Day 4 - Road Trippin' Part 3 (Apollo Bay, The Grotto, Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs, Peterborough, Cheese World, ALDI Colac, AngleSea Family Caravan Holiday Park)

Let's begin the Part 2. It is Day 4 we were in Melbourne. That morning, Ida, Nawal and I woke up super early. At 6.40am, we were ready with our active wear and about to run. However, we decided to take some minutes strolling around the neighbor areas while waiting the sunrise. Nawal just walked around the beach and waited until Ida and I completed our jog. The weather was really nice and a bit colder than yesterday. Maybe because we started early. We did run for 4km and took different path and met Nawal at the beach. We were so lucky to witness the astonish sunrise. I didn't bring my digital camera but using only my phone, I was capable to capture these hella sick photos. Thanks to the awesome natural lighting from the sun. I did few yoga posts while Ida tried to capture me from every angles.

We came back to our caravan and the breakfast was ready. Everyone got ready for our brand new day. I had overnight oats that I made last night and toast with red bean which Nadiah and Nadira had prepared for us.

We started our journey once again to The Great Ocean Road. Today we will cover another areas. First stop was The Grotto. We were stunned by the beauty of the rocks and ocean. The Grotto is a naturally carved out cave which stands up about halfway from sea level up the cliff. The best view of the Grotto is from beyond the wall and looking in.

The Grotto is perhaps one of the most enchanting of all the rock formations in this part of Australia. Part-blowhole, part-archway, part-cave, it offers a peaceful place to enjoy the sea views and soak in the wonderful things nature is capable of. Standing about halfway up the cliff from the sea level, the geological formation is reachable via a decked staircase that leads down from the viewing platform at the top. Inside, the Grotto is filled with smooth boulders and serene rock pools that have been carved out of the limestone.

Every pictures captured in Melbourne were such a painting to me. It was realistically unreal. How amazing the God's creatures are. We spent nearly 2 hours here getting mesmerized by the serene view.

Next, we headed to the Bay of Islands. Before that, we stopped at Peterborough for the nature call. Unexpectedly, we found a hidden gem in Peterborough. 

We continued our journey to the Bay of Islands. This time we stopped by at Bay of Martyrs. It was 2km away before reaching Bay of Islands. Same goes to other bay, it was extremely magnificent.

After 30 mins, we went to the Bay of Island which was our initial destination. But it was worth all the effort. 

Luckily, we already prepared spaghetti bolognese for lunch. So we just need to heat it up. We had our lovely lunch at the parking area at the Bay of Islands. It was super delicious. Thanks to the chefs.

We continued our journey to Cheese World. It took us 30 mins from Bay of Islands. We visited the museum and it was free. The museum contains objects and exhibits related to the farming industry and the history of Australia's dairy industry, including cheese and butter making implements. The museum also exhibits the history of the company and the growth of the dairy industry in Victoria from the early 1900s. The museum also houses a wide range of motor engines and motoring accessories which have been donated. We have been given the opportunity to taste variety of cheese which were produced in the factory. But I'm not a fan of cheese. I tasted like a tiny bit of it and got too cheesy. There was a souvenir shop available that you can take a look.

Another 1 hour and half journey to the ALDI supermarket at Colac for grocery shopping. We managed to stock up our food supply and other necessary within the budget. Then we headed to our next caravan park at AngleSea. It was AngleSea Family Caravan Holiday Park. We made the reservation for one night in advance. It costed about 80aud per night. They emailed me the instructions on how to access the park as we arrived late at night.

Day 5 - Road trippin' Part 4 (Bell's Beach, Brighton Beach, St Kilda, BIG4 Phillip Island Caravan Park)

As we arrived late last night, so we opted for a quality sleep this time. This park was special to me. It was like living with the cutest animals. You will noticed a lot of rabbits everywhere. And we bumped into two gigantic kangaroo within the area. They were looking at us strangely.

We decided to do our laundry and moved to the next destination a bit late after a proper breakfast. As Ida and I were responsible for the laundry, we managed to have 1 hour indoor workout while waiting for the laundry to be completed. It costed us 8aud for washing and drying the clothes. The others were preparing breakfast and tidy up the caravan.

We had really chill breakfast outdoor accompanied by the rabbits. How sweet was that.



While breakfast there were few kangaroos passing by the field. They were spotted and we tried to get near them. One of them ran away but the other one stayed. He must knew that we were taking his photos and he seemed enjoying the heat.





Around 10.30am, we began our journey to the Bell's Beach which located 10km from our caravan park. The journey took us less than 15 mins. Bells beach is a paradise for surfers during summer especially. We could see few surfers with their board at the beach. But I think the water was cold so not many surfers were doing their thing for a moment. If not mistaken, Bells Beach is the home of the world's longest continuously running surfing competition.



































We had really good time and spent almost three hours in this interesting place. There were tourists from all over the world but not too crowded as in the summer. Luckily we managed to take pictures in every huts we wanted without queuing.

We moved to the next destination which was ... (drum roll because I am too excited), St Kilda Pier! It is home to a colony of fairy penguins, the St Kilda Pavilion, as well as the Marina of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron.

Before I talked more about the penguin, please be noted that you need to be here before 6pm because of three reasons. First, it is a tourist spot and near the city center, so the traffic will be enormous. We could not find legal parking available for almost 30 mins. So you must plan your journey to avoid your time wasted. Second, you MUST witness the sunset at the pier. I was almost speechless with the beauty of the sunset. We were all bewitched and stunned by it.  I was taken aback by the color gradients of the sky when the sun was about to set. Last time that I remember when I was in Sweden (refer my previous post). I keep praising the God for creating such beautiful scenery and I was there. The third reason which is the ultimate cause we were there, watching the colony of penguins make their way back home. I managed to see 12 penguins in front of my eyes. They were so closed to me like right in front of my eyes.I was probably able to touch it was not allowed. The best time to wait for the cute penguins is around 6pm to 8.30pm.