Note: This post has the least photos of all my travelogue posts!!! (kekeke) But it will have me babbling long winded. (hahaha)
The next morning, I woke up and drink some of the water I boiled yesterday night. Ate leftovers from yesterday’s dinner for first breakfast. Not long after I had stomachache and nausea. My sis had the same thing except the water so I knew something must be wrong with the water. More over the water tasted funny when I drank it but choose to just ignored it. Haha (so now kena!)
After checked out, we bought our second breakfast at the restaurant just outside Geelong Riverview Tourist Park; mine is toasted chicken & avocado sandwich AUD5.50. However I could only afford a bite. The wanna-vomit feeling is still there.
Still we proceed to Geelong post office. Sending postcards and letters are a must! Then we head back to Melbourne. Lost our way somehow near Lorimer Street. And I went into Kraft office to ask for direction. Hahaha The directions given were easy to understand but when we come face to face with the road, everything’s different. Having GPS at this stage didn’t help at all. So we just used our 6th sense to navigate the roads. And what do you know? We found our way back to Melbourne!!! Wohoooo
Our plan when we reach Melbourne was to park our car and check-in at Elephant Backpacker (just a few doors away from Flinders Street Station) since we have about 4 luggage with us. Then we will return the car at Franklin Street.
But guess what? We reached Wurundjeri Way at 12pm. Navigating our way to Flinders Street Station took us nearly 1 hour. (normal traffic would need about 10 minutes only!) That’s how bad the ‘lunch’ jam was. Finding a cheap car park is also another problem. In the end we settled for an underground parking near Manchester Lane (AOC Car Park). The parking area was so small and tight that there was no room for proper parking. We handed our car key to the parking attendant (in case another car need to leave) ~ first time doing this.
Once done with the check-in and storing our luggage in the room, we quickly head back to get our car. If I’m not mistaken 1/2 hour car park rate is about AUD9.00. Since we took more than 1/2 hour to settle our stuff, the rate became AUD15.00 (1 hour rate)!!! (~RM45) The most expensive parking fee I’ve ever paid in my life! Hahaha Even without converting, it’s still expensive for me.
We need to have the car in full tank before returning to Hertz. On the way we experienced our first hook turn.
If you remember, I promised in Melbourne Day 3: St. Kilda Beach, Luna Park & Acland Street post I will talk about hook turn. So here it is… read only if you’re interested (in italics).
The intersection of La Trobe Street & Russell Street (example) is one of the location with Hook Turn.
On this road where the cars are moving… is one of the places in Melbourne CBD where you need to do a hook turn in order to turn right. What it means is you have to stay on the left side of the road and then turn right. (Normally if we want to turn right, we stay on the right side of the road yeah?) A simpler explanation taken from the hook turn signage: “right turn from left only”. This is usually the case when you need to clear the space for trams at road intersection.
Detailed explanation of hook turn on La Trobe/Russell Street:
The moving cars are on La Trobe Street. You want to make a right turn to Russell Street. When the light turns green at La Trobe, you move your car forward to the left at the intersection and stop there (just like this car in the above picture). When the light at La Trobe turns red and the traffic light at Russell Street turn green (the road you’re entering), you quickly made the right turn before all the cars at Russell Street make a move. That’s it.
Hook turn is considered fearsome & confusing to drive because you need to watch out for traffics from all directions. Still I thought it’s a charm for Melbourne, CBD itself. Only Melbourne CBD & Adelaide uses hook turn. Other countries that uses hook turn are US (Illinois), China (Beijing, Shanghai), Taiwan, Japan, Netherlands. (source from Wiki)
Well I can tell you it’s a breeze doing the hook turn. (lalalala)
We drove to 7-11 Petrol Station (oh yeah!) situated just beside Victoria Hall (our first accommodation in Melbourne). Had the car on full tank (20.14 litres @ AUD22.25)
Taken with TZ-7.
Because of not feeling well (nausea the whole day!), I didn’t take a single photo on day 6 (so incredible!!!)
At Hertz’s basement, we managed to take this photo (ahh for remembrance)…
14th September 2010 @ 2.10pm, 14 degree C, 594km later (Melbourne-Great Ocean Road-Colac-Geelong-Melbourne)
Taken with TZ-7.
This is the summary of our car rental charges:
(in case anyone of you want to know before making your journey there)
Toyota Corolla Hatch economy 4 door (unlimited km) 3 days charges = AUD89.13 (after discount)
Maximum cover+admin fee+vehicle reg. recovery+GST = AUD119.12
Total car rental charges: AUD208.25
Petrol for 3 days = AUD61.25
Grand total = AUD269.50
The insurance fee (called Maximum cover @ AUD77.85) is as expensive as the 3 days car rental charges. I know a lot of people suggested not to take it. But because this is our first driving experience in Australia and due to peace of mind… we figured it’s okay to take it because everything will be covered in case of accident. Most importantly for peace of mind. Hehe
Note: We had the car for 2 days and 5 hours plus… considered as 3 days rental.
After leaving Hertz, we waited at the tram station for City Circle Tram. Well guess what? We waited for 2 rounds and both times the trams refused to open the door. Grrrr. So we walked back to our accommodation. Sob sob… still not feeling well.
Once we got back to the hostel, we slept like a pig for 4 hours! Hahaha
Let me show you our room at Elephant Backpacker.
Our private double ensuite @ AUD70.00/night.
The room is quite small and it’s located at the end of the hall at level 3.
Toilet bowl is located directly in front of sink. Horrible! Hahaha
I like the enclosed shower though.
The reception area in ground floor.
Honestly speaking Elephant Backpacker is my least favorite accommodation. The place has a musky smell… yuck! My favorite is Victoria Hall, second by Port Campbell Hostel.
We woke up at 6pm but unfortunately my nausea is still there. We went out to look for dinner after that. Our dinner is at a Thai eatery called Rate Thai. I had rice and hot tea. Ahhh felt much better after that. We shop a little after dinner and then went back to rest.
All I can sum up about my day 6 is bad luck. Hai hai…
Anyway to be continued… π
5 Comments
You would think after boiling the water it will be fine to drink. I know the water here is different, too, from city to city.
This posting really brings back memories of my time in Melbourne many years ago… nostalgia…
I’m glad you had a good time there. It really it really is a special place π
Dawn, learned my lesson. Haha
Jeremy C, hey I thought you’re still in Aussie. Yeah it is a special place. π
the accomodation is not horrible , it’s just a bit too small ..i can see it’s rather clean compared to Malaysia.=)
Eunice, yeah it’s not horrible. The horrible part is the toilet… where you need to sit on the throne side way coz the sink is blocking the front. Haha