Why Not Australia??!!! – Part 1

‘Why Not?!’ It might sound like a challenging question but works as a bold response too. At times we get encouraged surprisingly by our own reply. Especially to that sarcasm thrown at us when we do what defines us or what we love (in my case, travelling). That’s what happened while we were planning our trip in 2018. When we had Australia as an option, we were ridiculed that Australia is a little too much for us. And that’s how we decided that it has to be Australia. I mean WHY NOT Australia?!

It took us a few months to plan this trip. Quite longer than we expected. So, the destination has been decided, the next question was When to travel? We first preferred December so we could celebrate New Year in Australia, but that month was way beyond our budget. Hence, we changed the plan to November. When it comes to a country like Australia obviously the budget cannot be small, but we couldn’t go beyond a limit. Now that the month and the budget were fixed, the next task was to decide the places to visit in Australia. The initial idea was Gold Coast and Brisbane but later it became Melbourne. Why Melbourne? Well within a few hours drive from Melbourne city there is Yarra Valley, Philip Island, and Great Ocean Road (12 Apostles) and when we read about these places, we knew that they HAVE to be on our ‘to visit in Australia’ list. But Gold Coast and Brisbane are still on my ‘to visit’ list, maybe… not this time.

We still had so much in our checklist to work on; Visa, flight tickets, accommodation, itinerary/transportation and so on. Getting tourist visa took us like a month and while waiting for our visa we booked our tickets even though we weren’t sure if we will get our visa, but thank god we got it. Along with our Australian visa we also got Hong Kong transit visa online since we had a layover at Hong Kong for 8 hours. As for accommodation, we chose Airbnb. Now the biggest problem was transportation for sight seeing. If you know to drive, then renting a vehicle is a perfect option. Unfortunately, only one of us knows to drive so transportation was an issue until a week before the trip. But luckily, we figured out a solution. What solution?! Well keep reading…

Finally, all set for the trip and it was time to travel…

Once we landed in Hong Kong, we got a two-way Airport Express train ticket from airport to Central station from where we took the mid-levels escalator. It’s basically a long walkalator that easily covers over 800m over distance and it connects almost all the main streets in Hong Kong Island. You don’t have to wait for any public transport or cabs, this walkalator makes it easy. We got down in Wellington Street and explored the place after a small halt for lunch.

We also came across some beautifully done wall arts which gave us one of many reasons to fall in love with the streets of Hong Kong. After finally getting tired of walking we returned back to the airport. If you don’t wish to go out you can roam around inside the airport. It is a huge airport and there are chances that you might get lost, or maybe it was just us… Anyway there are so many things you can do inside airport, like watch a movie in IMAX. But I would suggest you to go out and explore if you have enough time.

I seriously don’t remember how long we were traveling because the moment we got into the vehicle we dozed off. Poor Cath, she was trying to engage us in conversation but later realized that we were fast asleep. By the time I woke up we almost reached Warburton, where we booked our accommodation . Warburton Motel, a small but such a cozy place with a beautiful view around. We arrived on a Monday and usually everything is closed on Mondays. But luckily there were two or three cafes open, so we had something light and delicious for lunch.

Later that evening we took a long walk along the Yarra River bank… Warburton is known for Lilydale – Warburton Rail trail(along the river) which is a closed rail track later opened for walking, cycling and horse riding. The entire place was so charming and peaceful. Believe me I felt like I was in one of those Windows Screensaver locations. The scenic riverbank and the suspended footbridge over the river; everywhere I turned it was so picturesque and mesmerizing and so GREEN! we completely lost track of the time.

We finished our day tour with delicious thin-crust pizzas and hot chocolate with little marshmallows on top at the Warburton Village Pizza Cafe which is quite famous. By the time we returned to the motel it was so dark, so quiet and freaking cold. At the motel we met two local travelers who were also staying there, relaxing by the fire pit at the backyard with some booze. The conversation with them was totally amazing! They shared so many stories about their travel experiences and some really interesting and funny facts about Australia. Also few really helpful tips for our trip. It was almost midnight and we said adieu to our new friends and hit our beds.

Following day after a good nighty-night sleep we were ready to explore Yarra Valley. Cath picked us from the motel and our first stop was to Warburton’s rain forest which is few minutes away from where we stayed and halfway before Mt Donna Bueng. Inside the forest the view while walking along the boardwalk surrounded by tall trees and ferns was absolutely magnificent, and the warm and soft rays of sunlight through the branches was so pleasing.

Next we visited a fruit orchard, Rayner’s Orchard. We got a tour around the Orchard and during which we were given an introduction about the place and all the fruits and vegetables they grow. The guests are allowed to taste fruits as they take the tour, honestly I’ve never had that many fruits for breakfast; Loquats, Kumquats, Nectarines, Peaches, Orange and Lemon. We can pick some of these fruits and buy them for like $5/kg (can be assorted). Our shopping didn’t just end with fruits, we also bought jams. YES JAMS!! they also sell jams and condiments. Each of us bought at least three to four small bottles of yummy jams.

Post our scrumptious breakfast, we headed to Yarra Dairy for handmade cheese tasting. Tried different varieties of cow and goat cheese samples. While leaving we bought a huge pack of crackers and of course some cheese. Our next visit was to Yarra valley chocolateries and ice creamery! By now you must be wondering if our entire day was all about eating. Well… YES… 😉

Coming back to the chocolate factory, OMG!!! It was like entering into Disneyland… Except it was the land of just CHOCOLATES… At the entrance they have free samples of Choco chips (Dark Chocolate, Milk chocolate and white chocolate…) in a huge bowl… You can taste as much as you want. The place was overflowing with anything and everything made of chocolate and cocoa. Shelves stocked with flavored chocolate bars, chocolate spreads, chocolate sauces, biscuits, freckles, and treats for kids in different shapes and what not!!! They also had many beauty products made of cocoa butter…

Coming to their café menu, it had all types of chocolate pastries, desserts, ice creams and hot chocolate drinks. For our lunch, we had mini pizza, freshly made scone, and hot chocolate 😉 It was THE best Hot chocolate (extra chocolaty). Seriously a ‘death by chocolate’ experience.

We were running around the place with our shopping basket actually figuring out what NOT to buy. When we came out we were struggling to walk with our HUGE shopping bags.

Our Yarra trip was almost coming to an end. Last stop was to a beautiful strawberry farm. After our quick shopping there, it was time to say goodbye to Yarra valley and head off to Melbourne City.

An amazing day well spent! Yarra Valley is really famous for wineries. it is Victoria’s oldest wine region and there are nearly 150+ wineries around the valley. If you are a real fan of wine, trust me you won’t be disappointed. Since none of us were interested in wine, we stroked wine tasting off our itinerary. Another famous activity in Yarra is the early morning Hot air balloon ride which we wanted to try but couldn’t, due to time constraint. With the hope that we will get a second chance do try whatever we missed in this trip, we were en route to Melbourne City with our heart filled with nothing but excitement. See you soon!!!