Lets drive from Alice Springs to Sydney

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Another great tour came to an end and with the group ending its amazing tour in Alice Springs we ended it in style in Bojangles Saloon and Restaurant, see the great website that even lets you see what's happening live from webcams that are placed around the restaurant. www.bossaloon.com.au. The team was to go their different ways from the centre of Australia and that was where Myself, Sabrina and Lloyd were to start the next leg of an amazing journey too. We had hired a Camper-van that was to be our home from Alice Springs back to Sydney.

So after another great meal and a few drinks to toast the end of this epic tour it was time for goodbyes and then the three of us made our way to our new home and at just after 10pm we started the long drive towards Adelaide some 1554km away. A couple of hours later we found a parking area that we could pull up and get some rest before a early start again in the morning. Gas turned on and a cup of tea for Sabrina we then quickly fell to sleep and awoke at 6am to start the drive again.

Australia is huge and when your driving in the middle of the ever changing landscape with the occasional car or road train passing us by we quickly knew that this was to be a long journey towards the next big city of Australia. Soon it was time to cross the border of the Northern Territory where we had spent quiet a bit of time, into South Australia and stop for a picture and a refreshment stop.

Our first aim was to make it to Coober Pedy some 500km into South Australia, this took us 2 days of driving. As we got nearer and nearer towards Coober Pedy the landscape changed to a baron, flat and dusty lifeless area. Soon we saw large white mounds of earth with huge machines that had dug the earth to mine for opals. Miles and miles of landscape had been dug and with clouds of dust blowing high in the air we soon made it to the town of Coober Pedy.

Coober Pedy

Coober Pedy is a town in northern South Australia, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. At the 2006 census its population was 1,916. The town is known as the opal capital of the world because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. It is also famous for most of the residents living below ground, mostly in old mines refurbished, due to the scorching daytime heat. The name 'Coober Pedy' comes from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means 'boys' waterhole.

During our 4 hour stop here we looked around some of the many shops selling opal items as well as the famous Church that is built underground too, like the many houses that the locals live in. The area was also the film location for "Mad Max" with Mel Gibson and a few of the vehicles and props were all around the area.

We then again spent many hours on the long straight road towards Adelaide, this time the landscape turned to lush green trees with bright red earth. After a long drive we pulled up for the evening at the small town of Pimba. Australia is set up really well for the traveller with many road side stops for Caravans, Motor-homes and Road Trains. We our stop over and took the small drive towards another place of interest that is dooted along the Stuart highway.

Woomera

Is an Australian Defence Force facility supporting the RAAF Woomera Test Range, the western world's largest defence systems test and evaluation range, and an Australian strategic national asset. The town itself is located in the 'outback' desert area of South Australia, approximately 488 km/305 mls north of Adelaide along the Stuart Highway. It is 177km north of Port Augusta, and 80km south of the mining centre of Roxby Downs. The Transcontinental Railway passes Woomera at the nearby Pimba rail siding.

During the early 1960's, Woomera became part of the Gemini space program capabilites. Specialised tracking and communications stations were set up at Red Lake (about 50 north of Woomera) and at Mirikata (about 200km west of Woomera). These stations also played a critical part in the first Moon landing mission. However, one of the most significant facilities installed by the USA was the nearby, and highly specialised, 'Deep Space Station 41' (DSS-41). This facility was constructed at the edge of Island Lagoon (about 25km south of Woomera) and was directly supported from the Woomera Defence Village. DSS-41 played a critical role in the 'race for space' from the mid 1950's to the mid 1970's when the main tracking systems were dismantled and returned to the United States. While none of the DSS-41 facility exists, the roadworks and building sites for this historic facility can still be seen.

We spent some time looking at the space and air-force aircrafts that are displayed around the town. With many space age pieces to see it was like a small version of the Space Centre in the USA.

The next few hours was again on the long open road this time towards Port Augusta, which was our first view of sea being the Spencer Gulf that reaches the Great Australian Bight. Port Augusta is the fifth most populous city in South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier, Whyalla and Murray Bridge. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and is located at the head of the Spencer Gulf, 322 km north of the state capital.

After a lunch stop we made our way to our next port of Port Pirie. Port Pirie is at an elevation of 4 metres above sea level. It is located approximately 8 km inland, on the Pirie River, which is a tidal saltwater inlet from Spencer Gulf. It is located on the coastal plain between Spencer Gulf (to the east) and the Flinders Ranges to the west.

This time we stopped at a Caravan Park just outside Adelaide, so that we could plug in and relax after a few days covering the long road of the stuart Highway.

Welcome to the city of Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of South Australia, and is the fifth-largest city in Australia, with a population of more than 1.1 million. It is a coastal city situated on the eastern shores of Gulf St. Vincent, on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between the Gulf St. Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. It is roughly 20 km from the coast to the foothills but sprawls 90 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south.

Named in honour of Queen Adelaide who was born in Germany, the consort of King William IV, the city was founded in 1836 as the planned capital for the only freely-settled British province in Australia. Colonel William Light, one of Adelaide's founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens in the area originally inhabited by Indigenous Australians of the Kaurna tribe. Light's design set out Adelaide in a grid layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares, and entirely surrounded by parkland. Early Adelaide was shaped by religious freedom and a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties, which led to world-first reforms.

Don't try driving or parking a Camper-van in Adelaide City

Our plan was to spend the day in the city and see for ourselves what Adelaide has to offer. so after leaving the Campsite and taking the short drive into the city we spent some time looking for a place to park the huge camper-van. Not easy in a busy city with one way streets and narrow roads. Sabrina did a good job of driving, and driving around the city with both me and Lloyd looking for a parking space. After a while it took its toll on Sabrina so Lloyd took over the driving in our quest to park the bloody home on wheels. After getting the van stuck in a car park and it's deep end road we finally found a parking space about a 10 minute walk to the city centre.

Crash, BANG Wallop !!!!!!

As Lloyd got the van closer to the street road side a loud noise made us all jump. Stopping the van, l opened the door to see what all the noise was about. We had managed to hit a overhanging tree branch. It ripped into the top of the Camper-van, and white paint was still falling to the ground. Looking inside the van we were lucky that the inside was ok. We quickly moved the mobile home to another stop and then took the walk in the rain to the main areas of Adelaide City. With the episode of crashing the van we quickly made a decision to leave the city and make our way back on the open road and towards the costal roads and Melbourne.

When in Australia, you so have to go on a Wine tour too

Whilst in Adelaide we purchased a Cellar Door Pass that enabled us the visit loads of Vineyards and even get up to 6 bottles of wine to the value of $20 each. So once out of adelaide we started the journey toward the first vineyard along the coast of South Australia. We drove along the Princess Highway and once the daylight had faded we finally found a National Park along the coast that had parking place for Camper-vans.

Where did that come from?

When we parked the van in the dark the night before we had no idea where we actually were. We opened the door and were amazed at the great views. We had parked in a small parking area that was right on the edge of the coast with wonderful views of the thick vegetation and the large waves hitting the coast line. Breakfast was served in the van and soon heading towards the first of many Vineyards.

Cape Jaffa Vineyard

Cape Jaffa Wines is the first fully certified biodynamic vineyard on the Limestone Coast and Mount Benson's pioneer winery, producing terroir-driven and regionally distinctive wines for over a decade. The Hooper family's passion for wine, food and the outdoors brought them to this region in 1993, and since then winemaking has been enriched by surfing and catching crayfish. Livestock farmer Kym and winemaking son Derek searched the region, jumping fence after fence before finally settling on the Mount Benson site which offered a very consistent soil structure and favourable elevated position. Cape Jaffa's first vintage was produced in 1995 and today produces a range of cool climate wines, including quality red wines, white wines and certified biodynamic wines.

Offering breathtaking panoramic views from the vineyard's highest point, the stunning and desirably rustic Cape Jaffa cellar door was built in 1996 from paddock rock collected at the site and a once woolstore floor for its ceiling. This melding of freestone and old hardwood timbers creates a unique wine tasting experience for domestic and international visitors alike. The design of its adjacent barrel hall, cleverly dug into a limestone ridge, creates a space which controls temperature and humidity without any additional energy requirements throughout the year. After trying about 12 different wines it was time to move onto the next, with our free bottle of wine in tow.

Over the day we stopped at many great vineyards or shops in small beautiful towns along the way. Robe Wangolina Station Wines. A tiny gem in Mount Benson, Wangolina Station was famed for its Shorthorn Cattle. But the fifth generation of the Goode family has broken with tradition, and started to produce excellent wines using grapes from the station’s vineyard.

Under the eye of winemaker Anita Goode, the wine is actually made at Cape Jaffa. Four types of wine are produced, each with great success. Taste them at the cellar door which is set amongst gums and surrounded by well kept lawns ideal for picnicking.

We then stopped in a small little village and was very lucky to pick the day that the village had a festival going on too. We stopped at another shop that was involved in the Cellar Door and tried some great wines including a beautiful sparkling wine. We walked around the village and wished we had time to stay longer.

So what do you do with all the wine? Drink it of course!

With a van full of wine and some great cheese that we had picked up too, we made our way towards one of the main sight that this part of the journey would bring us too. So with a good few miles to cover and not much time to do it, we all pilled back into the van and started the mad dash across the countryside. We aimed to make it to the Twelve Apostles for sunset. This is when you really find out how big this country really is. Driving at full speed across the rolling hills that looked like Somerset or the Scottish highlands we soon had to admit defeat, that we would not make it to the Apostles by sunset.

We arrived on the Great Ocean Road and found another great place to park up for the evening, Bay of Islands.
The Bay of Islands Coastal Park is a 33km long, narrow strip of coastal healthland that runs alongside a series of secluded coves. Several car parks lead to spectacular lookouts - some best at sunrise and others at sunset. And yet fewer tourists bother to explore this amazing landscape.

We spent the evening with our Wine & Cheese and chatting until the small hours. The wind from the Southern Ocean was amazing and you could hear the waves crashing against the rock islands not far from the coast line. In the morning we were able to see the many formation of rocks not far of the coast and it gave us our first impression of what the Twelve Apostles would be like.

Another of the World's Great wonders

Located seven kilometres east of Port Campbell, the Twelve Apostles Marine National Park is Victoria's second largest Marine National Park and covers 7,500 hectares along approximately 17 kilometres of coastline. The park extends out from the renowned Twelve Apostles and includes some of Victoria's most spectacular underwater scenery. There are rich intertidal and subtidal invertebrate communities, dramatic underwater arches, canyons, fissures, gutters and deep sloping reefs.

The Twelve Apostles are giant rock stacks that rise majestically from the Southern Ocean and are the central feature of the rugged Port Campbell National Park. The Twelve Apostles have been created by constant erosion of the limestone cliffs of the mainland that began 10-20 million years ago. The stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eroded the softer limestone, forming caves in the cliffs. The caves eventually became arches and when they collapsed rock stacks up to 45 metres high were left isolated from the shore.

For the protection of the marine environment, a number of activities are prohibited within the boundaries of Victoria's marine national parks and marine sanctuaries. No fishing, netting, spearing, taking or killing of marine life. All methods of fishing, from the shore or the sea, are prohibited.

At first glance the Twelve Apostles may not appear to be 12 apostles. From the lookout, you can only see a number of the twelve apostles. The others are located behind the rocky headlands that line the Victoria coastline, or hidden by other rocky outcrops. Also a couple of years ago, in very high winds one of the rock formations did actually disappear into the ocean. This became a bit of a joke amongst us, as we were now going to see the 11 Apostles.

The Great Ocean Road Run no, we didn't do it, just watched !

We arrived at the small village along the Great Ocean Road, Apollo Bay is the finishing line for the Great Ocean Run and as we arrived the winners were just arriving so we stopped to watch for a while before finding a cafe for breakfast. Due to the Run the traffic was diverted away from the rest of the Great Ocean Road and this meant following the roads up and down twisting roads that took us deep into the forests and hills of the Port Campbell National Park.

Melbourne

I had been in Melbourne for Easter with my friends Paul & Allison. This time with Sabrina & Lloyd and there were a few things l wanted them both to see. We stayed in another Caravan Park, this time with a Sauna & Hot tub. Of course we had to make us of it and not long after arriving at the park the three of us had hired the area for an hour and relaxing in the warm water of the Hot tub and relaxing in the sauna. We planned to have a meal out in the City and see what this great city had to offer us. We took the bus into the city and after a short ride we were walking through the busy, bright and friendly city once again. We stopped for another great meal then walked along the bay of the city.

In the morning we packed up and made our way towards the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, yet another mammoth task, as this time yet again it was about finding a place to park the monster. Driving around and around for ages with the cricket ground insight, we stopped and had to asked for parking directions. We finally got a place to park and spent about an hour walking around the stadium. On the outer rim of the grounds is dotted with loads of statues of Australian Sporting icons.

What is the most famous street in Melbourne?

Sabrina & Me had been saying all through our trip in New Zealand and Australia that once we reached Melbourne we had to go to Ramsay Street. But of course when we got round to booking the tour, it was sold out. So with a map in hand we took to the roads to find it ourselves.

Traditionally, the street begins on the opposite side of the main road, fictionally dubbed "Wentworth Avenue", but is, in reality, Weeden Drive. Thus, the houses seen on screen are actually the tail end of a much longer street, though this is almost never referred to in the story and the cul-de-sac conclusion of Ramsay Street is treated very much as its own entity. This location is the focal point of the show, and generally characters are included in the storyline by their living in one of the six houses located at the closed end of the cul-de-sac. In the story, Ramsay Street is named after the Ramsay family, who were a prominent family in the area historically and when the show began. This family had left the show by 2001 when its last member to remain in the street died, but as of 2009, Max's grandchildren live in the street, and a large number of other families and characters have come and gone from the street.

The filming location for exterior Ramsay Street scenes is Pin Oak Court in Vermont South. The indoor scenes are filmed in a studio. So of course we got out and walked up the street and took some picture of the houses that we all remember whilst watching the TV Show.

So with both myself and Sabrina excited to be in front of one of the most famous TV streets in the world, and Lloyd having no idea what all the fuss was about we took time to talk about who lived in which house and taken every houses picture too.

Phillip Island for the second time, and still a great place to visit

As before when l visited the island with Paul a couple of months before, Phillip island is a great place to see, and l was happy to share this with Sabrina & Lloyd. Yet again seeing the Penguin Parade was amazing to see, this time we up-graded to Penguin plus and this included and tour with a park ranger who told us many interesting facts about the penguins and their area. We parked the van on a small car park not far from Pyramid Rocks and spent the night. I woke early and was happy to witness yet another great sunrise. The rocks were another great way to start the day too. As l walked along the wooden walk-ways loads of Wallabies jumped away from me and even a couple jumped out of the thick undergrowth straight in front of me as l walked back to the van.

We spent the day with the Koalas and at the heritage Centre before starting the next leg of the journey towards Sydney. Our aim was to make it to the little visited Capital of Australia, Canberra.

Lets just drive and see how far we can get!!!

The great thing about having the freedom of your own Camper-van is that you can go wherever you want and as far as you want. We passed some great views along the coast line passing through towns like Sale, Bairnsdale, lake entrance, Orbost, Cann river and then late in the evening we stopped at another Camping ground at Eden.

The next morning and the day we needed to reach Canberra we left early and headed towards the Capital City. This time driving inland and up some pretty hills and through the town of Cooma which is famous for the 1982 film " The Man from Snowy River" starring Kirk Douglas.

We arrived in Canberra and well it was different!

For people that know Peterborough or Telford will know what l mean by the title. Canberra is a modern purpose built Capital City that is very uniformed in its look, and without even a blade of grass out of place made me think of the film " The Stepford Wives". Perfect avenues and parks and shopping areas.

We then went to Parliament House that we had been told to see by Luke our Tour Guide. Parliament House is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia. It was opened on 9 May 1988 by Queen Elizabeth II, also Queen of Australia. Its construction cost was over $1.1 billion. At the time of its construction it was the most expensive building in the Southern Hemisphere. Prior to 1988, the Parliament of Australia met in the Provisional Parliament House, which is now known as "Old Parliament House".

Now its time to return the Camper-van and hope for the best

We arrive back in Sydney in time for us to return the van and get me to the airport for my flight to Tasmania. As the three of us get nearer and nearer to the Britz Van rental place we all go very quiet and the panic of "What if we have to pay for the damage" is in everyones minds. So after refueling the van and a last clean up we finally find the depot and remove our luggage.

"So how was your trip" asked the clerk. "A real adventure" we replied. So after telling her about the accidents that we had had. She looked at the paperwork in front of her and she looked up and said "Let's OK your insured". You have never seen such big smiles on three peoples faces.

Goodbye again to another great group of friends, thank you Sabrina & Lloyd

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Comments

[Sabrina]

Oh the memories!
Wow! This was a great read! Bought back such good memories!! Great Blogg Geoff....can't wait for the Tasmania instalment. xx