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Published: April 20th 2008
The Great Australian Bight
A must see when driving across the Nullarbor PlainsAfter leaving Rosebud, we collected a Toyota 4WD campervan, (strange looking object) which we were taking to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Rd. It took over an hour for the guy to go through everything with us, paying attention to the body and mechanics of the van, but leaving to our imagination on how we were supposed to cook, set the beds up and drive the ugly looking thing. After setting off we stopped after only 30 minutes or so to top up with fuel and to get something to eat. Its another baking hot day so decide to put the thing under cover away from the glaring sun as the air con was useless, after asking Karen if she thought it would fit underthe canape or not we heard a loud crunch before she had time to answer - I guess not, we got out to see a scratched roof and a dint in the canape - ooops!
Once we were finally on the move the scenery was stunning and for the majority of the journey we were no more than 50 metres from the sea. We had approx 1000kms to travel so decide to split the run into
Ocean View
Great views like this all along the Ocean Road drive 3 days travelling and spend the another 3 days in Adelaide. Our 1st stopover was at a place called Lorne which had a magnificent bay and a few shops. Being late at night we were ready for a tinny or 2, we ordered the usual 2 stubbies of lager and were very surprised only to be charged 2 bucks for the beers (normally 8 or more), it was “spin the wheel” happy hour and the needle had just stopped on $1 a beer slot. That was it, we were here for the night or for however long the spin the wheel lasted. Not only did we have beer for the fraction it normally cost, the Landlord also decided to put out a load of free food consisting of pies, spring rolls and numerous other goodies, …..we are now officially freeloaders.
We had read that one of the must see things en route was the “12 apostles” and the best time to see it was early morning as the sun was rising. So it was a very early start and made the attraction in plenty of time so decided to rest in the campervan until sunrise. We were not alone
at the site, there were at least 20 other campers who had obviously stayed there overnight. As we were relaxing in the rear of the van we could hear a car racing around the campus hooting his horn wakening everyone up, it was the local Council Worker who as now so upset he began banging on the campervan doors yelling that we were breaking the law and if we were still “on site” in 15 minutes we would all be fined $300. It was at this point most people quickly put pedal to the metal and fled, I was just peed that he thought he could talk to people like that so asked Mr Jobsworth what his problem was? “F**cking freeloaders, you're not supposed to stay here over night” he said, well news for you buddy we haven’t and we will be staying here to visit the apostles, we have just arrived. No apology just more rumblings and he was on his way. The apostles themselves were well worth the visit and only hope the pics do them justice.
We had loads of time to make up now so drove most of the day only stopping when it was
nearing dusk (not allowed to drive at night because of the risk of hitting 'roos'). Once you are out of the main districts things do become very rural, so we welcomed the sign of a campsite which was very basic but adequate. It was time to utilise the campervans’ kitchen and cook a good old fry up, turn on the gas, light the ring and noting - no gas. Not to worry there is a spare but that’s empty too, looks like a microwave meal for us then. However this doesn’t work either, just great…..There is no camp shop or restaurant but there is a village only a couple of miles away, but its nearly 8pm and everywhere is shut. On the way back to the site we stopped at the petrol station to fill up and were surprised to find that they did meals also, so it was chicken schnitzel with chips twice. One thing I must mention is the stars at night, neither of us have ever seen as many bright stars shining down, there were millions of them, honest we counted every one.
Next day we make good headway and arrive in Adelaide and decide to
The Twelve Apostles
Although we only counted 8... stay at Glenelg which is just 10 minutes from the main city. We stay at one of the large Big 4 campsites which cater for everything. One thing they have over here which is brilliant, are loads of barbecues which you can utilise for no cost or about $1 when provided by the local councils. This is where you get to meet the locals who seem to be pretty expert at the barbie thing, and they are more than willing to pass on good information on where to go places to see etc. We gave the barbie ago one night, off we went with our bangers an a tin of beans and were pretty much scorned at by the locals who had steak, fish, veggies, prawns etc etc cooking away. All good fun though. While we have been travelling the weather has been baking, records had been set for the continuous amount of days of over 35 degrees and most days it was touching 40.
It was time to change old 4wd campershit for a more luxurious model, we had been able to rent a 4 berth proper job for $1 a day plus they would include $500 worth
Marina
At Glenelg of fuel for the trip from Adelaide - Perth, almost 3000km, the catch being it had to be done in 4 days, suit us fine though as we were meeting our friend Gareth in 5 days time. The 4wd thing was apparently being sold off to auction so we were to leave it at the local train station for carriage which was just as well as the awning was now hanging on by tape, the rear view mirror was on the floor and the toilet was left un emptied (honest we did not know how to do it), so god help anyone who had to drive the thing. The new one though, well it was like moving from a B&B in Woodhouse to a penthouse in Kensington, it was a Winnebago, the nuts of campervans. Once you get out of Adelaide and into the outback, the scenery is mainly desert and bush land, and there’s hardly another soul on the road - its fantastic as you are away from everyone else and it’s literally like that for about the next 2500 K. We were looking forward to seeing some of the wildlife and we did - loads and loads of
Winnebago (The Nuts of Campervans)
Our home for our drive over the bushand ‘roos’ as the locals call them, unfortunately they were all dead. Apparently most of them come out at night and then wait until they see your headlights and jump straight into your car - stupid bloomin things. At one stage the road was as straight as an arrow for 150km which is the longest in Australia. As you drive along, towns are approx 200 km between each other, but when they say towns, really they are little more than a petrol station which doubles up as campervan sites, restaurant and everything, they also know how to charge adding about 30 cents a litre on fuel. After three very enjoyable days we were only 350km from Perth meaning we would arrive around lunchtime on Friday which was our target day, however (didn’t you just know that was coming) after only 50km the engine just stopped completely, oil was all over the engine, a burst hose I thought, luckily we had only just arrived back into civilisation, so after consultation with the supplier we headed for the nearest Ford dealer who would have a look at the problem. The van started OK so we trawled the 20km to the garage where the
mechanic diagnosed a leaking pump of some sort. They would order one straight away and should have it fixed by Monday. Consequently we ended up spending a weekend in the middle of a small town with not really much to do except swat the annoying flies which appeared to try and enter every orifice open - nose, eyes, mouths and ears…little gits. The camp site we stayed had 3 roos running around with jumpers on, Karen thought they looked cute, whatever….lol
Finally we arrive at Perth an manage to miss Gareth who has now moved onto Broome to start his new career, good luck mate.
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Fat Lad
non-member comment
Just to clarify !!
Hi Guy's.. How's it hanging ? ( 16" straight down here, but hey we all have our problems. ) Just a quick one, cause some of us have work to do !!!! But i need clarification over one of your photo's mucker.. Mini Bogo " The Weird looking one"..... What you pointing out mate ? The van looks ok to us, so !!!! ps. Bit dark a photo, but were you wearing that Cardigan again ? ..lol.. If you get chance in May to go to Russia, you should get to see United in the Euro final. Dont worry about not getting a ticket, Scott has a spare one that he's NOT using !!! Love ya both. xxx