bomaderry and the grand pacific drive.

Last week was a pretty normal Thursday, when my supervisor called me into his office and asked if I'd be willing to travel to one of our job sites in Bomaderry, NSW.  The next morning I was up at 5 AM to catch a flight to Sydney for what ended up being a very long day trip.  Unfortunately, my visit turned out to be a bit premature as the work I was meant to oversee was delayed until Monday, so I flew back to Melbourne Friday evening, only to turn around again and fly back to Sydney early Monday for the 3 hour drive to site.  Yay for frequent flyer miles!

view of the sunrise from the plane

I only spent one night in Bomaderry and didn't have much time to explore, so really can't provide any insight on what it might offer travellers other than a good meal at the Bomaderry Bowling Club.

view from Lady Fuller Park rest area

On Tuesday afternoon I finished up my work at site early so had a few extra hours to travel back to the Sydney airport, and decided to enjoy a leisurely drive along the Grand Pacific Drive.  Bomaderry is situated near the southern end of the Drive, so it was a convenient location for me to jump on the road and see what the NSW equivalent of the Great Ocean Road had to offer.

The beginning of the Grand Pacific Drive wound through dense woods along the Shoalhaven River before emerging at beautiful Seven Mile Beach.  After snapping a quick photo, I continued on my way to Kiama, a charming town on the ocean full of cafes and apparently home to a popular tourist destination, the Kiama Blowhole.  Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of this when I drove through the town and missed seeing it, which turned out to be the theme of my drive: finding out too late that I had passed something worth seeing.

Seven Mile Beach

Coldale Beach Park

Bald Hill

After Kiama, the Grand Pacific Drive becomes a 6-lane highway through Wollongong, with hardly any views of the ocean.  Not exactly what I was expecting when I started on this drive, and definitely worth skipping in my opinion.  Things improved significantly once I traveled north of Bulli, as the drive once again ran along the ocean.  A few kms from Bulli I arrived quite suddenly at the Sea Cliff Bridge, which was the highlight of the drive.  The suddenness of my arrival was such that I rounded a bend and to my left were magnificent sheer cliffs dropping into the ocean.  This was finally a destination that I wanted to explore and appreciate, but the lack of any signs prior to my arrival meant it was many kms after the bridge before there was an opportunity to turn around.  I decided not to go back as I was a bit concerned about making my flight on time, so hopefully I'll have another chance to visit the cliffs again.

All in all, the Grand Pacific Drive is a refreshing break from the main freeway and features some really nice views.  Hopefully I'll have another chance to enjoy the drive someday and visit all the interesting things I missed!

BK

end of summer adventures.

The end of Melbourne summer is marked by a series of fun weekend festivals - from classics from the Moomba Festival, to tried and true events such as White Night.

The White Night festival is a really awesome all-night party (7pm-7am) featuring art, performances, and lots of incredible lighting displays. This year we managed to stay up late and enjoy the art and chaos without feeling too overwhelmed (last year the streets were so crazy that we decided to head home early and wake up at 3am to return to the festival). 

interactive street art mural

the city across the Yarra river

We walked all over town, avoiding the crowded main roads and making our way around the light exhibits and displays. A seven-metre long turtle puppet inspired by Cirque du Soleil greeted people at the Alexandra Gardens. Nearby, the new Audi TT was featured within illuminated columns of light, pulsating to electronic music.

"TOTEM Turtle" by Cirque du Soleil

"Audi Array"

The Old Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne's oldest prison, was the site for an exhibit called "The Seven Deadly Sins," a series of paintings depicting various sins and punishments. The Gaol is creepy enough as it is, but especially so in the middle of the night, with an eerie soundtrack and flanked by horrifying - yet detailed and stunning - artwork.

"7 Deadly Sins" at the creepy old Gaol

We stopped by Chinatown for some dumplings, and saw a crowd of people gathered in front of an outdoor screen for an all-night movie marathon featuring artsy films like "Kung Fu Panda" and "Rush Hour 2."

Chinatown

The Yarra River was transformed into a glowing lotus pond, with a floating stage of Bollywood-like performers, dancing to popular Indian songs. The upper terrace of Birrarung Marr was the location of "The Crucible," a series of pyrotechnic sculptures - a fire garden, and a huge metal dragon.

lotus pond

floating stage with dancers

elaborate fire garden

giant metal dragon

The Royal Exhibition Building was the canvas for "4 Elements," a dazzling video mapping projection show featuring two dancers interacting with artistic interpretations of wind, earth, water and fire. Flinder's Station was also illuminated with intricate projections. And Arts Centre Melbourne put on an awesome production called "Ghostly Machines," a haunting concept showcasing the various machinery typically used backstage for lighting and sound. The show began slowly and softly, but by the end the whole auditorium was ringing with rich sound and grand visuals of dancing soundboards, pipes and strobe lights. It was a great way to end our adventure at White Night 2015. Of course, there was so much more to see and do, but we were pretty exhausted by 1am, being old married folks and all.

Royal Exhibition Building

Flinder's Station

the ceiling of the Arts Centre, site of "Ghostly Machines"

On a separate weekend, the Docklands put on a small festival called "Summer Fest." We visited the area early on during the afternoon, and it wasn't crowded at all - but there was a neat stage out on the water, with a live band, a DJ in between sets, and a bunch of lawn chairs and seating arrangements for people to enjoy drinks from the bar.

This past weekend was the annual Moomba Festival, a three-day celebration of rides, watersports, entertainment, food, and culture. We also enjoyed this event last year, and definitely made it a priority to attend the infamous Birdman Rally, a hilarious competition in which people build contraptions to help them "fly" over the Yarra river. Whoever "soars" over the most metres (and raises the most money - this is also a charitable event) wins the title! We saw a few fun contestants, including a collection of balloons inspired by Disney's "Up," various cardboard wings and gliders, and a huge Elephant contraption that sadly lost its head even before landing in the water.

one of the Birdman Rally contestants, plunging into the Yarra

Moomba rides, including an awesome double-decker carousel!

The Moomba Parade is always on the Monday of the festival weekend (Labour Day in Victoria), which we didn't attend in person, but happily watched on television from the comfort of our living room. This is one of my favourite parades, as most of the floats are actually designed by imaginative children, who are also interviewed by television personalities about their creative intentions. We saw everything from Noah's Ark with a giant shark gracing the front of the boat, to an enormous hand drawn rabbit, to a robot dancing on a platter of pizza. Amazing.

We're sad to see summer come to an end - it's been a great season, and Melbourne knows how to make the best of it for sure.

CK