Anyway, the tour brought us through the picturesque scenes of the lush Dandenong ranges, the empty Yarra Valley (as it was during winter) and the Victorian High Country. The journey took us about 3 hours. Before we actually reached Mt Buller, the coach stopped us at a little town just 1 hr from the mountain to visit a ski rental shop. As we didn’t know how to ski and that we had only 4 hours on the mountain, we simply rented walking boots to roam the area. At the ski rental shopLots of stuff to rent
Foot of Mt Buller
A great pity that it didn’t snow! Nonetheless, it was a great experience. It was the first time I was actually walking on a snow-capped mountain. The view was spectacular! However, do remember to bring sunglasses as the reflection of the sunlight on the ice can be quite glaring to the eyes. Bring sunglasses
We booked the tour in Singapore at Commonwealth Travel Services Corporation (CTC). They liaised with the Australian tour agency specialising in short tours to arrange our tour. It cost about S$160 for a day trip. For those interested, Australian Pacific Touring (APT) offers short tours to several locations within and beyond Melbourne city, visit http://www.australiansightseeing.com/.

Our ticket entitled us to unlimited rides on the chair lift, Blue Bullet. The Blue Bullet 1
My very own snowman
At the rest station
On the chair lift

The day then ended back on Swanston Street with dinner at Nandos! Do try out the fantastic hot sauce if u visit Nandos, it’s quite power-packed.
Dinner at Nandos
The Extra-Hot hot sauce

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Day 6 (25/07/2007)

Well well, we started the day by visiting the State Library of Victoria. It is easily recognised by its magnificent looking exterior that is somewhat similar to Singapore’s Supreme Courts. The library has been in operation since 1856, making it 151 years old in 2007. Exterior of the library
The notable sights of this historic building include the La Trobe Reading Room and the Redmond Barry Reading Room. Very Harry Potter!La Trobe Reading Room

Redmond Barry Reading Room

At Ian Potter Museum
Random shots of the streets
Next, we “visited” Captain Cooks’ Cottage, located in the Fitzroy Gardens. We didn’t actually enter as it required us to pay an entrance fee to visit what seemed like a super small hut. So we merely took picture outside.
Cook's Cottage
Anyway, Captain James Cook (1728 - 1779) was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer. Ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy, Cook was the first to map Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. It is a point of conjecture among historians whether James Cook, the famous navigator, ever lived in the house, but almost certainly he visited his parents at the house.

Later, we visited the National Gallery of Victoria which is an art gallery and museum. The National Gallery of Victoria
If you happen to visit, do look out for the Leonard French ceiling, one of the world's largest pieces of suspended stained glass. The ceiling casts colourful light on the floor below.Leonard French ceiling
Beside the gallery is The Arts Centre spire, a Melbourne landmark.The Arts Centre
On the way, we passed by the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, an architecturally significant, outdoor performance venue in Melbourne. The bowl hold major events including the well known and popular Carols by Candlelight, held every year on Christmas Eve. It can hold an estimate of 30,030 people.
Sidney Myer Music BowlThe bowl itself
Next stop is the General Post Office (GPO). It has now been transformed into a shopping arcade.
The GPO
Following that, we visited the Rialto Towers, the second-tallest reinforced concrete building and the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere, when measured to its roof.
The ground floor of the Rialto Towers
It is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers since October 1994, and was inaugurated on October 15, 1985.It lost its title as the tallest building in Australia on November 9, 2004, when the lift core of Eureka Tower, also built by Grollo, surpassed its height. The Melbourne Observation Deck opened to the public on July 19, 1994 and is on the 55th floor of the South Tower, at 234 m. Views of up to 60 km can be had on a clear day.
At the Observation Deck
Warning!
Very windy!!!
Haha… Then we found this A$7.95 all you can eat buffet. The quality of the food wasn’t exceptional, but definitely enough to make us full. And, it’s the first day I managed to get to eat rice in Melbourne.
My first plate of rice in Melbourne

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Day 7 (26/07/2007)

On Day 7 morning, I decided to have a nice breakfast of bacon and eggs. The average price of the breakfast sets was about A$10. As we were on our way to Queen Victoria Market, I decided to try my luck there. Queen Victoria Market
The Market is a tourist destination, offering fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry and seafood, gourmet and deli foods as well as specialty delicacies. It also has a large non-food related market selling a diverse range of things such as clothes, shoes, jewellery and handmade art and crafts.
Inside the market
The outdoor market...
ShoppingAnd more shopping
I finally found my breakfast in the market at A$8.50, quite a feat! We did some grocery shopping for James and also did some souvenir shopping there as well.
No, not this one... too expensive
Yep, this is it
The A$8.50 breakfast
In the afternoon, we went for our pre-arranged trip (with APT again) to Philip Island to watch the Penguin Parade. On our way there, we visited 2 animal sanctuaries. The first, the “highlight” of the trip, sparked off the debate coded “Wombat or Rabbit” Take a look at the two pictures below.

What do you think the animal on the left is called? A wombat or a rabbit? Hmmm…. Ok, I see a sole hand up for wombat and …ah yes! I see an almost unanimous vote for rabbit! Therefore, by majority consensus, we have rabbit! How in the world do they look alike? I don't understand!

We got to feed kangaroos and lambs by purchasing feeds for A$1/2 (I can’t remember) per cup.

The animal park
Next up was a Koala Bear sanctuary where we got up close with the very sleepy creatures.

Finally, we arrived on Philip Island just in time to catch the Penguin Parade.
The Penguin Parade at Phillip Island Nature Park, in which Little Penguins come ashore in groups, attracts visitors from all over the world, who come to see one of the few areas where this species of penguin can be seen.

The Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor) is the smallest species of penguins in the world. We were seated on cemented steps just 50metres from the beach. As the sunsets, the small penguins started to come ashore in small groups back to their nests on the land. It was a wonderful experience to see the penguins calling out to their young, trying to find their way to the correct nests. I’ve never seen so many penguins close-up before. Unfortunately, photography isn’t allowed. Also, we managed to “see” a whale. It was actually a short distance away in the sea.

Dinner was at Nandos again… This time, I ordered a quarter chicken and fries.

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Day 8 (27/07/2007)

The morning was spent roaming the city. We visited the University of Melbourne campus. I really love the concept and design of the university. It had a really ethereal feel to the whole place.

The Melbourne University campus
After that, we took pictures in front of the Melbourne Museum and the Royal Exhibition Building. It is located in the Carlton Gardens. The University of Melbourne actually conducts its examinations there.


The Royal Exhibition Building
Then, we went to the asylum seeker centre to help out.
In the evening, we went to the Crown Casino on Southgate Promenade to check out the place as well as to catch the hourly fire show.
Night view of Southgate Promenade
The Crown Casino
The fire show

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Day 9 (28/07/2007)

This day was planned for a visit to one of the main attractions of suburban Melbourne, in Ballarat. We had to take a train ride from Southern Cross Station to Ballarat Station. quite convenient.

At Southern Cross Station
Finally reached Ballarat
We were visiting Sovereign Hill. Sovereign Hill is located on the site of one of Ballarat's major gold diggings. Now, it is an interactive museum that depicts Ballarat’s first 10 years after the discovery of gold there in 1851.
Entrance of Sovereign Hill
It comprises of over 60 historically recreated buildings, with costumed volunteers, antiques, artworks, books and papers, machinery, livestock and animals, carriages and devices all appropriate to the era.

Attractions of the park:
The Sovereign Quartz Mine runs 40 minute guided tours and features several underground displays. Above ground it also features steam-driven machinery for pumping water and processing the ore.

The Gold Mine tour
The Main Street is lined with shops, two hotels and a theatre. Among the shops on Main Street there is also a blacksmith's workshop, stables, photography studio, apothecary, bakery, jeweller's shop, grocer, tentmaker,tinsmith,bank, post office and library. Behind the Main Street there are a number of cottages which are open for visitors. There are also four schools where children in school-groups can dress up in period costume and attend as a child of the 1850s.
A number of workshops at Sovereign Hill, displaying traditional trades such as coachbuilding, wheelbuilding, blacksmithing and shoeing horses.

Link: http://www.sovereignhill.com.au/
For your information, there is a free shuttle bus service that runs from Ballarat train station. It is called the “Gold Rush Special”. Well, if you have a map, you will realise that Sovereign Hill is actually about a 30mins walk from the city centre.Apart from that, we toured around Ballarat city centre for a while. It is actually a quaint little place and the mood there was very relaxing, almost like a ghost town, but I mean it in a good way…
Another fish and chips dinner, guess which is the fish....
Well, talking about ghosts, that brings me to the greatest adventure of the trip. Sooner or later, I’m going to take Rabbit to court for Voluntary Manslaughter. Voluntary Manslaughter is the intentional killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion", under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. That draws us to the issue on “the heat of passion”. As the longing for the Eastern Oval overwhelmed everything he believed in, Rabbit brought me into enemy land. There, howls of the restless beasts of the dark filled the starless Ballarat night. While the search for the Eastern Oval carried on, my sinking heart and every discerning voice in my head told me that the path ahead would be treacherous and trying. Darkness started to triumph over the light and it was as if Rabbit was leading us right into an abyss. We passed under a giant bridge that was the entrance to no man’s land. We stopped, taking a deep breath. Striking our right foot out, it was now or never! We finally crossed the boundary. There was a sense of relief and I almost felt a pang of disappointment coming from Rabbit. He knew, that the road ahead was virtually impossible. Nonetheless, Rabbit led us on despite all the warning signs. The abandoned peasant huts in the distance gave us a sense of emptiness and sorrow. Oh! How many great men have perished just in search of something that is hardly of any worldly value! My heart wept in memory of those brave ones. Just then, an usual howl pierced the virtual silence! A dark and ominous force appeared in front of us. 2 pairs of shiny eyes peered at us with both curiosity and the intent to kill. It was Goa! The creature of ancient mythology, bearing the form of a dog with 2 heads! So, the rumors were true! We took a step back at the sight of the creature. It let another eerie howl, but this time, I’m sure, it was coming for us. We turned around and ran towards the light. We had underestimated the power of the dark ones. Soon, but certainly, the monster caught up and I knew that our time was up. The creature pounced on us and . . .

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. . . started, almost sadistically, Peeling off our skins with its razor sharp fangs, I finally knew why the place where our dying bodies laid was so named. . .

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. . . It was called…… Peel Street! Hooooowwwwwwwwl!!!!