~ 2nd time Melbourne (Pt.5) ~

they say "save the best for last". so, i'm saving these pictures on my work trip to Melbourne as the final entry. enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the actual scenery...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and finally, creativity ran wild on the 8-hour flight back to KL =)

 

 

.alhamdulillah. thank you, Allah.

 

~ 2nd time Melbourne (Pt.4) ~

apart from attending the training and the conference sessions, the organizer ada masukkn activity melawat libraries nearby. the libraries we went to - Queen's College library, Ormond College library, and Trinity College library.

 

we took the tram from the conference venue to the nearest stop not far from Queen's College (can't remember the name of the stop). from there, we walked to our first library, Queen's College.

 

~ Queen's College's entrance ~

 ~ with the other members (** pic from Mr. Neil Johnson) ~

 

~ pic from Mr. Neil Johnson ~

 

there's a section at Queen's yg simpan the collection of one paderi ternama... which I can't recall the name (i can't recall most of the information mentioned during the visit cz i was too busy mengambik gmbr, hahahaha). it's a Special Collection room yg smpn mcm2 buku2 lma & also some artifacts. in fact ada items in this room dibungkus dgn plastic.

 

~ see those items in the plastic wrap? ~

 

the Special Collection room is quite small actually. but with control temperature, xde lah rs cm sesak nafas masuk beramai2 skaligus.

 

~ still managed to squeeze for picture =) ~

 

next, we walked to the next library at Ormond College. some info of the college - it's to cater for students from a specific sect (can't recall whether it's for Catholic or Protestant). dan tu jelah fact yg I tau, hahahaha... d rest, blur cz sibuk amik gmbr (sgt kagum dpt tgk tmpt cntk. so, telinga xleh lk nk sync together dgn mata). ok, ok... ada fact yg I tau... they separated some collection from the library sbbnye kna banjir haritu...so I did pay attention, hehehe.

 

 ~ d building on the right is the library ~

 

Ormond College's library xde la canggih sgt in terms of the library technology. tp dia punya interior, dahsyattt!!! cntk & very comfy. mmg sesuai environment cmni nk bg org study dgn aman. and ada pulak tu kerusi dia bkn made from wood. it's actually kerusi yg made from getah, so bila duduk rs alahai cmfrtable sgt, hahaha. mmg rs xnk bgn la, boleh study lma2 kt library =)

 



 ~ ni kerusi getah ~

 

~ books on display ~

 

next, the librarian in-charged brought us to the next building yg ada area buku2 rosak cz kna banjir tu. and in this next building la ada tempat2 yg ala2 cm studio to shoot classical movie. ada bilik tu cm dining hall kt Hogwarts! and the hall mcm castle dlm citer Merlin. haaa... now u understand la knp I xdpt nk dgr explanation, kn? ngehehehehe...

 

 

 ~ this looks like Hogwarts, right? ~

 

 ~ & this looks like in citer Merlin ~

 

 

finally, our last library visit - Trinity College. kwsn compound campus pn dh cntk, mmg la org appreciate nk dtg library.

- OUTSIDE -

 

 

 

- INSIDE -

 

this was the last stop b4 we walked back to the tram station. by d time hbs visit, org pn dh blk krja. bila ptg2 rmi la sikit org naik tram. d other members went back to the conference venue for welcoming drinks. tp I chose to get my dinner at...

 

~ PappaRich ~

one Nasi lemak + cincau bandung = happy me =)

 

had to request for more sambal & was charged anthr AUD1. but nvr mind... asalkn perut gmbira, hehehehe.

 

~ 2nd time Melbourne (Pt.3) ~

d rest of the days at Melbourne dihabiskn dgn attend pre-conference training (8 Oct) and the actual conference(9 - 11 Oct). location of the conference, William Angliss Institute.

William Angliss Institute ni is not far fr the hotel. I took d tram in the morning cz sj je nk menyibuk sma2 dgn org yg g kerja, hahahaha. (Info #3: if you are staying at Kingsgate Hotel, take tram number 86 or 95 fr William St. or Bourke St., turun d next stop after Coles supermarket). ptg lk bergantung kpd keadaan. ada hari yg I naik tram tp turun after 1 station. ada hari yg I jln kaki je. note, berjln kaki mmg pemandangan biasa.

 

everyday conference mula kul 9 am and abis b4 5 pm. after abis sessions everyday, I blk hotel, tgglkn notes etc2, then kua blk utk jln2 kt CBD jap and had dinner. limited time utk nk btul2 pusing round CBD, plus kedai2 pn mostly kul6 dh start tutup dh. jdnye pusg2, beli souvenir apa2 yg trpikir jelah kt kedai2 souvenir, instead of kt Queen Victoria Market (Info #4: kedai souvenir byk kt Swanston St.). I've mentioned about Queen Victoria Market in my entry here (Info #5: Queen Victoria Market x bkk everyday. Click here to get the info).

 

in terms of food during the conference, Halal menu dh disediakn utk I by the organizer. so, lunch I dh kira settle, xyh nk bjln g cari food. being d only Muslim, pttnye xyh prepare byk sgt Halal food utk I sorg. everyday ms lunch sure akn ada 1pinggan besar (8 org leh mkn share skali) penuh dgn chicken wrap, tuna wrap & apa ntah lg 1. tp I sll amik chicken wrap 1 je, paling byk amik pn 2. balance tu? ntah, sape ntah nk mkn. kesian terbazir, huhuhuhu....

b4 I terbang g melbourne, I buat research sndiri restaurant pe yg provide halal food. lpstu Google Map je how far restaurant tu dr hotel. (Info #6: websites I referred to ms nk cari Halal food are Halal Square, Muslim Directory Australia, Halal Melbourne, and Halal Maps). dh wt research, salin address, pndai2 sndiri la survive nk cari kedai2 tu kt sana. it's good if you print out d map siap2... amik 1 point (cnthny from hotel) and search for that restaurant. tp this time I salin je address, xde print out map pn cz as I said dlm earlier post, I was busy with smthg else right until d day b4 I trbg to melbourne. jd, apa2 preparation yg smpt jelah, lpstu tawakkal smoga everything dimudahkn. bila dh tercmpk dlm situation nk kna survive sorg2, u actually can figure out what needs to be done, where to find help, etc2. paling penting igt yg Allah is always with you, Insyaallah slmt =)

utk sesiapa yg interested to go to Melbourne (lagi2 AirAsia nk launch TuneHotel kt Melbourne), public transport is good over there (even though I was informed that there's always complaints about the service). or, if u want to do some research about the public transport, u can go to Public Transport Victoria's website (this is Info#7). to me, the tram adalah reliable. this time I didn't take the bus... but I was on the train on the last day after the conference ended. took the line to Craigieburn, stopped at Essendon, went to a family friend's house. dpt la merasa berebut2 sma2 dgn org blk kerja...good, smthg new for my 2nd time here =)

 

~ 2nd time Melbourne (Pt.2) ~

hello...

 

like I mentioned in d earlier post, I need to go to some beautiful places d next day at Melbourne. agk penting utk I make sure that I can get up as early as 6 am... bcz of d time difference, itu adalah 3 pagi kt Msia (*sigh) apa I nk buat? hehehe... i'm joining a day tour to d Great Ocean Road. yeayyy!!!

 

I've pre-booked d day tour several days b4 my flight to Melbourne. memandangkn ni 2nd time I kt Melbourne, I thought of exploring tmpt yg luar dr CBD cz dh pnh explore CBD during my 1st trip dulu. awalnye I booked d day tour with Melbourne Australia Tours (www.melbourneaustraliatours.com.au). tp ats sbb2 xcukup members for d group, jd agent to dh transfer I to another agent, which is Autopia Tours (www.autopiatours.com.au). actual price for d day tour to Great Ocean Road with Melbourne Australia Tours adalah AUD85, while dgn Autopia Tours mhl la sket. tp disbbkn penukaran group was done by agent (Melbourne Australia Tours), so I stil get d same price wpn join with Autopia. d links have been given, so sesapa yg nk cari day tour packages at Melbourne, do click at the links provided.

 

there were 21 of us in my group and our guide (Ben) was one bubbly guy. tour tidak la membosankn sbb dia ni penuh dgn expressions. d journey to Great Ocean Road mmg agk jauh. dpt guide yg ceria cmtu, xde la bosan. ada gk Msian dlm d same group...memudahkn I utk x malu posing utk gmbr, hehehe. (Info #2: pick-up and drop-off points for each agent varies. utk Autopia Tours, the guide jmpt I kt King Street Backpackers).

 

~ our guide ~

 

pemandangan mmg cntk sgt sepnjg trip tu. Subhanallah. kalo I nk smbg tido, mmg boleh je. tp rugi la kot. I tried menahan mengantuk sepjg jln. tp once a while tersengguk2 gk. there were several stops we went to. 1st stop was at Airey's Inlet and the Lighthouse. tujuan 1st stop adalah utk breakfast. picnic-style breakfast, tau!!! menarik sgt!!! hahahaha.

 

 ~ breakfast, picnic style ~

we then continued our journey...

~ ini kira br smpi sempadan. perjln still jauh ~

 

d next stop was at Kennet River. kt cni leh tgk koala tido ats pokok, "itik" berjln senang lenang and u can also feed d parrots.

 

 

~ where i came from, this is called itik, kan? ~

 

fr Kennet River, we continued d journey and stopped at Apollo Bay. by that time dh lunch hour. ni konsep mkn sukati la nk dok mana2 pn. kwsn Apollo Bay ni mcm small town dlm drama omputih. kt cni ada gk org bw anjing diorg jln2 tp d rule stated that anjing kna sentiasa diikat dan xleh dibiarkn bergerak bebas.

 

next, we went to Maits Rest, which is actually a part of Great Otway National Park. our guide brought us "bersiar-siar" di dlm hutan. dgr la dia explained history of pokok2 dlm hutan tu. susah rupanye nk jd tour guide ni ye.... nk kna igt history, even history hutan pn nk kna igt.  

 

 

finally, we arrived at the highlight of the tour... the Twelve Apostles. according to our guide, there's no more 12 apostles. skrg dh berkurangan cz ada yg dh runtuh due to erosion. Subhanallah, kekuasaan Allah =)

 

 

kat sini sejukkk cz angin kuat. so, bj tebal mmg diperlukan. there's also service bw pelancong naik helicopter here. utk sape2 yg nk experience naik helicopter, I can't recall d price cz I pn xnaik. tp it's for 10 minutes and u'll b amazed to view the Twelve Apostles area dr ats helicopter. cool huh.

 

 

we went to Loch Ard Gorge next, which is not far from the Twelve Apostles. tmpt ni pn has its own history. as was told by our guide, dulu2 pernah ada 2 guys stranded kt sini cz kapal diorg karam. disbbkn xde org lalu kwsn ni, diorg survived in d cold weather with brandy and each other's body heat. it's cold here, just like at the Twelve Apostles. it's surrounded by batu2 tinggi and during ombak besar, tak mustahil ombak leh cecah batu2 yg tinggi tu. I didn't pay much attention cmne diorg ni dislmtkn cz I was waiting to know whether diorg ni kawen/x, hahahaha.  according to our guide, one of these guys survived another three shipwrecks since then b4 dia meninggal. pjg sungguh nyawa dia.

 

 

aaaaand, finally for our last stop, Ben brought us to London Bridge...

 

 

d "bridge" runtuh ms thn 1990. before that, it was connected and it really looked like "London Bridge". disbbkn dh ptg, xde la brp ramai sgt org kt cni dh. d weather pn x brp sejuk sgt dh.

 

on our way back, our guide stopped at one small town for everyone to get their dinner. i didn't get myself anythg, apart from mineral water and juice je. we took a different route back to CBD than when we came. it was nice to see d life around d small villages. d guide dropped me off at the place where he picked me up in the morning and b4 i walked back to the hotel, had my dinner at Nandos.

 

d whole experience to the Great Ocean Road was great. d people I've met, d view I've seen... everything reminds me of d greatness of Allah. kalau korg ada peluang (dan rezeki), pergilah melancong. it doesn't hv to be Australia... pegilah mna2 & take it as an opportunity to look at things fr different perspective. if u can go alone, just go (walaupun susah sket utk nk amik gmbr diri sndiri, huhuhuhuhu)... if u can go with your friend(s), that's good... if u can go with your family, that's even better...nothing should stop you from travelling to find and learn something new...

 

"Traveling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller"

-- Ibn Battuta

 

p/s: ada aunty from New Zealand dlm d same trip suka tgk sulam kt tudung bawal i, hehehehe =)