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Published: February 12th 2008
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On the 2/2 we picked up our 'Wicked' camper van. Wicked are a budget camper rental company that write obscenities on the sides of their vans, to make them more attractive supposedly (or draw unwanted attraction)! Ours was pretty tame - others I could not even repeat (parents viewing)! The van was basic (well tin can comes to mind) but met our needs and offered us the freedom we wanted to get from Melbourne to Adelaide.
We collected the van in Melbourne and decided to stay for a couple of days to take in the sights. Melbourne is a beautiful city full of old architecture, charismatic side streets and a great vibe. In the evening we headed to the outdoor cinema held in the Royal Botanical Gardens to watch Bee Movie (guaranteed to bring out the kid in you) under the stars! The outdoor cinema was a great experience, a lot of the groups made an evening of it taking along giant picnics etc. And as the flim started, at sundown, the giant fruit bats came swooping above our heads across the sceen at times! We also headed to a seafood restaurant one evening in the up market St Kildas
to meet with Alice and Marie (Helen's friend) which was fun and enlightening!
On 4/2 we headed out along the Great Ocean Road for a drive of discovery. We really enjoyed our drive along the Great Ocean Road, the coastline was dramatic and beautiful, we also got to visit world renowned spots along the way.
Places we visited: Torquay (no not Devon!) - the start of the GOR, a small seaside town with a great surfing museum detailing the history of the sport.
Bells Beach - a world acclaimed surf break and the location of the Rip Curl Pro comp each year.
Kennet River - we stopped off here to view Koalas in the wild, there were loads of them. They're really funny, they look like old men just chillin' on their branches and chewin' on Eucalypt leaves!
Apollo Bay - A really nice seaside town and not too commercialised. We stopped off here overnight, an evening swim in the sea confirmed that it is colder than the east coast!
Cape Otway - Location of a really well kept lighthouse, in fact the oldest in Oz. Erected when the British government told them to! Due to too many
The old railway station
Where they were filming a documentary by Steven Speilberg ships and lives being lost on the Bass Straight.
Great Otway National Park - Location of a treetop walk through the forest, great views of trees! An experience that Helen mostly coped with! We also walked to Triplet Falls, a small waterfall nearby.
Twelve Apostles - Amazing sea stacks off the Victoria coast caused by erosion, unfortunately only six Apostles remain but there are many amazing sea stacks in the area. One sea stack is named London Bridge; it was once a double arch like bridge linking the stack to the mainland. In 1990 the one linking it to the mainland collapsed leaving two people stranded where they perished after rescue attempts failed. Joking, they were rescued after a couple of hours but scary all the same. Other weird rock formations included the Grotto, the Arch, Loch Ard gorge and Mutton Bird Island.
We stopped off in Port Fairy which is the end of the Great Ocean Road and then headed inland to take in the wonders of the Grampians. Unfortunately the weather wasn't too great and by the time we arrived in the town of Halls Gap visibility was limited. We intended to do a couple of walks
that would give us magnificent views over the valley below, we checked out the viewpoints and realised it wasn't happening so took a walk through the bush instead. In Jan 2006 they suffered a huge fire totally destroying the area - the area is recovering but it's a slow process, nature can't be hurried! The plant and wildlife was amazing, each walk we take reveals another exotic animal.
Due to the weather we bedded in for the night at the local campsite praying that the morning will give us better weather. Alas - the morning brought us sun and by 0830 we had set off on a strenuous 2.5km walk uphill to the Pinnacle, the best lookout in the area. Although we were puffing by the time we reached the top the view was worth it, looking across the forests, mountains and towns. It was well timed, as we were setting off back down the mist moved in. We drove up to McKenzie falls a few K's up the road and miraculously the rain cleared and the sun shone on us, weird! We viewed the falls from above, not quite Niagra but a great sight all the same. We
also saw LOADS of kangaroos, such funny and cute animals, like bouncing dogs!
It was then time to head off towards Adelaide, a six hour drive. Taking the inland route gave us another viewpoint through Australia. On route we took in the outback, which was made up of farming communities, loads of sheep, cattle and Alpacas! It was different to the outback we drove through in the northern territory as it was able to sustain life!
We arrived in Adelaide on 8/2 after passing through Murray Bridge (night stopover) which is a lovely river location full of pelicans which I can't help but laugh at since seeing Finding Nemo! Murray River is the most significant river in Oz being the main mode of transport before road/plane/rail.
We passed through Adelaide Hills which we found a little disappointing. Adelaide itself is a charming city. Setting off on foot around the city unveiled the lovely old buildings and has some beautiful parks. It does lack the charisma and character of the other cities we have visited.
The other bonus is that our van got us here! The vans are pretty ropey but have a certain charm; we're looking
forward to a decent mattress though!!
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