Having left Melbourne as planned we headed for the Great Ocean Road and first stop for a break was Bells Beach just outside Torquay before stopping in Anglesea (where else!) for lunch. We stopped for the night in beautiful Apollo Bay heading to the hotel to try the local beer. An early start the next day taking in the sights of the famous coastline; firstly the Twelve Apostles, where we all went down the cliff face to walk along the beach, London Bridge, The Arch and The Grotto rock formations. Amazing views and drive and we ended the Day in Port Fairy before heading back inland to The Grampians National Park.
Our arrival to Halls Gap in The Grampians coincided with the annual jazz festival so we headed out of town to a caravan park on Lake Fyans with lovely views over the lake back to the mountains. The next day we headed into the mountains with the girls managing to walk about 5km in total to take in the views from Reid Lookout and The Balconies and Boroka lookout stopping at Mckenzie falls for lunch. Tom and Daisy went to look at some rock art nearby at Bunjils cave while Holly had a well earned sleep.
Back on the road and after a 5 hour journey through open farmland stopping at Keith(!) for lunch we ended up in the leafy and attractive village of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills where the girls had an amazing time visiting fairy caves and gardens and making friends with Josie and Jackson from Perth who were staying in the same caravan park. Hahndorf is an old settlement with a German influence and we decided to stay an extra day so we could explore the pretty local towns of Stirling and Bridgewater. We even spotted a Koala in a pine tree of all places!! We also drove through Adelaide taking in The Adelaide Oval and the central market where we stocked up on some amazing food and fresh fruit and veg. We stopped at Glenelg Beach for lunch and we all had a swim to cool off in the 36 degree heat.Another 5 hour drive took us north through open country to the stunning Flinders Ranges. We drove via the town of Laura for lunch and stopped at Orroroo and saw the 500 year old gum tree with a 10m diameter. RM Williams way then took us on to the Flinders, passing Rankine Road and countless Kangaroos and Emus. We arrived at 4pm with the temperature still a cool 38 degrees and the girls swam in the pool after playing in the red dirt while we had a cold beer or three!
The next day, marking our 10 year anniversary since we met, we drove through countless dry gorges and lookouts spotting more kangaroos, emus, yellow footed rock wallabies, wedge tail eagles and just taking in the stunning landscape and surroundings. The temperature reached 39 degress as we sat under the twisted red river gums and tried to cool down. The colours of the rocks changed throughout the day and we ended the day with ice creams and a swim after a visit to the sacred canyon to look at the Aboriginal rock engravings.
We are now in Port Augusta preparing ourselves for the short trip of some 1850km across the Nullarbor desert to Esperance where we hope to be in 4 days time! So far the girls have entertained themselves with only the Wiggles via headphones and lots of stickers and colouring, as well as the odd snack…..let’s hope it continues!
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