moolooloba

say that 5 times fast. moolooloba is a small coastal town about an hour north of brisbane, on the sunshine coast. it happens to be where my in-laws are currently residing. it also happens to be the final destination on our cross-australia road trip.

after leaving the blue mountains, we spent 2 days doing longer drives then usual, to make our way up to the sunshine coast. we stopped overnight near coffs harbour, nothing too exciting really.

we arrived in moolooloba on australia day- mid afternoon. we'd seen plenty of flag-wearing, bundy-drinking bogans along the way so it was nice to arrive here and relax, with no crowds to contend with. our evening was spent catching up with the in-laws and some friends.

we've been here for a few days now. nothing too exciting i'm afraid. the condo we're staying in makes me feel like we're living in florida at the moment. i can't explain it any better then that really. if you've been to florida, you'll understand. otherwise, we've been giving betty a good clean (i think i heard her purr...) and are getting ready to sell- hoping that someone else will want to take her for another road trip and have as much fun as we did.

we can only hope they'll love her as much as we did.
xo

the blue mountains

one of the 3 sisters

after a rough night of sleep (who knew that the camp we'd set up was right beside a very active train line!), we drove into the blue mountains. it's a bit of a deceptive name really, they should maybe be called "blue canyon" because that's what they look like. suppose because they are part of the great dividing range, they were once large mountains. they get their name because of the blue haze that appears over the trees. the blue mountains sit approx 1 hour west of sydney and are, as such, a rather popular holiday destination for sydneysiders. i completely understand why. they are spectacular!

3 sisters

we drove into glenbrook and got some info at the tourist bureau. we managed to sneak a short hike in that afternoon at wentworth falls. the sheer rockface provided an excellent backdrop to the towering falls. not very big, but beautiful indeed. we followed the "undercliff" track, which is exactly what it sounds like- a track that takes you under one of the shelves of the cliff. it was all a bit muddy and slippery but worth it for the views.

we then stopped in katoomba, the main tourist centre in the blue mountains. we went to the 3 sisters lookout, an oft photographed sight in the mountains. and then we trekked our way down the "giant stairs". we didn't go the whole way down though, because we knew we'd be doing a rather long hike the next morning and thought we should save our legs. a good choice in hindsight.

blue mountains

katoomba was unimpressive. it felt like it had been a hoping place sometime in the 70's or 80's, and then had been neglected. there were some run down areas, which isn't what you expect in such a highly touristy place. so we drove on and found a campsite about 15 minutes outside of blackheath, a much smaller community just west of katoomba.

the following morning, we ventured off on an 8 hour hike down the canyon. it's not often that you do a hike where the descent comes first. we decided to time the walk down and double it for the expected time up. the first hour or so was straight down. literally. my quads were burning a bit at the bottom, which didn't bode well for the return trip. again, the trail was a bit muddy and slippery at points, but the views made it worth the effort. there weren't many handrails or anything guarding you from the cliff edge only a few centimeters from your feet, so you had to walk with care.

falls at govetts leap- long hike

the hike was listed as "experienced", which i would say was a fair call actually. we got about 2/3 of the way to the turn around point when we decided to turn back. the trail had become overgrown and traipsing through the thick bush (thick, scratchy bush at that) wasn't all that fun. so we turned and stopped at junction rock for a quick swim and some lunch before starting the walk back up to the top. we shared our lunch with a small, ballsy lizard who kept getting closer and closer to john. we eventually gave him the seed of a nectarine and he left us alone!

the return trip was much quieter because well, it was one of those hikes where you can't really talk because (gasp) you're (pant) just (wheeze) trying (gasp) to breathe. we didn't have to stop too many times, but afforded ourselves a few breaks to catch our breath (both from the walk and from the view!) turns out that we made a good decision to cut the walk short, because about 200m from the top, it started drizzling. and only just after we arrived back to meet betty in the parking lot, it started to rain. quite a bit. it would have sucked to be stuck on the trail in the rain- it was difficult enough as it was. the climb up the rockface would have been a bit more treacherous, what with the no guardrails, slippery rock and sheer drops.

we spent the rest of the afternoon (what was left of it) at a wonderful cafe in blackheath. not much else to do in blackheath i'm affraid. it's similar to katoomba (only much smaller) in that it seems a bit derelict. like it was a great little village back in the day but everyone's forgotten about it now.

we certainly won't forget the blue mountains. they are simply amazing.
xo

canberra

canberra waterfront

the first thing anyone said when we suggested we might stop in canberra was "why?". nice, no? as the nation's capital, it felt like the kind of place we should stop. you know, it just felt wrong to tour a country and not explore it's capital. but aussies (and in fact, many people) find canberra a bit boring. we found it to be lovely.

we arrived in the middle of the day on a thursday. a good time to visit a city, i think. canberra is incredibly green (in colour, not politics...), and is clearly a very planned out town. it's like a giant park space, which happens to be a city. it sits amongst (what i assume are man-made) lakes and small hills of greenery. after a stop at the (uninformative) tourist bureau, we made our way to the botanic garden- where we lazed away the afternoon, reading books in the park. a nice way to spend the afternoon really. in the evening, we rode our bikes into the downtown area. now, having come from perth, i was both surprised and impressed that sleepy ol' canberra had a somewhat hopping downtown. and it didn't shut down at 6pm. no one kicked us out of the restaurant at 9pm. how nice.

random carousel in canberra

in the morning, we managed to find a nice market  to pick up groceries before we drove over to the AIS. the AIS, for those not in the know, is the australian institute of sport. it's where most major australian athletes (and not minor ones too actually) train and perfect their sport. it's a huge complex, with pools, gyms, tracks, athlete village, etc. it started some 10 years before the sydney olympics in an effort to up the quality of australian sport (canadian sport officials, take note. australia is doing a much better job then us...)

after spending a bit of time in the city (and enjoying some delicious gelato at the mall), we drove off, bidding goodbye to the capital. we pulled over at a random rest stop on our way to the blue mountains.


xo

the great dividing range- part 2

view from the top

we woke to sunny skies and decided to make our way to thredbo- the heart of the australian ski fields. the great dividing range is often referred to as the australian alps (only in australia, of course). someone said to me "oh, are you going to the alps" and i looked at them like "uhm, no. i'm staying in australia thanks". they were a bit annoyed that i didn't know of the "australian alps" but you know, whatever. has anyone ever heard of the australian alps? i find it a bit hard to accept- that there are alps here- not that i've ever seen the alps in person. but, the great dividing range is well, more like the laurentians. hardly what i would qualify as the alps. but apparently some millions of years ago, the great dividing range was in fact, as big at the himalayas. it's just such a weird concept. australia seems to be such a young country politically, but the oldest geologically.

anyhow, thredbo is your classic ski village. alpine looking complexes for people to rent, exorbitantly priced restaurants, ski gear for sale in the middle of summer and not much to do but enjoy nature. which we did.

we took the chairlift up to the top of thredbo, mostly because we had to. they generally don't recommend people hike to the top because it's quite steep (i wonder how steep a skihill can be, but whatever). so, up we rod. it cost quite a bit of cash to take said chairlift, but lucky for them it was worth the trip. there's something eerily comforting about chairlifts. brings me back to my youth.

at the top of thredbo, you can start the 13km return trip walk to the peak of kosiuszko- which is australia's highest peak. it sits some 2200 meters above sea level, but the walk only takes you up maybe 1000m. the walk was pleasant, mostly along a graded steel walkway. it's definitely a highly touristy walk, but again, the views were quite lovely so it was worth it.  we took the chairlift back down after our walk and decided to explore the village a bit more.

getting ready to luge down the track

we made our way to the bobled track next. i have a very vague recollection of doing something similar in lake placid as a child. essentially, you "luge" down the "bobsled" track, in what i can only describe as a GT snowracer with wheels. there's a "gear stick" that you either lean on to go faster or pull back to slow down. no helmets. no instruction. you hop on this little sled and get whizzed up the hill on a track, then are released at the top where you begin the descent. it was good times. john nearly ran me over a few times, mostly due to the fact that his bodyweight allowed him to go faster and therefore catch up to me. i tried leaning forward with all my might, but sometimes i just couldn't go any faster.

after our glorious day in thredbo, we packed up and went back to our campsite and settle in. the next morning, we drove off along the tourist road- which should really be called the "i hope you have nothing better to do because this is painfully slow driving" road. lucky for us, we had nothing better to do. the drive was slow, but nice. through an area that had been heavily affected by the bushfires in 2003- many a dead tree gracing the mountain side.

we drove on to the yarrangobilly caves, on the other side of the national park. we chose the "self explore" cave, mostly because it was cheaper but also because the tours had already finished for the day. the cave was cool (both literally and figuratively). we then made our way down the track to the thermal pool on site. if it had been in canada, i'm sure a resort would've popped up next door and charged an arm and a leg. as it was, we paid nothing because we already had our national park pass.

yarrangobilly cave

the spring that feeds the pool gushes about 100 000 liters per hour. per hour! not that you could feel it at all. it's a comfortable 27 degrees all year long. and whilst it looks like a pool from the outside, it's just rock and algae on the bottom (about 2.5 meters below). we had a pleasant swim before we scampered back up the trail to betty.

we spent the night just outside of cooma, a small town not far from canberra.

xo

the great dividing range- part 1

trying not to freeze in the river at our campsite

following the incredibly good advice of our tourist info bureau volunteer, we made our way to the great dividing range. but not before stopping in bombala- the platypus capital of australia (not that it's advertised in any book, map or other such tourist info brochure).  mr. tourist bureau told us that if we wanted to see platypus ( "not that there's much to see"), that bombala was the place.

so, we stopped for the night. we pulled into the platypus reserve and set up camp. i (honestly) sat out on the little platform for an hour waiting, watching the incredibly still water in the bombala river, hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive platypus. i didn't see much, but boy did i freak out when i saw the small, v-shaped crest in the water with a small body driving forward. i shouted for john and in doing so scared the poor little platypus away (i saw one the next morning too, but it was the same deal. not much to see really. sadly).

platypus, for those who don't know, are very odd. in my opinion, it's like a beaver and a duck got drunk one night and woke up to regret it. according to the sign post, the platypus is one of only a few monotremes (it later says the only other one is an echidna. why not just say "one of two" i wonder?), which means that it's a mammal who lays eggs. which is so weird. the baby platipi are called puggles.  puggles! anyhow, even in a platypus reserve, they're hard to spot and when you do spot them, you don't see much. they can hold their breath for 14 minutes and therefore don't really pop up all that often. they are waterproof, which is just cool really, and used to be killed (like all other animals) for their pelt, back in the day. i can't imagine wearing a platypus, but then, i don't eat meat either...

tree in the water, lake jindabyne

after bombala, we drove to jindabyne, the small town at the base of koscioszko national park. the national park houses the main snowfields of australia, namely thredbo, perisher and charlotte's pass. jindabyne sits right on a lake and is only 45 mins from thredbo, the main hill in the park. the day we arrived, it was hot and blue skies. we sorted our renting kayaks and decided to laze by the first freshwater lake we've run into in a long, long time.

when we arrived at the kayak rental place the next day, sure enough, the wind decided to pick up rather intensely. but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless, and even did our "good samaritan" cause of the day, by alerting the rental company that some poor family good marooned on the beach (the youngens in the family couldn't fight the wind).

after our kayak adventure (in freshwater!), we made our way to the snowy mountain cookie company factory outlet to purchase some "imperfect" but perfectly delicious cookies. mmmmm. cookies. after which, we headed to the local microbrewery pub and watched the sun set over the lake before making our way back to our fantastic campsite for the night.

xo

gippsland

fog rolling into malactoota

the south-eastern area of victoria is better known as gippsland, name after a governor  or something like that. it is generally a splendid little area of australia. in the grey, dreary, rainy skies, not so much.

after we left phillip island, we made our way to leongatha. it took us a few tries to find a caravan park that wasn't full (due to it being school holidays still). lets just say that the only reason i remember that the town was called leongatha is because we forgot what it was called so many times (and had to look it up. even while we were still in the town), i looked it up so often that it finally stuck. we decided on leongatha after we pulled into a caravan park in another random town and noticed that it was really more of a "trailer park", true to form. when i went to explore the campground and happened upon the bathroom and saw the sign that said "ladies, close the door behind you for your own safety", it sealed the deal that we should keep looking...

the caravan park in leongatha was surprisingly comfortable. not very big, not very busy. 5 minutes from town, but incredibly quiet. and green. but it didn't really make up for the fact that it was raining. we took the opportunity to get stuff done in leongatha (i like to keep saying it to make sure i remember the name). nothing particularly exciting, though we were around when the volunteer firefighter alarm went off (and scared the shit out of me). needless to say, we moved on in hopes of outrunning the rain.

kayaking in malacoota

we stopped in bairnsdale on our way out. this was, interestingly enough, one of the "random towns" an australian had told us about ("i'm from bansdale. but most people would think it was barnsdale. but it's actually spelled bairnsdale". wow. really? how interesting...). we happened upon the first actual informative person at the tourist information centre.

interesting fact: most people "working" in the tourist bureaus are volunteers. we know this because it says so on their name tags. as such, they don't know shit. for the most part, the info they provide us with has been bad, faulty or both. but finally (finally!) we found a volunteer worthy of his name tag. he was so enthusiastic about telling us where we should go that we (gasp) actually followed his advice. but before we sped off to the great dividing range, we made our way to the coastal town of malacoota.

malacoota is (i think) the eastern most town in victoria and is nestled right between the raging tasman sea and a small lake (which is technically just an inlet, but whatever). we arrived on the first sunny day we'd had in days (!). we managed to (finally) rent some kayaks and went off to explore the "lake" region. it was quite enjoyable, until the wind from the ocean blew in. shortly followed by an intense fog (thankfully, we'd returned the kayaks by then).

the guy renting the kayaks tried to convince us to stay another night but we decided we'd had enough with the rainy gippsland coast and started our drive to the great driving range.


xo

i don't know where that is

- "i'm from nowheresville. just south of smalltown, not far from port obscure".
- "riiiiight, so, where is that in relation to (insert major city here)?".
- "well, it's about an hour east of bordertown and just past randomville".
- "uhm, ya. i don't know where that is. where is it in relation to (insert major city here)?"
- *blank stare* *shock* *horror*

waiting. waiting. waiting.

- "well, it's not far from littleton"

i see this is getting nowhere. but this is exactly the type of conversation we've had on (numerous occasions) with australians when we ask where they're from. now, don't get me wrong, providing such detail is great, i guess, but as it turns out, i'm not from this state. heck, i'm not even from australia. but they seem to interpret my (obviously) canadian accent as a local dialect from the nearest township to theirs, thereby implying that i know where they mean.

it couldn't be more frustrating. and it's not helped by my lovely husband who (so polite and friendly) says "oh ya. really eh?" when he also has no freakin' clue where they mean! i have taken to just saying "i have no idea where that is" but all i tend to get is a look of disdain. how could i not?

here's the thing. i am also from a ridiculously large country. and as such, when people ask me where i'm from, the first thing i say is "canada", even if the person asking me has a north american accent. if they say that they're also from canada (or i am in canada to start with), i say "oh, well i'm from ontario". sometimes it stops there, because the person is from BC and has no idea about anything beyond the west coast. if not, i may continue on and say "well, it's near montreal and ottawa". if they say they're from ottawa too, then i may (hesitantly) say "oh, i'm from cornwall". they generally have never heard of it.

i would NEVER expect anyone to know where my hometown is. even if they are from an hour away, i will always point to the nearest big city then go from there. australians, for some reason, assume that everyone knows where everything is. how far is it from sydney? well, it's 4 hours east of randomtown.

i'd like to think that australians to understand the size of their country and then put together the fact that even australians wouldn't know where every random little village is (in relation to another little village at that). and, i would expect that they would understand moreso that if someone isn't speaking with an australian accent, the odds of them knowing anything about the location of anywhere in this country is completely absurd. but as it stands, they just assume you do.

when we ask the europeans we meet where they're from we get "germany" or such thing. pressed for more detail, they almost harrumph and give us a bit more detail (but snicker to themselves) and say (in german) "as if they would know. but we'll appease them anyhow". then we say "how close is that to the-only-major-city-we-know-in-your-country" or whatever, which they tell us. then we nod knowingly, thinking to ourselves that we have no freakin' clue where that is. but they didn't tell us the suburb, or hamlet, or lake they live on. nope. they wouldn't expect us to know such a thing. 2 hours north of berlin, well i might have an idea where that is i suppose.

as it is, i just find it funny. it keeps happening and i keep laughing at it all. and i keep saying (more boldly) that "i have no idea where that is". frankly, i would never tell someone i just met that i was from cornwall, just south of moose creek and west of long sault, not far from alexandria.

even though i could. because technically it's true.

xo

phillip island

phillip island is a small island about 1.5 hours south of melbourne. it is apparently an awesome island for surfing, watersports, bushwalks and wildlife viewing. unfortunately for us, it was raining. a lot.

we arrive at phillip island one evening, hoping to catch the famous penguin parade- a nightly viewing of the penguins arriving on the beach. this happens sometime around sunset (lately, 8:30pm or so) and there is upwards of 1000 penguins involved. the night we arrived, it was pouring. really truly pouring. so we decided to (illicitly) camp for the night just off the island and return to enjoy it all the next day instead.

alas, t'was not to be. we had one of those days where nothing seemed to go right. difficulty with my bike, requiring it to be serviced on the island, inability to find kayaks to rent even though the tourist information people told us "where" to go and that it wouldn't be a problem, and then when we finally sorted out our day, the rain stared upon us. again. rain rain rain. more rain.

we had planned to visit the chocolate factory on the island as well, but it was going to cost us some cash, which we don't particularly like to be seperated from, and it was bulging at the seams with sugar-infused children. two negative ticks.

at the end of the day, we were so annoyed with nothing going right and with the weather, that we decided to bugger off and forget the penguins. so off we drove to random town after random town trying to find a place for the night (or 2) where we might get power and access to some indoor activities to wait out the rain.

the weather bureau is predicting rain for the next few days. our travels may be less then exciting if that's the case. as it turns out, there's not much to do on the gippsland coast if it's raining. fingers cross the that the weatherman is wrong and we can start exploring again tomorrow morning.

xo

the dandenongs

the view from the dandenongs

frankly, why wouldn't you want to visit a place called the dandenongs (ha!)? i couldn't care less if it was a hole (which it wasn't) because it has such an awesome name. and one of the main villages: sassafras! "i live in sassafras. in the dandenongs (ha!)". i almost want to move there just to say it.

the dandenongs (ha!) is a hilly-region (suburb?) of melbourne, only about 45 mins from town. it oozes money and charm, in a way that only hilly-villages can. it was raining, on and off all day, so we opted against doing one of the dozen or so hikes that are in the area and instead settled on being (window) shoppers.

sassafras, like all touristy mountain/seaside villages, was quaint. it had all the necessary shops to place it squarely in the tourist town bracket: the 3.5 cafes, 2.2 high end restaurants, 3 up-market clothing stores, a vintage shop, a lolly-shop, a gourmet food store (which we thoroughly enjoyed), 1000 antique shops and a toy-store. a proper one, with wooden toys and rocking horses in the window. we had a lovely time chatting with the owner of the gourmet shop, were baffled by the quantity of teapots and mugs in the tea-shop (blinded, more like), and well fed at the cheaper of the cafes. after we perused all the shops, we got back in the car and sped off to the next village (olinda) to see what it had to offer.

well, it had the 3.5 cafes, 2.2 high end restaurants, 3 up-market clothing store, a vintage shop, a lolly-shop, a gourmet food store (which we thoroughly enjoyed), 1000 antique shops and a toy-store. a proper one, with wooden toys and rocking horses in the window. the same one as sassafras. and the same lolly shop. oh, but olinda did have a jewlery store. take that sassafras!

we decided, much as we love window shopping in the expensive stores and sampling delicious foods in the gourmet shop, it was time for us to leave the dandenongs (ha!). sadly, we didn't stop to see puffin' billy, an old steam train that takes you on a 50km journey from belgrave to olinda and back, nor did we manage to get to the zipline place (too expensive anyhow really) but we rather enjoyed meandering the village streets. and honestly, with the rain clouds looming, we just kind of wanted to move on. so we did.

dandenongs (ha!)
xo

melbourne and geelong

kite surfers in st kilda

i should technically put geelong first in the title, because we stopped there first. but well, i feel that most of my australian friends would be scandalized. i mean, geelong is geelong but melbourne! well, it's melbourne (pronounced mel-bun by aussies, who seem to forget there's an R in the word).

we stopped in geelong for the night after we decided to give the GOR the sack. free camping by the river seemed like a much better idea then expensive camping with thousands of others. and so it was. we pulled into a small park by the river and set up shop for the night. it was hot. very hot. 37 and humid hot. sticky, wish-you-could-take-more-then-your-clothes-off hot. and the mosquitoes were insane! so our night in geelong was rather unexciting as we tried not to melt in our (non-air conditioned) van. we were very nearly successful too...

when we woke, the debilitating heat had settled (sort of). we went for a bike ride around the river before the sun really came up and started sizzling again. (it didn't end up doing so in the end. i mean, it was hot but not unbearable. and not as sticky). geelong's river is small but nice. it has a lovely bike path following its length. and seems to be a mecca for rowers and fishermen.

we went into the city for the rest of the day- loitering at a wonderful cafe (called mr. hyde. i recommend it if you're ever in geelong) before venturing into the big city to visit with some friends who'd recently moved. and i mean recent. like, arrived the day before recent. when better to crash with friends then when they have no furniture or food i ask?

our friends happen to live only some 15 minutes away from st-kilda, a trendy little suburb on the foreshore. there were some looming clouds and high winds, so we didn't spend much time near the beach. but we did happen to catch the few hundred kite surfers gliding around the bay.

following a lovely evening with friends (with too much food, drink and tomfoolery) we headed into south melbourne for the south melbourne markets and some much needed breakfast. let me tell you, i only spent about 24 hours in melbourne but i like it. a lot. in fact, i'm looking forward to visiting said friends when they do have furniture and food (which really is the better time to visit, in my opinion). did i mention they live near a fantastic shopping centre?

we called it quits on melbourne only because our friend was starting work the next day and we didn't want to be a bother. also, their cat and i don't really get along very well. actually, not true. their cat loves me (which cat doesn't?) but her dander and i are at odds.

xo

great ocean road- part 3

once again, we woke to cloudy skies. only we had read the weather would be jumping up to some 37 degrees, so we decided to get a move on and make our way to the beach. we had planned to drive to torquay, where surfing reigns supreme, but we were rather enticed when we drove through the pleasant town of anglesea.

we were quite keen to change our plans when we saw canoes on the river, a nice beach on the ocean, small groups of people strolling the streets, etc. we had decided that we would *gasp* pay for camping this night because we had some things to do (including a hot shower!) and because you can no longer pull over and camp anywhere on the GOR. back in the day (even 2-3 years ago apparently), you were welcomed, nay encouraged, to pull over in a small hamlet/park and set up shop. now, the fine is somewhere in the 2000$ region, so we went to inquire at the campgrounds.

well! let me tell you. "camping" on the GOR is ridiculous. we were quote by not just one, but 2 campgrounds in anglesea... 75$ per night! i said "no, not a cabin. just a site". but lo! it was 75$ for a campsite. for. a. campsite. no power. jammed between hundreds of other families. and our "campervan club" membership which should give us a discount doesn't apply at this one because our van is too small. size-ism much? at one campsite, the lady told us she'd given us a deal by offering 75$ because it's normally 98$. a night! for a campsite! is the campsite covered in gold? are the stones around my lot actually rubies and emeralds? will someone at the campsite wash my car, and my clothes, and run me a bath, and provide me with champagne and chocolates? no. no they won't. they'll simply jam us between families with dozens of rambunctious kids and rob us of money. we wouldn't even be able to have a campfire. *pffffffft*

needless to say, we left. jaded. john told the lady that was a ridiculous price for a campsite and she shrugged her smug shoulders and said "it's our peak season". so off we went to torquay, puzzled about how our evening would progress. luckily, we ran into some other backpackers (are we backpackers? suppose so really) who told us that they had camped for free by the river in geelong, only some 20km from torquay and no longer officially part of the GOR. that settled it. we decided to spend the day in torquay and then head to geelong for the night.

torquay is apparently australia's surfing mecca. it houses a large variety of surf shops and i believe it is the australian (international?) headquarters for ripcurl and possibly quicksilver. don't be fooled though- even though the brochure describes them as outlets, they are not. i'd use the term "flagship store". expensive.

bell's beach, only 8km from the centre of town is home to australia's biggest surfing competition. in winter it apparently has amazing swells for seasoned surfers. as it was summer, and a rather calm day, we decided not to stop and headed for the main swimming beach instead. i also didn't get to the surf museum- i know, terrible. but we'd just spent 2 hours sitting in parking lot doing laundry, and i'd just explored shops, cursing their prices. we felt we needed to hit the beach rather then learn about surfing.

we spent a few hours lazing by the ocean, trying not to get crispy under the 37 degree heat, which we are no longer used to. then off we drove to geelong, setting up shop in a small park by the river.

i should know better then to tempt fate. when i mentioned that we'd like a bit of heat, i should have been more specific. we'd like heat during the day. it was so hot last night, it felt like we were sleeping in a sauna. no breeze blowing through. hopefully tonight will be different.

xo

- photos to come

great ocean road- part 2

stephenson's falls

we left Johanna beach, once again sighing at the looming rainclouds. i don’t really want to complain about the weather because god knows i’d much rather be chilly (especially at night) but it’s getting a bit ridiculous. i mean, this is australia. australia! in the middle of summer! and other then the random day of heat in the grampians (clearly, not where we wanted heat), we’ve been lucky to get a few hours of sunlight during the day. the evenings are cool, bordering on cold and require long pants, a jumper/hoodie and the occasional lightweight tuque to keep us warm. again, i don’t want to complain but i’d be keen on a bit of sun, possibly in the next few days whilst we hug this magnificent coastline and gaze longingly at the turquoise water.

lush forest in the GOR hinterland

from johanna we drove towards apollo  bay- a quintessential beachside village. after speaking with the tourist info centre, we realized that there was no way we’d be staying in apollo bay for the night. generally things are too busy and full, but we’d also just prefer not to pay for a site and be jammed like sardines between our neighbours at the local caravan park. so after sorting out supplies, we drove back into the hinterland and made our way to stephenson’s falls, where we settled in for the night.

the falls themselves were lovely- quite large and rather remote. there weren’t too many people staying in this campground and even fewer who’d be willing to make the 4km return walk from the site to the falls.

the next morning, we packed up and made our way to lake Elizabeth in search of the elusive platypus. lake elizabeth has a colony- a colony mind you!- of platypus (platypi? platypusses? we like platypi). i’d seen a sign at the tourist bureau in apollo bay suggesting that you can do canoe tours on the lake. well sign us up! as it turns out- you have to arrange said tour at the tourist bureau in apollo bay and as such, we were unable to canoe on the lake. couldn’t even rent a canoe. though we were tempted to unlock the 2 canoes (from the tour company photo no less. only 2 canoes. some tour!) and take them out ourselves, but there were no paddles and alas, we don’t carry them on our persons. instead we walked the 3.5km loop around the lake.

now lake Elizabeth is interesting, not only for its platypus colony but also because it was only created (by natural means no less) in 1952, following the largest rainfall this area had ever experienced. in short, there was a mudslide/rockslide and it filled the river, cutting off the flow. oddly enough, no one discovered the lake until some time later, someone said “hey, why isn’t the river flowing anymore?” and they sent out a search party. the lake itself is nothing to write home about- rather stagnant looking- and is obviously not a main attraction because the trail around the lake was poorly kept (unlike most other trails in the area). i find this surprising mostly because the lake is home to a colony of platypus! i mean come on! platypus! a whole colony!

as it were, we didn’t see any. they are rather shy and tend to be nocturnal (like all cool Australian animals) and they only really move around at dawn or dusk. suppose that’s what the tour was for…

after out disappointing adventure searching for platypus, we drove down to lorne, another quintessential surf town. it was packed. turns out there’s a major swimming event on this weekend. we lazed about the beach for a short while before deciding that actually, we are not really keen on spending time in towns that are so packed! i am aware that this will be the story of our next few days on the GOR, but still. it’s such a major contrast going from quiet camp in the bush, near a river/lake/beach to being bombarded by bars, cafes, bikinis, booze and people.

we left lorne- apparently it was only going to get busier with the swimming event. the lady at the tourist bureau said it can take an hour to move through the 5km town. ugh. sounds terrible to me!

we managed to find another small campsite off the beaten path. and we aren’t holding our breath that the next few villages we stop in will be any better- it is the weekend after all. but the weather is getting warmer, so maybe we’ll be enticed to hit the beach for a while and revel in it instead.

xo

- photos to come

great ocean road- part 1

12 apostles

a few interesting facts about the great ocean road (other than it is particularly lacking in mobile and internet reception...):

-       it is approx 250km long, but takes significantly longer to drive then you’d expect

-       the most photographed seascape in australia is the 12 apostles, one of the biggest drawing cards on the GOR

-       there are only 8 apostles left at the “12 apostles”

-       contrary to its name, the GOR is not entirely along the ocean. in fact, much of it is through hills and forrest.

-       it’s packed with tourists

-       it is spectacularly beautiful

we decided to take our time driving along the GOR. we felt it deserved a bit of exploration, and to be honest, we were kind of sick of driving long periods at a time. we drove from the grampians to warrnambool- the western most point of the GOR- by way of port fairy, a cute seaside village. we stopped for the night in warrnambool- finding a cheap but well set up campground at the city’s showgrounds. a tip for future travellers- showgrounds are proving to be the best campsites. they’re generally cheap, have power, water and showers and green grass to boot.

london bridge

there were clouds in the sky and a cool wind in the air, so it was with a slow start to our morning that we drove from warrnambool to princetown, stopping many a times to enjoy the view. we stopped at the bay of islands, the london bridge, the loch ard gorge and a few other nameless lookouts. we saw waves crashing onto the beach and sheer cliffs lining the shores for miles. most places we turned into had crowds like you wouldn’t believe, but none quite like the 12 apostles. in fact, we decided to forgo them (for now) and made our way to the campground (again, a type of showgrounds). we thought about riding back up to the 12 apostles at sunset, but given how cloudy it was, we figured it would be a waste anyhow.

the weather being as it is (read: winter-like weather for australia), we cozied up by the lovely campfire the john prepared. we roasted marshmallows and tried to improvise some ‘smores with wheat-cookies and dark chocolate but it just wasn’t the same.  it’s rather unfortunate that graham crackers never made their way over here, really.

the next morning, we cycled the 6.8km back to the 12 apostles, figuring that most tourists wouldn’t be there just yet. we were right. sort of. there were plenty of tourists, just not the throngs of them we chose to avoid the night before.  we sauntered down the path with a few dozen other tourists and got the camera ready. we snapped quite a few photos of the “most photographed seascape in australia” and were pleased we’d made the trip back up to see it.

i decided to buy some postcards (as you do), and went to the tourist info/kiosk they had at the start of the walk. they had none. not they “were out” but literally “they had none”. i was amazed. surely, as australia’s most photographed seascape, the 12 apostles deserved some sort of tourist centre that stoked the more visually arresting versions of the photos i just took (because they are taken at sunset, sunrise and on blissfully perfect days. mine were taken on a grey cloudy morning). i probably would have spent more on them there then i would have at any other tourist bureau, just because i was “in the moment”  of it all. but no. they wanted nothing to do with my need for postcards.

and so it was. we packed up the van and made our way to johanna bay, were we’d be camping for the night. we set up shop and then drove off to keep exploring- discovering for the first time that the great ocean road is not along the ocean all the time. i’m not disappointed by this, at all, because the forest and hills are incredible! so lush and green and just plain awesome.

we intended to stop at otway fly- a 600m treetop walk and zipline area but for one, it was packed (packed!) and two, it was bloody expensive. so we kept going and did our own walks at triplet and hopetoun falls. we made our way down to cape otway at the end of the day- well, we tried. it was closing at 6 and we arrived at around 5:50pm.

but don’t worry, all was not lost. the drive from the GOR to the cape was filled with koalas! (koalas!) in the wild! (in the wild!). they were hard to spot at first, but got easier once we spotted the other tourist who’d stopped... and then there they were. koalas! resting precariously on the branches of the eucalypts. it was like finding easter eggs (grey ones. in trees) but once we spotted the first few, we spotted a dozen more! and we even managed to find 2 who were sitting in a tree at eyeline- yes, that close. we got out and took more photos and giggling about how cute they are (but lethal…they’re claws are massive!). one was sitting a bit higher and munching away at the eucalypt leaves, the other was just resting. and pooping.  apparently that’s all they do: eat, rest, poop. good life if you can get it.

we returned to our campsite fully satisfied. 12 apostles are something, but koalas! wild koalas! is there anything more exciting!? i think not.

xo

- i haven't loaded our photos onto the computer yet. i'll add them later... 

the grampians- part 2

peak of mt hollow

2010 and 2011 couldn't have been any different... we spent the 31st sweating, sun beating down and tried to sleep but we were hot. we woke on the 1st to clouds, light rain and cool winds. we spent the evening in long pants, hoodies and sat near the fire with hot drinks to keep us warm. amazing how things can change from one year to the next ;)

we started new years with a lazy sleep in, a nice lunch and sitting around reading books before we ventured off for our hike at mt hollow. it was a short-ish drive on poorly marked roads from our campsite to the mountain, which lies in the north of the grampians. the rain clouds loomed but held off while we did the short but steep hike. the views from the top were awesome. in fact, we were sort of hoping for a rain storm (in the distance of course) because it would have been a great vantage point.

me at the top of our first climb

john scaling the rocks

our drive back to the campsite became a bit of an adventure. you see, the map we purchased had mistakes. many mistakes. and not small ones either. mistakes like claiming a road to be sealed when, in fact, it's not. or having a road named on the map but using a different name on the street sign.  or having a road on the map that doesn't exist in the real world (or vice-versa). we made it back to our campsite eventually but we definitely took a round-about way to get there.

for our last day in the grampians, we decided to do something we'd never done before: rock climb! when we booked, the guy at the desk suggested we might like a "more challenging" start then the other group who'd booked in (a small family apparently). so when we arrived on the 2nd, it ended up being just the 2 of us with our guide (given the price we paid, this was a super awesome deal). we drove only a few minutes out of halls gap to our start point. we hiked a hundred metres up to the base of the climb.

australia grades its climbs from 1-35, based on the most difficult part of the climb. we started on a level 12 and progressed to a level 15. they sure felt a bit more challenging then that but apparently not. i'd love/hate to see what a 35 might look like!

so, tim (our guide) got us geared up, set up the ropes and said "who's firs?". eep! i clipped myself in and started scrambling up the rocks. tim and john were very encouraging as i made my way up, stopping occasionally to assess the situation. once i reached the top (some 20+ metres up), i stopped to take in the views before preparing to get down. getting down is a serious exercise in trust in the person belaying you (tim, in this case).  you have to centre yourself with the ropes, lean back as much as possible and place your feet against the rock. then they slowly let the rope out and you walk/jump down the rock. the whole time you're thinking "oh god i hope this rope is strong".

we were both able to do 2 climbs at the first stop (level 12) and tim taught me how to belay john. he laughed and said "how much do you trust each other?". belaying is surprisingly fatiguing because you're constantly pulling up the slack and keeping a solid deathgrip on the rope because you'd hate to slacken up (well, more accurately, john would hate me if i slackened up...) . john got his turn to belay me on the next climb- which felt significantly more difficult (level 15). tim said we must be a pretty "solid" couple because there was no hesitation with the climbing or abseiling back down. apparently a lot of people don't trust their partner enough, or the partner belaying likes to "scare them" a bit and leaves the slack. how nice.

we finished our climbs feeling both exhilarated and exhausted. and hooked. looks like we may have found a new hobby!
xo

the grampians- part 1

john at the pinnacle- wonderland loop

the grampians are a mountain range in the western part of victoria (our 3^rd state!), which are very popular amongst rock climbers, absailers and outdoor enthusiasts (such as ourselves). we made our way here directly from mt gambier, got some maps and started planning.

we were warned about the weather- it was getting hotter. the first time in 3 weeks that we’d have actual australian-hot summer weather and it has to be when we head into the mountains. ugh. what, you say? doesn’t the weather get cooler in the mountains? alas, ‘tis not so in australia (not so far, anyhow). generally if it’s 38 degrees in the city, it’s going to be something like 43 in the mountains. again, ugh.

mackenzies falls

we woke early and started our day at mackenzies falls. we took the trail to the lookout point and spotted a small kangaroo (a mountain kangaroo i think!). the falls were nice to look at, but we wanted to get closer. so down we went to the base of the falls. i think they must have had an “incident” at the falls at some point, because there is a lot of signage for the 2nd walk (to the base) implying that it is “steep and strenuous and you may have difficulty getting back up”. it’s only about 250 steps, with a few flat bits. i’m assuming someone made it down and was buggered trying to get back up. i think it puts a lot of people off explore the base of the falls, which is unfortunate because the view from the bottom is stunning.

we then went off to start our first proper hike in the grampians- the wonderland loop. we did the circuit a bit differently then everyone else, starting at the halfway point, and looping around. In hindsight, it was a good decision, because the way we went down was significantly more intense then the way we went up.  

grand canyon

we started our hike by heading through the grand canyon (and we didn’t even have to teleport to nevada…) before making our way to the pinnacle- a rocky outcrop at the top of the mountain. the views from the pinnacle were amazing- you could see for miles! thankfully there was a guardrail at the peak, because the wind had picked up and i’m certain i would’ve blown away. we then meandered down the ridge of the mountain. the weather had certainly picked up by then and we were freakin’ hot! luckily, the venus baths were our next stop point. stripping down, we jumped into the lovely rock pools, (with a bit of a yelp. the water was cold!), with a dozen other hikers doing the same thing. after the refreshing dip, we started our way back via the stittering falls- a small waterfall but accessible for wetting ones head (as john did) before finally returning to betty, waiting patiently in the carpark.

view from the pinnacle

we became aware of the intensity of the heat when we got back to Betty. there was a note from the park rangers, stuck to the windshield of all the cars, stating the “this car is parked in a fire risk area. driver has been warned” (at first we were glad it wasn't a ticket. then we weren't glad at all. bush fire = worse then parking ticket!). the heat and high winds that had come up so suddenly placed the grampians on total fire ban- a shame really, because this is the first area that has campsites with fire pits.

we walked back over to the venus baths at the end of the day to cool off before we settled into a campsite for the night. we rang in the New Year rather early (i was tired) and unremarkably. some very drunk (bogans) across from us insisted on playing their (crappy) music incredibly loudly which was rather annoying. but it settled shortly after midnight, thankfully.

happy new year!

xo