Steve’s Travel Blog

Finally I got my car!!!  Thanks goodness.

I bought a 95 Holden Commodore in a private deal and got everything checked over and serviced and now I can head out on the road.  Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the car but I will put it on the next blog.

Meghan, Carlijn and I left on Thursday, making our way to Adelaide.  We started off by going to Ballarat and a place called Sovereign Hill, it was like Heritage Park in Calgary but way better and bigger.  From there we made out way to Geelong and over-nighted.  There is not to much in Geelong it self but it is the start of the Great Ocean Road.

Our first stop on GOR (Great Ocean Road) was at Bells Beach where there is a lot of surfing.  It was cold out (about 12 and the water was about 15) but still had surfers in the water. I expected to see a bunch of young guys but all of them were much older and most older than me.  The drive along the GOR is amazing and the rock formations will stun any traveler.  There are lots of lookouts to stop and take pictures and we did a few but wanted to make it to the 12 Apostles before night.  The 12 Apostles are now only 8  rock formations in the middle of the water but the are been eroded away by the water.  I know the pics look great but they do not do it justice, you need to be there and listen to the waves come in and see how high they get and the force they have.  We stayed over night at Port Campbell.

I was up early the next morning to call mom for her birthday but we had some internet issues so it was a short call and decided that it would be better to Skype call her the next day instead.    We then continued on the GOR to Loch & Gorge where we did a 1 1/2 hour hike. then a place called the Arch and another called London Bridge.  They were all excellent and again hard to tell the whole story with just a picture.  At this point we were a little ahead of schedule so we decided to get back in the car and drive to Granpians National Park and a place called Halls Gap.  We got in just before sunset and just chilled for the evening.

I was up early again but this time i did get to talk with mom and dad and Greg and the new addition to the family Nicolas was there as well.  This was the first time i had been able to see Nicholas and I was happy to get the chance.  Halls gap was like been in the mountains at home except we see different animals and the mountain is not as big.  By this point we have stopped and seen Koalas up in tress, herds of Kangaroos and tons of birds that you never see at home.  We stopped at a couple of places (Reeds Lookout & McKenzie Falls) for lookouts and a small hike.  The falls was not as spectacular as it was made out to be but nice none the less.  We had lunch at the falls with Wallabies and Kookaburra birds around us.  At one point a Kookaburra swooped down at me and took the peanut butter and jam sandwich I was eating right out of my hand.  It scared the shit out of me at first and then I was pissed off because I was still hungry.  The girls got a good laugh but I was real careful after that to protect my food.  After McKenzie Falls we headed for Adelaide, which ended up been a longer drive than what I thought it was.  I was expecting it to be about 2-3 hours and it ended up at around 5.  We got in a lot later than I wanted and I was very tired by the end.  We got into a descent hostel and the manager was really nice.

I got up the next morning and did some walking around Adelaide and seeing the sights. I also needed to pick up a few more supplies for the next part of the trip.  After that I just chilled for the evening.

On Tuesday Carlijn and I went on a wine tour of the Borassa Valley, which is one of the most popular areas in Australia.  We started the day at Wolf Blass and the wines were very average but not surprising for the mass producing they are doing.  We stopped at 2 other wineries and had lunch as well.  The best one of the day was one that I already knew because the wine club I was in at home had brought some of these wines in and they were fabulous.  Langmiel Wines did not disappoint, they were everything I was hoping for and more.  They took us on a tour of the area and we saw some 160 year old vines as well as some very old building and their whole process into wine making.  The tasting itself was great and we had at least 10-12 samples.  I think Lee will be very jealous that I was there, it was one of our favorites.  We had one more winery after and then back to the city.  We had some supper at the hostel and then went bar hopping for a while before heading to bed around 1am and feeling great.

Today has been a chill day and getting ready to leave tomorrow.  We have planned out a 10 day trip to Darwin, which will entail driving straight up the middle of Oz (thru the Outback) to Ayers Rock/Uluru.  The whole trip is about 3000 kms and most there will not be much to see.  Once we get far enough north we will start camping instead of staying in hostels.  I have the car completed outfitted to camp along the way.  We can sleep 2 in the car and 2 in a tent.  I have all the cooking supplies and everything else we will need.  It should be an awesome 10 days.

With deciding to go north I will be missing Perth, Freemantle and Broom but I need to get into warmer weather as this 18-20 degree high is not enough for me anymore.  I will see if I can fly that way later and hop in with someone like people are with me.

With staying in Melbourne for so long and at Matts, my budget is looking a little better than what it was.  My daily spend for April was down to $61 from the huge $112 in March. So far May has been good as well except the wine tour where I spent way to much money, but what the hell.  I was also able to chat with John about how business was going back home and I am glad to hear that everything is going very well.  A few hiccups here and  there but overall it sounds very good.

That is about it for now,

Take care all,

Steve

Happy birthday to my cousin Jay down in the States and again happy birthday to my Mom and for the upcoming mothers day since I will be in the middle of no where at that point.

Tags: 1, Australia

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 7:15 am and is filed under Australia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.