| Exit Melbourne - and hello to Wayward Bus along "The great ocean
road" etc. to Adelaide. 3 days on a bus with 20-22 other backpackers - and 4 of them
from the penguin-tour. And then there were Ralph - the funny driver on this trip.
Plenty of stops along the way. First one at Bells Beach - and
a see full of surfers. Later that day the water comes from elsewhere. From the top and you
get soaked at the stops. The bus gets pretty nasty as well - but who cares. We make a stop
at Apollo Bay - and a picnic lunch in Otway Ranges - a rainforest (of course) with nice
chances for a short walk. Later we arrive at "The twelve
apostles" and Lord Arc Gorge at the ocean. Very impressive views - and not less
impressive in the rain. Then its London Bridge - more cliffs in the ocean - until a few
years ago the were part of the mainland - then some dumped in the water, and now they are
cliffs in the ocean instead.
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Before we get to
our place for the night in Port Fairy, Ralph suddenly turns right at a small nationalpark
called Tower Hill. He mentions something about some vulcano-lakes - and they do look
pretty. But suddenly - the place is full with kangaroos and wallabies - and up in the
trees we get to see several koalas. All of them "live" - no fences around here.
Ralph is a little disappointed - there were no emus. The rest of the bus is running high.
The whole day have been full of adventure and some very
beautiful nature. Finally we reach Port Fairy. I get myself a single room at the local
pub. The room is the size of my apartment ! - and the rate is 12 $ - radiculously
cheap. Some food - and then sleep.
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Did I miss anything ?- yes - in the morning suddenly Ralph
stopped - hmm he believes theres a secret cave around here. Usually they don't make a stop
here, but we were running early so today was the chance. Actually he is not really sure
that it's here. But we take the change - all people of the bus - passing a beach full of
stones and some small rocks - and suddenly we have past the entrence without noticing. All
down on their knees and crawl into the cave, which were used in the old days by the
aboriginals. You won't find this place in any guide-book - some trip this.
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Sunday 8'th
Going on with Wayward Bus. The athmosphere in the bus is
fantastic. First stop is Portland, where there is a go-cart grand-prix. The small go-carts
runs in a closed curcuit on the streets. We watch - and take a walk in the pit - and in
this small town as well.
Moving on in this fantastic landscape. We cross the
"border" between Victoria and South Australia. You can see the difference on the
telephone-poles. I Victoria they are made of wood - in South Australia they are made of
concrete. In that way you always know in which place you are. Just to let people know they
have place one of each just on each side of the border. And with the purpose to confuse
all tourists they have another time in South Australia - you have to turn the clock half
an hour back - looks a bit like a compromise!! |
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Then on to Mount Schank - a vulcanocrater which
we "climb". Its pretty tough, but it's worth it when you look down into this
huge hole, that suddenly said "boom" many years ago. A short visit at "Little Blue Lake" where some local youngsters are
having fun jumping from the cliffs huge about the lake and into it. From there on to Mt.
Gambier and the real "Blue Lake" - and yes - it is very blue. Picnic at the
lakeside doesn't make it worse.
On to Umpherston Cave. Some kind of hole in the ground full
of plants and flowers. The to Canunda National Park - some very impressive cliffs - and
then to Beachport for the night.
Staying at the pub - dinner with the group at Bompa's
(another pub), a walk onto the ½ mile long jetty before bedtime. For some reason you
sleep very well. |
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Monday 9'th Last day on Wayward. Departure Beachport - and
for a local farm for some breakfast and sheep cutting. Then north to Kingston and
"The Big Lobster". The aussie's does have some strange monuments here and there,
and "The Big Lobster" is such a thing - a huge lobster made out of plastic
located just outside a restaurant.On to
"The Coorong" - some kind of desert-like nationalpark. A stop at "The
Granites" - some graniteblocks on the beach - just about 500 mio. years old.
Next stop is some huge sand-cliffs, where we all take our shoes off and walks to the top.
From there to a saltlake - about 2 inches of hardpressed salt
on top of a lot of inches of very disgusting black mud. The risk of "going
through" is there. 2 from the group does, and get very nasty feet. Then we cross the
Murray-river at Wellington and its down through Adelaide Hills until we reach Adelaide. Arriving in Adelaide at about 7 pm.
Checking in on Clarice Motel - get some food - back to bed early - again. To Adelaide |
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