Victoria Day 5 - The Arch / London Arch (London Bridge) / The Grotto

Assalamualaikum. G'Day Mate!

Previous post (here).

Next destination was the London Arch also previously known as London Bridge. Albeit already seeing so many limestone stacks & results of gradual erosion process...we didn't feel bored at all. In fact, we're in awed still. Lagi bila tengok ombak ganas memukul batuan tu semua. Allahu akbar. Sampai sekarang semua tu fresh lagi dalam ingatan. Sound of the waves hitting the shores or the rocks, cool wind blowing from the sea. Angin ganas menampar muka harus dilupa jangan. Rosak tudung-of-the-day tau tapilah sweater penyelamat. 

Kerana trip ni sudah bertahun ke belakang, so marilah layan gambar jak. Mau explain lebih-lebih, banyak sudah fakta ke laut. What to do lah kan, masa semua fakta masih fresh tuan rumah perasan-sibuk. 

30 July 2015

The Arch

"Monumental natural rock arch with waves crashing below, a popular stop on the Great Ocean Road."

#3 Kalau banyak masa haritu, memang boleh lepak lama sikit sini. Layan ombak rindu, angin & view penuh ketenangan ni (minus angin penampar yang sekali sekala datang menerpa)

#4 We didn't go to the Lower Viewing Platform because of its steepness & unstable condition (truth was; we're just that lazy for another date with the stairs)

London Arch

"London Bridge pre-1990 was a double-spanning bridge connected to the mainland. The stack was created over hundred of years; with the weaker layers toward the base being eroded by wind & water to form the two bridges. The span closer to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly on 15 January 1990, leaving two tourists whilst uninjured; stranded on the outer span before being rescued by police helicopter. No one was injured in the event. Prior to the collapse, the arch was known as London Bridge because of its similarity to its namesake."

The Grotto

Didn't spend much time at the London Bridge platform view. We made our move to our final destination; The Grotto before we embark in a two-hours journey to Grampian. 

Honestly speaking, lepas baca plaque ni...ingat ok, done. Semua visible from the viewing platform. Boleh lah teruskan journey. Then Ms G told us about the staircase leading down. Ok, another flight of stairs we said. Suddenly

"Alang-alang sampai, alang-alang final spot...turun jaklah. Tengok apa ada sambil bergambar" 

Ms H finally bersuara; which surprised us sebab bab mendaki ni normally dia pemenang kategori 'Malas'

Jadinya menurut perintah jaklah dua wanita jelita. Why not, right? Berbekalkan 'alang-alang si Ms H', we descended the stairs. Expecting nothing. 

"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. Essentially a sinkhole; an often overlooked attraction because of it being at the end of the route"

#8 Memang view biasa-biasa jak kan dari atas therefore we didn't expect anything extra-ordinary down there

#9 Same view from the other platforms

#10 Literally dragging our legs to go down

And it hit us when we reached the ground. Subhanallah. Ntah berapa kali ulang ayat ni bila nampak view di bawah. We're out of words, really.

My pictures simply didn't justify the beauty of this place. So beautiful, enchanting. So surreal.

#11 Tolong menolong. Ambil gambar kawan yang saiz tripod, berdiri di tangga lah untuk dapat angle cun

#12 Double Three (belum habis wish diri sendiri walau sudah bertahun berlalu)

#13 The Grotto; Great Ocean Road truly just saved the best for last!

#14 If we came during sunrise or sunset (with permissible weather of course), we would be able to catch the Australian sun reflecting gold & pink off the rock pool through that archway

We spent quite sometimes down here. Thumbs up for Ms H persistence we got to explore this beauty. So anyone heading to Port Campbell National Park, silalah 'paksa' diri & head down the staircase to explore The Grotto at eye-level. Totally worth every steps going down the wooden staircase! I promise, u won't regret it.

Tiba masa untuk gerak to our next destination. Set GPS to our accommodation terus. Senang kerja. On the way kalau mau singgah mana-mana, boleh stop kejap. Janji final destination adalah tempat berehat di malam hari.

#15 Australian winter view along the Great Ocean Road

#16 We won't be having this kinda pose-siring-kereta-sewa kinda picture if it weren't for her suggestion. Thumbs up lagi sekali!

#17 Also this pose-atas-GOR picture. Berbaloi Ms H kerja menggodek instagram orang. Macam-macam idea dia ceduk. Harap aku, memang krik krik.

#18 Last view of the ocean. Alhamdulillah

#19 Last view of Port Campbell town from up the hill before we bid goodbye to this charming town

#20 Ocean view no more. Sekarang masuk area kampung (tapi jalan tip top still). Kiri kanan hijau walaupun winter

#21 In the middle of no where

Adalah kami stop at this small town to refuel. Sempat singgah toilet tapi ndak sempatlah mau bergambar bagai. Angin kuat, rasa anytime boleh diterbangkan (confident gila ayat, walhal berat berkilotan). Mula ada plan mau singgah untuk ngopi tapi cafe macam ndak mengundang, and masing-masing pun ndak sabar mau buang diri atas katil hence initial plan tunda ke hari lain.

#22 Sihat-sihat bebiri di luar kota ni. Pun ndak berhenti masa ni, layan view dari jendela cuma

#23 Canola field tapi sebab belum musim so ndaklah meriah sangat canola-nya

Ada berhenti tepi canola field ni tapi gambar ndak menepati piawai blog (gituuu), simpan kenangan diri sendiri jaklah. Kah kau sudah delete, Bie? 

Overall puas hati trip meredah GOR ni. Walaupun first time ber-road trip bersama. Alhamdulillah Allah mudahkan semua. Adalah few hiccups here & there (manusia pun namanya, haruslah drama berterusan). Kalau diberi peluang untuk ulang benda ni pun, aku tetap mau pi sama dua minah jelita tu. And lagi dua yang ndak join haritu, hai Ms C & Ms P! Cuma part bijak TERtinggalkan barang dalam bas tu boleh ganti kejadian lain. Tapi kan, thing happened for a reason. Always! Husnuzon sama Allah. Boleh jadi Dia delaykan masa kami untuk pick up kereta sewa mainly to save us dari benda ndak elok. Far worst than barang tinggal & lambat pick up kereta. Allahu akbar *sob* 

Cerita Grampian (Day 6) will be continued in my next entry. It isn't long before I could wrapped up my Down Under trip stories. Kali ni memang ndak kan dapat bentang budget bagai sebab segalanya sudah tiada dalam simpanan. Almaklum, update tertangguh-kan. 

Wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

Victoria Day 5 - Frying Nemo Restaurant / Loch Ard Gorge, Port Campbell

Assalamualaikum. G'Day Mate!

Previous post (here).

30 July 2015

Port Campbell

*flaunting red nails (as if)*

Bila tengok gambar kami brunch di Port Campbell haritu, baru perasan we had NOT one but THREE cakes! Tapi the other two were chosen by the two minahS lah. Sempena naik umur yang sweet tooth gitu. 

We bought the cakes / brownies at Lord on Cafe; a blue small house-turned-cafe next to the Port Campbell mini market. The price you asked? Eh haruslah ndak tau because I wasn't the one paying. Kan yang diraikan, jadinya main tunjuk-tunjuk & tayang gigi jak sama Ms G & Ms H. 

Thank you kesayanganS for the desserts. 

#1 Not so many choices of dessert (well, according to me that was ahaks!)

#2 The one-and-only gas station at Port Campbell (we think so)

#3 And the place we had our brunch is in the same 'building' as the gas station; owned by the same person. Jimat segala-gala

#4 The place is called Frying Nemo; pretty famous katanye among travelers yang datang PC ni

#5 If I remembered it correctly, this side of the restaurant is only open in the evening

Masa sampai depan restaurant, ada lagi 30 minutes before its opening hour. Tapi sebab Uncle Gas Attendant knew that we've been wandering since an hour ago...he decided to open the shop early. And let us wait in the restaurant. Baiknya lah hati.

Siap minta maaf banyak kali as if tu salah dia. Walhal kamilah yang patut rasa bersalah sebab perangai tembolok seawal pagi; ndak menyempat-nyempat terus menerjah kedai yang belum buka. Sobs. 

Al kelibut jadinya Uncle tu mau prepare semua. And yes, he was the only one doing all the work. Juggling time between the restaurant & the gas station. Kejap pi kitchen, kejap pi sebelah tengok orang mau refuel. Maybe his helper belum sampai, gitu tekaan tiga wanita jelita. 

#6 Our brunch cost us AUD 26

We ordered the Pirate (or Piranha according to us; referring to our always-in-hunger tummy) Pack. The pack consists of 2 flakes of super fresh dory, 2 prawns, 2 dim sims (we changed it to calamari), 2 set of super crunchy chips, 2 homemade sauces. We chose the tartar & chili sauce; and they were sooo good! Especially the tartar sauce. I don't really fancy tartar but the one here was an exception. My first & last tartar sauce yang aku layan to date. 

#7 This carrot cake was chosen by Ms H. Aku harus pilih tu yang belah kiri (brownie). Misi tiup lilin failed sebab lupa minta lilin. Sobs

Lepas layan permintaan perut, we immediately made our way to the next destination. Lama-lama duduk dalam restoran tu kang ada lagi yang tambah order.

#8 Nope, we didn't encountered any kangaroos passing by throughout our road trip. Cuma jumpa si Koala Pemalash while driving the GOR the night before

#9 Drizzled once we hit the road. Memang hujan rahmat betul. Tiap kali masuk highway, tiap kali tu juga rintik hujan menyapa

Loch Arc Gorge

"The gorge is named after the clipper ship Loch Ard, which ran aground on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 approaching the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Of the 54 passengers and crew, only 2 survived: Tom Pearce, at 19 years of age, a ship's apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman emigrating with her family, at 19 years of age. According to memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help. Pearce then proceeded to climb out of the gorge to raise the alarm to local pastoralists who immediately set into plan a rescue attempt. After three months in Australia, Carmichael returned to Europe. 4 of her family members drowned that night. Pearce was hailed as a hero, and continued his life living until age 49. He is buried in Southampton, England"

#10 Illustration of Tom & Eva on the information plaque

#11 The archway connecting those pillars collapsed in June, 2009 & now they appear as 2 unconnected rock pillars. Officially named Tom & Eva after the two survivors of the shipwreck

#12 And haruslah sebelum turun mengadap laut, exercise kaki turun tangga. Descending wasn't a problem (of course), balik nanti tu yang ehem krik krik

#13 Bolehlah posing di tangga, kenangan. Bila lagi mau datang kan

#14 Abaikan penderaan tangga, yang penting we had fun

#15 Subhanallah, beautiful

#16 Ada barrier pula so cannot go closer. Bahaya please sila layan view dari jarak selamat

#17 Alhamdulillah. Sudah menjejak

#18 Who turned Double Three 4 years ago *kuis pasir*

#19 Gigihlah ambil panaroma shot walau tangan gegar repeatedly camera warning; keep arrow on center line *duh!*

#20 Ingatkan boleh masuk dalam cave tu...rupanya ada barrier juga

#21 Layan melankoli seketul Err

#22 Group photo; handpod berjasa sepanjang trip ni

Thank you layan anganan si Err wahai Jemah jelita. Our first road trip together, pastu plan punya banyak namun sampai sekarang nan hado terlaksana. Insha Allah, we'll get back together soon. Sila training kaki siap-siap ah.

Lepas Loch Ard ni, we went to 2 other attractions in the national park. Both places pun memang sesi dera training kaki. Turun naik tangga but the view memang Subhanallah, super lawa. Terus lupa tangga.

Yang tu aku share next entry. Insha Allah nampak gaya momentum rajin ni melantun-lantun at the moment. Harapnya berkekalan. 

Wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

Victoria Day 5 - Gloomy Morning at Port Campbell National Park (Gibson Steps & Twelve Apostles)

Assalamualaikum. G'Day Mate.

Fuh! Puh! Sikit lagi ndak jumpa jalan masuk dalam blog ni. Luckily boleh retrieve password. Lama gila tuan rumah berhibernasi kan. Al-maklumlah too content with life (katanye!). 

Memanglah sah janji tinggal janji. In my last few entries (which was 'few' months ago), punya beria menabur janji pahit cerita Victoria bakalan berakhir before 2018 ends. Harapan! Half leg of the trip pun ndak habis lagi sampai sekarang. Trip since 2015, tapi masih gigih kan mau continue update. Macam rugi pula kalau stop on Day 4 jak. Cerita gantung; bilang orang Sabah. Plus takutlah kenangan indah terlupa-kan. 

Aku memang sejenis suka lepak blog sendiri (kategori syok sendiri tiada berpenghujung) & baca past entries. Mengimbau wei! Juga untuk bagi sedar diri betapa aku ni bertuah; Allah bagi peluang explore dunia luar. Sebab memang terlalu selalu terjun fasa kufur nikmat. Sobs! 

Ok intro berjela as usual. Kasi chance lah kan lama ndak menulis.

Previous post (here).

29 July 2019

That night, I drove along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) for nearly an hour before we reach our accommodation. Sekali sekala nampaklah kereta lain but most of the time, rasanya macam kami jak atas jalan. Masuk jam kedua driving, si Err rasa ngantuk. Mula lah give up mau drive bila tengok GPS; meaning motel jauh lagi. Terus keluar idea mau walk in any guesthouse/motel yang banyak tepi-tepi jalan tu. Signboard jak banyak tepi jalan, the guesthouse actually nun di atas bukit. Samar-samar cahaya nampak dari jalan raya. Surrounded by big trees. 

Come to think of it now, memang sebiji scene horror movie. A group of ladies suddenly jadi bijak & decided untuk tidur di guesthouse yang spooky. Tengah lena tidur, dum dum pintu kena ketuk. Sekali buka, orang bawa chainsaw mau kerat kau & your friends. Erk?!

Aku memang ndak fikir apa masa suggest tu. Yalah sebab aku ngantuk+penat kan. Tapi minah berdua tu tengok aku silih berganti, pastu geleng serentak. Without saying a word. Pehal? Gitu! Sebab aku masih belum dapat tangkap maksud gelengan serentak diorang tu. Nasiblah diorang setegas alam reject idea aku. Else, ada yang bertukar jadi Bella malam tu. Tiberr!

Then, Ms G offered to take over the wheels. Syukur! Tapi bingai muncul. Once turun pangkat jadi co-pilot, automatik mata aku membuntang. Segar bugar, ndak ngantuk. Apalagi, aktiviti paksaan melayan lagu Big Bang bermula. Pasrah jaklah minah berdua tu. Mau tune in local radio station, frequency undetected. Dari bosan dengar angin, baguslah layan lagu. Oklah tu dari aku tukar status jadi 'penyanyi'. Ndak bernanah telinga?

30 July 2015

Port Campbell

Pagi ni bangun dengan semangat. Sebab diri telah menginjak umur baharu. Bless Double Three Bie (tu dia, 4 tahun ke belakang!). Tulah main idea trip Down Under ni pun. Kunun mau ikut jejak langkah si DJ, almost every year trip tiup lilin luar Malaysia katanye. 

Lepas breakfast, kami packing siap-siap. Sebab terus check-out & ndak kembali ke motel ni lagi. Alhamdulillah the night before tidur nyenyak sekalian minah Sabahan. Dengkur bersahut-sahutan; confirmed! 

Aku & Ms H ambil tugas susun barang dalam kereta sebab kami siap awal. Another long journey today, kalau main campak-campak jak barang kesianlah sama penumpang di belakang. Gitu jiwa concern. Masa tu baru perasan, main switch for car heater tu off. No wonder masa drive semalam, albeit banyak kali adjust level heater...tetap al-sejuk al-dingin dalam kereta. Perangai pegawai JPJ betul semua, gigih off-kan main switch. SOP sangat hah! 

Sebab masih awal, pekan Port Campbell masih sunyi. So we decided to check out the National Park first. Ndak sabar tengok laut sebab last night mampu dengar deruan ombak cuma. 

#1 Because we arrived super late the night before, we only managed to take picture of this signboard the next day

#2 Self check-in for late arrival last night. Easy peasy sebab sudah buat payment prior coming tu yang diorang tinggal note & kunci jak

#3 It was a nice motel (complete with everything we needed), unfortunately we only spent a night here. Itinerary membunuh semua mau diterjah, gitulah

Gibson Steps

First point of attraction we went was Gibson Steps. It is an area of cliffs on the south coast of Australia. Said to be the first sightseeing stopoff in the National Park.

#4 Its name refers to the staircase leading down to the stretch of beach. We didn't get down though because we're still not ready for any leg stretching activity. Dasar pemalas kan masing-masing 

#5 From the cliff, we could see some of the limestone stack

#6 As Gibson Steps is only a couple of minutes away from the famous Twelve Apostles, I reckoned those stacks are among the Twelve

#7 Strong wind, gloomy skies welcomed us that morning. Pun gagah mau posing

Twelve Apostles

Next destination, one of the highlight for our Port Campbell's itinerary. 

"The famous Twelve Apostles magnificent rock stacks that rise up majestically from the Southern Ocean on Victoria's dramatic coastline. They were created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland beginning 10-20 million years ago! The stormy Southern Ocean & blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone forming caves in the cliffs; which eventually became arches. When they collapsed, rock stacks up to 45 metres high were isolated from the shore. And called Apostels"

It was already drizzling when we're about to leave Gibson Steps. And heavy rain came not long after. Terpaksalah tiga wanita jelita melepak dalam kereta. Layan mata & anganan while waiting for the rain to stop. Masa ni hujan main peek-a-boo gitu. Kejap lebat, kejap renyai, kejap stop, kejap hujan lagi. 

#8 Sejenis comel. Road trip naik van macam ni memang best. Rasanya minah-minah Saleh tu tidur dalam ni

#9 Burung camar terbang menghiasi awan

#10 Underground passage from the car park to Twelve Apostles viewing area

#11 Note the 2 red arrows (the underground passage in picture #10) 

Basically memang kena walkertapaki sikit dari parking area. Explained why we have to wait for the rain to stop completely because there's no shelter that we could run to should it rain again. 

#12 Bukan selalu sampai, jadi marilah abadikan kenangan (kataku!)

#13 Memang semata-mata route macam ni, hujan kalu terus bermemori daun pisang lah kau di situ

#14 No blue skies for beautiful view like the ones I always see in the internet. Redha, sudah menjejak ni pun harus bersyukur

# 15 Akhirnya, my very own picture of the Apostles

As I went there 4 years ago, I don't know how they look like now. Some said, the erosion worsened the shape of the stacks. And I read somewhere, ada few stacks sudah rebah ke laut. 

#17 Ones of His many magnificent creations

#18 Yang sentiasa berzikir padaNya 

#20 Incomplete group photo; Mak Jemah minus two

#21 Alhamdulillah ada orang mau tolong ambilkan gambar. Maybe kesian tengok kami ber-handpod terpaksa take berkali-kali (almaklum ahli expert ndak join)

#22 Rasa habis comel lah tu posing gitu. Layan jaklah (burpday kan??!!)

#23 Bila kau rendang, kawan kau tripod 

#24 Tengok balik gambar-gambar trip Down Under ni, banyak pula aku selca gini. Salah satu tips untuk effect selimsadisshady

Sudah explore lebih kurang, we made our move to the parking area. It started raining again when we reached our rented car. Nasib sempat masuk, kalau ndak harus kuyup. But the heavy rain lasted for a good 5 minutes. Macam hujan hai-hai-bye-bye. 

Where to next? Jamu perut. Semua kelaparan tiada sempadan sudah. So back to the pekan we went.

#25 To the right, to the right

#26 Port Campbell. Macam pekan hantu pun ada, pekan replika pun iya juga, pekan Roswell pun boleh

#27 Rarely they were people seen here. Ntah-ntah semua dalam building jak, sunlight kills them (suddenly Edward-vibes)

#28 Benda gini pun jadi photoop juga for tourist like us *flip tudung*

Sebenarnya masa sampai Port Campbell ni, most of the shops / restaurants haven't open yet. Still so early according to the gas station attendant at the one-and-only gas station there. In order to kill time, we wandered around the small town. By foot of course. Al-malas cari parking. 

By 10am, baru nampak few cafes letak Open signage outside their shop. Terjah lah tiap yang buka, dengan niat mau cari kek untuk yang naik umur tu. Sebab mau tiup lilin katanye. Choices of cakes adalah tidak berapa menarik di mata si Err (yang sweet tooth itu). And eventually she settled with a cake; yet because it was years ago she forgot its name. Lain kali updatelah lepas 10 tahun ah Bie. 

We decided to dine at this restaurant recommended in TA. Turned out the owner / chef  of the restaurant is also the owner / gas station attendant. Impressed gitu kami bertiga. Multi tasking sungguh kau! 

Apa menu brunch kami? Well, that have to wait until my next entry. Semoga roh rajin masih dalam diri. This is already too long an entry for a warm up after my super long hibernation period. Lebih dari melembutkan jemari sudah ni. 

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim