Xuan and I headed up to the Yan Yean Reservoir Park in Melbourne’s north today to do a little sight seeing. As we expected the water levels in the reservoir were very low and the ponds around the park had nearly all dried up due to the drought. We walked around a little and then decided to head to the Sugarloaf Reservoir in the Christmas Hills hoping to see more there.

When we got to Sugarloaf the views were spectacular even though the water levels were extremely low (19.8 percent full according to Melbourne Water at time of writing). It was sad to see reservoir so empty but the massive emptiness did make for some amazing views as you can see from the pictures below. The last 3 photos were taken by Xuan.

A group of us headed down to Fairhaven this weekend for a bit of rest and relaxation away from the city. Fairhaven is a small coastal town near Aireys Inlet and Anglesea on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road.

We rented a large house overlooking the beach which was sensational. The place had five bedrooms, two living areas, bar area, pool table, barbeque and a large upstairs deck with spectacular ocean views. We couldn’t have hoped for a nicer place to spend the weekend.

The weather wasn’t great so we didn’t head down to the beach for a swim. We did go and check out the Split Point Lighthouse though which is one of the main attractions along the Great Ocean Road. Some scenes from the Australian children’s television series Round the Twist were also filmed there.

Today Xuan and I headed down to Frankston beach to see the ‘Fairytales & Fables’ sand sculpting exhibition (19 January to 6 April 2008) at the Frankston Waterfront, near the pier and Kananook Creek.

The theme of the exhibition is of favourite childhood fairytales and fables from around the world including Jack and the Beanstalk, the Wizard of Oz, Hansel and Gretel, the Tortoise and the Hare, Puss in Boots and quite a few more.

It’s just so amazing how detailed these sculptures are as you can see by the photos below. I also found out that the sand that the sculptors use isn’t ordinary beach sand as this type of sand doesn’t hold together very well. It’s a heavier sand where as each grain is square, so it sticks together better.

Xuan and I headed down to the Yarra Bank Reserve in Burnley (An inner city suburb of Melbourne) yesterday afternoon to get a bit of outdoorsy time. I’ve never been to this part of the Yarra River so it was nice to get out for a walk and take a few photos.

The park has a nice walking track along the river, a public barbecue area and a small playground. Here are a few photos I took on the day. Photos 2 and 9 were taken by Xuan.

On our way back home from Warrnambool we decided to take the senic route and drive down Victoria’s famous Great Ocean Road. I wanted to see and photograph the beautiful rock formations along the coast in and around the Port Campbell National Park area.

We saw the Bay of Islands, Loch Ard Gorge, the Grotto, London Arch in and the famous Twelve Apostles. We also made the walk down the Gibson Steps to the beach and got our feet wet. The area is known for notoriously rough waves though so we didn’t go in for a swim. Still, the sights alone were worth the walk.