Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia

I have been to Mornington Peninsula twice, once with my friends and once after my family joined me in Melbourne. Mornington is a nice one day trip from Melbourne, taking you to the mouth of Port Philip Bay. Mornington Peninsula is famous  for big farms, colorful cabins lining the beaches and spectacular views of Port Philip Bay and Philip Island.

The trip with my friends was a longer trip since we had rented a car and had a whole day to roam around. The trip with my family was on a day tour through Greyline, as I did not feel like driving a car the whole day.

The attractions in Mornington are the Ashcombe Maze, Sunny Ridge Strawberry Farms, Arthurs Seat, Beaches dotting the Port Philip Bay and various view of the Bass Straight and Philip Island.

Arthurs Seat is atop the tallest hill in Monrnington, which provides you with spectacular views of Melbourne and Port Philip Bay. There is a cafe atop the hill, which is an ideal place for relaxation. We had a good Devonshire tea at the cafe on the top of the hill, a wonderful way to start off the day.

View of Port Phillip Bay from Arthurs seat

Melbourne skyline from Arthurs seat

Sunny Ridge strawberry farms are famous for their fresh strawberries, which they let you pick straight from the farm. You can buy a $8 or a $4 basket to pick your strawberries. Ensure that you pick the red juicy ones as strawberries do not ripen after they are picked; also take care that you are able to close the cartons else you will be charged extra. Make sure that you cover your shoes with plastic bags that they provide you, the land is quiet damp and slushy and you can get your shoes dirty. They also have a wonderful cafe where you can taste excellent delicacies made of strawberry. You can also buy jams, chocolates and other items from there shop. They also sell basket of plucked strawberries, in case you do not feel like toiling in the farms for one :)

Sunny Ridge Strawberry farms

The strawberry fields

The strawberries we plucked

Ashcombe Maze has the largest hedge maze in Australia, there are two hedge mazes to be solved and a rose maze. Apart from the mazes, there is a Lavender farm and a quiet park to cool off your heels. We solved all the 3 mazes, by ensuring we knew in which direction we wanted to come out. We had a lovely 2 course lunch at the maze cafe. The lavender ice cream was refreshing and nice.

Ashcombe Maze entrance

Fountain At Ashcombe maze

Park in Ashcombe Maze

There were various view points to enjoy the scenic beauty of this place. You have spectacular views of Melbourne, Port Philip Bay, Bass Straight and Philip Island. There are a number of beaches and piers for people to relax in. One of the famous ones are the beaches of Dromana where you can see the colorful beach hamlets.

View from Point Leo

View from Chapmans Point

View from Murrays Point

Beach hamlets at Dromana

Ferry from Sorrento to Queenscliff

View of Bass Strait

If you have a car, you can complete a trip around the Port Philip Bay during the trip to Mornington Peninsula. Take the ferry to Queenscliff from Sorrento to cross the Port Philip Bay; your car gets a ride on the ferry along with you. From Queenscliff you need to head to Geelong to find your way back to Melbourne.

Mornington Peninsula is a relaxing one day tour from Melbourne.

Whitsunday Islands and The Great barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia

Along the coast of Queensland are a collection of islands called the Whitsundays. There are 74 islands that constitute the Whitsunday islands. Last Christmas holidays we had the opportunity to visit some of these beautiful islands and the famous and beautiful Great Barrier Reef.

We made a trip to Airlie and Cairns. From Airlie we took cruises to Hamilton island and the beautiful Whitehaven beach. From Cairns we took a cruise to Green Island and the Outer reef.

There are many islands in the Whitsundays that you can visit from Airlie. Fantasea Adventure cruises provides many cruise options to these islands. We chose to go to the Hamilton island and Whitehaven beach.

Hamilton island is the center of Whitsundays . It is a perfect place to relax, with a wonderful beach and golf course. You can spend the day either enjoying the sun on the beach or by snorkeling to the reefs, since Hamilton island is situated on the edge of the great barrier reef. You could also take a tour around the island either by foot or by the free shuttles that frequently run around the island. Hamilton Island also provides accommodation for people who wish to stay back and relax in the beauty of the place. The resorts are beautiful and well equipped to provide visitors with a memorable and comfortable stay.

The beach at Hamilton island

View from Hamilton Island

View from Hamilton Island

  

The Fantasea Cruise ship we took to the island

The Fantasea cruises gives us plenty of time to enjoy the island. We were dropped at the island in the morning and we returned back to the cruise in time for lunch. After a sumptuous and tasty barbeque lunch on the cruise ship, we headed of to the Whitehaven beach. This beach is indeed a white heaven . The white Silica sand and the beautiful green/blue waters make this beach one of the 10 most beautiful beaches around the world! The beach does not have any facilities and is just a 6 kilometer stretch of delightful sand. The beach sand is white silica and it reflects most of the suns rays that fall on it, so be prepared to face the sun with hats, sunscreens and the like. If not prepared, the amount of tan you can get from this beach will surprise you! Since the beach does not have any facilities, the cruise provided us with all that we would need, deflatable beach shacks, swimming gears, gears for beach games, sting suits and much more. The beach is a must visit for its beauty.

The beautiful Whitehaven beach

The beautiful Whitehaven beach

The beautiful Whitehaven beach

Amphibious plane for visitors who would like to get an aerial view of the place

After a wonderful day at Hamilton island and Whitehaven beach we headed back to Airlie.

To visit the Great barrier reef the beast option would be the Great adventure cruises from Cairns.  These cruises take you to the Great barrier reef and Green island. In Green island you can do various activities like para-sailing, under sea walking, snorkeling etc. You can also enjoy the beautiful beach here. Since the green island is along the great barrier reef, you can see a number of colorful fishes and also if lucky tortoises.

We chose to do the undersea walking and were amazed to see the colorful fishes and plants of the great barrier reef. The under sea walking was a great experience and the trained and experienced people around will guide you safely through the whole process.

Green island

Beautiful waters of Green island

Life under the sea, around the reef

Life under the sea, around the reef

Life under the sea, around the reef

After spending time at Green island enjoying the beach and the reef the cruise takes you to the outer reef. The Great adventures have a floating platoon at the Outer reef . We can snorkel, dive, take a helicopter ride, go on a Scooba-Doo(this is similar to under sea walking but with a water scooter) or take a semi submersible ride to see the beauty of the outer reef. All gears for snorkeling , diving or other water sports are provided by them. Lunch was provided on the platoon. Thanks to great adventures , we were able to enjoy and learn about the great barrier reef and marvel at the breathtaking beauty of the life around it.

Sun deck at the platoon

Life around the Reef as seen from the semi submersible

snorkeling around the platoon

The islands and beaches along the central coast of Queensland along with the Great Barrier Reef make a holiday to the place colorful and special. Definitely a memory to keep for a lifetime :)

Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

At a distance of 103 kilometers to the west of Sydney are the Blue Mountains. It takes about an hour by car. The Blue mountains region provides a number of attractions and a single day would not be enough to cover the whole of Blue Mountains. Since we had only a day at our disposal, we decided to visit a few of the most famous Blue mountain attractions - The Three Sisters, Scenic world and Jenolan caves. This makes a wonderful day trip from Sydney and these are places you would like to visit over and over with family and friends.
A large number of eucalyptus trees grow in the Blue mountain region. The atmosphere around this place is scattered with tiny droplets of eucalyptus oil. This along with the water vapor and dust in air cause a blue haze, by scattering short wavelengths of light ( mostly blue). This is the reason why this place came to be called the Blue Mountains.
The region is famous for bush walks and you would find many bush walking trails along the roads on your way to The Blue Mountains.
The first stop on our journey was the Three Sisters. We went to the Echo point for a spectacular view of the Blue mountains and the Three Sisters. You also have the Giant Stairway at the Echo Point which will take you to the bottom of the valley. This stairway has 800 steps, so take it only if you feel fit for it :) There are several bush walks originating from the Echo point.

The Three Sisters

Beautiful Blue Mountains

From there we went to Scenic World at Katoomba. This has the scenic railway which is the steepest railway incline in the world. This place used to be a coal mine and coal was brought up using the cable lines. Now this is a very popular tourist attraction. Also at the site is the Scenic Cable-way and the Scenic Skyway. The views are breathtaking. You can view the Katoomba falls from the Scenic Skyway. There are boardwalks that you could take to enjoy the vegetation around this region.

The scenic cableway

Three sisters from the Cableway

Our final destination for the day was the Jenolan caves. These outstanding caves are a must visit. There are many caves and underwater rivers in this area. Grab a ticket for any of the caves and you will be led into a magical world of stalagmites and stalactites. There are 10 caves at Jenolan that are developed for tourism. Each of these caves have a different charm and history to it. Some of these caves have underground pools and rivers, while others have mineral deposits that shine like jewels. Lucas cave is the biggest of these caves and has very good acoustics. Due to this reason, there are concerts held in the Lucas cave. We were just in time for a guided tour through the Chifley cave.

Way to Jenolan caves

Limestone shawl inside Chifley Cave

Stalagmites inside Chifley cave

There are many more attractions in the blue mountain regions. However the one mentioned are the most famous. The Blue mountain is a place of natural beauty and history and as I already mentioned, a serene and magical family getaway.

Phang Nga Bay, Phuket, Thailand

Phang Nga Bay is a popular attraction off the coast of Phuket, Thailand. Its is a perfect place for sailing and the numerous islets ( very small islands, sometimes they are just big rocks) in the middle of the sea, make it a beautiful tourist attraction.
There are numerous tours that start from Phuket that will take you around the various attractions in Phang Nga bay. They also provide options for canoeing near few of the famous islets.
We started from Phuket early in the morning on a boat for a day tour to Phang Nga bay. The crew on the boat were entertaining and informative. The sail to Phang Nga bay was calm and the sea and islets made a serene scenery.
The tours start early morning because some of the islets have caves and during low tide people can get into the caves on a canoe. Some of these caves lead to lagoons in the middle of the islets. The lagoons are wonderful and they have very different vegetation and atmosphere as compared to the sea around the islets. Entering the lagoon you get the feel of having entered a different world altogether. It is surprising to see the vegetation and also the birds and the monkeys that live in the lagoon. In some of the cave openings , you can find stalactites and some of the mineral deposits on these stalactites make it look like gleaming crystals. You will also find interesting formations of rocks made by the erosion of big rocks over the years.

Jetty from where we took the boat to Phang Nga bay

Islets in Phang Nga 

Beautiful scenery

The cave we canoed into

On the way into the cave

Sparkling stalactites in the cave

World inside the cave, beautiful lagoon

Out of the lagoon

One of the most famous attractions around the region is James Bond island, also called Ko Tapu meaning 'The Nail' by the locals. This island was featured in the 1974 Bond film 'The Man with the Golden Gun' and hence the name 'James Bond' island. This turned the previously unknown Phang Nga bay into a major tourist attraction.

James bond island

There are also various beaches around the place where snorkeling can be done.

Beautiful scenery, adventurous canoe rides and splendid warm beaches make this a must visit place.

Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia

Phillip island is an island located 140 kilometers southeast of Melbourne and is the home to a wonderful chocolate factory,  koalas and the cutest little penguins. This island has wonderful attractions and is a perfect one day trip from Melbourne. Many tour operators have day tours and half day tours from Melbourne to Phillip island. We took the day tour by Extragreen Holidays (which we got as a promotion from Scoopon) to Phillip island.

We were first taken to the Panny's chocolate factory, where we were told about how chocolates are made. They have wonderful collection of art and sculptures, all made from pure chocolate. We can make our own chocolates with flavors of our choice and also taste Panny's chocolate. They also have a chocolate waterfall, which is delightful! They also have a cafe where you can have some of the wonderful chocolate delicacies they serve. The entire chocolate factory tour is a dream for chocolate lovers.

Pure chocolate penguins, even the snow is white chocolate

Atlas made with chocolate

Art work made using tiny chocolate pieces

Chocolate sculptures

After the chocolate factory, we went to Churchill island Heritage farms, were you can relax and enjoy. Take a stroll through the lawns and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of the place. You can also see and learn how trained worker dogs do their duty, how sheep are sheared, how to crack a whip or how to throw a boomerang.

View from Churchill island

Our next stop was the koala conservation center, where you can take board walks through the koalas habitat while watching some cute and lazy koalas resting on the branches of the trees.

Koala up a tree

Next we went to The Nobbies. Here you can see seals in their habitat, through the viewing cameras. Take the boardwalk to get a wonderful view of the coast and the blow-hole. The walk is very relaxing and you might also see some baby penguins in the burrows along the boardwalk.

Blow-hole at Nobbies

View from Nobbies

View from Nobbies

A baby penguin in the borrow at Nobbies

Phillip island is most famous for the Little Penguins and the penguin parade is the most popular event there.This was the last part of our journey. It is a spectacle to watch the little penguins return to their burrows after a long days fishing at the sea. The Penguins are very small and they come in groups, hurrying to their burrows. The first penguins that emerge from the water just after sunset, will scan the beach for any predators. They do this by coming to the shore, taking a peek and rushing into the waters again. This little game of hide and seek happens for quiet sometime until they finally decide to walk up the beach to the burrows. Once they are on the beach, they move very quickly to their burrows. It is wonderful to see these little ones climbing over rocky cliffs and socializing with other penguins on their way to their burrows. Visitors are allowed to watch them in silence from viewing stands, lest the noise scare the penguins away.  Photography and videos are not allowed in the penguin viewing area since they are harmful for the penguins vision and so we do not have any pictures of this beautiful event.

In all, Phillip island is a great one day trip and a must visit for the penguin parade. Next time in Melbourne, do make this great one day trip.