"An Around-the-World-Ticket for Two, Please."

From one extreme to the other!

Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Friday, 4 February 2011 01:55

The title of this blog refers to the temperatures of this week! So, it has been a week since shark day! On Friday we had a rest after our eventful day! We enjoyed a laid back day in the sunshine and spent the afternoon on a little patch of beach a short walk from our tent. It was secluded and we were the only ones there all afternoon, it was bliss! We heard that the next 2 -3 days were going to be very hot, and the weather was issuing extreme heat warnings. We were travelling back towards Adelaide, and were originally going to stop at Port Augusta again for one night as it cuts the journey nicely into 2 four hour drives each day, however, that was where it had been really hot on the way up, and when we saw temperatures of 47 degrees on the weather map we decided to drive all the way to Adelaide in one day as we didn't want to stay there. However, travelling 8 hours in the crazy heat all day with no air con was not much fun either, and Adelaide itself was about 40 degrees! However, we made it in the end, having drunk about 6 litres of water between us and headed straight for the pool! once we had cooled down a bit we went to the beach and enjoyed going in the sea! We didn't put the tent up until much later, waiting for it to cool down, but even overnight it was 30 degrees! I didn't sleep as well as I normally do! The next day was even hotter, hitting 42 degrees, so we decided not to drive anywhere, and sought shelter in the air conditioning of the shopping mall! Ben had to get some new flip flops, as after 3 months of wearing his faves daily, they finally died! Shopping was a success, he picked up a bargain and we found Beach Boules to play, which they call Bocci (pronounced Bochi) here.
We spent more time in the sea and watched the final of the Australian Open in the lovely air conditioned TV room!
The next day we were supposed to go to an aboriginal camp and stay overnight and take part in bush walking and 'dream time stories', which I was really looking forward to. I had read about it in our guide book and found out about it online, and you could camp for just $10 a night, and take part in the activities and there was a restaurant serving aboriginal food which it said you had to book, so off we went. However, when we got there the campground was empty, and there was a big car full of aboriginal men. As we walked towards the entrance of the building, one of them shouted over to us and we told him we wanted to camp and he showed us inside. The place was a dump, with their crap everywhere, and it transpired that this building was also the restaurant. I asked him about the bush walking and what time it was, he said anytime, so we figured it would just be him showing us around, and the 'dream time stories' thing wasn't what I was hoping. Both of us were getting a bad vibe and didn't feel comfortable but it was hard to say to each other in front of him! We asked to have a look around, and when we did we both quickly said we didn't want to stay!!!! So we told them we were heading to the museum down the road and would be back, but with no intention of it! Luckily the museum at the next place was worth a visit, and I am glad we got to do that, however, I was really disappointed that the aboriginal camp was such a let down. I was really hoping to find out more about the Aborigines, they are quite a 'hidden culture' here. The museum was good, however I would have loved to speak to some of the people and found out how they feel, what they do now and more about their culture.
So, as we were not staying there we drove on further than expected and went to Robe, the little place where we had the nice fish and chips on the way up. To cheer me up we had the nice fish and chips again, and enjoyed them by the beach in the same spot!
The next morning we drove to Mount Gambier, where we stopped for lunch on the way through, which has the Blue Lake, that is indeed Very blue! We decided to stay a couple of nights here as it seemed a nice spot to explore. There are lots of outdoorsy things to do and lots of walks which we took advantage of. Mount Gambier is all built around an extinct volcano, and the Blue Lake is in one of three craters. We did a walk all the way around the edge of one of the craters which took about an hour and a half and hopefully burnt a lot of calories! We also visited the sunken garden. The whole area is limestone, and the sunken garden is where long ago the land caved in, and it is now a beautiful garden in the middle of the city! The next day we visited Engelbrecht caves, which is a cave system underneath the city! We had a tour which was fascinating. The area is one of the best for cave divers in the country, and we were shown where they would enter the water. One of the caves was only for VERY experienced cave divers, as it is very narrow and has no air pockets for much of it. I couldn't even imagine doing that, but as usual Ben was really up for it! Luckily (for me!) you can't just do cave diving, you need a certain qualification here so it was not on the agenda! We also visited the free wildlife park in the afternoon, but didn't see much wildlife at all, which was a bit disappointing, but the walk was beautiful. We decided to go back after dinner when it was cooler and much later in the day, and we saw loads of kangaroos and wallabies! We could not believe they had all been hiding in the day, goodness know where!!!
On Thursday we drove to Warrnambool and stopped over ready to drive the Great Ocean Road again on Friday and Saturday. Had a lazy afternoon in the park and played some Bocci! This morning we drove some of the Great Ocean Road to Lorne and are staying in a lovely camping spot right next to the river! Unfortunately one of the tent poles that was damaged in the severe wind in Port Lincoln actually snapped today, however, with some strong tape and a bit of luck we have managed to make it work, let's just hope it's not windy tonight!
Luckily we have been unaffected by the terrible Cyclone that hit Queensland, it has been an awful time for the people who live in the north. They have just started to recover from the flooding, and have now been devastated by the worst cyclone in nearly 100 years. We are hoping to go north in the next few weeks, as was our original plan, but we will have to see how passable the roads are, I expect it will be a long road to recovery.
So, tomorrow we finish the Great Ocean Road and return to Melbourne. On Sunday we will be visiting Ramsay Street, which I am very excited about! On Wednesday we are also meeting up with friends who have also been travelling, and we are all managing to be in Melbourne at the same time which will be fun! After that, probably Sydney, but who knows?!
Sarah x