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Published: January 17th 2009
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With Christmas 2008 already a mere memory, Carissa and I took to the open road again en-route to our next destination: Adelaide. We actually managed a head start this time as my sister and her husband had done a lot of the hard work for us, leaving the van at Avalon airport having toured the NSW and VIC east coast.
First stop was the Geelong botanical gardnens where we walked through a desert garden thriving on very little water, before arriving at Torquay. Torquay is considered the birthplace of surfing in Australia and home to one of the most famous surf beaches the world over, Bells Beach.
However, like most of Australia, the famous right-hander also seemed to be on holidays upon my arrival. In fact this was to be the case at many of the beaches I visited while touring the ‘surf coast,’ home to a fantastic ribbon of asphalt known as the Great Ocean Road.
Fortunately the scenery didn’t let us down and I did get my surf later in the trip. We enjoyed every breathtaking turn, soon realising that there wasn’t much point to stop for photos when around the next corner the previous sweeping
ocean view would be over- shadowed.
Joining the endless parade of combi’s, campers, caravans, motorbikes, cyclists and anything else on wheels, we wound our way along the coast. Our own faithful chariot took us past the family holidayers at Anglesea and the latte′ sipping set at Lorne before overnighting at the sleepy hamlet of Apollo Bay.
Setting out the next day refreshed, we followed The Great Ocean Road inland through the rainforest of Otway National Park. We took a slight detour and made our way down to the Cape Otway Lighthouse, where we were greeted by some of the furry locals who couldn’t seem to comprehend what all the fuss was about and quickly went back to sleep.
Through the National Park the road meets up with the ocean again at Glenaire. The rainforest soon gives way to a dry rugged coast line, rich in natural beauty. Despite having seen many images on television not to mention a good smattering of Ken Duncan’s, nothing prepared us for the sudden arrival of the 12 apostles (actually there’s only 10, but who’s counting).
Huge pillars of sandstone stand vigil over the marine national park. The apostles have been
left to the swirling ocean by the ever retreating coastline.
Despite my limited photographic ability, I believe it would be near impossible for anyone to leave without having captured a couple of ‘keepers’ from the fantastic viewing platforms that jut out into the ocean.
Warrnambool was in major holiday mode upon our arrival and we found where all those caravans and campers we had passed on the road went. Warrnambool did however offer a fantastic bike path which hugs the ocean for some miles, which we took advantage of before it ended conveniently at the ice cream shop.
Seeking quieter surroundings we pushed on through Port Fairy, leaving The Great Ocean Road behind us (Port Fairy is the official end). We overnighted at Bridgewater Bay, a spectacular secluded beach 20kms west of Portland.
My prayers were answered the next morning when I awoke to fantastic surf, but the only problem was I had it all to myself. Under normal circumstances this would be ideal, however with all the recent shark attacks I soon spooked myself, having caught only a few waves. Carissa was of course genuinely concerned for my safety as she continued to sleep comatose as I did battle
with these monsters in my mind.
From Bridgewater we bid Victoria goodbye and crossed the South Australian border just prior to passing through Mt Gambier. We ventured north-west along the Limestone coast taking in the picturesque holiday towns of Beachport and Robe along the way . After stopping to admire ‘Larry the Lobster’ at Kingston we overnighted at Wellington. The next morning we hot-footed it down to South Australia’s holiday capital, Victor Harbour, where we stocked up on supplies for our trip across Backstairs Passage to Kangaroo Island.
Kangaroo Island is big, seven times the size of Singapore in fact. There is one sealed highway through the middle of the Island, however much of the island is only accessible via dirt roads. The island is unspoiled and rich in wildlife which has thrived, thanks to its isolation to introduced pests like foxes and rabbits. Much of our two days on the island was spent taking advantage of the stunning beaches, checking out the wildlife and yes….looking for surf (which for those interested was best at Pennington and Hanson Bays).
Carissa and I also visited the seal colony at Admirals Arch and the iconic Remarkable Rocks, both located in Flinders Chase
National Park.
The end of each day was celebrated with a lukewarm beer, due to the rapidly diminishing block of ice in the esky, as we admired the stunning views available from our camp overlooking the Southern Ocean.
We are now in Adelaide for the next six weeks where Carissa is working at a private hospital and I have found work doing temporary fencing for the many upcoming events in the area at this time of year. I start setting up for the Big Day Out next week.
We plan to go and cheer on ‘The Lance’ and the Tour Down Under riders this weekend.
An invitation is out there to friends and family who would like to visit Amazing Adelaide.
Until Next Time
Hoo Roo
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