Getting back on the road with Lola after our time working in Adelaide felt great. Driving long distances and admiring the sights and wildlife is what Australia has all been about for us. Our first stop after leaving those lovable but troublesome horses behind was to Chloe & Dave’s house in the Adelaide Hills where they cooked an amazing Pork Belly roast.
On our way over to Victoria we travelled South Australia’s Limestone Coast which we didn’t do last time we were here. We saw Australia’s only colony of white Kangaroos, which looked a little bit like giant bald cats. Took a detour to South Australia’s biggest sight Larry the Lobster standing tall at 17 meters! Enjoyed coastal drives even spotting whales playing way off in the distance! Then we visited the city of Mount Gambier which was built around extinct volcanoes and craters, and has amazing sinkholes that have been turned into gardens. All in all South Australia was a great place to stop for a few months, even if we didn’t intend to! There is a lot to enjoy as a tourist around the state and Adelaide was a fantastic city to live in, easy to navigate as it’s more like a big town, good transport, fantastic library and we made some great friends there as well as getting to look after horses for 6 weeks! J
Entering Victoria we were really excited to drive the Great Ocean Road as it’s recommended as one of the best things to do in Australia. The beginning of the drive was amazing as straight away you see dramatic, sheer cliffs and an extremely volatile Southern Ocean. Cliff fragments such as the 12 Apostles jut up from the sea a short distance away from the coast which is very picturesque. Then the drive takes you away from the coast and uphill into the forest, unfortunately this wasn’t as interesting as there was no ocean to be seen. Back onto the coastal road for the final part of the drive and we began passing through a lot of seaside towns, saw some waterfalls and koalas, visited the lighthouse from ‘Around the Twist’ and went to a interesting surf museum. It was a really nice drive as you’re hugging the coast and can see the ocean at all times but it wasn’t as spectacular as the first section.
Melbourne was next, we had a nice day seeing a Wallace and Gromit Inventions exhibit at the Scienceworks museum, drove to St Kilda and admired the ‘urban’ penguins as well as the view of Melbourne from the pier. Then we made a pilgrimage to where the Australian TV Series ‘The Block’ was filmed this year – we watched this renovation series from beginning to end and loved it so it was really cool to see the finished houses, although maybe that makes us bit sad! Then to Ramsey Street where they film the exterior shots of Neighbours, it looked vaguely familiar but it’s been so many years since either of us watched it – still had to be done!
Melbourne as a city looks a little bit rough around the edges, and by that I mean the suburbs near the city looked rough. Once in Melbourne there’s loads of art sculptures everywhere, interesting looking buildings, a fun evolution of the moving image exhibit at the ACMI and some really great European looking streets filled wall to wall with small cafes and coffee shops. We heard in Adelaide that Melbourne is the place every one goes if they want to do some ‘real’ shopping it didn’t disappoint as the streets were filled with designer shops and boutique shopping arcades – nice to look at but not made for our budget unfortunately.
Away from Melbourne we drove to the Gippsland area of Victoria and visited the amazing Wilsons Promontory National Park. Really nice walks, beaches, kangaroos, emus and coastal views but the best bit was seeing four wombats in the wild. These creatures were so cute, looking just like a giant cuddly toy and when they walk they rock to the left and right making them even more endearing!
Our final stop before driving to Sydney was to visit Liam and Bella in Canberra to receive a Patey Street hangover. We had Japanese food, went to the pub, sang Karaoke and played real life Goldeneye. The next day was not so fun, although we just about recovered by lunch and went to watch The Dark Knight Rises with Liz, Liam’s sister so it wasn’t a totally wasted day.
After a fun few days in Canberra we’re now in Sydney. Kat’s doing admin work for the cartooning club she helped out whilst in Adelaide. I sold my guitar within 2 days of advertising it L We’ve unpacked and cleaned Lola, how much stuff we’ve accumulated! The advert is online and flyers are now posted all over Sydney’s hostels. Fingers crossed for us!
Love Chris & Kat xxx
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