Back in Oz, The great Ocean road

Well after over 4000km in an automatic in New Zealand i decided to jump back in yet another car....
Thank god it was a manual, otherwise this time i would have driven it into the Ocean. being so close.
After a few days in Melbourne which we saw lots of rain but also some of the great parks and buildings of this historic city, including James Cooks cottage, we decided it would be nice to travel the Great Ocean Road which traverses the south of Victoria into the Southern Territories, taking in some breathtaking views and seascapes.
We headed out of Melbourne on the 1st and went south west before a small detour to Queenscliff and Pt Lonsdale, we then took up the great Ocean road proper at Torquay and sped along the coast through Anglesea, Airleys inlet, Lorn and onto Appol Bay on the edge of cape Otway National Park, where we stopped for the first night.
The next day was spent going through the national park and up the coast to where the clouds broke long enough for us to see the twelve Apostles. well only seven of them actually, the other were hidden from view.
We continued along dodging rain past two mile bay, the Arch, and London Bridge although these you need to rely on the imagination to see even when the clouds lift as they have log since fallen into the sea, which is eroding the coast at an alarm rate.
We made it to Warrnambool hopeful that we may spot some of the Southern right whales which are visible at this time of the year around the cost but unfortunately we were not to be that lucky.
after a stop of at Port Fairy we headed north and inland to the Grampians National Park, which pleased me somewhat , although unfortunately climbing would be of the cards on this whistle stop visit i could at least check out the area for a return visit.

We stopped at a wonderful place in Halls Gap. Brambuk Backpackers. and the owners were only to happy to inform me of the area and climbing and hikes, they also came up with a few things for mum to do whilst i did a small walk up to the pinnacle viewing point over the valley in which we were stopping and back in time for a cup of tea and to drive via Mt Gambia, which is a town situated on an old Volcano and even has some magnificent gardens in a sink hole,

and then onwards to Kingston, a very quiet town but home to the largest lobster I'm likely to see.
Today we drove from Kingston to Adelaide which on appearances seems a most pleasant town where we can spend a few days before flying to Brisbane on Sunday the 7th, and most likely some more driving. but providing its not an Automatic i don't really mind.
I will get the photos onto flickr when i get a chance, I have photos of New Zealand on their already.

Still down under

well its been a while so this is what iv been up to.

After four nights in Sydney and wandering around some of the beaches and a day at the climbing wall i jumped on a bus and headed north in search of Dan and Jo.

Last message i had from them is that they were up at surfers paradise so i thought this would be a good place to start. I was wrong, they weren't their and despite a very nice beach and what i assumed were good surf conditions the place didn't have anything really worth seeing and seemed a bit like a cross between a tacky 18-30's holiday location and somewhere which long ago lost its beauty to make way for the exploiting capitalism and souvenir's shops. I decided to head on to Brisbane and check out the city.

It was a good choice but still no Dan or Jo. However i did spend a couple of relaxing days in the city, walking around the green areas and even doing some climbing at Kangaroo point, which is a hidden little gem as far as inner city climbing goes but not a patch on the grit or sandstone of back home and fairly tame. I wasn't discouraged and spent several hrs soloing around on the rock and traversing almost its full length.

But as always city life is expensive and this was more than enough excuse i needed to return to the road, I had also received news that Dan and Jo were up in Childers looking for work so that determined my next stop and a day on the bus followed. After a couple of days we meet up and drank a few beers whilst running through the highpoint of our travels thus far. for Dan and Jo that didn't include waiting around in this poky little town waiting to pick mandarins but after a week of fishing and a day spent climbing on some lose lucking and friable sandstone in which dan seemed to have some strange that it would deify all odds and stay where it was, which to my non to reassured surprise it did. Wow.

After a bit of a drive we ended up at Harvey bay, the stop off point for Frasier Island and we got wonderful weather and had two great days driving a Toyota Hi-Lux around the sandy tracks and beaches. ate BBQ stake and enjoyed some wonderful scenery.

It was then time to turn north, my fellow travelers had plans to go sailing in the Whitsundays and for me a flight to Melbourne and then onto New Zealand awaits, So after a few days traveling some uneventful fishing and great sightseeing we parted ways a little wiser a littel older and somwhat more hungover than planned. All in all a successful month.

See my flikcr site for many more photos.