Melbourne, Australia Self Drive Road Trip - Day Two

After a long day driving on Day 1, we woke up at 7 am on Day Two. That would be 4 am on our local time. After a simple and quick cup noodle breakfast, we started driving to the Balconies at Grampians National Park. We were still worried about the weather as the bad weather warning continued to be in the news.

The Balconies at Grampians, Australia

Similar to the first day, the drizzle came on and off in time for  us to visit the planned attractions according to our itinerary. We got to visit the Balconies at the Grampians National Park and nearby Mackenzie falls. Climbing down the falls was not a problem but climbing up is a bit challenging for the unfit like yours truly.

Mackenzie Falls, Australia

We dropped by Halls Gap to have more fish and chips for lunch before driving to Ballarat.

At the Halls, Gap, The Fish and Chips Family pack was wrapped in a big package.
You can sit by the sidewalk or the park to eat it. It was welcome on a cold day.

On Day 2, we drove another 516 km approximately, another 6 1/2 hours of driving by estimate but it was probably another half hour to 45 minutes more because we came to a road closed sign with no clear directions for an alternate route. We had to drive on unpaved roads through farms to get back on the main road. Phew!

Road Closed Ahead!

Most of the roads inland was very straight with lots of farm animals grazing on both sides of the roads. 

We wanted to visit the Sovereign Hill at Ballarat but of course, it was too late as it was near closing time by the time we got there around 3pm. So we visited the rest room instead before driving off to our booked accommodation at Campus Clayton Serviced Apartments. We picked this place because of its proximity to Monash University which we wanted to visit.

According to the website, the reception closes at 6.30 pm. We arrived at 6 pm to find a notice on the reception desk that read "We are closed at 5 pm today".

Fortunately we had our data roaming and was able to call for assistance. We were directed to key in a preset code at a box located just outside the reception area to retrieve our apartment key. What a relief! The apartment was very new, very clean and had all amenities including dishwasher, toaster, microwave, conventional oven and cooker with pots and  pans and cutlery and plates, iron, clothes washing machine and dryer.

Campus Clayton Service Apartments photo from website

We had access key for the indoor car park but we were told we could park at the visitors bay which was convenient for us so we did just that.  How good it was to do a load of dirty laundry. Washing powder for clothes and dishes and sponges for washing dishes with dish cloth were all provided. The apartment overlooked a field where we had breakfast of peanut butter toast and Milo for two days while watching the rabbits and birds in the field. Tranquil and quiet. Nice after all our rushing around.

Immediately upon checking in, we went out to visit a friend so that the kids could see how people in Melbourne lived. We went out for dinner with our friend, went to buy some grocery supplies before heading back to rest.

We see lots of animals on Day Three...