Dear Friends,
On Sunday 9th we arrived to Melbourne, where we stayed until Tuesday. Melbourne does not have the same international appeal that Sydney has, and maybe there are not as many sightseeing as in the emerald city. However it is a great place to go on vacation. People there are very friendly and with summer weather there are lots of open air activities on offer. We enjoyed a lot being there. What a shame that we couldn't stay longer.
* * * * *
One thing I regret is that I could not do a day trip to Yarra Valley, one hour drive from Melbourne. Yarra is one of the big wine regions in Australia and it would have been worth a visit. Having to choose just one place to visit, I have preferred to tour Barossa Valley, near Adelaide, a bigger and more important wine region. Yarra will have to wait for the next trip. So many things will… Australia is too big a country, you just can't do it all in one trip.
* * * * *
When we left Melbourne we headed to Pt. Lonsdale, a bit more than one hour drive to the south. We had booked a "swim with the dolphins" tour. Queenscliff was the place where the boat should leave from. The first time that I heard about swimming with dolphins was a long time ago, when a friend of mine, Ivan, went to New Zealand and did it there. I never forgot Ivan's passionate description of his experience. Marta and I wanted to do it in NZ, but it was difficult to accommodate with our route in that country. We then postponed till we were in Australia. Fernando and Patrícia first were not very keen with the idea, but then agreed to join us. Great for them, because it was worth it!
* * * * *
Our tour was organised by "Sea all Dolphin Swims" in Pt Lonsdale, Victoria. I mention the company's name because we were very well impressed with them. On board were Robert, the captain, and Monique, our instructor. They were nice and friendly and we had a very good time with them. We first went to a nearby place to practise some snorkelling. Then we headed to another place where we could swim with seals. That gave us a bit of a taste of what would come next.
* * * * *
One of the great things about swimming with dolphins is that first you have to find out where they are. That is not obvious at all. The tour organisers do not guarantee we will actually see them. There is an 85% chance we find dolphins, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. In our case it took more than one hour until we finally could see where they were. There was a lot of tension on board, because we were running out of time and had to go back to port. When we saw the first dolphins we were all very glad. Robert sailed the boat in their direction and when we got close
enough the dolphins started swimming beside us, following the boat. It was great to see so many of them so close, but the best was still to come. We all went to water, wearing masks and snorkel, and held a cable that was attached to the boat. We made noise to attract the dolphins and as the boat departed again the dolphins swam beside us, following the boat. Thanks to the masks we could see them underwater, sometimes very close to us. We were not aloud to touch them, but we could have done it, so close they were. This was an experience of great childish happiness, the kind of feeling you don't experience quite often when you are an adult. For all of us, it was one of the high points of our holiday.
* * * * *
After leaving Queenscliff we took the "Great Ocean Road" to Adelaide. In Melbourne we were told that it would be an eight hour drive, and therefore we thought we could comfortably do it in two days. But in reality it was a
lot longer. The nice thing about the Great Ocean Road is that you drive by a gorgeous coast line. We stopped in many different places, both for photos as well as for the beaches. One of the most beautiful places is the "Twelve Apostles", that you can see on the photo on the left.
* * * * *
It took us a lot longer to get into Adelaide than we first thought. Therefore, and with regret, Marta and I had to give up our planned visit to Barossa Valley. We just ran out of time! After Adelaide we went to Queensland, the sunshine State and final part of our trip. We are now in Palm Cove, north of Cairns. Tomorrow we will take a boat to the Great Barrier Reef. Next week you can read about it. The delay in posting this note was due to the difficulty to have access to internet. Where we are it is easier to find a gorgeous beach than internet. I am sorry about that!
* * * * *
Wish you have a nice week!
Maurício
On Sunday 9th we arrived to Melbourne, where we stayed until Tuesday. Melbourne does not have the same international appeal that Sydney has, and maybe there are not as many sightseeing as in the emerald city. However it is a great place to go on vacation. People there are very friendly and with summer weather there are lots of open air activities on offer. We enjoyed a lot being there. What a shame that we couldn't stay longer.
* * * * *
One thing I regret is that I could not do a day trip to Yarra Valley, one hour drive from Melbourne. Yarra is one of the big wine regions in Australia and it would have been worth a visit. Having to choose just one place to visit, I have preferred to tour Barossa Valley, near Adelaide, a bigger and more important wine region. Yarra will have to wait for the next trip. So many things will… Australia is too big a country, you just can't do it all in one trip.
* * * * *
When we left Melbourne we headed to Pt. Lonsdale, a bit more than one hour drive to the south. We had booked a "swim with the dolphins" tour. Queenscliff was the place where the boat should leave from. The first time that I heard about swimming with dolphins was a long time ago, when a friend of mine, Ivan, went to New Zealand and did it there. I never forgot Ivan's passionate description of his experience. Marta and I wanted to do it in NZ, but it was difficult to accommodate with our route in that country. We then postponed till we were in Australia. Fernando and Patrícia first were not very keen with the idea, but then agreed to join us. Great for them, because it was worth it!
* * * * *
Our tour was organised by "Sea all Dolphin Swims" in Pt Lonsdale, Victoria. I mention the company's name because we were very well impressed with them. On board were Robert, the captain, and Monique, our instructor. They were nice and friendly and we had a very good time with them. We first went to a nearby place to practise some snorkelling. Then we headed to another place where we could swim with seals. That gave us a bit of a taste of what would come next.
* * * * *
One of the great things about swimming with dolphins is that first you have to find out where they are. That is not obvious at all. The tour organisers do not guarantee we will actually see them. There is an 85% chance we find dolphins, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. In our case it took more than one hour until we finally could see where they were. There was a lot of tension on board, because we were running out of time and had to go back to port. When we saw the first dolphins we were all very glad. Robert sailed the boat in their direction and when we got close
enough the dolphins started swimming beside us, following the boat. It was great to see so many of them so close, but the best was still to come. We all went to water, wearing masks and snorkel, and held a cable that was attached to the boat. We made noise to attract the dolphins and as the boat departed again the dolphins swam beside us, following the boat. Thanks to the masks we could see them underwater, sometimes very close to us. We were not aloud to touch them, but we could have done it, so close they were. This was an experience of great childish happiness, the kind of feeling you don't experience quite often when you are an adult. For all of us, it was one of the high points of our holiday.* * * * *
After leaving Queenscliff we took the "Great Ocean Road" to Adelaide. In Melbourne we were told that it would be an eight hour drive, and therefore we thought we could comfortably do it in two days. But in reality it was a
lot longer. The nice thing about the Great Ocean Road is that you drive by a gorgeous coast line. We stopped in many different places, both for photos as well as for the beaches. One of the most beautiful places is the "Twelve Apostles", that you can see on the photo on the left.* * * * *
It took us a lot longer to get into Adelaide than we first thought. Therefore, and with regret, Marta and I had to give up our planned visit to Barossa Valley. We just ran out of time! After Adelaide we went to Queensland, the sunshine State and final part of our trip. We are now in Palm Cove, north of Cairns. Tomorrow we will take a boat to the Great Barrier Reef. Next week you can read about it. The delay in posting this note was due to the difficulty to have access to internet. Where we are it is easier to find a gorgeous beach than internet. I am sorry about that!
* * * * *
Wish you have a nice week!
Maurício
1 comment:
E aí Bro,
pelas fotos e descrições feitas em seu blog, não tenho como deixar de comentar que estou com uma certa intenção de fazer o mesmo !
Desejo excelente estada em suas próximas paradas !
Espero nos ver em breve
Saludos
Ricardo Marek
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