Day 225-231: Melbourne to Adelaide
Trip Start
Sep 12, 2004
1
39
57
Trip End
Jan 05, 2006
Melbourne/Adelaide,
Australia
Sunday, May 1, 2005
woke around 9am to the sound of pipe bands and general murmuring in the street outside....the lane the hostel is on is one of the streets their using to congregate for the Anzac parade, and the street at the end is part of the main parade route, and it started at 8.45, ah well, gave me a reason to get up. Was gonna go for a swim this morning but knew that the pool would be closed as are many places for the morning whilst the parade is on - the main part of the day is actually at dawn with the Remembrance Service at the Shrine of Remembrance...apparently it happens at dawn because that's when they Anzacs landed on Gallipoli. So went and had some brekkie first, showered and shaved, then grabbed the cameras and went for a wander around outside to see the parade and take some pics.
Basically spent the entire morning milling around taking pics and watching the parade, it went on for hours...and was still going when I wandered back to the hostel. It's obviously a very proud and emotional day for those involved and those watching and even as an outsider I felt a little bit of it too. Called the pool on the way to the hostel to check they were open and they were so got my swim stuff together and walked up there. Was there about half 1 and done the usual 60 lengths or 1800 metres, relaxed in the jacuzzi for a little while after before walking back to the hostel. Decided that I'd finish up the memory card in the Minolta with some final pics around Melbourne before leaving....so picked up the camera again and headed out, only for the battery to last all of 2 shots! :O( So went back and stuck the battery on charge, by now it was 4pm so didn't have much light left - charged the battery for a couple of hours and headed back out.
Lasted long enough this time and spent a couple of hours wandering around the city before heading back for dinner about 7pm. Now that I'd finished the memory card off I wanted to get the pics onto CD whilst I've still got access to a cheap net cafe, and get them up onto webshots too....so headed off to the net cafe for one last time. Spent a good couple of hours there - takes bloody ages to get the pics up to webshots....hope you appreciate the effort! Spent the rest of the night there and just went back to the hostel to pack up ready to leave tomorrow.
Tuesday 26/04/05:
Bright early start having brekkie at half 6, then shower then off to the Arts Centre for the 7.30 pickup. No bus had shown by 7.45 but got a call from the driver to say that he was looking for a couple of blokes who weren't where they were supposed to be, finally showed at 8am. Turns out it was a very exclusive affair with only 3 other people on the bus so we had plenty of room to spread out on the 21 seater. Recognised a couple of blokes from the footy on Saturday, I spoke to them briefly on the Sat and here they were on the bus...both mates travelling around the world doing the Asia, Oz, NZ, and US thing, they've been mates since they were 3, Dan 24 and Phil 23 from Stratford Upon Avon area. Also up front with Driver Dave was Barbet, Dutch girl who didn't look Dutch at all due to the fact that her parents were from the Philippines. Everyone seemed pretty friendly and I got chatting to Dan and Phil about the usual backpacker stuff....we seemed to have the same sense of humour which makes a change as no one seems to get me usually.
The bus stopped at various 'sights' along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) which effectively meant we came across a lot of ocean and rocky outcrops, and having taken enough pics of this sort of thing decided to take a pic of us standing on a pile of gravel instead. Next was a sign at the start of the GOR which unsurprisingly said 'Great Ocean Road' so Dave took a group pic in front of it. The boys seemed to have a thing about jumping in pics so we attempted a group jump....my resulting picture had my feet firmly stuck to the ground, gravity never was much of a friend to me. We carried on the GOR stopping at various rocky outcrops but unfortunately no more gravel. Lunch was pretty good and whilst Dave was putting it together we were dispatched to wander around looking for Koalas in the trees. We found a few, one looking particularly old and withered, however having plenty of pics of koalas I didn't bother.....generally we all seemed to be Australianed out on this tour with no enthusiasm whatsoever for seeing all the sights, we agreed that we were probably the crappest tour party Dave would have had. It would appear no drink was supplied with lunch so I stole a can of Solo from the cafe fridge...I mean the tour cost $280 and I don't expect dehydration to be part of the experience.
Next stop of any significance was a short trek through a 'rainforest'...which was really a wet forest, but I guess that's what rainforests are. We saw lots of ferns, trees and an extra big tree which was very exciting, well kind of, but it provided another jumping photo opportunity with me and Dan. Next stop was the Twelve Apostles which is the main attraction along the GOR. Basically more rocky outcrops but more impressive than the previous ones we've seen. Unfortunately the sun was very low in the sky and looking at the apostles meant burning your retinas which also made photography slightly tricky....however got all the shots I needed and more jumping, tho Dan and Phil on this occasion....Bar didn't seemed too enthused with the whole jumping on photos thing. Final significant stop was London Bridge which isn't in London and isn't a bridge, it's a rocky out crop which looks like a bridge as it has an arch which the raging torrents of the ocean has created. This rather good website even has a 360° panorama of it.
By now the sun was rapidly setting so we headed off to out first overnighter in Warrambool (I think!). The hostel was very very nice indeed, cosy and comfortable, tho the bedroom was -50°C as they appeared to not bother with heating. Dinner was very nice, BBQ sausages and steaks with salad, pasta, etc. Plonked infront of the telly for the night watching Simpsons, The OC (which I left the room for as it's utter bilge), and Rove Live which featured Mariah Carey looking like Kenny Everett's Cupid Stunt...decided that Dan also looked like Kenny Everett tho not as Cupid. Also had a game of pool, I forgot who won so it obviously wasn't me.
Wednesday 27/04/05:
Phill claimed to have asked for a 7am wake up call from the hostel owner, but at 7.30 Bar decided to tell us that it was getting late and we should get up, so decided it was Bar's fault for letting us just lye around. Brekkie was the usual affair followed by shower in an artic bathroom. Back on the bus about half 8, bit foggy this morning which kinda ruined the first stop at a place called Tower Hill, which obviously was a hill and apparently provided beautiful views which on this occasion we couldn't see....I'm sure it would have been lovely tho. We did see wild Roos on the hill tho which was kinda cool. The fog also helped Dave get lost with us doing a U turn in the same layby twice....instilling great confidence in the tour guide. The fog soon burnt off and we headed off the GOR to the Grampians mountain range which took us a couple of hours.
In the Grampians we had a 2 hour hike up to the Pinnacles, different Pinnacles to those in WA of course. By now it was warm with blue skies and sunshine, however this did mean that I turned into a sweaty bastard within about 15 mins....I wasn't the only one tho, even Bar was 'glowing'. Some of the hike was pretty steep but generally easy. We passed a couple of school parties en route, evil teachers had made them carry their whole camping kit and rucksacks up to the top of this place....sounds like the kinda school I'd like to teach in. Once we arrived on top of the Pinnacles I have to say the view was pretty impressive. We cooled down for a bit and snapped away, however there were no jumping photos for fear of plunging down a cliff. The trek back down was more difficult due to the steepness in places and the highly likely event of me twisting my weak and feeble ankles....luckily they held up and I was fine.
We had some lunch at the car park we started from....I experienced my first 'long drop'....which is an outdoor look with a big hole which everything goes into, the kinda look where you definitely check under the seat first, no spiders but a bloody cockroach....eurgh! Lunch was pretty good as usual and then we headed off to Mackenzie Falls via a bush fire lookout with views way way into the distance, however being bored with beautiful views I had my picture taken with a generator, we also stopped off at another lookout where rather than a picture of the view I got a pic of the loo nearby. Mackenzie Falls was very very picturesqoo so plenty of piccies taken....Dan seems to like is photography too and even has an older version of my Minolta...so we had some geeky pic chat on the bus. The Falls was a really nice walk and after we cooled down and chilled with ice cream.
Then we headed off to the next overnighter in Naracoorte, the hostel is owned by Dave and his wife and I guess running a tour which forces people to stay there is one way of getting business. We arrived early evening and while dinner was being sorted jumped in the net and got my memory cards burnt to CD as I was rapidly running out of space on the Sony. Dinner was very nice and we were joined by the entire family, which initially seemed homely but after spending a few minutes with the 12 year old girl became irritating. There was some scary talk around the table of the family going to Adelaide tomorrow....we hoped this would be separately. To escape we headed to the pub round the corner, proper local bar tho not many locals around....was a pool table tho and only a dollar a game. We were all rubbish for some reason...possibly coz of the alcohol. Some locals came in including a woman with a weird purple lip thing going on. A couple challenged us to a game but deciding we were all to rubbish and that it would be a white wash we let them get on with it.
Chatted to the barman who had done the Europe thing including some time in London bartending, he was a cool bloke, friendly rather than scary local. We had a couple more games of pool which became progressively more rubbish. Bar closed at 12 so we headed back to the hostel.
Thursday 28/04/05:
After brekkie we were dropped off at the Naracoote Caves for our morning of adventure caving. Whilst the woman was getting our kit ready we wandered round a thoroughly rubbish exhibit about the caves and the animals which would have lived in the area millions of years ago. Then we were trussed up in overalls and helmet and made our way to the cave. Our guide was very nice, but no idea what she was called. We had a little practice run through a reasonably tight bit which we all successfully done and then we moved on to The Needle. Bar is tiny and could practically walk through it, Phil is annoyingly slim and had no problems, Dan is quite tall but also slim so made it through....I, of course, with my large man chest had no chance whatsoever not even getting as far as my nipples....damn my incredible physique!!!
Next challenge was what the guide termed 'Bastard Crawl' which didn't bode well. It was a ridiculously tight crevice where the distance between the roof and the floor must have been about 10 inches if that...Bar pretty much ran through but I'm pleased to say that none of the blokes including me completed the challenge, we crawled in a little way but reversed out coz it was way too scary. Can't remember the name of the last challenge but that was the one that I was certain I was going to get stuck and die a lonely death in a cave. Luckily I managed to use all my man strength to pull myself through and we all successfully made it tho Dan's knee almost popped out of joint, which apparently happens on a regular basis. So it was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours crawling through dirt. Dave picked us up and took us back to the hostel where we had lunch.
During lunch it became apparent that the last leg to Adelaide was going to be a family affair with the wife and 3 kids....11, 12 and 16 joining us for backpacker subsidised jaunt to go see granny. They're also the fattest family in the world too with the youngest looking like a couple of cabbage patch kids. To add insult to injury they took us in a smaller bus so there was less room for everyone, which is ironic considering there were now more of us. So the afternoon was generally painful, the girl was a pain in the ass for a little while, had to tell her to be quiet, eventually she moved forward to sit upfront with her Mum who did apologise for the kids behaviour and told them off, but frankly I didn't pay $280 to be a child minder, Bar was upfront with Dave who seemed to enjoy having a young girl in a tight top sitting beside him for each journey....while Phil, Dan and Me were at the back of the bus trying to ignore everything by sticking our MP3 players on and passing notes to each other venting our anger.
We stopped off somewhere to stretch our legs and Phill and I nearly got killed crossing a road as it looked like a dual carriageway so we only looked the one way, a massive lorry went past about 1 millisecond before we were going to step out onto the road which was slightly alarming. Dan pointed out several signs which said that it was 2 way, tho it would have been more helpful if he'd have mentioned it earlier. So the journey continued....we were supposed to do an Aboriginal thing on the way to Adelaide, Dave kindly pointed out that we weren't doing that coz they thought they'd drop it rather than put the tour cost up because of rising fuel prices....I think he was attempting to claim that he'd done us a favour...we weren't particularly convinced but frankly were so desperate to get to Adelaide and off the bus that we didn't argue.
We arrived in Adelaide about 6, Dan and Phil ended up staying at the same hostel as me - My Place - and Bar stayed at Shakeys just down the road...took her number so we could hook up for a drink in the evening. I chose My Place coz of the glittering reviews it received on Bug Australia. However upon arrival we suspected that the hostel had paid people to put the reviews on...we were given a 6 bed dorm which already had 3 others in it, it appeared that their suitcases had exploded during the night as the majority of the contents could be found on the floor, the room was tiny, there was no windows and it was stuffy and warm. The kitchen was a shithole the likes of which I haven't seen in a hostel, the bathroom was mixed and had only 3 showers for everyone there....so generally initial impressions were disappointing, I felt mildly guilty about the boys staying there as I'd given it a glowing review and they were going to stay somewhere else, the guilt soon passed. We decided that there must be 2 girls in the room as one of the beds had a koala and roo teddy bear hugging on the pillow...however a strange bloke wandered into the room and sat on that bed, so not only was the hostel rubbish but it was full of crazies.
we escaped asap and went for a wander to find some food, Phill and Dan had some pizza which I avoided as we'd had pizza for lunch and I felt like I really should attempt to have something healthy....which in the end was a banana after a few drinks in the pubs...anyway...after food we met up with Bar and went for a few bevvies in the local pubs, discovering the Duke of York which had extremely comfortable sofas which sent most of us to sleep. The whole day was all too traumatic and tiring so bed was required, we said goodbye to Bar who's leaving for Alice in the morning and went to sleep.
Friday 29/04/05:
Thought I'd see if there was a 4 bed available today with some actual room to move, they said we could move into one tomorrow which will be better that the shoebox we're in now. Brekkie was skanky with some excuse for milk being served up, the cereal choice was 1...tho luckily it was Weetabix which is what I normally have anyway. I went for a jog then had a shower in the hottest bathroom in the world. The boys were on the net so I read on the balcony while they done their thing. We went for a wander into the city to do some bits and bobs....exciting stops included the MetroShop, Rundle Mall, STA Travel and Quiznos Sub for lunch where I was extra healthy and had a rather nice pumpkin soup.
It was decided that chucking a frisbee around would be a good idea so we went on a hunt for one stopping in about 200 shops to no avail, clearly frisbee throwing is not popular in Adelaide. Dan found the AFL shop and ended up buying a Hawthorn Hawks footy complete with the words to the team song printed on it - on the melb to adel journey we'd discovered that we all had a mutual appreciation of this fantastic song, the boys also support the Hawks because of the team colours of Brown and Gold and have purchased a number of unofficial items such as scarfe, bobble hat and badge. So as we had no frisbee we had a kickabout in a park with the footy instead, is was here I discovered I still can't catch to save my life, however my kicking skills are quite magnificent.
Spoke to one of our dormies Rob when we got back to the hostel, a Canadian guy who's come over for a few months to work for an extermination company. He kindly passed out the beers which, even tho I can't stand beer, I happily accepted as I didn't want to be rude. The evening started with a walk into the city to search for food and see what was on at the cinema, ended up eating at Hungry George...more fast food, tho healthyish. Phill and I went to see White Noise while Dan wandered around the city. Not the worst film in the world and killed a couple of hours, Phill thought it was shite.
Back to the dorm not long after 11 and we plonked ourselves in the TV Lounge, Dan appeared to be still wandering the streets. Crazy teddybear man was in the room, he didn't speak much, in fact at all....there was some crap on the telly so thought I'd nip over to the homo bar - The Edinburgh Castle - for a couple, invited Phill along and was actually surprised when he said he would. Good to meet some straight boys who don't run screaming at the thought of going to a gay bar and assume that everyone there will fancy them. We only had a couple of drinks but spent a good hour or so chatting before heading back....still no Dan, Phill didn't appear to be too concerned falling asleep in about 10 seconds.
Saturday 30/04/05:
Pancake for breakfast this morning, don't know why but there was pancake batter in the kitchen, alerted the boys to this including Dan who had returned at some point and they rushed like starving children to the kitchen....well walked quickly anyway. The bastards who were in the 4 bed that we were gonna move in to decided to stay so we were stuck in the 6 bed...gggrrrrr, decided I would move hostels when the boys leave on Monday. Rob had checked out this morning to be immediately replaced by some long haired bloke.
Dan had read about the Orange Lane Market in his Lonely Planet so that became the destination for the morning. I wanted to get the bus but Dan seems to enjoy walking long distances which is slightly weird and in the end I had to give in. We weren't entirely sure where we were going but I was map man tho after walking for about 50 mins we got to a junction and had no clue where to go. Asked a man in the petrol station who said that the market had been closed for some months and now had a new building on it.....marvellous! So more walking to get back to the city to get the O-Bahn to a shopping centre out of town...the link will tell you everything you could want to know, but it's basically a bus which runs on concrete tracks. We boarded with excitement and anticipation, it was mildly exciting for about 5 seconds however it is another type of transport to add to the list.
The shopping centre was just another Westfield....however inspired by Phill's green hoodie I wanted to get one to replace the cardigan that I was bored with and Dan was on the hunt for some corduroys to ward of the chill in New Zealand - the boys are flying there next Monday. we had lunch and bought stuff from K-Mart...and in the end Dan and I ended up with matching ladies hoodies...yes ladies hoodies! Why, well they were $20 cheaper than men's, looked the same, plus it was 25% off women's clothing...so bugger it, no one will ever know when I cut out the label, only the millions reading this diary. O-Bahn back to the city and it was drizzling so the hoodie got it's first airing immediately.
Stopped off in a net cafe for a bit where we received some disappointing news. We were gonna go see a footy match in the evening coz the paper I'd read yesterday said it was a 7.10pm game, but whilst surfing I discovered that it started at 2.10 and we'd missed it. It was actually Phill's fault as he was tasked with checking the game time on the web yesterday and he didn't so I slopey shouldered the blame onto him. Left the cafe just after 5, thought we'd get food in to eat tonight so wandered to Coles which shut at 5pm....on a Saturday!! What's that all about???? Tho conveniently it does open at midnight every day - mental city.
Back to hostel milling around in the room deciding what the hell to do. Ended up going to the Worlds End bar for dinner where we all had great food, me having the most enormous Chicken Parmigiana I have ever seen....how I managed it I don't know but felt that to not eat it all would be a terrible waste. Then we went on a hunt for alcohol but there was a distinct lack of bottlos in the city but finally went to a LiquorLand I passed on my jog the other day. Back to hostel and watched Licence to Kill - crazy teddybear man was in the TV Lounge again, we spoke to him a little but he didn't say much, feeling a mixture of fear and pity for him. Too tired tho so didn't last long, went to bed at 11.
Sunday 01/05/05:
Woken at 5am by long haired weirdo coming in, muttering to himself and using a lighter to see where he was going, had visions of the room going up in flames. Snored like a bastard so ear plugs went in. Last full day for the boys in Oz today...after brekkie went for a kickabout with the footy again, found a park with proper goalposts which was marvellous, encouraged the boys to jog a little, they managed a couple of minutes, pointed out you can be fat and fit! Were playing for a couple of hours, excellent fun, much better than a dull old jog, however catching skills are still rubbish with Phill kicking my arse on our marking competition, luckily I beat Dan who was thorough humiliated at being beaten by a gay....lol.
Back to the delightful hostel, showered to the sound of a couple giggling whilst they shagged in one of the other showers....lovely, we think Phill went in the cubicle after them and pointed out what he could have possibly stood in. Long late lunch at Hungry George's before Phill and me caught the tram down to Glenelg beach and Dan went to take some pics around the city and get some grub in for dinner. Lovely afternoon for it tho with blue sky and warm sunshine. Tram wasn't too exciting having been on loads in Melbourne, Glenelg was small but pretty, walked along the jetty out into the sea then along the beach. There was a donkey and a camel on the seafront for some reason, Phill gave the donkey a stroke, the donkey didn't seem to care. Went on the hunt for a cafe with Smarties cookies for afternoon tea but to no avail....tho I'm sure Phill really enjoyed the stroll despite his whinging, ended up with boring old choc chip.
Back to hostel and Dan had come up trumps with stuff to make a curry for dinner. New people in the room as German 'VERE ARE YOU GOING??' Girl and Crazy Teddybear Bloke had moved out, newbies were a nice young couple from Brighton, Gemma was knitting a scarf....bless, first time I've seen someone knitting in a hostel. Phill cooked dinner whilst we all chatted and bonded....lovely meal tho, well done Phill. Were going to watch a film in the TV lounge but the DVD choice had already been made and watching a film in the dark would send me straight to sleep. Phill and I went on a chocolate hunt and we basically spent the rest of the night in the room chatting to Ricky and Gemma while the boys packed up ready to leave in the morning at 5am!!
It's been a very very enjoyable week with them guys, totally gonna miss them really but wouldn't tell them that, well not to their faces anyway ;O) After travelling solo for so long it's been real nice to have some company for a while, I'm sure our paths will cross again sometime and hopefully we'll all manage to keep in touch.
