Road Trip To Adelaide

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Geo: -34.9258, 138.6

I had only just been in Melbourne for two days after almost 4 months in India and Nepal and I had already arranged to go for a road trip to Adelaide. Accompanied by my close friend Ricarda who I met in Newcastle and Luisa who was working with Ricarda but had quit. Ricarda was going to be working at the Clipsal 500 set in the Adelaide City streets at her sausage selling job for four days, thus being the reason for the trip.
We set off on the Tuesday around midday and planned to visit and stay at the Grampians.
The weather was cloudy and rainy and after three hours we arrived into Halls Gap.
We parked my car in one of the many available spots in the local caravan park with the intention to sleep in the car to save money. We took a walk around the area for a hour or so and headed back to cook up some dinner with forgotten plates and cutlery so we made the best of the situation by using the pot lids as plates. There was a sizable group of older travelers from Switzerland who offered the three of us some kinda tobacco stuff in which you sniff it in and it really opens the nasal cavity. Then it was bed time and the three of us crammed into the back of my car for a semi uncomfortable night, for me anyway.
I woke earlier than the others and went to the local shops to get some breakfast supplies. Luisa was up when i got back so we went and had a coffee, well she did. It was about 11am and we were wondering where Ricarda was. She was still sleeping but got up and joined us for a late breakfast.
Checkout was meant to be 11am sharp or we would be charged $20 but i dodged the system and put the keys in the early checkout mailbox.
So we then headed to a lookout point and the pinnacles on the way to Adelaide. Some nice views, It's like a mini Blue Mountains. The weather was pretty average, cloudy, rainy and windy. So we then set our sights on Adelaide, about five hours drive.
We arrived in Adelaide at about 8pm, I dropped the girls off to meet Marion who was a family friend of Luisa's and where they would be staying. I took over Ricarda's reservation at the hostel she booked previously. When i got to the hostel, the office was closed and i couldn't get in. I rang the number given to me but it was wrong. I went back to the hostel and ran into a lady who worked there. She was bloody rude, not willing to help at all. She told me to ring the office number, but why would i ring the office number when the office is clearly closed. I really had to keep my cool and not argue, otherwise i would have no chance of getting in. After sweet talking her in to finally helping me by ringing the manager, i finally got a key. I was pretty tired so i went straight to bed.
I awoke to a more friendlier lady. Who actually talked in a nicer tone and helped me a little more. But i was told that the male dorms were all booked out due to the Clipsal 500 so i had to checkout. So i headed to the Adelaide YHA and checked in there. It was definitely more expensive and i had to pay $8 a night for parking.
After getting myself organized, i headed for Rundle Mall to sort out my mobile where i had to replace the battery. It was about a 15min walk through the city to Rundle Mall, full of shops left and right. It was a pretty expensive day for me. I payed $170 for accommodation, $32 for parking, $45 for a new mobile battery, $50 for phone credit and i had forgotten my charger so i had to buy another one at $30. Spending that kind of money in one day in Australia would last one and a half weeks in India. Something I'm going to have to get use to again.
towards the end of the day i rang Luisa and met her at the house they were staying at. There i met the family. Sean, Marion and their little girl Maia. They are such a nice family and Sean and myself had some good conversation. I think he took an immediate liking to me as he later asked me if i would also like to stay at the house. But i politely declined as i felt a bit awkward. But i did stay for some dinner.
The following morning I headed back to the house to meet with Luisa. We headed into the city, back to Rundle Mall. Lusia had not been in the city yet. We did some light shopping and then headed back to the hostel and hopped in the car and drove to the coast. We headed to Port Adelaide and made our way South along the beaches and cut back into the City.
We arrived back at the house and cooked some dinner. Ricarda came home a bit later from a long day at work.
The following morning we had planned to go to a chocolate factory tour but it was all booked out so Luisa and myself headed for the Adelaide Hills. We went to Mount Lufty lookout, there was some nice views of Adelaide city and the coast as well as "nothing" extending out into the distance. From there we headed north to Lobethal but had a stopover at a chocolate shop and a cheese shop where we had some cheese tasting. We were told there was a local market in Lobethal, it was pretty small, inside a old loom weaving factory. It was ok, nothing of any interest for me.
We then followed the road to Gumeracha which has "The Big Rocking Horse", pretty tacky, and they charged $2 to go to the top. There was also a small area where they had some animals such as a few Kangaroos, heaps of birds and two Llama's. Not very exciting. There is another animal sanctuary that was more appealing up the road but we decided to go on Monday so Ricarda could come.
From Gumeracha it was straight down the main road back to the house where we were to meet with Marion and Maia and head to the beach. We chucked the child seat in the backseat of my car and headed to the most popular beach in Adelaide called Glenelg Beach. It was a Saturday and the beach was fairly empty, i guess most people were at the Clipsal races. It was a nice area of town, clean, green grass and nice buildings. We stayed there for a couple of hours and headed back to the house.
The next day didn't amount to too much. Luisa and myself headed back to Lobethal to see this guy Ranier who mentioned that there might be work for Lusia picking apples. We drove there but he wasn't working so we drove back. It was a lazy day really. I had checked out of the hostel and took up Sean's and Marions offer of staying at their house.
Monday morning came and we had booked ourselves in for a tour of the Haigh's Chocolate factory tour. Walking into those doors the smell of chocolate hits strong, in a good way. It was just a brief tour explaining what jobs people do and how they make the certain products. It was amazing to know that all the wrapping and preparing is all hand made, no machines. After having a few samples which was also my breakfast we headed back home. From there The three of us took a drive to Handorff, a small little town where the one main street with many shops such as candy stores, German cuisine and Pubs. It was Ok Nothing too special. Luisa didn't enjoy it that much. We had some lunch there where Ricarda and myself bought some German Metwurst. We drove back through the Adelaide hills and stopped off at the Mt Lufty lookout for Ricarda and then returned home.
The following morning we set off back towards Melbourne but took the coastal route. It was a lot longer than i had expected. We set off just after 10 and didn't arrive till 5pm in Portland. We stopped off at the Big Lobster for a little bite to eat, but other than that it was a boring and uneventful drive. We stayed in a caravan park and once again slept in the back of the car. The caravan park was in a good spot, right along the beach and 5km out of Portland.
Then the final day emerged and we made some breakfast and set in for another long day of driving along the great ocean road to Melbourne. We stopped at many lookout points, snapped the usual tourist photos, we realized that if we stopped at every point we would be late getting back to Melbourne. So after a few points we stopped for lunch at the Twelve Apostles and then drove straight to Lorne where we had a quick stop and then into Melbourne arriving around 6.30pm.
I liked Adelaide, much quieter than other cities in Australia and it seemed similar to Perth with the city and hills to the side, beaches on the other side and Port Adelaide with Fremantle.
Another Australian city to check off the list.

So im having trouble getting photos off my camera so bare with me.

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