Mark in Melbs

Mark arrived into sunny Melbourne on the 15th of December. I went to meet him at the airport, and having not seen him for 5 months I was just a little excited. We had been planning this trip for about a year and it felt very strange that it was about to begin after thinking about it for so long!

The Overview

15- Mark arrived!

16 - 21st Birthday, markets, walk, dinner

17 - Botanic gardens, MCG, moonlight cinema

18 - Fly to NZ

19 - Cathedral cove and Hot water beach

20 - Bay of Islands

21 - Bay of Islands

22 - Tongariro Crossing

23 - Taupo, Jane and Martin's

24 - Mt. Manganui, Christmas preparation...

25 - Christmas Day!

26 - Boxing day races 

27 - Rafting

28 - Fly to Sydney

29 - Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb

30 - Bondi to Coogee walk

31 - NYE

1 - Manly Beach

2 - Blue Mountains

3 - Port Stephens

4 - Port Macquarie

5 - Bangalow & Byron bay

6 - Byron

7 - Byron

8 - Surfer's paradise

9 - Brisbane

10 - Mark flew home :(

11 - Fly to Cairns

15/12
So the trip began in Melbourne (HQ) where we were staying in a lovely airbnb on Little George St off Gertrude street. Jessie flew back to Sydney on the evening of the 15th, so we all went out to breakfast on Brunswick street. The rest of the day was spent trying to keep Mark awake watching movies but was unsuccessful and he went to sleep at half 7, very jetlagged.

16/12
On the 16th it was my 21st birthday!! I was so excited for Mark to arrive that I hadn't planned a thing, but after waking up to a few lovely pressies we devoured some pancakes on fitzroy st and headed off to explore. The only thing I knew I wanted to do was to eat my way through Melbourne on my birthday, so we headed straight to Queen Vic Markets to get a bag of still-warm freshly made jam doughnuts that I had been craving for a month. After that, we spent the rest of the day wandering through Melbourne's laneways and down by the yarra (obviously stopping for more snacks along the way). Mark started to fade so we decided to get an early dinner at Madame Sousou, a cosy french restuarant down the road from our apartment. The steaks we ordered were HUGE, but so delish and a nice change to the chicken curry I had been eating daily whilst in Bali. By 8pm, Mark was practically asleep at the table so we toddled off home (not quite the blow-out 21st I had imagined but a lovely day nonetheless).

17/12
On Mark's last day in Melbourne we headed to the Botanic gardens in Richmond (after stopping off for a cheeky look at the MCG) where we bought a picnic and an icecream and sat on the green banks by the lake. It was so warm and sunny, and the gardens were absolutely gorgeous, very idyllic. We then headed home in the late afternoon to change into warmer clothes before pootling down to St. Kilda to the beach. We grabbed some pizza in the sunshine (buy one get one free, bargain!) then wandered down to the beach front to  buy tickets for Whiplash at the moonlight cinema. Finding a nice little spot on the grass, we snuggled up just as the sun was setting, ready to watch the movie. It was a really good film, if a little intense...

18/12
On the morning of the 18th, we packed up our things, said goodbye to little george and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Auckland, NZ.

The Great Ocean Road

A couple of weekends ago we took a cheeky trip on the Great Ocean Road. The plan was to leave on Friday evening and get to Ocean Grove (the beginning of the Great Ocean Road) to stay with Giggy and her fam. Then on to Warrnambool for sat night and home on sunday.

We were completely expecting the worst weather as it has really turned in Melbourne recently, and has rained too much for my liking! Feeling very much like England... Jimmy and Giggy swung round at half 5 on Friday and we hopped into the car and set off to Ocean Grove. We ended up playing guess the person for about an hour and a half non-stop in the car, it was very intense and Freya knew me so well she could always guess my person in 3 guesses. Freya "male or female?" Me "Female" Freya "Famous?" Me "yes" Freya "old or young?" Me "Old" Freya "Dame Judi Dench" Like come oooon! Spooky no?

When we arrived at Casa Giggins we were welcomed so warmly by her lovely parents Linda and Frank. Within about 5 minutes we were offered anything from wine to espresso martinis! This was swiftly followed by the most delish three course meal (canadian scallops, roast beef then pear and almond cake...spoilt rotten) then choccy and a game of uno by the fire. We really couldn't have wished for a nicer evening.

Bright and early at 8 in the morning, Zach  sneaked into our room and popped Yolanda on our bed for a puppy wakeup. She was so excited it was adorable, and every time we tried to close our eyes she would smack us on the face. Full on way to wake up, but way better than an alarm clock. Then Papa Giggins made us a crazy nice breakfast - we had the works, bacon, scrambled eggs, cooked tomatoes, toasted sour dough then fruit and yog for afters. The weekend started very well!

After breakky we packed up and hopped in the cars, I was with Jimmy and Giggins and Freya was with Zach and Yoli (well jel). Although I had done the great ocean road with my fam in a campervan, it was pretty damn lovely in the car. The weather was so crisp and sunny, and we zoomed along with the windows down, amazing beaches and cliffs flying by down to the side of us. Our first stop was a waterfall just outside of Lorne. Jimmy got very excited identifying plants as we walked down the many (many many) steps to the bottom of the waterfall.

After that we went to Apollo Bay where the marathon was finishing that afternoon. What an amazing place to run! We stopped off in this little cafe for a bite to eat and felt very unworthy when all these runners with medals were walking past us...



After Apollo bay we continued on to the twelve apostles just as the sun was setting. Not a bad view at all.

We ended our day in Warrnabool, staying with Zach's friend Andy. Jimmy made a cracking bolognese for the team, then we had a little drinkypoo before heading out to the Loft in town. They had some really great bands and we had a proper little boogey. There were many moustached men and I'm not quite convinced by it.. The man bun and beard are now firmly in the yes column but the moustache? Not yet. After the bands had finished we went to get some cheeky food from the chippy, then when we got home we hit up the leftover bolognese and then Andy's girlfriend came home with a huge pack of maccas chicken nuggets- the food situation escalated quickly.

In the morning we set off for Port Fairy where Zach's family live. We were treated to a gorgeous lunch spread by Zach's lovely mum and then drove down to the beach. Although it was sunny, it wasn't massively warm but we decided we had to go into the sea to wake ourselves up for the long drive home. The water was bloody freezing!

Cutest couple competition?

After getting some icecream in Port Fairy, we hopped back into the car (I got Yoli!!) and set off back home. Little Yolanda slept on my lap the full four hours home, and every time she woke would snuggle a little bit closer. I was in heaven.