The Great Ocean Road trip to Adelaide.
I met up with my fellow travellers Alysia, Jono and Cat and after a quick packing of the car we were off on the adventure. It took a while to get out of the city, but it was good to leave the city behind as we headed for a place called Geelong to stock of with food, beer and goon (box wine - very cheap, and very nasty!!). Oh and we did have the McDonalds family bucket. We vowed that this would be the last McDonalds of the trip. We found were the Great Ocean Road starts, but we did not linger long as it was already dark and we had a long drive ahead before our first campsite. We drove along windy roads and trhough towns that had absolutely no-one walking around them. We arrived at the first stop called Johanna beach and it was a quick mission of pitching the tent in the dark. It was lovely listening to the sounds of the sea and the wildlife but we were sleeping by midnight as it was extremely cold. Breakfast was an interesting meal of rice noodles, chillis and bay leaves, it was one of Jono's masterchef ideas - surprisingly nice. We set off and I had the pleasure of driving which was going to be my first time in Oz. Our transport was a Ford Falcon estate, thankfully an automatic but the radio was very crackly and the CD player kept breaking. It could have been a long trip. We headed along the Great Ocean road to the 12 Apostoles - only 7 actually remain standing. They were very impressive though and the scenery was fantastic. Just a bit further down the road was a place called Loch Ard gorge, named after a boat hit the rocks there and all but two people survived. An amazing place and it had these blow holes were you could see the water coming in from the sea. A place you would not want to fall into. We stopped at a small town called Warnambool for a much needed portion of chips from a proper chippie not McDonalds so it did not count. We hit the road again and after a quick stop for food and i managed to find a place to buy a camping chair as after one night on the floor I did not want another one. I was most glad of this decision as we finallt found the next campsite it was just a wood in the middle of nowhere, it did have toilets but it was pitch black and very much like the Blair witch project as there was nothing a long way. Dinner of mince lamb and chilli beans was good so well done Cat and Alysia, me and Jono got a fire going but there was a lack of wood but we managed.

The next day we drove along the sea road and saw some lovely countryside, it did remind me of home a bit but on a massive scale. We stopped at a place called Mt Gambier which had these amazing stunning blue lakes. The pictures do not do it justice. They were so clear. We set off for a bit of a walk and would a little nature reserve so we all got excited about hoping to see a Koala and kangaroo. We did see a fair amount of kangaroo and wallaby. We did see one kagaroo carring a Joey in its pouch which was very cool. No danmed Koala's yet - we were not happy!! Another quick stop for BBQ food and we had to get kangaroo steaks. They looked so tasty! We found the town for the campsite - but not the actual campsite. it was just a grass verge opposite the local pub. It was fantastic. It had a shelter with benches, a BBQ pit and a fantastic loo. The town was called Tantanoola and it was the quietest town I have seen for a while. The train station looked like it had not seen anything for a long time.

The evening was great fun as the food and company was brilliant. The drinking games with the Goon - maybe not!! We did venture over to the pub and the locals where lovely although a little strange - one was called Walkie. After a good nights sleep - well about five hours as it was cold again and the clothes I had on in the sleeping bag were not enough!

It was up early (well within reason) as we had to do some miles to be in good reach of Adelaide for the final day. We were heading for a campground outside a town called Talem Bend. We passed through more stunning country side and views, especially Coorong National Park. We did stop to get photos of a fake oil well - a bit random, and in a town called Meningie which had these beautiful beaches and sunset. We had more trouble finding the campsite - well the free ones are not greatly signposted. But this time we actually got the tent up in the day light which was a first. it was up to me and Jono to build another camp fire assisted by Cat. This time with the right equipment - mainly lots of firewood, we made a great fire. We sat around watching the fire and playing the great game we all know as Guess the Celebrity animal - great fun!! After the fire was done we realised how cold it was - I dug out my ski socks and I am glad I did as it must have got very close to zero that night, I was bloody cold!!
On the last day - 22nd May, we headed for Adelaide. I got to drive again which was good fun and although I was going to be stopping here, the others decided to stop for a night in a hostel to as we all had not showered for 5 days - not out of not wanted to, its just the places we stayed had no showers. We all needed a wash - well a massive scrub down really!

It was a great last night together and I had a great time on the raod, so a big thank you to Alysia, Cat and Jono for letting me come on their road trip,as it will be a trip I will always remember for all the laughs we had and especially for Jono....."is it a horse?". We had to part compnay as they have headed off up to Ayers Rock and the North and it was time for me to head back to Melbourne and then back to Sydney. I hope to finally see Koala's in the next few days as will head out on a tour and to see the small penguins - the last picture on the T-Shirt for Oz.