The Great Ocean Road

Ooooooh but it was great. We hired a relocation van for 4 days (minimal cost as you are returning a van for a company, definitely the cheapest way to travel), a beautiful 3 berth high top called Margaret :)

We started off in Melbourne, and spent the first day trundling along the windy roads, through the quaint little seaside towns of Torquay, Lorne, Anglesea ending in Apollo Bay for an evening on the side of the road, tucked up in bed by 9pm! The towns were beautiful, if I did the trip again I would definitely stop off in Lorne for longer. Lots of cafe's, a nice swimming beach, what more could you want? Oh yes, good weather. We didn't really have that. Luckily we woke up to beautiful sunshine on our second day, and we set off at 8am- silly early for us girls, but when you go to bed at 9pm its crazy the things you can achieve.

Day two consisted of a nice and easy "hike" in Cape Otway national park. In reality it was a meander through a paved fern gully, but it gave us a taste of the forest wildlife, and it was an accessible way to explore for two inexperienced hikers like us! We stopped off at many a scenic viewpoint, they were fantastic. The 12 Apostles, London Bridge, and some of the most stunning costal scenery in the world. By the end of day two the Great Ocean Road was over, and we ended it in style- Beer and Cheese (purchased from Cheese World in Warnambool!) by the Port in Port Fairy, one of the oldest towns in Australia.

Days 3 and 4 were spent driving to Adelaide, mostly through small town Australia down those typically Australian highways where you don't see a soul for hours. And FYI, just because you see a kangaroo sign, doesn't mean you will see ANY Kangaroos. They only come out at dawn and dusk, during the day look under the trees. I of course found this out after the drive. We made a stop at Mount Gambier in South Australia, with the famous crater lakes. The most famous is called the blue lake, I thought it was strange to be called that- surely all lakes are blue? And then I saw it.

The perfect soundtrack

We soon realised that driving through the middle of nowhere with only the radio providing us with musical delights was not gonna cut it. Luckily in Lorne we managed to find a lead to hook our ipods up to the speakers, enter the road trip playlists!! First, a bit of classic rock i think.

One of my all time favourite songs in that genre has got to be Free Bird by Lynrd Skynard. It means a lot to me for a couple of reasons, aside from the fact is it the most stunning solos of all time of course. My brother and I used to play it back when I was at home (me attempting to strum the chords and him flying high with the solo) and it never fails to remind me just how talented he is. Also, when listening to the song at the beginning of my trip, I really heard the lyrics for the first time. Sure, I knew what they were, but only then did I feel some attachment to them as representing how I felt on my travels. Needing to break out of the relationship that was, in all honestly, holding me back from doing the things I needed to do. Every time I listen to it I am also reminded of the fact I made that tough decision, I broke free, and I am living my life the way I needed and wanted to, and it makes me feel really alive. It sounds so cliche I know, but that is precisely what I love about music. It's why I started a blog that was about travelling, but also appreciates how significant music can be on the journey.



There were many playlists made, for the girls, for the guys, for the chilled out morning driving. If I had Spotify in this country I could share them with you. Until then you will have to start thinking about your ultimate road trip playlists. What a cop out ey? Well I needed to wrap this post up so I could entertain you with Christmas Stories! There will be more road trips to come in this beautiful country so it is a topic I will surely come back to :)

So.....Melbourne.....

Harri and I have been here for a week, and maybe it's because it was put up on a pedestal, maybe it was the weather, but sadly it did not captivate us. It should have, it has plenty of music, cafe's, clubs and food, but we fell so in love with Sydney that Melbourne paled in comparison. Plus everyone thought they were ever so cool. Far too cool for us.

I'm also a little bit bitter about missing out on what i'm sure was an incredible gig. On Friday night I found out that Little Dragon were playing in the East Brunswick club for a mere $30. I decided against going- it was cold out, I didn't have much money and I had planned to have a BBQ. Foolish mistake. I've only started getting into them recently, but there's nothing like a good gig to accelerate the love, and I KNOW they would have been great. They have such a unique sound, they capture that quirky electronic sound like no one else- and i've heard a fair amount of both the quirky and electronic. Their singer, Japanese-Swedish Yukimi Nagano, has such a sultry,  grainy yet elegant voice, and she knows how to use it in a way that completely captivates you. This song is a favourite at the moment:

And then there's the first song I ever heard by them, a great dubstep remix by 16bit. It's a beautiful song, one that once I found the original I would listen to on repeat at work sitting at my desk, and I would be transported to a different world, one that involved no soul destroying cold calling.

What really made our stay in Melbourne so great was staying with Brydie and Paul. We met Brydie in Chiang Mai a few months earlier, and after only knowing us a couple of days, she insisted on having us stay with her. We took her up on her kind offer, and it was brilliant! And this is one of the best things about Australia so far, the overwhelming generosity of people - The couch surfing host Zsolt in Sydney, Brydie in Melbourne, and now Mark in Adelaide (who we met in Bali on a random night out) - this kind of thing really restores your faith in the generosity of people for generosity's sake. Its the way it should be, and I implore you to consider more random acts of kindness in future. You end up having wonderful people like Harri and I to stay in your flat and eat all your food :P