Saturday 2nd May
Today I was up by 5am to check out and join my next tour. This one, just a short overnight trip to Kangaroo Island. I was one of the first pickups but soon the bus was almost full with 20 of us in all- a large number of the group having already traveled together before today.
After making it to Port Jervis we boarded the ferry and made the 45 minute ride to KI. On arrival we transferred our stuff to our new van and set off. The next few hours would be spent visiting Prospect hill which gives nice views over the narrowest part of the island and taking in the beach with amazing blue waters.
After that we made our way to Seal Bay where there's a huge Australian Sea Lion colony. Here we had a tour across the boardwalk and down onto the beach. We learnt that this type of Sea Lion comes really far up the beach and rocky shore. With a hair type coat instead of thick fur, they are really good divers -reports of them having dived 40meters exist- but they come to shore to rest as they get cold easily. We were lucky to be there while pups were about, as these Sea Lions only reproduce every 18months. We saw pups playing both on the beach and in the water while the adults were either sleeping or away fishing. A classic case of, 'what the parents don't know...'.
The set up here was really impressive with you needing to be a part of a tour to get down amongst the Sea Lions. You also have to keep a distance of 10meters between you and them at all times. With the pups we're kept far away because at this point, there trying to decide if we're a threat or not and how we act could affect how we're perceived in the future.
Leaving the Australian Sea Lions we had lunch and then went Sandboarding. Whereas in New Zealand I didn't get involved at all, this time I was intrigued enough by the stand up boards to head up the 'Little Sahara' dunes. Once up there though I spent my time encouraging 3 girls from Hong Kong to give it a go. Toki, Candy and Joanna are really sweet and excitable so it was a fun hour spent with them especially as Joanna was a bit more of a drill sergeant than the other 2. Still by the time we left I was the one being called 'coach' and yes I had also tried to get going on a stand up board (the sled type hold no appeal to me) on the small slope but it wasn't really steep enough. Next time though.
We made one more stop before going to our accommodation. This was at Vivonne Bay, 2002's top Australian beach. Its a lovely view and the beach stretches for miles around. After some pictures we hopped back on the bus and made for our accommodation. We passed the evening around the fire, roasting marshmallows. Another good one.
Sunday 3rd May
This morning we got up and soon found that the water switched off. We waited awhile while Jason tried to get a hold of someone but eventually gave up and had breakfast, using our drinking water to wash up.
Saying final goodbyes to the dogs Lloyd and ? We boarded the bus and made our way to the Sanctuary. Here we had a good chance of seeing wildlife. Empathesis on the 'wild' part as they all choose to make the 'sanctuary' home. In my hour here I spotted a handful of Kangaroos, 12 wild Koalas (2 of which were babies still with their mum) , 3 wallabies and 1 Enchidna.
We found out that Koalas were introduced to KI as 20 individuals. Now there's 20,000 on this Island alone and measures have been taken to protect the land. With the amount of leaves that Koalas eat and the rate that they were reproducing, many of the trees and forests were suffering. To combat this the Koalas were captured and neutered before being released again. Also surprising were the Enchidnas. Never having seen them move, I was surprised at how quickly they can.
After the sanctuary we made our way to The Remarkable Rocks,a rockformation along the west coast. We spent some time climbing the rocks and enjoying the coastline before moving on. Our next stop was at Admirals arch, home to the New Zealand Fur Seal colony. Here we took the boardwalk down and enjoyed watching the massive waves crash against the rocks. Further on we spotted dozens and dozens of seals, including more pups.
We spent a good hour with the seals and then made for our lunch stop. As with the outback tour, everything is inclusive and you never go hungry on these tours! After lunch we had time to stop at Hanson Bay and walk along the beach. The waves here (and all over the island) are huge but seem pretty inconsistent as well.
Making our way back across the Island we boarded the ferry and headed back to Adelaide. With free wifi on the ferry I was happy to find out that not only did my football club win automatic promotion to the Premier League, but they finished as Champions at the top of the table- great news but if only I could be in two places at one time!
Back at the hostel I checked in and once again had a dorm to myself. Its one of the weirdest hostels ive stayed in with my hearing people all the time but rarely seeing them. Still, with a dorm to myself, im not about to complain.
Monday 4th May
Today was a very lazy day. Despite Adelaide being one of the few cities I was intrigued with upon arriving in Oz, I spent the majority of the day in my room reading. In my defense it was raining outside.
During the afternoon I did finally get out and I walked along the river, looping back around after about a mile. I had heard that Adelaide is a city with a town 'feel' and I definitely felt it while walking around. Being one of the few free settler areas, Adelaide actually seems to have a bit of history and a layout that was planned ahead of the actual building.
After walking the river walk, I then walked towards the shopping district and spent some time here before eventually making my way back towards the hostel. I had hoped to get some pasta while at the Mall but the cafeteria was closed so I ended up at the Original Pancake House by my hostel instead. And boy was that a good decision! I have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of normal thick pancakes, much preferring the crepe type ones. Still having ordered an Apple cider -non alcoholic- and Apple and sultanas pancakes, I was blown away. They were delicious and surprisingly filling. And as much as I hate to admit it, the pancakes won with my having to leave some of it.
Tuesday 5th May
Today I got up and joined my final Groovy Grape tour. This one being a 3 day trip along The Great Ocean road, Adelaide to Melbourne. Including Monique our guide, there were 9 of us with a good mixture of nationalities.
For the most part this was a driving day with us only having proper stops in the afternoon. The first was at the waterfalls which were really pretty. And then we did some lookout stops across the Grampions.
Our final stop was to look for Kangaroos. Well. I say look for them but we had in fact been seeing them all day, there everywhere. After having spent a few minutes in the freezing cold amongst them, we made for our accommodation just over the road.
We had a great group meal and then huddled in front of the fire as we were all pretty cold from the days bad weather. We played card games though I only participated in Bulls***. The other was way too complicated as the different nationalities tried to agree on rules and explain it to those who don't know it!
Wednesday 6th May
Today we left early, trying to get ahead of the rain. We managed the climb upto a lookout and back while it was still dry. It really is weird to see Kangaroos all over the paths here!
We made a stop at the Aboriginal Center next. I found this one to be quite informative compared to most places even if it is still seen from one very bitter perspective. Watching a movie about one of the Aboriginal stories/myths was quite difficult. It wasn't as bad as the Coober Pedy one but pretty poor never the less.
The rest of the day we traveled the Great Ocean road, visiting the Bay of Islands, The Grotto, London Bridge and also the 12 Apostles. All the way it was wet, cold and the wind was unbelievably strong, pushing not only us about, but the van as well! Still, despite the crazy weather and the crashing of waves agaist the rocks - this area isn't known as Shipwreck Coast for nothing- the coast was beautiful in a very dramatic way.
Having stayed an hour at the 12 Apostles-silly name as there's only ever been 9- for the sunset we were all quite happy to get back on the bus and head to our overnight accommodation at Princetown. Arriving in dark, Monique pointed out the main sites. A pub and maybe 3 houses and a small caravan park! Pulling into our 'hostel' we began to unload. I have to say the whole of the Groovy Grape tours has surprised me in a very good way. From the food to the accommodation, to the guides. I really couldn't fault any of it.
Having unloaded we had some time to kill. A few of us grabbed cuppers and then proceeded to watch the movie 'The dead girl' that the boys had put on. Trust them to put such a weird thing on and then up and leave 20minutes in. Still, by then the rest of us were hooked- in a train wreck kind of way.
Pausing the movie (oh lucky us) Meghan, Laura and I headed for the pub where we were to have dinner. Walking in was a lovely surprise as it doesn't look so good outside but once your through the door it's actually a really lovely space.
As soon as we had joined Monique and claimed places right by the open fire, we went to grab drinks. Slowly everyone else trickled in and our pizzas turned up. We spent the next hour talking different experiences and yet again Cage diving came up. Monique showed us pictures from one of her two dives and both Shawn and I were in agreement that the dive down would be too much. Easy for me as I don't have to but Stephanie is already planning their trip! Still it was interesting to hear Monique and Laura compare their experiences one having done it in the world's 2nd best spot in Australia and the other in the 1st best spot, South Africa.
After returning to the house we all started watching the movie again and Monique showed Laura, Meghan and I how to do the TimTam (chocolate biscuit) hot chocolate trick. Now we had been hearing about this for days but we're skeptical about how good it could possibly be. I mean we all like TimTams- made obvious by two packets rapidly having disappeared last night- but usually these things sound better than they are. This was not true of this trick. Biting off one corner of the rectangular biscuit and then the bottom edge on the other side, you then stick the bottom in the hot chocolate and use it like a straw. The outside mostly stays intact while the insides go all gooey. A fun treat.As you can imagine there were some colorful comments as we tried this but luckily the movie was so disturbing they couldn't pull themselves away. And that's how the 3 of us managed to get through 2/3rd of the biscuits without anyone noticing!
As the awful movie came to an end people began to join us at the table. Soon we were playing cards again and having a great time.
Thursday 7th May
This morning was another early start with us up, dressed, fed and packed up by 7.30am. We headed for coffee 45minutes or so down the road, only to find the cafe closed on arrival. Not what we wanted but they had a garden full of bright parakeets so it wasn't a total loss.
Back in the bus we made for Beauchamp Falls, a beautiful falls in a rainforest's. The path was pretty muddy with the rain and while it was lightly raining on the way down, it did ease off just leaving the waterdroplets to slid from the leaves onto our heads. The falls were beautiful in this lush green forest and we enjoyed a few minutes here before heading back up.
Having missed our coffee this morning we made our way to the next town where we stopped instead. and on one of the roads through the forest we came across a Kangaroo in the road. Not unusual around here but rather than hop to the edge of the road like most would, this one decided to follow the road. Hence the next 5 minutes of disbelief as this Kangaroo hopped in front of our bus, passing up every opportunity to get out the way. It even stopped a few times dead in the road and turned to stare straight at us before carrying on. It was like in all those movies where something's crashing to the ground and im there calling all the people idiots as they run in front of it, rather than to the sides where they'd be out of the path of destruction. Still at least this Kangaroo did eventually hop far enough off of the road for us to pass it. Looking out of the window, I watched it hop back the way it had come-right in the middle of the road.
We made a few photostops as we made our way along the coast. The waves here were awesome, just one rolling wave after another. Our next proper stop was at this little place that Monique knows that has a big population of wild parakeets. As she handed out bird food to those who wanted it, we were immediately converged upon.
Those who know me will know I'm not a bird person. At all. But these parakeets are beautiful and im better with smaller birds than big ones- Meghan had told me here outback driver found wild Emus and had them lay on the floor to attract them. No thank you. But this was fun though I did cringe overtime they flew about. And having Monique put bird seed on my hat was not my idea. Still covered in these beautiful birds-with the scratches and pictures to prove it- I had a look into the tree that had a Koala in it before trying to debird myself.
Back on the bus I took my wet jacket off as we made for our lunch stop. After some debate and a second drive through town to try to find a dryer bbq area, we headed back to the usual spot on the beach. Luckily despite the cold, it did stay mostly dry as we had wraps and some leftovers.
After lunch we continued on The Great Ocean road and stopped at the Lighthouse. Here we had more great views before making the last leg of the journey to Melbourne. Arriving as it was getting dark we sat in queues as we tried to drop various people of. Once I hopped off and walked in the direction I was pointed, I even overtook the bus twice!
After checking in and such I walked around the busy area near my hostel before making my way across to the river and walking down and around in a loop. Coming into Melbourne I hadn't been overly taken with the city but it sure looks nice lit up at night.
Friday 8th May
Today I woke early again but I took my time getting up. Once out I made my way to the visitors centre as I needed to find my way to St Kilda later on. Having a rough idea (isite might look really good, but its not that helpful) I then made my way down to Hosier Lane which is famous for its Graffiti art. Walking the route I'd already planned out I explore the side streets before moving on to the shopping areas.
Arriving back at the hostel mid afternoon I 'rugged' up and set out to the tram station. Here I hopped on and headed to St Kilda about 20minutes or so away. St Kilda had been recommended to me for wild Penguin viewing and after enjoying a drink inside a cafe I made my way down to the pier as it was getting dark. As I walked I figured even if I didn't see any penguins, the view across the water towards the city was worth the trip.
But after having been falsley promised penguins in 3 different places in NZ, I didn't have to worry about that here. The Little Penguins that make this breakwater home were out in abundance and I soon forgot the cold as I enjoyed watching them peek out from the rocks. There the smallest of the species and in the growing darkness it was difficult to sometimes pick them out. At others, they would come up within a foot of you. Obliviously accustomed to the tourists visiting them, they didn't pay us much mind but it was still really cool to see them out of a zoo type environment.