Tuesday - Great Ocean Road Tour: Grampians to Port Campbell

An early start this morning, and we both felt shattered after our late night to bed (12:30am)...a quick shower and breakfast before we all jumped on the bus and drove to our morning sunrise spot.  As the sun came up over the Grampians, it truly was a spectacular sight!

Next stop was Wonderland carpark (and no we didn't meet Alice, or the Mad Hatter), instead we hiked the 4.4km round trip up to the summit of the Pinnacle.  Again, a strenuous walk with a mixture of bushland, smooth rounded rock faces that we had to pick our way over and deep gorges.  It was all worth it though as the view from the summit, which afforded a great chance to see the small town of Halls Gap from a height was beautiful.

Once down at the bus we had time for a couple of slices of fruit cake which the tour guide Jason had provided before driving onwards to the Great Ocean Road. 

We hit the start of the Great Ocean Road in the early afternoon after a quick stop at the site of an old volcano, now called Tower Hill (as it was a hill with a tower on it).  As we drove down into the crater it was our first chance to see koalas in the wild.  Now we have to explain, these have to be the dumbest animals we have met - they don't do much, apart from sleep, eat gum tree leaves and sleep.  Apparently, they conserve so much energy to do these 2 things that their brain has shrunk to a smaller size than their brain cavity!  Apart from that though they are so CUTE!!

We made a quick stop in a town called Warrnambool for lunch, before heading for the coast and meeting the ocean.  Our journey along the coast took us to a succession of Japanese style photo stops at the major sights.  First stop was the Bay of Islands (again fairly self explanatory as to what that was), then Bay of Martyrs (no history on what this was named after), The Grotto, London Bridge and The Arch.

On our drive to Gibson Steps and the 12 Apostles we suddenly stopped as Jason our guide had seen an echidna at the side of the road - which he picked up and gave us all a look closer at this quiet and reclusive animal.  It was a funny looking chap; small and prickly, with a very long nose and a small pouch that it carried it's young in.

After a pleasant walk down on to the beach at Gibson Steps we went to the 12 Apostles (where there are only 7 Apostles as several have disapeared into the sea with erosion) and watched a beautiful sunset.

Our place of rest for the night was in a town called Port Campbell, at the local Backpackers; after helping to do a BBQ (which was a real meat feast) we sat outside chatting before heading to bed for the night.

Monday - The Great Ocean Road Tour, first stop The Grampians National Park

Today was a day of many miles!  After a 5am alarm and breakfast we stumbled bleary eyed along to the tour departure point, which luckily for us was only a couple of paces down the road, for our 6:20am pick up.  Our group this time was a different balance to the last; 5 Brits, 2 Germans, 2 French, 1 Swede, 2 Italians and 2 Singaporeans.

We drove out of Adelaide through the hills and came upon endless fields of open farmland - a big contrast to our drive on the West coast where we went through bushland and outback.  After a couple of rest stops in the early morning our first real stop was at a place called Bordertown, which no surprises was on the State border between South Australia and Victoria; where we also had the chance to see white kangaroos.

As we crossed the border we moved our clocks on another 1/2 an hour - so we are now 11 hours ahead of the UK. 

A quick lunch stop at a town called Horsham allowed us to refuel and then we were heading into the Grampians National Park.  First we went to Hollow Mountain, for a strenuous climb up to the summit through and over sandstone rocks.  It was a hard 2 hour walk in the heat, and upon reaching the top we had great views over the surrounding countryside, which in contrast to the huge Grampians ranges was completely flat for miles.

Back on the bus we drove a short distance to McKenzie Falls and did another hike, this time down to the pools at the bottom of the waterfall.  This walk however was a lot easier as the heat of the day had gone and it was a lot cooler.

Next stop was Reid lookout and the Balconies lookout, which were beautiful places to walk to...however by this time (7:30pm) we were feeling the strain of our many walks that day.  As we jumped back on the bus we started our final drive of the day down to Halls Gap a small town in the heart of the Grampians.  We picked up some red wine from the local liquor store and checked in to our accomodation for that night. 

The small wood cabins were on the edge of town and privately owned by the tour company - a small number of the group cooked spag bol for everyone, we decided to keep clear of the kitchen as there were way too many cooks already!  Unlike our other group tour where everyone sat up talking and drinking, us and the tour guide Jason were the only ones up past 10pm, so we sat chatting.

Sunday - rain stopped play!

Unfortunately, today we awoke to find that the heavens had opened on a once sunny Adelaide!  We sat in our room reading hoping that the skies would clear and the sun would return, however the British style drizzle persisted...so we have spent the day hanging out at our hostel! 

Tonight we pack up ready for departing at 6am tomorrow for the Great Ocean Road tour we have booked - so the next update will be in 3 days (Wednesday) when we arrive into Melbourne! 

Saturday - Adelaide

After deciding to not put any alarm for this morning (after 2 fairly sleepless nights) we finally woke up at 10am!  Feeling much better after a good nights sleep (we had gone to bed at 7:30pm) we headed to the kitchen to make scrambled eggs on toast.

A very lazy morning on both of our parts, we finally made it out the hostel at midday, and decided to do a bit of a walking tour of Adelaide.  We wandered down Rundle Street, the main shopping street - which made Perth's shopping options look small in comparison!

Next stop Ayers Historic House, home to Sir Henry Ayers (back in the day), a notable Adelaide resident - whom Ayers Rock is named after. 

Then passing the University of South Australia, University of Adelaide, and venturing into the Museum of South Australia (where Joseph, they had some great Australian Dinosaur bones!! Hope you are better after falling off your chair!).  Next was the Migration Museum, which gave a great insight into the migration movement throughout the history of South Australia.

After a stint in the library sorting emails and researching the next leg of our trip we headed out to finish our walking tour.

We passed the impressive War Memorial and Parliament Houses, walking through the old Railway Station, which apart from still being a local terminal appeared to house a casino!

Out the back of the station we chanced upon some of the beautiful gardens that surround the central district of the City.  We walked along the River Torrens and wandered over to admire the impressive structure that was the Adelaide Oval.  On getting to the outlying walls Ben soon realised the gates were open, and on glancing in...there was a game on!  The opportunity proved to good to miss, so off we went in our best sneaky manner to watch a couple of overs at a local match.

Back on the road again we walked back along the River Torrens, passing some interesting birds, and then through the Botanic Gardens, before ending our walk where we started, back along Rundle Street.

Whilst walking back to the hostel we happened across a bar that was advertising happy hour, $5 a pint of Coopers Clear (which we later found out was a low carb lager) and had a sneaky pint before heading back for dinner at our hostel.

Friday...final destination Adelaide! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM SMITH!!

Luckily last night we managed to grab a few hours sleep, in contrast to the night before.  We both woke up when they turned the carriage lights on at 6am.  As the train slowly hit the City suburbs we meandered through picturesque streets and parks, arriving at our final destination of Adelaide Station at 8am.  We disembarked with bleary, tired eyes and caught the transfer bus to our hostel, the Adelaide City YHA.

On arrival we checked in and left our bags (as we couldn't access our room until 1pm) and headed to the kitchen for free pancakes and coffee - yum!  The hostel is lovely, very modern and bright, with huge common areas for relaxing.

After exploring the place we headed out into the City to get our bearings.  As Adelaide is not a huge City to wander that proved easy, and soon enough we had it figured out. 

As we had time to kill we registered at the local library and made use of their free internet, and then went to the local supermarket and purchased supplies for our 3 nights here.

As we both felt shattered we went back to the hostel, did our laundry and ate dinner before having an early night!

Thursday - life on the train

We finally departed Kalgoorlie at 01:40am Thursday morning, and had to do the first of our 'time moving'...1 hour forward!

After a night of broken sleep we woke up at 6am (ish) and watched the sunrise above the Nullabor Plains, which we were now hurtling through at a fair speed.  The view that we now had out of our train window was a stark contrast to the one we had yesterday; instead we were now in the heart of the southern outback, where desert shrubland stretched as far as the eye could see.

We were also travelling along the longest stretch of straight railway line in the world, totalling 478km.  Every couple of hours we passed a small outpost town, usually consisting of a couple of huts, maybe a post office if they were lucky!  The most barren of them all was 'Reid', which as you can see from the photo...everyone had left!  A couple of these 'towns' we stopped to drop off mail or supplies, and one town where we stopped to refill our water was called Cook, the most isolated outpost, 1100km from Adelaide and 1500km from Perth.  As we wandered around the town, which was once a thriving railway settlement we only saw 2 of the 4 residents!

The only other life we saw along this barren, desolate stretch was hundreds of Kangaroos, and a couple of emus and camels! 

As the evening arrived we went for dinner in the dining car and watched as we departed the plains and headed into hilly shrubland.  Once we returned to our seats for the night the darkness outside was pitch black, as we took corners the only light you could see was the trains headlight as it sliced through the dark night!

Wednesday - Goodbye Perth!

This morning we got up and packed up our bags ready for the long journey East!  After breakfast we checked out of Perth City YHA and made the short walk to the train station, catching the local train to the main interstate railway station which was slightly east of the centre of the city.  On pulling up at the station we had our first glimpse at the impressive Indian Pacific train, with carriages stretching into the distance along the platform.

After collecting our tickets and checking our big bags in, we sat on the platform watching them assemble the 'motocars', which transported your vehicle on the back of the train; taking the train to +30 carriages!  We watched as they attached the engine and then went to do our bit for charity (Radio Lollipop to be precise) and bought a hotdog from the charity 'sausage sizzle' - yum!

When boarding commenced we climbed abroad our new home for the next 41 hours, 2700 kms and tried to make ourselves comfortable.  As we set off out of Perth through the suburbs we opened the blinds ready for the views as we met the farmland enveloping the city.

As we reached the outback we were very aware of the desolation, with small villages every couple of hours the stretches inbetween each was getting more every next one we met.  As we travelled on the sun began to set and an amazing red glow across the countryside. 

Alongside the train stretched the 'Golden Pipeline' which was constructed in 1903 to transport water from Perth to the goldtown of Kalgoorlie.  Kalgoorlie was our first stop, where we arrived at 9:40pm, over 600kms east of Perth; the town itself sat in the heart of goldrush country.  Gold was discovered here in 1887, and it still remained famous for being an old fashioned frontier town to this day. 

We used the chance of a 2 hour stop here whilst they refuelled and took on supplies to wander into the centre of town, however as you can imagine, at that time of night most places were closed.

Back on the train we tried to get some sleep for the night...although neither of us were very successful!

Tuesday - last day in Perth

So folks, today is our last day in the City of Perth before we take our huge train journey tomorrow (providing it is on time and still running after the incredible storm we had here yesterday).

We decided after our laid back day of sorting yesterday to have another train journey to the beautiful Fremantle and visit the Maritime Museum Shipwreck gallery.  A visit both of wanted to make as the more time we have spent on the West coast the more we have learned about the vaired history of this coastline.

News to both of us was that the British were not the first people here, it was in fact the Dutch in the 1600s, however, they did not decide to settle and instead were unfortunate over the next couple of years to wreck 4 major ships in the Dutch East India Company.

With the history lesson over for the day we hopped back on the train to West Perth and made the short walk from the station to King's Park, a park created in the late 18th century, and covering many acres.  We enjoyed the views it offered over Perth and also had our picnic there.  After a wander to try and use the glass floored canopy walk (which was unfortunately closed after the storm) we settled instead to climb the 'DNA' tower....can you spot Ben at the top!?

A great warning sign about car crime caught our eye...luckily we didn't see any men wearing stripey t-shirts and bandanas!!

Once our wandering spirits were satisfied we jumped on a free bus heading downtown and went back to the hostel for a short rest before going to our new favourite place...the State Library, where we get free internet access!!

Tonight we are packing up ready for the start of our 2600 kilometre journey east!  So, the next blog will be when we arrive, if the train is on time that should be Friday morning.

Monday - rest, relax and avoid the storm!

Today has been a chance to catch up on things; laundry (yes Nan Chorley we are washing our smalls!!), lunch and an afternoon in the library making use of the free internet!! 

We are now trapped here because there is a tremendous storm going on outside with loud thunder and bright lightning cracks...and hail stones as big as ping pong balls (not quite golf balls yet)!!

So, in case you are intrigued on our living quarters we have posted a few photos below and above so you can see us going about the not so glamorous side of travelling!!