Raring to go on our ROADTRIP!!!!

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Can you tell I was excited by the roadtrip idea?!

Loading up the car with seven loads of backpacks and other items (such as Leanne’s crutches!) was a bit of a mission but after a bit of effort we got the bags and the people in the car and we were off!

First stop was a wee visit to Pin Oak Court, perhaps better known as Ramsay Street to most of you, since the others hadn’t seen it yet. No filming going on for us to have a peek at unfortunately but once again I ran round the street like a little kid, delighted to be there!

After that we were back in the car and heading off towards our first night’s destination, Eildon, Victoria. We had decided to take a slightly unconventional route to Sydney since a load of towns along the coast had been affected by extreme flooding (the same towns that had been badly affected by drought not so long ago - careful what you wish for!) so the Pacific Highway was closed in a few places. We didn’t fancy driving straight up the Hume Highway as I’d been told it was a pretty boring drive, so we mapped out a convoluted route that would take us through Wagga Wagga (the only reason we went was because we loved the name!), Canberra and the Snowy Mountains. We weren’t too fussed because we had a week to cover the 1200kms so we could take our time and enjoy the fact that we would be seeing some places that other backpackers never get to go to.

So late in the afternoon we arrived at Bluegums caravan park in Eildon which also, conveniently, had some dorm cabins. We quickly dumped our stuff and headed out to Lake Eildon to catch the sunset and were rewarded with a stunning view which Dicky did his very best to capture with his camera and three-inch tripod - I have never seen anything so pointless but it was highly amusing to watch him scramble around on the ground trying to position it for the perfect shot! Then it was back to the caravan park where I had a lovely chat with the owner who loves the Scottish (his son even plays the bagpipes) and he gave me a pen! Then we settled down for a munch, couple of beers and then an early night so we would be fresh for our self-imposed early start in the morning.

We all did surprisingly well in getting up in the morning and I started the day with my first ever peanut butter and jam toast sandwich - glorious! We packed up and set off with Ant at the wheel, heading for the brilliantly named Wagga Wagga (known to locals as “Wogga”). After we’d stopped off for lunch Leanne decided she wanted a go at driving - something we were all slightly wary of since we had all witnessed her driving ability at the go-karting in Adelaide when she’d ended up in crutches after driving at full speed straight into a wall! After Ant put her through some emergency stop exercises to make sure her gammy leg was up to driving (he’s definitely going to make a good policeman!) we all nervously got back into the car - just for Leanne to pull out onto the wrong side of the freeway with a big truck heading towards us! A very hairy moment let me tell you, my ears are still ringing with the sounds of everyone screaming at her to get into the correct lane! And it’s not as if it should have been too confusing - they drive on the left in Australia, just like at home, so she didn’t even have that as an excuse!

Thankfully Wagga Wagga was only an hour away so with only another couple of close calls we made it there safely and promptly banned Leanne from doing any driving for the rest of the trip. We had booked a little cottage for the night and it was great to play house for a while, SO sick of hostels! The highlight of the night had to be when I straightened Ant’s hair (there’s not much to do in Wagga Wagga other than laugh at its name), he looked utterly angelic with it done, the image just didn’t fit!

After a great night’s sleep we were up early again and made a beeline for the “Welcome to Wagga Wagga” sign so that we could prove to people that there actually was a place called that. As we sprawled out across the sign we earned quite a few beeps of people’s horns as they made their way to work!

And then we were on the road again, making our way towards Canberra. We all nearly wet ourselves laughing when we passed a sign saying “Welcome to the town of Gumly Gumly in the district of Wagga Wagga” but unfortunately there was nowhere to stop and get out for a pic - gutted!

We stopped off at the spectacular Adelong Falls and Blowers Dam before making our way through the Snowy Mountains. It’s actually illegal to drive through the Snowy Mountains without having snow chains for the car so we had to stop off and hire some but since the sun was shining we didn’t think we’d have any need for them at all. How wrong we were! Another half an hour up the road we were surrounded by snow - snow in Australia, I couldn’t believe it! A little further up we were pulled over by the police who said that there had been two accidents on the road ahead so we needed to put our chains on. Cue a comical 20 minutes while poor Ant, Will and Dave froze trying to get the chains on, not an easy task! When we headed off again we expected to be driving through deep snow but found instead that the snow was barely lying on the ground, it was more like sleet. I’ve driven through snow 12 times as deep at home with no need for snow chains! Not entirely sure how two people managed to crash in it but there you go.

Once we were through the mountains it only took us a couple of hours to get to Canberra. We booked into our hostel and then decided to take advantage of the fact it was handily located above a pub. After going to a couple of pubs we tried to find a club but were told that there were none open in the city - obviously not that happening a town! So we amused ourselves instead by having shopping trolley races in which Dicky proved he has no natural reflexes as he didn’t even put his hands up to protect himself when I pushed him into a kerb and he flew out of the trolley (it was an accident, honest Guv’nor)!

We had planned to spend the next day in Canberra so we allowed ourselves a wee lie in before getting up and heading to the Parliament. We did the tour round it and then trekked over to the war memorial for a look at that too. Since it stands on a hill you can see the war memorial from a great distance but I was surprised to find out that the entire road leading up to it has monuments to all the wars Australia has been in. I am still yet to find out why Australia’s WWI lasted from 1914 - 1919 though, and no Aussie I’ve asked knows why they were still fighting away when the rest of us had stopped a year earlier.

As we were still nursing hangovers we had a quiet night that night and then we were up the next day and off for the part of the trip Dicky had been most looking forward to - we were going to Mount Panorama, the Bathurst racetrack! The boys were like excited little kids all the way up to the track and Ant was first to take his turn driving round it. The excitement was dampened somewhat when we were reminded by several signs that we were driving on a public road which had a speed limit of 60km p/h! Then Dicky got to live out his dream when he took his turn round the track, god only knows what the guys doing the maintenance at the side of the road thought when they saw a packed Kia Carnival going round the track again! Then it was my turn to have a go but we decided to do it a bit differently. The boys had come up with the idea of doing a spoof of Top Gear and I was nominated to be Mrs. Stig. In lieu of a helmet I stuck my bra on my head and shades and scarf on my face and took off round the track with Ant, Dicky and Dave videoing my progress. Coming soon to You-Tube I promise!!

After all the excitement we made our way to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, our last stop before reaching Sydney. I had managed to catch a cold (in bloomin’ Australia!) so while the others went out to the pub to watch the Essendon match I for once declined and headed straight to my bed.

The following day was a lazy one but we did make it out for a drive to some of the viewpoints which were stunning. Then the day after, the last day of our roadtrip, we were up bright and early and headed to Echo Point for a walk that let us take in the sights of the Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters and experience the practically vertical railway that was scarily rickety! After that we were back in the car again and stoped off at Wentworth Falls for lunch overlooking the waterfalls. We then made our way to the Olympic Park where the 2000 Olympics were held (I think that might’ve been the ones that my mate Luke was a torch bearer for) and had a wander about there before finally heading into the city and the end of our roadtrip!

I was really sad for it to come to an end because it meant that soon everyone would be heading their separate ways. After spending practically every hour of the last month with the guys I was pretty gutted that we were all splitting up. Everyone apart from me was heading on to New Zealand over the next couple of weeks and the groovy gang had finally come to an end. I did buy a lottery ticket in the hope of making it over there for a wee holiday with them but I don't think the $12.75 I won on it would have gotten me very far! Thanks for an amazing month guys and I'll see you all back home - yes, I am going back one day, honest!! xx

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Photos

Roadtrip 1
Our first stop - Lake Eildon in Victoria. From l-r: me, Leanne, Will, Dicky, Dave, Emma and Ant

Roadtrip 2
Dicky tries to position his miniscule tripod (ahem)...

Roadtrip 3
View from lookout at lake Eildon - I love this photo coz it looks so much like home!

Roadtrip 6
How they came up with the name I'll never know but it is a true work of genius

Roadtrip 7
Can you believe this is Australia?!!

Roadtrip 4
At the Parliament in Canberra.

Roadtrip 8
Us with the not-so-sporty Kia Carnival at the Mount Panorama Bathurst race track

Roadtrip 9
Mrs. Stig raring to go - the outfit made things slightly dangerous though since my sunglasses steamed up every time I breathed out!

Roadtrip 10
Overlooking the not so Blue Mountains at Katoomba. They get their name because a blue mist is supposed to come off the Eucalyp trees in the mornings.

Roadtrip 11
Ant and I try and copy the running man at Sydney's Olympic Park

Comments

[Emma]

Hi dee Hi
Hello camper, how yu been. I'm good, I've gone digital. Got meeself a laptop and the webernet!! So I can keep up with your crazy Auzzie adventures. Anyway hope your well - talk to you soon. PS get on BEBO, facebook sucks!