This has been a pretty good year for traveling. I saw 2007 rolling in while standing atop a pedestrian bridge, looking towards the Melbourne CBD for the New Year’s fireworks. I welcomed it with family amidst a sea of strangers. It felt odd but it also felt right.

View from the balcony of the Tahbilk Winery cafe

 
January in Australia, apart from celebrating the new year, also meant celebrating Australia’s birthday. We headed out of Melbourne and into neighboring Geelong to commemorate this important event in Australia’s history. Being in Melbourne allowed me to visit other Australian cities. Last March, I flew out of Victoria into New South Wales to take part in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras. The weekend after, I flew into Queensland to see the breath taking white sand beaches of the Gold Coast.

The Pasig River Ferry

 
I left Australia on the third week of March, flying into Singapore to shop before flying home to Manila. As much a I loved my three months in Australia, I couldn’t stop myself from feeling that excitement you get before another trip, another adventure. But this time, it’s not just another trip: I’m coming home to Manila.
 

Not me.

 
Back in Manila, I spent my time catching up with friends and family, and soon enough, it was spent catching up on work. Work became a top priority, and to take a breather, I welcomed the chance to interact in person with people I’ve only known through the entries they post online. French cooking classes, donuts, cookies, acrobats, clique booths, flickr love, shrouds, meriendas, exhibits, sugar free cakes; they were all much-needed distractions that kept me away from my computer, even for just a couple of hours.

American naval ship docked at Subic

 
After six months in Manila, I flew back to Melbourne. I have been granted a one-year multiple entry visa by the Australian embassy. In all the times we (my mom, my dad, my borhter, my sisters, my niece…pretty much every one in the family), applied for a tourist visa for Autralia, the only time they grant multiple-entry visas is when we requested for it. I didn’t request for it, but they still granted me one. Not one to complain, I made the most of it, arriving in Melbourne a couple of days before the visa expired.

Flowers in bloom

 
I must admit that I didn’t get to see much more of Melbourne than before. Though I promised myself several times that I would go out more, circumstances kept me inside the house. I never got to to go back to Geelong, nor even hop on a tour bus to see the penguins or the 12 apostles. This second trip to Australia isn’t all that bad really. It’s actually much better. First, I was able to meet two Australians I admire: Darren Rowse and Peter Moore. Second, celebrating my birthday in Aussie resulted to getting the best birthday gift ever: a hot air balloon ride. Third, though I didn’t get to travel out of Melbourne during the first two months of my trip, December more than made up for it. We drove out of Melbourne and went north west into the Victorian countryside. We went to Ballarat, the Grampians and Horsham. A week after we got back, we flew out of Victoria and into Tasmania, where we spent Christmas in the most beautiful place I’ve been to in Australia.

Moonrise in Tasmania

 
Life has been good to me this 2007 indeed. Years ago, new year’s eve always find me wishing for a better year, a better life. This year, I find myself invigorated, and looking forward to starting another year. If before I was wishing for a good year, this time I’m determined to make sure it IS an even better year.

I fail at packing lightly. Knowing that I will be flying in a plane full of Filipinos who are no doubts bringing home heaps of pasalubongs, I still tried my luck at having an excess of 5 kilos for my check in luggage.

My big luggage had a Twister DVD board game, Lundby Doll House accessories, Shrek playing cards, girly bags, some clothes, toiletries, a painting, several blocks of chocolates and 5 kilos of frozen turkey thigh fillet. My hand carry trolley bag contains my Pinky carrying case, more chocolates, more Lundby, a couple more clothes and a bag of potato chips. In my shoulder bag, I have two books, an old Starbucks planner, Viktor (my backpack) and my external hard drive. Yup, I was definitely pushing my luck.

The first thing the check-in lady noticed was my big shoulder bag. It was too big, she said. If I’m bringing it onboard with me, the total for the two bags shouldn’t be more than 8 kilos. My trolley alone was 9 kilos. After removing stuff and checking the weight (and failing to go below 8 kilos), the lady finally suggested that I use my backpack instead of the heavy trolley bag. After moving my stuff around, the final weight was at 6 kilos.

My big bag, of course, went over as well. She wouldn’t let me pass with my 25.5 kilo luggage (though I was able to get away with it on the flight from Manila). I took out two frozen turkeys, and ended up with a respectable 20.5 kilos. It felt weird to be travelling so lightly.

After receiving a nod of approval from the check in lady, she finally hands me my boarding pass. A quick glance tells me I’m seated at 17G. My only thought is whether it’s a middle or an aisle seat. I hope it’s an aisle seat.

Bidding goodbye to my sister and her family (who came with me at check-in to take home whatever excess I have), I made my way into immigration. It was quick and painless; I am once again stamped out of Australia. I had almost an hour before boarding and passed the time by deciding whether to snack on macadamia and almonds or salted cashew. The cashew won.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we are now ready to board Philippine Airlines flight PR212. Travellers transiting from Sydney can board on the right-hand line and passengers from Melbourne board on the left-hand line. Business class passengers can board anytime at your leisure.

I made my way to the left-hand line, wondering why the other passengers are carrying a green-bordered boarding pass, while I hold a blue one. The thought quickly leaves me as I pass through the final check. Stepping on board the aircraft, I show the flight attendant my boarding pass. Straight this way and turn right, she said. We boarded at the front end of the aircraft, and had to pass through business class. Lucky buggers, I thought. Mindlessly walking through the business class, not really paying attention to the seat numbers, I was stopped by a flight attendant who saw my assigned seat number.

“This is your seat Ma’m,” she said as she pointed to seat 17G in business class.

*blink blink* Holy crap.

With a big smile, I settled down in my seat and read the menu so I can give the attendant my dinner choice. Not long after, everyone was in their seat — even on the seats reserved for the flight attendants. We were overbooked and unless four passengers willingly gave up their seats the plane would not be taking off. Volunteers will be upgraded to business class, they said. Only one man made a move to stand up.

Ten minutes passed and nobody else moved. the flight attendants are starting to get agitated, as the purser, the captain and the ground staff point fingers on who to blame. They talked to a couple more passengers, and managed to convince two more to take the next flight. Only one more seat, and we can go. More minutes passed. It was almost two o’clock in the morning. We were supposed to take off at 12:20 am. We heard applause coming in from the back and moving in to the front. A family of three gave up their seats; we can now proceed with our flight to Manila.

Mabuhay class is actually pretty nice. It’s not as polished as Singapore Airline’s, but the food is comparable, and the ice cream, heaps better. (Singapore Airlines served green tea ice cream, which I cannot stand. PAL served vanilla, which is one of my favorites.) The extra legroom, seat width, and personal entertainment system certainly made for a very comfortable long haul flight.

After almost 12 hours (from the time I arrived at Tullamarine), I finally made it to Manila. I was welcomed with long lines at the immigration, people getting special treatment, mountains of balikbayan boxes, exhorbitantly priced airport taxis and heavy traffic. I love you, my Manila. I will always come home to you.

In December 27, 2006, I made my first step in Australia at Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. A year later, I’m back in Tulla, awaiting my flight back to Manila.

It’s been quite memorable, these two Australian trips. I was able to live in a different country for almost 6 months. On the first trip, I was so excited about being overseas once again. Homesickness set in about after a month after my arrival. On this trip though, the homesickness set in nearer to my departure date. It was Christmas you see, and Christmas is usually spent with family and friends. I did get to spend Christmas with family and friends in Tasmania (and had a blast, actually), but it’s still diffferent. Not that it’s bad, but Christmas in Manila is something I really missed.

I feel my heart racing with anticipation; in less than 10 hours I will be back to the city I so love. I am looking forward to seeing her again, to discovering the changes that happened while I was away. And maybe see how the Manila Peninsula looks now.

I also feel a twinge of sadness though. Melbourne has been good to me. I spent my last two days in Melbourne buying bilins and pasalubongs. Coming home from overseas without gifts is a big no-no. Though while I was in a hurry to complete my errands, I didn’t run. I want to savor every last moment that I spend walking through Melbourne’s streets.

I don’t know when I will see Melbourne again. A part of me wishes it to be soon, yet another part yearns for Manila. I would like to see more of the Philippines, so Melbourne will have to wait. But I know I will come back.

We were so busy yesterday that I totally forgot to post about the Lonely Planet travel journal winner. gah

Congratulations Estan! Breaking that sacred ritual made you a winner. As the judges and I agree, it’s not a travel story unless you commit a cultural faux pax

A big thanks to Shubert, Karla and Dyanie for sharing their stories. And for those of you who just watched the deadline go by… maybe next time?

Oh by the way, Merry Christmas!

Thank you for all four of you who joined my contest!

Who will be the winner? Will it be Shubert and his very detailed account of his tours around the temples of Nagoya, Japan? Or will the prize go to Karla, who spent one sunny day with the butterflies in Hainan, China? Or will it be Estan, who inadvertently interupted a sacred ritual in Batad? Maybe the winner will be Dyan, whose trip was made extra special by the friends who joined her in Bohol?

The lucky winner will be announced on December 25th, to make their Christmas extra special

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to contemplate about these entries in Tasmania. Have a very merry one!

This is the last part of a series of posts about our mini-vacation in the Victorian countryside. After a whole day of driving through a scenic route that takes us from Ballarat through the small town of Ararat and up the Grampians, we finally arrive in Horsham.

As you probably know by now (if you’ve been reading my blog long enough), I am computer dependent. Make that Internet dependent. My main source of income is made through the Internet, and much of my free time is spent on the Internet. The same can be said for my sister and her brother-in-law, though they have more productive things to do in their spare time (if they have any). Doing research online is second nature to me. I hardly ever go anywhere without Googling it first, and reading all I can about it. One of my biggest frustrations was finding a place for us to stay in Horsham.

Unlike Ballarat, where I quickly found a site with a listing and links to various caravan parks in the area, there was none in Horsham. When I did find a handful though, none were as close to the venue where brother-in-law will be teaching, as Horsham Caravan Park. And they don’t have a website. Not knowing the facilities they have or amenities they offer or even how the park look like, we made the call and booked ahead.

We were lucky we did because when we got there, the place was full. Not surprising, because for AU$75 per night, we got a cabin that can fit 3 adults and 2 small kids, a refrigerator, a grill and stove, airconditioning, heater, and an ensuite toilet and bath. What they don’t have are sheets for the beds, blankets for the cold nights, not even pillows! We were adviced to bring the beddings when we called, but weren’t told about the pillows. For a small fee, we were able to “rent” 5 VERY thin pillows.

The Horsham Caravan Park is run by the local YMCA. Apart from the cabins, there are also numerous powered and unpowered sites for caravans, as well as camping sites. The caravan park was very rustic, a complete opposite of Lake Wendouree Tourist Park, which looked and feel like the gated villages back in Manila. The upside though, is that apart from the great price, it is sandwiched between the Wimmera River and the Horsham Botanical Garden. Since the park personnel knew we had kids with us, they gave is the cabin nearest the Botanical Garden’s barbeque area and playground.

Another great thing about Horsham Caravan Park’s location is that it is in Firebrace street — Horsham’s main street. Though we are at the other end of the city centre, being at Firebrace made it easy for us to navigate through the small town (thanks in part to the map the tourist centre gave us). After dropping of brother-in-law at work, we drove around to see what Horsham had to offer. With the shopping centre properly scrutinized, we delved into the inner streets and made our way to Apex Island.

A map of Horsham shows this small island in the Wimmera River. Marked as Apex Adventure Island, it piqued our interest. With the map in my hands, I felt a frisson of excitement; I love maps. I love reading them, and I love navigating with them. Even if we ended up in streets we weren’t supposed to be in. But I still managed to get us to where we wanted to go. We spot a footbridge, parked and scrambled out of the car. Apex Island, here we come!

We crossed the wooden footbrige and came down on a small scrap of land. Is this it? The so-called adventure island? There was another bridge crossing over to the other side, and we went over that as well. It turned out that it wasn’t Apex island; it was just a small lagoon that wasn’t properly marked in the map. Our efforts wasn’t in vain though, as there were ducks in the water. As soon as we crossed the bridge, the ducks started paddling towards us. This must have been a favorite spot for tourists and locals alike, as the ducks seem to be expecting us to shower them with bread.

A few minutes passed, with us humans just cooing at how cute the ducks were, the ducks gave up and started paddling away. We took that as our cue to go as well, and made our way back to the bridge. As we were about to go up the first bridge, I noticed this one bird (a purple swamphen, I was told) who was following us. We got back to the little island, and he was still following us! Up over the second bridge, and he was still there.

“Mommy, it’s still following us,” said my niece. “Tell it to stop following us!”

“The bird doesn’t understand our language,” my sister replied. “It understands duck language. Maybe if we quack he’ll go away.” So my sister did this funny imitation of a duck, and with some wing flapping and some wild quacking, the bird finally went back to the lagoon. Probably thought we were loony.

Stalking birds aside, Horsham was a pleasant and very quiet town. After a day spent in the playgounds and the small shopping centre, we ended it with dinner at one of the local Chinese restaurants. We stumbled upon two Chinese restaurants, standing side by side in one of the smaller streets. Which one do we enter? The one where there are more people, of course.

Not a lot of people were dining inside, but there where plenty of people coming in an ordering food for take away. The dishes we ordered tasted good enough. Not quite like Chinatown, but passable for a place housing the only other Asian we saw in Horsham. This small sleepy town may not be near the top of your list of places to see in Victoria, but its has its charms (stalker birds included). Besides, how can you pass up a place that has a Chinese garden restaurant called “Toy’s” that has its own mini-golf course and a great wall of China within its complex?

The four-part series has ended with this post, and the contest for the Lonely Planet travel journal ends soon! Quick, you still have a couple of hours to whip up your winning entry!

This is part 3 of a series of posts about our four-day trip to the Victorian countryside. Leaving Ballarat, we head on to Horsham, through a scenic tour of Ararat and The Grampians.

We left Ballarat early. After a quick stop at the bank and stocking up on provisions at the nearest Aldi, we drove under the Arch of Victory, passing the elm trees planted along the road, commemorating all the soldiers from Ballarat, who died in the war.

Though Horham is less than 200 kilometers away from Ballarat (about 2 1/2 hour’s drive), it took us almost a whole day’s worth of driving to arrive at our new home for the night. You see, instead of driving directly to Horsham, we took a scenic drive that took us through the Wind farm, the small town of Ararat, and Halls Gap, where we were introduced to Gariwerd.

The Grampians is this rocky mountain range, whose peaks are made of sandstone. It was believed that 300 million years ago, the area east of the ranges were underwater. Hence the presence of sand on mountain ranges that are 250 miles inland. The Grampians was given its name by Sir Thomas Mitchell after the Grampian Mountains in his native Scotland. The native Aboriginals though, already had a name for it: Gariwerd.

Hall’s Gap is the town closest to Gariwerd. It is the starting point for many tourists who come to explore the Grampians. If and when you find yourself in Halls Gap, make the tourist information office your first stop. Here you can get a map of the various loookout points offering the best views of Gariwerd. Before driving up the long and winding mountain road though, there’s a couple more stops you need to do.

First is a visit to the Brambuk the National Park and Cultural Centre. The area around Gariwerd has been home to the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali tribe of Aboriginal Australians. The Brambuk cultural center preserves the history culture of is indegenous people in the centre through various exhibits. A must-watch before heading up the mountains are the two films shown at the centre’s Dreaming Theatre.

The ‘Gariwerd Creation Story’ depicts the Aboriginal legend of Tchingal the giant emu and War the crow and the formation of the Grampians/Gariwerd mountains.

‘Gariwerd a Cultural Landscape’ illustrates the geology, flora and fauna, Aboriginal and European history and the various uses of the Grampians.

Source: Brambuk – the national park and cultural centre

The two films gives you a better understanding (and hopefully, better appreciation) of the area. The AU$5 (adult) ticket is for both movies. The Dreaming Theatre is not just a theatre; there are displays and models on each side of the room, and giant emu. The giant emu was enough to freak out two adults (me and my sister). Imagine how my niece reacted while the movie was playing, and the emu’s red eyes started glowing. My niece didn’t want to finish the movie anymore, so I was left alone inside the small theatre with the giant emu. Luckily, the lights remained off during the 2nd movie.

With the giant emu behind us (but unfortunately, not forgotten), we hopped back into the car and drove back to Halls Gap’s centre for some ice cream. While enjoying my spearmint chocolate chip and Oreo cookie ice cream on waffle cone, I noticed the sign outside the ice cream shop. Now available, it says, are milk shakes, thick shakes and…spiders?! Noticing my apparent shock, my brother-in-law quickly explained that spiders is this drink wherein they put a scoop of ice cream on a glass of lemonade, much like a rootbeer float. Hmm, spiders. Must try that next time.

Suitably cooled off by the ice cream, we got into the car and started the drive up Gariwerd. Excuse the cliche, but it really was a long and winding road. And we only went to the two nearest lookout points. We have been driving since 9am, and it was already 4pm by then. All of us were tired and well on our way to cranky. The views were worth the long drive though. You get a clear view of the tops of the other mountain ranges and the surrounding countryside. Exhaustion seem to fade away as you take in the beauty of the Grampians.

Finishing with our day’s to-see list (and finishing off my camera’s battery), we drive on towards Horsham. As we were driving through the countryside, we have been seeing signs warning drivers of the presence of kangaroos in the area. I’ve never seen a kangaroo on the road, save for roadkill, so it was a bit of a thrill to see one standing off the side of the road. My brother-in-law slowed down the car to a full stop. The kangaroo, probably sensing that we were stopping to let him cross the road (maybe they’ve learned to stop, look, and listen before crossing the street?), hopped on to the otherside. It was the perfect shot: the asphalt running a straight line, and the kangaroo with its perfect jumping form. And me on the front passenger seat holding a camera with a dead battery. To make it worse, there was a second kangaroo who crossed the road after the first, ensuring that you get a decent picture. Bah!

Finally, we rolled into Horsham. We booked another cabin in a caravan park that I found online, but does not have a website. The caravan park was definitely much…rugged as our previous accomodation. Then again, there was a huge price discrepancy as well. Nevertheless, after a long day on the road, it was a welcome respite.

Only one day left in this series, and one day left until the travel journal contest ends! Have you sent in your entry yet?

This is the second post in a series about our four-day trip in the Victorian countryside. The trip takes us from Melbourne to Ballarat, from Ballarat to the Grampians then on to Horsham.

We woke up fairly early, since my brother-in-law has to be at work by 8:30am. Thanks to Google Maps, the accomodation we picked was only 2 minutes away from the venue where he was set to conduct a seminar. This gave us time to have breakfast and spend some time in the playground, while waiting for the park administration office to open so we can borrow a flat iron.

After driving brother-in-law to work, we headed back to Cabin E14 at Lake Wendouree Tourist Park to plan our day. While the kids watch Angelina Ballerina, my sister and I studied the Ballarat map, familiarizing ourselves with the. High in our priority was to find a supermarket for additional provision, as well as the Rivers store. The kids played with the contents of their luggage before leaving Melbourne, and it left my niece without any shirt to wear. Armed with our map, we left the little house and set out for Ballarat’s city centre.

Ballarat was an old gold mining town; its prosperous past evident in the sprawling estates fronting Lake Wendouree and the magnificent buildings, carefully preserved lining up Ballarat’s main roads. Ballaraat, as it is also known, is derived from an Aboriginal words “balla” and “arat” that translated to camping or resting place. True enough, Ballarat did become a place where everybody, from other parts of Australia and other parts of the world, came to rest — and pan for gold — in the 1850′s, when gold was discovered in Ballarat’s soil. Soon, there were 20,000 diggers in the shafts and goldfields, all searching for the metal that would bring them prosperity.

And prosper they did. Approximately 200,000 ounces of gold were found in Ballarat’s goldfields, including the Welcome Stranger, one of the world’s biggest gold nugget ever found. Weighing 2316 troy ounces or 72.04 kg and measuring measuring 61 cm by 31 cm (24in x 12in), the Welcome Stranger was discovered by John Deason and Richard Oates just a mere 5 centimeters (2 inches) under the ground. Deason and Oates took the nugget to the London Chartered Bank (Dunolly), where they were paid a whopping £19,068.

Of course, as history would tell us, good things almost always come to an end. With the rise of diggers coming in from all over the world, the government imposed regulations and licences for all the miners. This led to the Eureka stockade, the miner’s rebellion againts the government.

The gold rush and the Eureka rebellion is an important part of Ballarat’s history, and they preserved it in the best museum I have ever been to: Sovereign Hill. Unlike other stuffy museums, where all the pieces are behind glass or cordoned off, far from the visitor’s dirty hands, Sovereign Hill encourages you to be a part of the museum, and experience history. An interactive museum, once you have entered Sovereign Hill, you are quickly transported to the 1850′s. The 25-hectare museum is made to depict life in the 1850′s, when gold was found in Ballarat. Here you will see the houses where the miners and their families live, the equipment they use for mining, and the kind of life they had. You are encouraged to pan for fold in the small stream, go down a mine shaft with the Cornish brothers who discovered the Welcme Nugget, join a carriage ride around the town, practice your calligraphy at the one-room school, or have your picture taken wearing period clothing. To complete the experience, costumed volunteers are scattered around various attractions, ready to answer your questions about Ballarat’s history.

Loaded with 2 big shopping bags filled with shoes (don’t ask), we head back to the cabin to unload our loot and prepare some snacks for a picnic. After picking up brother-in-law, we head to the Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden is right on the bank of Lake Wendouree, which (according to the Ballarat website), “covers 40 hectares divided into three distinct zones – the central Botanical Gardens which preserves the ‘gardenesque’ style of the Victorian pleasure garden, and open parkland buffers on either side are known as the North and South Gardens.” The best part of the garden for me though, is the playground. Unlike most playground where the activities are limited to small children, this playground is for kids from age 2 to 62.

Another thing I have been looking forward to in Ballarat was seeing Lake Wendouree. To be precise, to see whether Lake Wendouree has water. When we first visited last February, the lake was completely dried up. When they went back last June, the lake was almost full of water. As summer starts, the Lake as started to dry up again. The picture on the left was taken last February, the one on the right taken this December:

After an hour in the playground and a round of ‘ccinos (mochaccino for me and my sister, cappucino for brother-in-law, babyccinos for the kids), we head back to our “little house” for a much needed rest — we have a long day of driving tomorrow.

Only three days left! Share with us your most memorable travel experience and win a Lonely Planet travel journal. Click here to find out how to join.