts. The street food and shopping were brilliant. I'm so glad we went around 5 and explored the place. While we were leaving at around 9:30, the place was jam packed and there was no place to move.

Feb 22nd - We had tickets to watch India - South Africa Match. It was way too hot but a good match to enjoy

Feb 23rd - We did a bit of shopping. I had booked a table for hubby and I, at Vue De Monde. The experience was to die for. Oh boy, I forgot to mention that during the day I did eat at Adriano Zumbo. The desserts... I'm still drooling

Feb 24th - We checked out by around 10:30 to drive to Great Ocean Road. Here is the deal, you type Great Ocean Road on GPS, it takes you through the highway. While we were driving, we were wondering as to why we can't see the ocean. We then figured that the GPS always shows the shortest route. I then remembered the stops and we found our way to Torquay. From there on the drive was so inviting. We took pit stops at so many places to enjoy the view. It was almost 7:30 pm by the time we reached 12 apostles and it was the sun was just setting. You can just sit there for hours and enjoy the beauty. 

I had booked my stay at Best Western Great Ocean Inn, Port Campbell. This place is hardly 10 minutes drive from 12 apostles. I had paid Rs. 16350 for a single night for 2 rooms. The room was quite basic and nice. We had dinner at this place, which was right opposite the ocean. Good food and this was the only place which was open late. 

Feb 25th - You can order your breakfast at the hotel, provided to inform them by 8:00 pm previous day. Since we didn't, we checked out and headed for breakfast at a cafe. After that, we again stopped at 12 apostles to enjoy the beauty one last time. We then drove without any stop back to the city. We did a bit of shopping at the outlet mall. After all the shopping, we went to Queen Victoria Evening market. The place had brilliant food. We were all pretty tired just travelling so much. We headed back to the airport early. Guess what? I had bid for my return journey as well, and we had all been upgraded to Business Class.

Th travel back home was wonderful and we had such a good time at Australia.

My Big Aussie Holiday

I recently came back from a 2 week Aussie trip. I have been planning this trip for almost a year. It all started when hubby said he wanted to go for Australia for 2015 World Cup. We managed to get the tickets for India-SA at Melbourne and India-Pakistan at Adelaide. We were initially to do this trip with friends, but due to various changes, we did it with MIL and neighbour.

Australia is huge and we wanted to do just a 2 week holiday. The number of places to visit at Australia are too many but we had less time. I certainly didn't want to go about visiting all the places, without really exploring it. The main places that I wanted to visit was Adelaide (because of the match), Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Brisbane and Great Barrier Reef. With a toddler, I knew it would be difficult to do the activities at Gold Coast and Great Barrier Reef. 

My travel agent, then told me about Tasmania. After reading about it, I felt I had to visit the place. I then narrowed down my list to Adelaide, Tasmania and Melbourne. Everyone were surprised that I left Sydney and Gold Coast. I just thought this itinerary would do justice to the number of days that I had. I roughly saw the places of interest in each place and I had calculated 3 nights at Adelaide, 5 nights at Tasmania and 5 nights at Melbourne. I then saw a deal on makemytrip for Adelaide hotel and I got an extra night free for the same price. So I was finally doing 4 nights at Adelaide, 5 nights at Tasmania and 5 nights at Melbourne.

Around August, we wanted to start booking our flight ticket. Malaysian Airline had put up a sale, with each ticket costing us Rs. 45,000 return. Now that was super cheap, when compared to Singapore Airline that I was getting at Rs. 65,000 return. By this time, we had decided to leave the little one with my parents. I was not confident about my decision, but I thought it would be better for the little one, considering the amount of travelling to do. And I really didn't book his ticket as well!!! 

Around last week of October, I booked my internal flight from Adelaide to Hobart in Qantas Airline. The ticket was charged Rs. 12,500 per person. Around the same time, I booked my flight from Launceston to Melbourne in Virgin Australia Airline. The ticket was Rs. 4500 per person. After a month passed, my son tells me that he will not stay with my parents and he would also travel with us. I called each airline and booked his ticket as well. Luckily for internal flight, it was almost the same price. But his ticket at Malaysian Airline costed Rs. 62,000 return. Now for a child, that was super expensive!! I was almost paying what I was paying for myself with internal flights!!

The next post will have details of all my bookings and what I did at Adelaide.