The Great Ocean Road... and a dose of Eminem

Another day trip.  I visited the Great Ocean Road more than a decade ago when I did a 5 day tour from Melbourne to Adelaide.  It was a "refresher" trip this time.

The coach picked up passengers along the way, and the scenery was beautiful.  We got to see a few koalas in the wild as well.

Lunch break at Apollo Bay.  There are many eateries here and it is not necessary to go for the lunch option suggested by the tour agency,

I decided to take a 10-minute helicopter ride over the 10 apostles.  We had a small discount with the tour agency (A$95), but also a shorter duration.  While the ride was pricey, we were compensated with the beautiful aerial view.

There was still time to walk to the beach area.

A few minutes drive, another view.

Having tea at Port Campbell before heading back.












What better way to end the evening with a Eminem concert.  I missed all the opening acts, but the main guy delivered.  The concert was very loud, but Eminem gave an engaging performance.

Philip Island: 30 years later

I took a bus tour to Philip Island and surrounding area on one sunny afternoon. The ride was comfortable and our first destination was Churchill Island.  A beautiful peacock greeted us at the visitor centre.









There were old houses inside the compound and display of how the interior looked like.


The interesting segment would be sheep searing....

Melbourne Revisited

Federation Square.

When I was last visited Melbourne in 1999, the Federation Square was not completed yet.  Now, it was a popular place for people watching and of course an arts space.  Besides arts spaces, it also had a tourist information centre, offices, bookshops and of course cafes and restaurants.

An interesting art installation using mobile phones as materials.

It was Winter Olympics during that period and there was live telecast on the video walls.











There was a contemporary visual art exhibition Melbourne Now happening around the city, and Federation Square was one of the venues.

Melbourne: KAGE's Forklift performance

After an absence of about 15 years, I was back in Melbourne for a few days stay, followed by more travelling to other cities. The Qantas flight was smooth (transit via Brisbane) and my first airbnb accommodation was good.

At the Melbourne Airport, I bought a return airbus transfer to the city centre, where the journey time 35 minutes.  At the bus terminal (or at convenience store), remember to purchase a myki card which will come in handy when you take public transport in Melbourne.

My first event for the day (aka Valentine's Day) was catching KAGE's Forlift at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

The few raindrops threatened the delay of the performance, held at the open space of the building. Thankfully, the weather held up and the audience were treated to a different kind of arts performance.

According to KAGE's Kate Denborough, Forklift is about "anti-stereotype, throwing caution to the wind and discovering something luminous where you least expect it"  The performance was presented by Arts Centre Melbourne.

Gearing up for Adelaide Festival

About 2 weeks to the opening of Adelaide Festival, considered one of the major arts festivals in the world.   This year's Festival will run from 28 Feb to 16 Mar.  In addition to performing arts, the festival will also feature visual art and literary arts events.  A fringe festival will also run parallel to it.

Notable performances in the first part of the festival would be Director Ivo Van Hove's Roman Tragedies, a trilogy of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra as a sprawling and immersive multimedia spectacular.   At 6 hours, the audience would be part of the action while on stage with the actors. 

Another interesting production would be SKaGen's Bigmouth.  From the write-up:  "With five microphones and unrelenting energy, Valentijn Dhaenens celebrates 2500 years of oration in a tour de force one-man performance. From Socrates to Bin Laden, victory speeches to eulogies and the rousing to the frankly inept, the most memorable addresses in history are woven together to create a thrilling and powerful oratory rollercoaster..." 

Australia would be represented in theatre with a collaboration with Portugal company in a performance called Blackout, Windmill Theatre's Girl Asleep, and State Theatre of South Australia's The Seagull.

Interesting theatre programme for the Adelaide Festival.   More information on the Festival and other programmes: http://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/