Hey All:
So now that I am out of my residence, I am officially travelling and doing a little couch surfing. My twin sister, Kelly, joined me last week and we spent our first few days together in Brissie at my Irish mates’ house (Ciaran & Darragh). Together we showed Kelly Brisbane’s highlights, including the Botanical gardens and Southbank Parklands, where we had a good old-fashion Aussie BBQ.
After Kelly’s first few days in Brisbane, we headed south to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. We planned to tour the Great Ocean Road on our first full day there. It ended up being a beautiful day and gorgeous tour. We traveled out to the famous 12 apostles and spent some time lounging in a pretty gorge.
After our day touring the Great Ocean Road, we met up with my Australian pen pal, Rebecca, from my grade school days. When I was in grades four through seven, I had a pen pal that I was assigned through my girl guide troop. While we stopped writing to each other after grade school, we kept in touch, in frequently, through email and facebook. I always thought it would be great to meet her, and it was incredibly surreal finally meeting her this past week.
Rebecca picked us up on our third day in Melbourne and took us around the city. We saw the beaches, the markets and a skyview of the city. Afterwards we went out for dinner with her friends and had a few drinks together. It was crazy hanging around with someone whom I knew fairly well, but had never actually met.
On our final day in Melbourne, Rebecca took us out to Phillip Island, around 1.5 hours from Melbourne. This island is famous for the penguin walk that occurs every night at dusk. Despite the non-stop rain on the island, Kelly, Rebecca, her boyfriend and I suited up in rain gear and watched the cutest parade I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of one-foot high penguins left the sea at dusk and walked towards the land and their evening homes. They walked less than a few feet past us, so we had many incredibly close encounters with the penguins.
All in all, this past week down under has been tons of fun and incredibly surreal!
Up Next: The Hamp. joins the Krafchick twins!