Australia…
It has been what seems like a long time
since we last updated the blog and at the moment we are coming to the end of
our Australian adventure. This blog entry will be slightly different to our
previous entries, as you will notice as you read further on.
After the ankle incident in Japan we were
looking forward to seeing family and friends in Australia. The first stop was
Melbourne to catch up with the Devlin’s. We only had a couple of days to take
in some of Melbourne’s sights but had a really nice time and some good weather
for a walk around the center of the city.
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| Melbourne with the Devlin's... |
We happened to be there just before
the start of the Grand prix and the track was in the process of being set up.
As we drove around Lloyd suggested we could try and drive around the racetrack.
Brilliant! We got a little taste of what it must be likes for Button and
Hamilton and the likes. Well we went a lot slower and the wrong way around the
track.
We had a really nice couple of days
catching up, playing with the kids, Elise and Cory and recovering from our long
days of travelling. It was a shame we didn’t have longer but there is always
next time. Thanks again guys.
Our next stop in Australia was Perth and
the Barr Family Steve, Cath and Sophie B and also including Susi’s parents Doreen and Sammy who had coordinated their trip so we
could all meet up at Susi’s brothers house.
It was a full on itinerary of early morning flight followed by breakfast
‘Sammy Barr style’ and then off to the races and casino.
It was a good day all
round as we came out pretty even if we were only on a backpackers betting
budget (if that sort of thing exists!!!)Over the next few days we had some nice
walks to the beach and to Hilary’s Harbour and of course we had a few trips
down to Stephens local ‘The White Salt’.
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| Sophie B enjoying ladies day at Ascot.... |
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| Another one bites the dust, betting is a mugs game... |
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| Sophie B teaching Susie B to beware of the wolf... |
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| THE White salt.... |
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| Sculpture exhibition at Cottesloe beach... |
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| Stephen and Sammy B at the Casino again... |
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| Pool with Steve and Cath at Hilaries.... |
Up till this point we where having a really
good time. Unfortunately Susi managed to catch a strange Ecoli bug and spent
some time in hospital. Again Susi shrugged it off and we were not
going to let it stop our adventures. We did have to change our plans slightly,
instead of flying to Chile we decided to stay in Oz a bit longer. In fact we
decided to hire a camper van and drive 6500 kilometers across Australia!!!
So this is where we make a slight change to
the usual format. Because we did so much in the space of these 18 day driving
across Australia we are going to use pictures to tell the story of what was a
fantastic adventure…
Day 1 – Perth – Margret River (400k)
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| Driving in Oz takes a lot longer than we thought... |
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| Susi the Chef!!! for the rest of the the trip.... |
Day 2 – Margret River to Norway (not
the country)(380k)
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| Flight of the Navigator (with a broken ankle)... |
Day 3 – Norway – Esperance – Lucky Bay
(480k)
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| The elephant rocks where a little (massive) surprise... |
The Monkey Van on tour (again)...
Day 4 – Esperance – Norseman (504k)
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| Most amazing beach so far... |
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| Kangaroo's on the beach, just like us... |
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What an amazing beach, kangaroo's, whitest sand ever and the most turquoise water ever...
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| Scary , scary bests... |
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| Norway and the land of the giants certainly had something to offer (awesome Vino)... |
Day 5 – Norseman – Kalgoorlie – Norseman
(543k)
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| What an interesting tour it was... |
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If only we had found some gold...
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Amazing memorabilia museum in the middle
of a ghost town... |
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| This is the outback!!! |
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| The sun has finally gone down for us in the middle of nowhere, not a soul or phone signal in sight and the march flies have finally gone home for the night. If you combined a wasp and a mosquito this is what you would get. Nasty buggers... |
Day 6 – Norseman – Eucla (648 gruelling
kilometers)
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| 38 degrees with no Air Con for eight hours is not not fun... |
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| In the middle of nowhere the quick sand can be dangerous, welcome to Calgoorlie... |
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| Over 3000km and not one sign of a Kangaroo, Camel or Emu (Other than dead ones)... |
Day 7 – Eucla – Nullabor – Ceduna – Smokey
Bay (512k at 38deg and no Aircon)
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| Overnight stop on a 200m cliff, thank god we don't sleep walk... |
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| Best post box by far in Oz... |
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| The end of the Nullabor...it does end. Time for a bit of civilisation... |
Day 8 – Smokey Bay – Cowell (395k)
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Make sure those 'snags' (Sausages in english) aren't burning. (grease proof paper is the key)
Brilliant little spot with free facilities.
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| Not a bad sunset from the monkey van... |
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| Can you guess what it is yet???? The nights entertainment sorted... |
Day 9 – Cowell via Ferry - Wallaroo –
Adelaide (196k)
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| Just a little ferry crossing for the monkey van. |
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| The longest pier in Australia... |
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Susi playing on the longest pier in Australia...
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Day 10 – Adelaide
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Catching up with Sarah and Laura from Vietnam who kindly let us
park the Monkey Van on Sarah's Aunts driveway (in a nice neighbourhood). |
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| Thankfully the horse didn't move. Susi's ankle is mending well... |
Day 11 – Adelaide - Tantaloola (475k)
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| Pelican Island and not a bloody pelican in sight... |
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Mt Gambier to view the volcanic lakes especially the blue lake. The Aussie's
aren't too creative when it comes to naming tourist attractions. |
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Famous for a tiger that once prowled the farmlands around these parts.
Another top tourist attraction... |
Day 12 – Tantaloola - Port Cambell (363k)
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| The road signs on Australias roads are pretty blunt... |
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| It wasn't all fun and games for driver v's navigator... |
Day 13 – Port Cambell - Great Ocean Road
(320k)
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| Gibson steps, with just a bit of a nice untouched beach at the bottom... |
Day 14 – Great Ocean Road -Melbourne – (309k)
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12 Apostles where pretty spectacular, and even more atmospheric with the weather...
After a long drive we got another chance to catch up with the Devlin's in Melbourne again
to make up for the short stay last time. |
Day 15 – Melbourne - Genoa (223k)
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| The giant lobster restaurant, as featured on Billy Connolly's Australian Tour... |
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At last a pelican and not only was it sat right above our van when we
woke up in the morning, it decided to take its morning poo on our van!!! |
Day 16 – Genoa - Milton Showground
(377k)
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Beautiful bay at the end of a very long and windy road.
Plus it has a cool name... |
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| Quick picture before another BBQ... |
Day 17 – Milton Showground - Austinmer
(166k)
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Meeting the residents of Austinmer carpark, some of which
had been there for 8 weeks free-camping? |
Day 18 – Austinmer- Sydney (73k)
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The long and winding road for the monkey van finally
comes to and end somewhere near Sydney... |
So we finally made it to Sydney with only a
little Drama and some brilliant times again. Now in Sydney it was time for a little
more of an upmarket experience. A bit of a change from our usual backpacking
accommodation Rog Woodend was putting us up for a few days in Killibilli,
Sydney. We spent the few days we had with him exploring Sydney and being shown
the other side of Sydney that tourists generally don’t see. The highlight of
the experience was when Rog told us he had managed to get us some spare tickets
for the Royal Randwick Races with a black and white theme to it. 
