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Published: December 24th 2008
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Our cabin
This was our room for the night - it was actually quite comfortable once we got settled in! Entry by Rich Friday 19/12/08
After a relatively good night's sleep I woke with the train at a standstill in the small town of Port Augusta. This was our last scheduled stop before reaching Adelaide and we had about six more hours of the journey left. We had a light breakfast and watched the South Australia landscape going by.
The Ghan had a couple of brief stops to allow freight trains travelling in the opposite direction to pass. We counted the trailers passing on one train and it had over 100. This would have made the freight train well over a kilometre long. We also passed the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere with 47 turbines extended along the coastline. This is enough to continuously power 60,000 homes.
We arrived in Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia and checked in to our hotel. With only one afternoon and evening in the city we were keen to look around, so we headed out immediately.
Adelaide is a pleasant city with many Victorian buildings, statues and memorials along the wide boulevards. The most picturesque part of the city is around the river, lined on one side
Adelaide
The river and cricket ground in Adelaide with the Convention Centre and the old Parliament building and parkland on the other. The park is home to the Adelaide Oval and St Peter's Cathedral. There is also a tribute to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman - a bronze statue in the grounds around the Oval.
We hired a pedalo for half an hour or so and managed to avoid any collisions with the local wildlife - the river is home to black swans and some very large pelicans. There was time to explore some of Adelaide's shops and the excellent central market before a relaxing evening on Gouger Street, the main strip for restaurants and bars. We would have liked a little more time in Adelaide but the Great Ocean Road beckoned!
Saturday 20/12/08
We had an early start to get to the airport in order to pick up our car. A very friendly Greek / Aussie taxi driver collected us from the hotel and spoke to us about his life in Oz. He had moved here some 40 years ago at the age of 15 and made a life for himself. Very brave!
The road South East out of Adelaide heads up a
Residents of the river
These pelicans live on the river in Adelaide... long incline and a turn off the highway took us further up to Mount Lofty - a lookout point with incredible views from the Barossa Valley in the North right across the city and the Fleurieu Peninsula in the South.
Heading away from the city we passed through Australia's oldest German settlement, the town of Hahndorf. We then reached Strathalbyn - famous for its antiques shops. As we passed one of these shops we spotted a framed photo that looked very familiar. The owner had acquired a picture of the Clifton Suspension Bridge circa 1870. It was a little stange seeing this in a small Australian town but a nice reminder of home.
Another hour or so into the journey we passed through Wellington and had the unexpected pleasure of a ferry journey over the Murray River. The ferry only carries ten vehicles and the road is not heavily used, yet the ferry is a free 24 hour service.
Towards the end of the days drive we passed through Kingston, home of the big lobster. For some reason many towns have one of these slightly tacky sculptures on the highway as you enter town. Kingston is a
Black Swan
..as do these lovely black swans lobster fishing town, hence the Big Lobster. I haven't come across one of these sculptures before so i was delighted!
We stayed in Robe overnight and after covering around 400 kilometres today we were glad to reach our accomodation - The Caledonian Inn. This is an English style pub in a very old building near the sea front. We had time for a walk along the beach and an ice cream in the afternoon. The cafe owner seemed to have been feeding any leftover ice cream to his pet labrador - it was very chunky!
Another great day and lots of sights crammed in. We are into a lovely relaxing routing of travelling and / or lots of walking during the day and then a good meal and a beer in the evening. Very relaxing but we need to keep up with the walking each day or we will end up like the labrador in the cafe.
This is my last entry before Christmas - we are now in Melbourne so have some days to catch up on the blog. Happy Christmas to everybody reading. We'll be thinking of you all as we sit on the beach
and enjoy our picnic!
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Kath
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Happy Christmas!
Merry Christmas Rich and Jules, hope you have a splendid time at the beach and look forward to speaking to you later/tomorrow xxx