George’s Adventure

Saturday 28th October 2006

On Tuesday 24/10 my adventure to The Grampians and The Great Ocean Road began.  I had decided that this part of the Australian coast was something that I really wanted to do and Janine wasnt too bothered and couldnt afford it so I decided to go it alone. 

There were 7 of us on the tour bus and as always, outnumbered by the guys, as there was 1 guy (and he was married!).  Our first stop on the bus was at Keith where we had a bakery stop and got free tea.  As I poured the milk into my cup the lid came undone and it literally spurted out in my cup.  I mean i dont mind milky tea but pleeease.  Good start, impressing my new found best friends.  You will all be pleased to hear that my clumsiness still exists.  We then went to Bordertown where we stopped at a wildlife park to see white kangaroos.  I have never seen white kangaroos before.  Apparently it is a gene thing and not because they are albino.  We stopped at Frances for an alcohol stop and then passed into Victoria officially.  We had to change our watches again, back half an hour.  The clocks also change again tomorrow for us for daylight savings.  After lunch we climbed down to view the McKenzie Falls.  These were impressive, the spray was great and climbing down the 260 odd steps was great.  Only on the way back did i begin to feel the strain.  On this first day we also visited The Balconies.  Named because the rocks jutt out like a balcony does.  The view from these rocks is wonderful.  Unfortunately much of the scenery is a bit singed as in January there was a massive bush fire that devastated much of the forestry in the area.  On the way to The Balconies we spotted an echidna.  This is a creature that looks a bit like a hedgehog.  If you go to www.flickr.com/photos/foxgeo you will probably spot it in the Australia section (once i have put this pic up on the site).  I also noticed regrowth occuring in the burnt out forest.  These are yakka trees.  They have seeds in them that crack when the fire goes through the forest.  The ash left after the fires allows the tree to flourish as it provides nutrients.  They look very funny.  In the evening we stayed in Halls Gap.  I kept thinking this was a place called Hell’s Gap – i have no idea why?

Day 2 of the trip and I am ready to face Borona Peak.  This is a 3.2km walk up a mountain.  It wasnt too strenuous but it did take us 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to the top.  No bad going.  When I got to the top there was a spectacular view of The Grampians and on the other side of the peak you could see Halls Gap.  For lunch we stopped at Tower Hill Reserve which is a volcanic area.  You could see the layers of rock in the sheer drops as we drove down to the reserve.  The irish used to own the land here and planted potatoes.  However, they stopped doing this and used it as a dumping ground for rubbish.  Eventually the land was passed back to the Australians and they replanted the area with vegetation that would have eventually inhabited the place.  Naturally animals began to live inthe area.  It is now a protected reserve and while we were there we spotted wild emus (which I dont like) and koalas, sleeping and munching away in the trees. 

After lunch we hit The Great Ocean Road.  There are three sections to the road.
a) The Rocky coast (shipwreck coast)
b) The Green coast
c) The Surf coast

We began our trip seeing the Bay of Martyrs.  This is where many aboriginees were taken and massacred, literally thrown off the cliff top there.  Many locals know this and the stories are passed on by word of mouth.  Next we visited The Rockies and The Twelve Apostles.  Now The Rockies are part of The Twelve Apostles:
2 (The Rockies)          6 (plus 2 eroded)                  4 apostles
                  —-x—-                                 ——-
————–LAND————————-LAND———–

If you look at my beautiful diagram above you have to imagine that the numbers are part of the apostles and they are in the sea.  The 2, 6 and 4 make up the Twelve Apostles.  However, there were 2 others which you can still see but have eroded away.  I did a ten minute helicopter ride above the apostles which was amazing.  I think i spent the first five minutes in shock that i was actually in a helicopter as i have never been in one before.  I had such a smile on my face.  That night was spent in Port Cambell after watching the sun set over the apostles from ‘x’ on my diagram.

Day 3, final day of the tour and we got up fairly early and off to see the Loch and Gorge where i ran down onto the beach and climbed into a cave.  I loved it and I was the only one who managed not to get completely soaking wet on the way in and out – all about timing.  The story associated with this is that Tom and Eva were stranded, shipwrecked, at the Loch and Gorge.  Tom kept Eva warm after saving her and cuddled her all night to keep her alive and warm.  The next day he got help.  Tom asked Eva to marry him, she declined, he went off and died in his third or fourth shipwreck.  Tragic!

The Green Coast is where I did Maits Rainforest walk.  Just an easy going walk looking at palms and on the way around I spotted a very rare black snail.  They are rare because they do not reproduce enough.  We moved the snail off the path.  Free the snail!!  For lunch we stopped at Apollo Bay and had fish and chips followed by a walk up the road and then onto the Surf Coast where we made a stop at Cape Patton Lookout and Mount Defiance Lookout.  The Great Ocean Road took 14 years to make.  It was made by soldiers.  The road is 240km long and it is said that one soldier died every 1km.  We stopped at a view of Split Point Lighthouse.  Those of you who used to watch ‘Round The Twist’ as a youngun like me will remember the lighthouse.  We also visited Bells Beach along this stretch, Australia’s most famous surfing beach.  Yes, I did see surfers!!  A great walk along this beach was a must.  The sand just sank into my feet and the waves were phenominal.  Our last stop before hitting Melbourne was at Torquay, home of Quiksilver and Ripcurl. 

Sunday 22nd October 2006

The first thing noticeable about Adelaide is that the temperature is undeniably cooler than what we have been used to in Central Australia (outback). It gets cold in the evening, a bit like our summer evening’s at home. Also, in the day, it is nice to sit in the sunshine, but in the shade it does get a bit chilly. Maybe I am just a whinge bag and had got acclimatised to outback weather – I dont miss the flies though. Ug, they are everywhere in Central Australia and are so annoying. No annoying flies here!

In Adelaide we have visited the State Library, bought matching mood rings (I know it sounds pathetic but it was sooo funny – I think you had to be there!). We hopped on the free city loop bus, which does at it says on the tin, and got off to visit Adelaide’s Art Gallery, which has so many paintings and such a vast array of art work I had no idea where to look. In the evening on Thursday we watched ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ which was made in 1994. It was great to watch this as it contains lots of scenery and landscape from the outback and Kings Canyon, which is where we have just been. It’s such a funny film too.

On Saturday we got up early for free breakfast at our hostel and, of course, Haigh’s Chocolate Factory. At this factory you can go on a free tour and learn all about how they make the chocolate. They do not export internationally so we thought it only right to sample as much as we could while we are in Australia. Yummy it is too. We bought some small chocolates from the shop and ate them in the park opposite. We then visited the ‘JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design’ shop and exhibition gallery. This is supposed to be the best Australian designer made glass, ceramics, jewellry, textiles, wood and metal objects. We actually saw glass blowing being done there. We had lunch in my own chain of fast food restaurants, ‘Hungry George’s’ – funny really – I seem to get everywhere. We then decided to go and chill by Adelaide River. We drank coffee and chatted all day. At about 7pm we decided to move and went to Adelaide’s Central Markets. In these markets, which were still buzzing, and it seems continues to do so until 9pm, there are loads of fresh produce and food. Anyone living here has absolutely no reason to visit the supermarket, its great. They sell fruit and veg and everything else in these markets and the smells are great. We decided to have dinner here, by Chinatown and we got the biggest portion for $6.00. Very tasty and cheap. In the evening we watched ‘The March of the Penguins’, a lovely film about penguins – quite random.

Monday 23rd October 2006

On Saturday we got up and made our way to Adelaide’s Central Markets.  We bought some fresh food there and went and sat in a park nearby and had a little picnic.  We had the best day just chatting and lazing in the sunshine.  In the evening we watched ‘Walk the Line’ which is a film about Johnny Cash. 

Yesturday we got up early to go on a wine tasting tour of the Barossa Valley.  We began our tour stopping off at ‘The World’s Largest Rocking Horse’, even though it doesnt actually rock.  It is very big though.  They have a toy factory there where they sell all sorts of different toys made from wood.  We then visited the ‘Whispering Wall’.  This is actually the Barossa Dam and it acts a bit like the gallery in St Pauls Cathedral where you can stand at one end and say something and someone at the other end can hear what you are saying very clearly.  Our first winery was Orlando, at Jacob’s Creek.  We were told of the history of the winery and how they make the wines there.  Janine and I then had our first ever structured wine tasting.  It began with a sparkling rose and progressed from white to red wine and then finally a port.  As this was our first wine tasting I felt that it only proper to taste as much of the wine as possible, following in my Fox footsteps I believe.  The second winery we visited was named VineCrest Wines and was run by a married couple.  This winery was on a much smaller scale but I thought that the wines were the best of the day.  The third winery was Richmond Grove.  Another big winery which took us on a tour of their place and showed us the presses that they use and explained how they make the wines.  We then stopped for lunch here where we had a BBQ – good old Aussie favourite I think.  The fourth winery was named Bethany winery.  Here, they do not do a structured wine tasting, you simply go up and ask for the specific wine you wish to taste.  Some of the wines were simply delish!  When we got back to our hostel we were both very hungry so we nipped out to a cafe that sold the best risotto and lasagne. 

This morning I got up and went on a free guided tour of Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens on my own.  Gillian, my guide, was very informative and explained lots of interesting facts about the trees and plants they have in the gardens.  It is also a glorious day today, bright sunshine and much hotter than it has been the last two days.

Tonight we are off on an evening tour of the town.  Tomorrow I go it alone on the Great Ocean Road for 3 days, hopefully reaching Melbourne at the end of it.

Thursday 19th October 2006 Yes, I have finally made it to Adelaide. I have spent almost a month just travelling in the outback - it feel like an eternity - but it has been fun.  On Tuesday 17/10 we got picked up ... [Continue reading this entry]