A Reintroduction

Hey y'all, let me reintroduce myself! My name is Alexa and I have been blogging on and off since the beginning of 2011! I started with my blog, travel mi amor, and it was all about travel. On that blog I talked about pervious trips I had taken and I created a few "regular posts" like a Travel RoundUp where I would talk about what happened in the travel world that week and some Pinspiration posts too. And I will admit, some of my fluff content wasn't my own, I got ideas from others. 

But in 2014 I became pregnant and I figured I wouldn't be able to keep up with the frequent posting and the topics would venture away from travel. So in the summer of 2015 I created The Spotted Bulldog as more of a lifestyle blog and named after our sweet English bulldog, Lola. She was almost all white with one spot on her head...but, her skin was COVERED in small black spots that you could see on her belly and when we gave her a bath. That's how the blog got its name! And although Lola passed over the rainbow bridge back in 2016 we still have joy in our new spotted bulldog, Daisy! 

I think I did a pretty good job at keeping up with my posts...until I didn't. After looking back at pasts posts it seems that when we moved up to Wisconsin in 2016 things really tapered off. And I think one of the main reasons was that we had a basement office with no windows and no sense on inclusion with the rest of the family. So blogging and chronicling my life came to a stop. 

{Lola to the left and Daisy in the middle and right}

And now here I am in 2021 starting this bad boy up again in a time where people really don't read blogs anymore...whats up with that?! And guess what...still typing about travel! I am currently working on my posts from our trip to Australia in January 2020! 

Do you still read blogs? 

Fraser Island

 Arriving in Melbourne | The Great Ocean Road | Melbourne Sightseeing | The Great Barrier Reef

From Cairns we took off to Brisbane and drive up the coast to Hervey Bay! We made a little detour in the costal town of Noosa. 

Once in Hervey Bay we checked into our "motor lodge" as they called it, it was a Best Western, did a little grocery shopping and then went to bed. The next day we waited for our bus that would take us to the famous Fraser Island (a must stop I was told by a friend who had recently visited). 

Fraser Island is the world's largest sand island and you need to make sure you are riding the appropriate vehicle to navigate this islands terrain (its VERY bumpy). 

Once off the ferry we were taken by 4WD bus to Central Station, a former logging station for the once thriving timber industry on the island. We walked along the Wanggoolba Creek boardwalk where we saw crystal clear waters, king ferns, ghost gum and pine trees. Then we had lunch at the Eurong Beach Resort before we took off for 75 Mile Beach!

75 Mile Beach is a beach that you drive on, if you have 4WD. It was quite the experience to see this beach being using as a highway and landing strip. While on the drive we made stops at The Pinnacles, colored sand formations, Eli Creek, a clear and fast flowing fresh water creek and our last stop was the famous Maheno shipwreck! The Maheno was washed ashore in 1935 during an out-of-season hurricane (for cyclone as they are called on that side of the world). 

Our last stop of the day was at Lake McKenzie where we had time to enjoy the crystal clear waters! The lake is called a perched lake because it is well above the water table, so that means the lake consists of rainwater only. Because of the unique environment and acidity levels in the lake the water is unsuitable for all forms of plant and fish life. Making the lake VERY clear and pristine. The sand at Lake McKenzie is also pure silica giving the beach its white color. 

After about an hour on the beach at Lake McKenzie we headed back out to catch the ferry. Once back on the mainland we were able to see kangaroos in paddocks as we passed by. It was neat for us to see but probably not for native Australians, haha. For Americans, it would be like seeing a herd of deer in a field, no big deal. 

The Great Barrier Reef

 Arriving in Melbourne | The Great Ocean Road | Melbourne Sightseeing 

We set off for Cairns our 5th morning in Australia! Once we landed we rented our car and Matt took the wheel for the first time driving on the left side of the road and the right side of the car (he had previously driven on the left side in Grand Cayman but the car was made in America so the steering wheel was still on the left side!). 

We immediately hit the road to try and catch the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway before the closed for the day. We made it! But the weather had different plans. We made it to the first stop where we had to stop for a storm in the rainforest. We waited about 45 minutes and there were signs that it wasn't going to let up so they put us back in a cable car and we headed back down to where we started. We were bummed! We got our money back, hit the gift shop and then headed to our hotel.

Since we now had some unexpected free time and it wasn't raining on the coast we took a walk along the coastal sidewalk, headed to a local grocery store to check out what foods are like and packaged like in Australia and had a bite to eat at Muddy's Café. 

{flying into Cairns, snorkeling, Fitzroy Island, view from the Skyrail, reef, helicopter ride}

The next day we decided to have breakfast at Muddy's Café too and then we headed to the marina to check-in for our day long snorkel trip to the Great Barrier Reef! Our boat stopped at Fitzroy Island to pick up and drop people off (must stop here next time!) and then headed on its way to Moore Reef. We spent the whole day there! We snorkeled, took a helicopter tour of the reef and sunbathed. The excitement for the day was when we were snorkeling and a turned around to find a jellyfish right in front of my face! Luckily I was able to swim away before it stung me! We also saw some sea turtles while we snorkeled. And while we were in the helicopter we spotted a reef shark! It was a nice day on the water! 

Once back on land we decided to head up to see Barron Falls before it got dark. We would have seen this form the Skyrail had we been able to ride all the way up. It was quite the twisty and turny ride up the hillside and being on the opposite side of the road I think I had a few minor heart attacks! But we made it! 

{Barron Falls, more from the Skyrail and more from the Great Barrier Reef day trip}

After Barron Falls we returned to our hotel kind of late and it didn't look like much was open for food so we ate at the hotel. They didn't prepare my food right the first time I didn't end up eating until almost 8:30pm! And if you know me, that's late! If I hadn't had the fries to keep my tummy happy I would have been very hangry! 

It was a quick 1.5 days in Cairns and I wish we would have booked more time here (next time!). We stayed in Cairns at the Holiday Inn and if we had spent more time here I would have liked to have stayed at the Sheraton in Port Douglas and added the Daintree National Park to our list of activities. 

Melbourne Sightseeing: Days 4 & 5

Arriving in Melbourne | The Great Ocean Road

We started our second to last day in Melbourne by taking one of the trains all the way to the last stop so my cousin could meet us and pick us up for a day of site seeing around the Mornington Peninsula. After breakfast our first stop was the Cranbourne Gardens to see the native plants and red sand gardens. 

Then we headed to Coolart Wetlands and Homestead and took in the sites and walked along the beach. 

{Cranbourne Gardens & Coolart Wetlands and Homestead}

After the wetlands we headed to Dromana Beach for some lunch and beach walking. While we were walking on the pier we saw a sealion swimming alarmingly close to swimmers! It was a fun site to see! 

We continued down the coast to Brighton Beach to see the famous Brighton Beach Boxes. These are little beach huts that people own and they are essentially just a place for them to hang out and store their belongings at the beach. Some were just beach huts while others had full kitchens and were Pinterest worthy! 

{Brighton Beach Boxes} 

We had dinner at a bar near our hotel and had Melbourne's version of "bar food", chicken parmesan! And then it was off to bed. The next day was relaxed as we headed to Victoria's market again for treats and then to the Melbourne Zoo for our first sight at some Australian wildlife and our first of three zoo visits during our trip!

The Great Ocean Road

The whole reason I wanted to make Melbourne a part of our trip was to do a Great Ocean Road tour! I just had to see the Twelve Apostles with my own eyes! We started to tour bright and early with a pickup at our hotel. We made a handful of stops along the way before we made it to our final destination. We stopped in Torquay, home of the company Rip Curl, and had some banana bread and coffee on the beach. We stopped for a photo op at the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch and about an hour before lunch we stopped at Kennett River Township to view some wild koalas and birds! We had lunch in the beach town of Apollo Bay and got to walk around a bit.

Now for the good stuff! We visited Melba Gully where we were able to get out and take a little walk to take in the beautiful sights! Then we finally made it to the sea cliffs! First stopping at Lock Ard Gorge and then finally the Twelve Apostles. I’ll let my pictures do the talking!

After the Twelve Apostles it was time to head back to Melbourne. We stopped at a small road side town for dinner. The dining options were limited and we did only have about 30 minutes for the stop so we opted to get get Macca's (a.k.a. McDonald's). 

What a great day checking a box off the bucket list!