We love you SA but we can’t let you win!!

It was a Saturday and Madhu and I needed to sleep. We did till about 11am. Vimal and Arpi were up and about exploring shopping as early as 9am. They headed out and we were to call and meet them at the outlet malls before heading to Phillip Island. Also known as Penguin Island. I learnt again how to drive in Melbourne CBD. This time the famous Melbourne right turns. You go all left and then you go right. It was confusing at first and then it was doable. After some time at the mall and picking up some more items of interest, we enjoyed a Taiwanese lunch along with Chocolate milkshake at Lindt café in the mall!! This was heavenly. Around 3:30pm we proceeded to Phillip Island. As we got there around 5:15pm, we realized that the information center for the Penguin Parade tickets was closed. We had to think up some way of getting the tickets. We went ahead to the Penguin Parade location and asked for tickets. There were none. At this time, Arpita took over. She befriended Rob who runs Little Penguins bus tours from Melbourne and had him speak to the manager who finally obliged with 4 tickets. Arpita was all smiles. Rob was

all smiles. We were all smiles. Thank you Arpita.

This was superbike weekend at Phillip Island which also houses the Grand Prix Circuit. We went out to the end point of the island in the hope to see some Sea lions. We saw a little penguin. The Selfie stick finally came to good use. To be able to reach the corners under the wooden pathway to be able to click this penguin. It almost seemed lost. It wasn’t. We went out to the town – Cowes. The number of bikes here was stunning. Amazing rides. Ducati. Yamaha. Suzuki. Names I don’t know. Huge. Creating sounds which will send any heart racing. Fantastic Town. Good shopping. No ice cream. Around 7:30pm we headed back to Penguin Parade. To be seated in a conundrum on people. Accurately speaking 3304 of them. Including Indians and lots of Chinese. Some Japanese. The penguins started walking out of the water around 8:30pm. These are Little Penguins

and they are the smallest variety. They walk out to their burrows. They settle in for about 3-4 weeks of Molting. Essentially shedding their feathers and growing new ones. To be able to protect themselves in the cold water. It was a superb experience. First watching them walk up and then head to their burrows. Standing there. Looking at us. And us looking at them. In awe. Finally we headed back to town. Had dinner at an Italian location. And drove back to the hotel. Thank you once again Arpita for this one!

It was Match day. Ind vs. SA. MCG. If Lords is the Mecca of cricket, MCG is the Medina!! Arpita, Madhu and Vimal chose to head out shopping first. It was to St Kilda’s market on the esplanade, then to Chapel Street and back to the outlet mall before heading to the stadium. They missed out on Queen Victoria’s market and they missed out on the first half of the game. I didn’t.

In India, South Africa traditionally is a team we love. Starting back to the 22 runs in one ball debacle at the 1992 world cup where our hearts went out to them. And then the famous last over by Sachin Tendulkar in the Hero Cup final where South Africa needed 4 runs and we pulled it off. Rahul Dravid vs. Allan Donald. Sanjay Manjrekar vs. SA. Andre Nel vs. Sreeshant. All very entertaining cricket episodes. A sense of belonging. A sense of good cricket.

At the MCG, it was a thorough dominance. Of Blue. A sea of blue. Some 87000 fans at the stadium with approximately 2000 South African supporters. And Team India answered in style. For fans. For Supporters. For cricket. This was an awesome environment. The match began with us seated right in front. By the aisle where the players made entry and exit to the stadium. At one arms distance

from Team India was a brilliant feeling. Virat, Shami, Umesh responding to our cat calls. And then there was an unlikely star. Sr. Constable Brendan Tytler. He was on duty at the gate right in front of us which lead to playing area. While trying to look serious, I quizzed him if he had seen anything like this before. And he was sure he hadn’t. So many people. So much noise. But still respectful. He compared this to his experience with an Aus vs. Eng match and he was certain that with that kind of a game, there would be idiots throwing things. But not in this game. He didn’t find any of that. And this is where I explained to him that Cricket is a religion in India and the 11 on the field are demigods. While we worship Team India, we also love stars like AB DeVilliers, David Miller and Dale Steyn. Thanks to IPL. Brendan let lose a few smiles. He did relax and unimaginably, lot of the fans started clicking photos with him. He sure was the hero of the day. Then there was the argument about who

would make it the final. And what would happen if India was at the MCG again. He didn’t think it would happen. I think it will.

Besides the other hero – Sachin Tendulkar. He was at one of the members stands and the camera focused on him a few times. People forgot the match and cheered Sachin almost like he was approaching a 100.

While India was to give a fight to SA, winning with such a huge margin was a cherry on the cake. Beating Pakistan was required. Beating South Africa was awesome. The batting, bowling and fielding falling into place. Two run outs!! Incredible. It was a party after the game. Especially outside the stadium. Ultimately, it was good cricket. "Paisa Vasool"

It was the last day of the party. A Monday just before we fly out. And the last planned visit to the Great Ocean Drive, the 12 Apostles and the drive back. We headed out relatively early after breakfast. The first stop was Point Impossible Nude Beach. This was just north of Torquay. The weather though was not conducive. It was cloudy. It was drizzly. It was cold. There were not too many people on the beach. None actually. Only us. We were all ready for a day in the Sun. There was none. The beach itself was splendid. It was a long straight stretch with forest in the backdrop. Smooth sand. As Arpita said,

the softest ever that she has come across. We didn’t stay for long though and hopped into the car just before it started raining. We continued to the south of Torquay and it was the Bells Beach. There was a sit out created on the hill with a walk down to the beach. The view was great. The sit out was in the middle of two beaches – Bells beach and South side beach. The Bells beach reminded me of Vagator in Goa. It was only photo time though and a quick conversation with a local who told us about the weather. “The rain will ease up around noon, but it will get colder as we go south”, he said. And we were – going south. There you go. Attired for the beach and hot sunny day but having to experience 13 deg C. Torquay, Anglesea, Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell were on route to the 12 Apostles. The ocean was two-coloured. Turquoise upfront and deep blue further out. The winding road studded with conservation parks and forests on one side and the ocean on the other. It was never ending.

Fantastic drive. Way better than California 1. Couple of cars had pulled over. And people were clicking at a tree top. We stopped too. We spotted some Koalas in the Wild. No crocodiles. Only Koalas. As a consolation, I was reminded it is only crocodiles. Sigh!! And yet again, Arpita’s wish did come true. To see Koalas in the wild. We did stop at Anglesea and Lorne. Shopping and Ice Cream was order of the day. The spot which we chose for ice cream this time had supposedly been voted the best in Australia. It sure tasted nice. Two scoops. Orange and Chocolate.

We arrived at the 12 Apostles center. Parked and took a walk to the cliff and a view of the ocean below. The wind was strong and cold. Arpita was the only one with a sweater. We saw three helicopters providing services to view the 12 apostles from high above. However,

we didn’t opt for this. We had just had our Helicopter experience in Vaishnodevi and that was fantastic. We simply took the long walk out to the cliff which had couple of points to click some pics. It was a fantastic view. A straight drop cliff and a beach and the ocean below. We saw some people walking at the beach and wanted to get there too. We didn’t though. Time was running out. It was nearing 6pm and we had an early flight the next morning. After the pictures, we headed back. This time via the Aussie country side. Surprisingly, no sign boards and restrictions. Arpita wanted to drive for a while before we hit the highway. She did. She definitely enjoyed it. We reached the highway. Princes Highway. A1. By now, this was officially our favourite road of all time. We stopped at Colac for a quick Italian dinner. For a change, all veg. the garlic bread was oozing butter. Tasted so good. The remaining drive was smooth. It was nearly the last drive of the trip. Discounting the trip to the Airport the next day that is.