Francesca and Henk-Jan's Backpacking Trip!

Hi there,

We’ve been in Melbourne for a week now, and a lot has happened! I’ll take you back to our first full day in the city: we knew there was a free tram going around the CBD, which on a rainy day is the perfect way to see most of the things worth seeing. With a map in hand we jumped on the tram just around the corner from our hostel. We saw the docklands, and passed by the Koorie Cultural Heritage Centre (Aboriginal culture), the Queen Victoria Market, the old Melbourne Gaol (pronounce ‘jail’) where Ned Kelly had been imprisoned and several other highlights. It gave us a good outline to make a plan for the following days.

Francesca and I got off the tram right next to the Ian Potter Centre, a free art gallery with contemporary art. The part that interested us the most was set up by Aboriginal artists, with their typical dotted style of painting. Both the older pieces and the more recent work looked phenomenal; we were glad to have gotten our first taste of the Aboriginal culture. The other galleries were far less interesting, displaying rubbish that I won’t even talk about.





Rain was still coming down en masse when we exited the Centre, so we tried to look for the next useful building we could enter. On Federation Square, the main square for outside events in Melbourne, we found the Tourist Information Centre, which we quickly entered. Francesca had found out about a cabaret show called ‘Dracula’s Cabaret Restaurant,’ which included dinner. We had also heard from a receptionist that they sold discounted tickets at a place called ‘Half-Tix.’ We were very pleased to find we could indeed get these tickets, for the very reasonable price of AU$38.50 each. Hard to beat when you get dinner and a show!

Francesca and I walked over to Town Hall, where we found ‘Half-Tix’ sort of hidden away in a little side entrance. Tickets were indeed still available, so we purchased them, knowing the show would start around 18:45PM. Having a few hours left to kill, and the weather still being wet we decided to enter an enormous mall. We found some cool clothes that we didn’t buy, a giant stuffed hamburger Francesca wanted to steal, a purple Christmas tree and a giant avant-garde purple couch. We also had a look in a bookstore, where I secretly and sneakily took a bunch of pictures of the Australian Lonely Planet, not wanting to spend money. Now we know the good hostels in the cities still to come!

Time had passed quickly, so around 18:15PM we wandered towards the ‘Dracula’ venue. It was pretty easy to find, and proved to be a lot closer than I had thought. In fact, they hadn’t even opened the doors yet… We had to walk back through the rain and find a place to shelter. Luckily we found a big flat’s lobby, where we sat around for a while. A bit later we were back at the door of ‘Dracula,’ knocked and made it inside. A rather scary looking fellow welcomed us with a freaky voice and led us to a little bar. The bar was decorated with artworks of various famous ‘monsters:’ Freddy Krueger, a werewolf, skeletons on the floor, paintings that stared back at you. The staff wore typical outfits; one looked like Johnny Depp in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ another like a ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ character, and the next wore a burlesque showgirl outfit. Much to our liking!



When everyone had made it to the bar we were led to a ghost train (kind of like a horror house), which led us to the stage and tables. Francesca squealed a few times! The restaurant itself looked equally impressive. It had blood spatters covering the walls, more cool pictures and paintings and a nice little stage. Our table was right in the front, so we feared becoming stage props at some point. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures, so we only have this one we purchased during the show.



Right after being seated we were served our entrée. We got some rolls and seasoning as a side as well. Francesca had found two coupons that gave us a free cocktail with a little souvenir, so we ordered those. Soon after, the drinks arrived, looking rather creepy with spiders and a skull in them. Luckily they tasted fruity and delicious! Francesca ordered the steak as her main course, I opted for the barracuda. When everyone had been seated the show started. ‘The Draculettes’ introduced themselves by covering ‘Harder to Breathe’ by Maroon 5. After a few more songs, one of them, named ‘Vile’ grabbed the microphone and started making jokes, taking the piss out of Tasmanians and New Zealanders.



We sat back and the real show started. We saw an imitation of The Crocodile Hunter’s daughter; a fight between Perez Hilton (the celeb blogger) and Amy Winehouse; a food battle between Gordon Ramsay and an Asian chef with a condom as the secret ingredient; a skeleton making jokes; and a reenactment of the Beijing Olympics. As we watched the show our food arrived, which was a welcomed addition to our table as we were both rather hungry. During the intermission we got our desserts: a coffin made of chocolate, filled with peach cream. YUM!

After the break the host walked through the audience, roasting some of the members of the crowd. As we had expected he started off at our table, joking with Francesca about the States’ new president. He said not long ago it’d be impossible to imagine the USA with a black president; as the expression goes: ‘when pigs fly.’ He then continued with: ‘and then they got pig flu.’ Get it, get it? Probably funnier if you were there… Anyway, the second half of the show was similar to the first and had us snickering quite a bit. It’s hard to really describe how it all happened, so I hope you all get the gist of it.

After the show ended, Francesca and I walked back through the city center and back to our hostel to get some sleep. We had booked a tour for the following day and had to get up early.

After a bit of free breakfast in the hostel we headed around the corner and were picked up by our bearded and heavy-bellied guide for the day: Bernie. He was to take us along the Great Ocean Road, another ‘most scenic drive in the world.’ Obviously a phrase used to attract some more tourists, but regardless a good way to get out of Melbourne for a day and see some more nature.

It took us an hour before we got to our first stop: Bells Beach. The beach is rather famous amongst surfers across the world, as the waves here are perfect. Not being very apt surfers, Francesca and I just walked along the beach and took some pictures of the ocean and the yellow sand colliding. It was a quiet and sunny day, so we didn’t get to see any of the famous waves, but that didn’t get us down one bit. We also read some information about Mindii, a great powerful snake from Aboriginal mythology, which was drawn on the bathrooms in the typical Aboriginal style.









Our next stop was the ‘White Lady,’ a lighthouse that had been built after a few hundred ships had met their end in the Strait between Melbourne and Tasmania. Luckily, it had done its job and prevented many more casualties. The surrounding view, once again, was stunning with long beaches and grand rock formations on either side. The lighthouse itself looked less impressive next to nature’s power.





A great Memorial Arch commemorated the Australian First World War soldiers, whom had built the Great Ocean Road after their return from Europe. The Road had great importance for southern Australia, as it linked all the coastal towns together, and opened up the rest for development.

Bernie had us jump off the bus again a while later, when we pulled up in a forest; the home of some wild koalas. It took us a while before we found one, and most people had left to check for the buggers further down the road, but it was well worth it. A female koala had been sitting halfway down a tree for a while, and decided to come all the way down. As I took photos she sat still in the tree, a picture perfect. Together with my equally photogenic companion I got some great shots. The koala even dared come down to the forest floor and moved from one tree to another right in front of us. Francesca was so excited to see them so close!









Our entire drive we had had the ocean on our left side, and mountains on our right side. These mountains are called the Otway Ranges, and Bernie thought it was about time we took a closer look. In fact, we did a walk through the temperate rain-forest, something we had learned a lot about during our time in Costa Rica. Bernie told us about the state of the rain-forest, and showed us some of the plants and trees. Francesca remarked that it is amazing how similar the surroundings looked to the rain-forest we had seen on the other side of the globe. Bernie also found a little mound of mud in one of the banks on the side. It was the home of a little crab, which digs itself into the ground, pushing dirt up to create a cone-like shape around it. They tend to stay in there, but just a little further down we found one crossing the path. It played dead whilst the group passed by.









Hunger got the best of us, so when we got to the next town Bernie pulled out a big box filled with bread, cheese, ham, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce, grated carrot and several sauces. Francesca and I made ourselves some tasty sandwiches and sat down on a little bench. Bellies filled and minds refreshed, we got back on the bus.

‘The 12 Apostles’ were a landmark that I remembered from my last trip. They are (or rather, were) a set of 12 rock formations just off the shore. We walked to a viewpoint and managed to spot four together. Another one was right in front of us. On the left side we found two more. Three could be found further down the coast. The last two Apostles however, are nowhere to be found. Wind and water destroyed these creations, leaving only ten Apostles standing. On the other hand, they are forming new formations constantly, possibly one day adding the two missing messengers.







We also had a look at ‘The Razorback,’ a really thin rock formation that stood out from the others due to its shape. It used to extend much further out into the sea, but again Mother Nature had to destroy her own creation.





Soon after, Francesca and I read the story of Tom Pearce. He had been an apprentice on a ship called the ‘Loch Ard.’ The ship and its 54 passengers had gone down, and Tom had drifted under an upturned lifeboat for several hours. When the tide turned at dawn he was swept into a gorge. As he climbed ashore he heard screams. An 18 year old girl named Eva Carmichael was clinging to a tree, holding on for dear life. Tom jumped in the water again, and struggled for an hour to get her back. She was doing poorly, suffering from hypothermia, but he managed to revive her a little with some brandy that had washed ashore. The next morning he climbed out of the gorge and managed to get help.

We walked down to the gorge, and took a few pictures of the cave Tom and Eva might have slept in. As we turned towards the water I challenged Francesca to a race to the water. She dashed ahead and managed to make it to the water first. In fact, she stood still in triumph, forgetting that the sea behind her was just sending a big wave her way. I shouted that she should run, but it was too late and her feet and ankles were engulfed. Silly girl!



I found a little cove on the right side of the beach, without any tourists so we climbed over some rocks and Francesca took control of the camera, taking pictures of me climbing further down. Quite neat… we seemed to be the only two people on the earth there. All we heard was the sea pounding into the rocks. The tide seemed to be coming in, so after a few more shots I ran for it and made it back safe and sound. Francesca followed right after me and we headed back for the bus.



‘London Bridge has fallen down!’ a local boy screamed in a nearby pub. The other, older locals laughed and waved him away. The boy insisted they listened to him, and finally a few them went to have a look. Of course I’m not talking about London in the UK! London Bridge is yet another of Mother Nature’s creations. It used to be a stretch of land that extended out in the water, with two arches having formed through nature’s force. Until that day people had been allowed to walk on London Bridge. Two unfortunate local newly-weds ended up stuck on the wrong side of the bridge. It took several hours before they got rescued, and as reporters shoved their microphones under their noses they both stayed really quiet. Later the reporters found out they weren’t married to each other, and they had met there in secret. Tough luck for them!



Our long day with Bernie ended with him driving a few hours to get us back to Melbourne. 12 hours after we had left Francesca and I finally got back to our hostel, making plans for the next day. Sleep was sweet.

Saturday had us exploring the city once again. We took some pictures of Spencer Street Station, one of earliest grand buildings to be built in Melbourne. We went inside Saint Paul’s Cathedral, paying our respects and taking a few pictures. The Cathedral certainly looked fantastic, with beautiful murals, statues and altars. We lit a candle for all of you readers and exited to make our way to the Melbourne Museum. We happened across a large group of pirates, which were posing in front of the local library. Later we found out it was ‘Talk like a Pirate Day,’ which we had missed out on… Funny side-note was the two ninja’s that were running amok amongst the pirates.





It was a sunny day, but the Melbourne Museum sounded alluring. Before going in we had a quick bite in the Pompeii-themed restaurant, sharing a bread basket. We did not know what to expect, but walked around a rather boring outside section on some of Australia’s flora and fauna.

On the second floor Francesca and I found something much more interesting: a section called ‘the mind, enter the labyrinth.’ The whole exhibit revolved around the workings of the human mind. We learned about the different stages the brain goes through whilst we grow up. We got to see how scientists found out more and more about the brain from the beginning of time, where doctors made holes in patients’ brains to relieve headaches; how they found out the effects of lithium on the brain; and how Brocca found the area of the brain that affects speech. We got to test our ability to learn a new language, trying to copy a sentence read out in Russian and several other languages.



The following section focused on sound recognition. Francesca and I played a matching game, where one, rather than matching pictures, had to distinguish which tones were identical. Francesca did much better than me…

Dreams were also a major part of the exhibition. We both took turns lying down on a sofa, with our head under a monitor. The monitor showed images of clouds passing by, supposedly making one reach a state of calm. I certainly felt relaxed after lying down for a while. Part of the section was dedicated to interpreting dreams. It showed images of teeth falling out and of being able to fly.

Finally, the last section covered psychological abnormalities. We stepped in an
interactive booth, which switched on after we entered. It told several stories about people with a sickness of the mind. We heard the stories of a heavily depressed woman, a man with bipolar disorder, a woman with schizophrenia, and a man with synesthesia (he experienced two senses at once: for him every word and sound had a specific color linked to it, which he’d literally see).

By the time we were done with this exhibition time had almost run out. It left us half an hour to finish the remaining two thirds of the museum. We had to race to finish all of it, and unfortunately couldn’t spend enough time in the Aboriginal section or the underwater section. We did take some pictures of some of the most bizarre fish in the ocean. As we were watching a video of a dead, stranded whale that was about to be transported to the museum the screen went black. Forced to leave…





Dinner was also very exciting. Francesca had found a mini-card, with a coupon for ‘The Pancake Parlour.’ We could get two short stacks (two pancakes and one scoop of vanilla ice-cream) for the price of one. An added bonus was the free wireless internet we got whilst eating. We sat around for quite a while downloading some new movies, checking mail and news, and generally catching up with the world (even though we are quite a few hours ahead of you!). The pancakes were delicious, and filled us up really well. Around 23:00PM we decided to head back to the hostel, because we had another tour planned for the following day.