April - Road trip to Adelaide by the Great Ocean Road

In April after returning from our holiday in WA we finally started to feel at home in Melbourne and tried to make the most of the last autumn days. We went for walks along the St Kilda beach as well as to see the Victoria Night Market on the last weekend it was open for the summer season. We also went to see Australian football for the first time in our lives. West Coast Eagles were playing against Richmond Tigers at the MCG and of course we had our WA gear on.

Taking in the last sunshine

Rosanna picking sea shells on St Kilda Beach

Oliver's pose at the Victoria Market

Go Eagles!

Over the long weekend in Easter we got the idea of doing a road trip from Melbourne to Adelaide by the Great Ocean road. Conveniently our roommates had just bought a car and they were eager to take it for a long distance drive. We were also happy to get to spend more time with them.

Just before leaving on our trip Rosanna learned she had landed a job as a fieldwork team leader in an Australian market research company. This was great news since her work had quieted down in Finland which was why she originally decided to apply for that specific position. She had also started to feel like having a job in Melbourne would take the experience of living in Oz to another level. No better way to celebrate the new job than opening a bottle of wine in the car while heading for Adelaide!

We spent the first night in Lorne, approximately 150 km from Melbourne. Since we left Melbourne in the afternoon after Katherine had finished her job we arrived in Lorne quite late. We didn't do much more than eat dinner and stroll on the dark beach for a bit before heading to bed. Next morning we woke to see that our hut was surrounded by a flock of Sulphur crested cockatoos! What peculiar creatures they are.

We headed for brunch in Lorne and decided to check out the Erskine falls before making our way back to the Great Ocean Road.

Good morning in Lorne

Sulfur crested cockatoos were everywhere!

Delicious brunch at the Bottle of Milk in Lorne

Erskine falls

The forest surrounding the falls was like from the Jurassic Park movie

After returning to the Great Ocean Road we stopped to marvel a wild koala, the first we had spotted in Australia! We also stopped at one of the main attractions on the Great Ocean Road; the Twelve Apostles. They were quite nice in fact but the amount of tourists was a bit overwhelming. A little further up the road we stopped to check out the London Arch.

Twelve Apostles

The coastal scenery of Victoria

Tourists

London Arch

The first wild koala we had ever seen

The next night we spent in Port Fairy, where we played some games at our hostel before a nice dinner. Our hostel was otherwise OK, but it was freezing which Rosanna of course didn't appreciate at all. In the morning, after a hungover breakfast and a stroll at the Port Fairy Coastal Reserve, we drove on. The last bit to Adelaide we drove in full sunshine and stopped only to admire the painted silos in Coonalpyn.

Sometimes all a hungover girl needs is a piggy back ride

Port Fairy Nature Reserve

White faced Heron

Breathtaking silos in Coonalpyn

Soon enough we arrived in Adelaide and settled into our hostel, which was really nice (read warm) and spacious. Later we headed out to experience the night life of Adelaide. We also got to experience the most spicy Chinese meal ever, not so enjoyable. The next day, which was the only whole day we had in Adelaide, we drove to Semaphore beach where a Kite Festival was taking place. It was such a lovely day in the warm weather and we were all pretty knackered in the evening. After a dinner we were ready to go bed and get up early the next morning.

Adelaide and the River Torrens

The view over River Torrens

In the night life of Adelaide

Oliver's night run

Kite Festival at the Semaphore beach

Semaphore beach

We all enjoyed Adelaide, which seemed like such a small city after spending time in Melbourne. The city was pretty empty, since it was Easter weekend but the night life seemed to be great. Upon leaving Adelaide we drove through the famous Barossa Valley and couldn't help but stop at three wineries for some wine tasting. 

Stopping at Yelland & Papps on our way back to Melbourne

Guys choosing their wines to taste

After getting back from our road trip Rosanna started her new job, which she liked immediately. She belonged to a team of five, with two other team leaders and two supervisors overlooking the work of more than 100 interviewers. The company was also conveniently located close to where we were living so her commute wasn't bad at all. Upon starting to work in Oz Rosanna decided to not work for her employer in Finland for a while, because there was so much to learn at her new job. Meanwhile Oliver decided to expand his job search to include other cities besides Melbourne. He also continued to do shifts for the exhibition building company.

On one of the last sunny and warm days of April we went to see the Botanical Gardens, which were quite magnificent!

Hide and seek at the Botanical Garden