Today's the day. It's over after a long drive.
We left Ouyen to make the long drive back to Jindabyne. It's been raining all day and is actually pretty fitting and making the drive easier because it's not making us want to stay anywhere along the way. We did make a stop at another winery so that we could get some presents for people, but it didn't last long.
The drive was both boring and incredible. Once we got to the final stretch, I was breath-taken by the beauty of the mountains that I've spent the whole winter surrounded by. I had no idea that the backside of the mountain range was so beautiful. It was really foggy just above the valleys, so when we were going through the pass, it seemed we were on top of the world. The rain was falling and the eucalyptus trees were so green, it was like a magical rain forest. And the smell....the eucalyptus in the rain made the car smell like a massage room.
The drive seemed to take forever because we were so close to Jindy, but the switch-backs made it take 3 times as long. We finally made it back to Matt's house and now I am exhausted. It's good to stand up and move around in a house, but I am already missing the van....
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
November 18th….A random stop at the zoo….
Today we loved waking up in the hotel! My usual 3am intermission was spent watching TV instead of listening for mice and freaking out about every noise I hear. I took my time getting ready, as you do when you haven’t had many proper showers for over a month. We pre-made lunch and packed it away, with the intentions of not stopping until we couldn’t stand it anymore.
We got on the road and out of Adelaide via Hahndorf, a small German town with lots of shopping and chocolate. We didn’t spend much time there since we are out of money, but the drive this morning and last night have sure done a lot to renew our idea of what kind of city Adelaide is. I actually very much enjoy the place and think it’s a really cool city where I wish I could spend more time (as opposed to the boring city we discovered the first time around). I’m pretty glad we went out of our way to see it again.
Now we’re on a new track. Instead of going back to Jindabyne via Canberra and coming in from the north, we are following the Murray River and coming through the mountain pass and in from the south. It’ll actually be a more scenic drive and a route I’ve never been.
So, after Hahndorf we got on the Princess Highway and went through a town called Monarto and saw a sign for the Monarto zoo. This sparked my curiosity so we exited and went to check out the place. Good thing because today was amazing. The zoo is on 2500 acres of land and is an open-plains zoo with animals from all over the world roaming freely (basically). We went on a sort of safari through the African section and got to pet the rhinos and feed the giraffes. It was a good detour from what was supposed to be a very long and boring day, but it has set us back a day from our estimated arrival back to Jindy. No worries.
We have made plans this weekend to camp on the lake and have a massive lake weekend, bringing out all the toys. It should be so freaking fun. I can’t wait. You’d think we’d have enough of camping by now!
Animal death count….
Birds: 7+
Snakes: 2
Lizards: hard to tell
Kangaroos: 1
Mice: 2
Kilometers: 258,888 woah.
We got on the road and out of Adelaide via Hahndorf, a small German town with lots of shopping and chocolate. We didn’t spend much time there since we are out of money, but the drive this morning and last night have sure done a lot to renew our idea of what kind of city Adelaide is. I actually very much enjoy the place and think it’s a really cool city where I wish I could spend more time (as opposed to the boring city we discovered the first time around). I’m pretty glad we went out of our way to see it again.
Now we’re on a new track. Instead of going back to Jindabyne via Canberra and coming in from the north, we are following the Murray River and coming through the mountain pass and in from the south. It’ll actually be a more scenic drive and a route I’ve never been.
So, after Hahndorf we got on the Princess Highway and went through a town called Monarto and saw a sign for the Monarto zoo. This sparked my curiosity so we exited and went to check out the place. Good thing because today was amazing. The zoo is on 2500 acres of land and is an open-plains zoo with animals from all over the world roaming freely (basically). We went on a sort of safari through the African section and got to pet the rhinos and feed the giraffes. It was a good detour from what was supposed to be a very long and boring day, but it has set us back a day from our estimated arrival back to Jindy. No worries.
We have made plans this weekend to camp on the lake and have a massive lake weekend, bringing out all the toys. It should be so freaking fun. I can’t wait. You’d think we’d have enough of camping by now!
Animal death count….
Birds: 7+
Snakes: 2
Lizards: hard to tell
Kangaroos: 1
Mice: 2
Kilometers: 258,888 woah.
November 17th…..Driving. What’s new?
We drove from Steaky Bay to Adelaide. Not much to report on other than a lot of crossword puzzles, some pretty boring scenery and a night in a hotel! I had a bout of van-loathing and wanted to sleep on a mattress and take a good shower. I also needed a bit of world news in my system, so I bought us a CHEAP hotel room. We got what we paid for, but it was nice to stand up in the same space we laid our heads.
November 16th….Finished the Nullarbor for the 2nd time!!!!
Madura to Streaky Bay. Back to the same place we stayed before where we saw the rays and the tide was so low we could walk out to the middle. We were hoping for a nice day to get in some swimming after the LOOOONG drive across that stinking plain, but it was freezing. It was the next best thing though.
The second drive across the Nullarbor Plain wasn’t too hard either. It really gets incredibly repetitive and you start to lose your mind just a bit, but it’s not as burly as some may think. It probably helped a bit that we broke it up into 2 days, but there was a lot more traffic this time…and fewer animals! I also got to sleep a lot more than I did the first time, since Matt made me get up at 6am to start driving. So early….
As I was saying, Streaky Bay was really cold this time. It was a bit weird to spend the day sweating and then step out of the car and immediately put on a hoodie and pants. Not what I expected.
We went to the grocery store to finally restock our fruit and veggies. We went nuts and spent more money than we should have. Shortly after we left, we were looking at the map and realized there was another quarantine check point just inside New South Wales and we’ll probably end up having to eat more than we can handle or throw most of it away. Bummer. I guess if that’s my biggest concern right now, then I’m not doing too bad.
The second drive across the Nullarbor Plain wasn’t too hard either. It really gets incredibly repetitive and you start to lose your mind just a bit, but it’s not as burly as some may think. It probably helped a bit that we broke it up into 2 days, but there was a lot more traffic this time…and fewer animals! I also got to sleep a lot more than I did the first time, since Matt made me get up at 6am to start driving. So early….
As I was saying, Streaky Bay was really cold this time. It was a bit weird to spend the day sweating and then step out of the car and immediately put on a hoodie and pants. Not what I expected.
We went to the grocery store to finally restock our fruit and veggies. We went nuts and spent more money than we should have. Shortly after we left, we were looking at the map and realized there was another quarantine check point just inside New South Wales and we’ll probably end up having to eat more than we can handle or throw most of it away. Bummer. I guess if that’s my biggest concern right now, then I’m not doing too bad.
November 15th…..Rain, rain go away…..
No swimming at Lucky Bay today. It was raining and windy and cold. Back to the drive. We took the scenic route out of Esperance up to Norseman and had lunch at a park then it was back at the ever-dreadful Nullarbor. We wanted to try to do just the first hour or so tonight and finish tomorrow, but we have a tendency to just keep driving and driving. We ended up doing about twice as much as we thought and crashed out at a caravan park in a town called Madura, just one of the small towns on the Eyre Highway. Nothing too impressive, except I made Mexican food for dinner. Ha. Early to bed and hopefully early to rise!
November 14th…..From the Shire of York to the beautiful town of Esperance….
We left the lovely people of York and made our way to a town called Hyden.
In Hyden there is a really big rock wall and it looks like a wave. It’s called Wave Rock. Hmmm…. They wanted $10 to get in to see it, but you were meant to stop at the shop and pay it. So we didn’t stay long because we didn’t want to pay nor did we want to get caught. We only got out to take a couple pictures and then took off again.
We wanted to head back to Lucky Bay to do some swimming since it was too nasty last time we were there. Our drive to Esperance was pretty normal, but this time we were going through dense forest, which is a change of pace from the ocean scene we’ve been following across. Esperance was cold and expensive, so we took the scenic drive around the town and found ourselves in a whole new place, way different from last time we were here. The beaches were so beautiful and there were tons of islands just off the shore. We climbed this hill and sat up on the top to watch the crazy sunset over the rocky shores. It was picture-perfect and was another one of those moments in my life where I take a deep breath, ground myself and remember how lucky I am. I tried to spend some time talking to my grandpa, but the tears started flowing and I was brought back to earth.
We discussed getting a hotel room for a good night’s sleep, but didn’t want to spend the amount they were all asking, so we ended up at a caravan park several hours after it was closed. We parked the van in the parking lot and stayed there. Yay, free accommodation!!!
In Hyden there is a really big rock wall and it looks like a wave. It’s called Wave Rock. Hmmm…. They wanted $10 to get in to see it, but you were meant to stop at the shop and pay it. So we didn’t stay long because we didn’t want to pay nor did we want to get caught. We only got out to take a couple pictures and then took off again.
We wanted to head back to Lucky Bay to do some swimming since it was too nasty last time we were there. Our drive to Esperance was pretty normal, but this time we were going through dense forest, which is a change of pace from the ocean scene we’ve been following across. Esperance was cold and expensive, so we took the scenic drive around the town and found ourselves in a whole new place, way different from last time we were here. The beaches were so beautiful and there were tons of islands just off the shore. We climbed this hill and sat up on the top to watch the crazy sunset over the rocky shores. It was picture-perfect and was another one of those moments in my life where I take a deep breath, ground myself and remember how lucky I am. I tried to spend some time talking to my grandpa, but the tears started flowing and I was brought back to earth.
We discussed getting a hotel room for a good night’s sleep, but didn’t want to spend the amount they were all asking, so we ended up at a caravan park several hours after it was closed. We parked the van in the parking lot and stayed there. Yay, free accommodation!!!
November 13th…..Rottnest Island. Quokka spot.....
We took a ferry out to a small island just off Perth, called Rottnest Island. The island is only 11 kilometers by 5 kilometers and is an easy day of bike exploring. We rented some bikes and snorkel gear and went for a ride to find a nice place to post ourselves for the day. We picked a cool name on the map and it could not have been any better! We had the entire beach to ourselves!!!! It was so serene and the water was see-through turquoise as far as the eye could see. For some reason all the other beaches were packed and there was no one on this one! It was a bit of a hike on sand dunes to get to, but so, so, so worth the extra effort. We spent the day snorkeling, swimming and lying in the sun. We saw a stingray and a bunch of fish. It was cool to see a completely different type of reef. The Great Barrier was all hard coral and was pretty much a big rock in the ocean, but here it was all soft coral and seaweed.
Once, while Matt was out swimming around the bend and I had the beach to myself, I burnt my cheeks and am now regretting it. It hurts to sit down. Ouch!
Rottnest is the home to a rare marsupial called the quokka. They are little animals that almost look like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo. They are everywhere on the island and some even climb on you…obviously the ones near the restaurants. They are cute until they get on you and then they are a bit creepy, but it was neat to see such a rare species of animal.
The bike ride took us around the island and around every corner was something new and spectacular. There were about 10 shipwrecks around the island and we took a glass bottom boat to see 2 of them. There were also a couple sticking out of the water that you could see from the shore. Unfortunately all the ones you were allowed to snorkel on were packed with people or on the east side of the island where the waves were too big to brave. I guess it’s OK since we had a beach to ourselves….
After Rottnest we drove to a town called York and stayed the night at a caravan park. The people who ran the caravan park were the nicest people we have come across so far and even said it was a pleasure having us stay there. Ha. Pretty funny since we came in two hours after they closed and took them away from whatever they were doing. We’re exhausted and should sleep well tonight.
Once, while Matt was out swimming around the bend and I had the beach to myself, I burnt my cheeks and am now regretting it. It hurts to sit down. Ouch!
Rottnest is the home to a rare marsupial called the quokka. They are little animals that almost look like a cross between a rat and a kangaroo. They are everywhere on the island and some even climb on you…obviously the ones near the restaurants. They are cute until they get on you and then they are a bit creepy, but it was neat to see such a rare species of animal.
The bike ride took us around the island and around every corner was something new and spectacular. There were about 10 shipwrecks around the island and we took a glass bottom boat to see 2 of them. There were also a couple sticking out of the water that you could see from the shore. Unfortunately all the ones you were allowed to snorkel on were packed with people or on the east side of the island where the waves were too big to brave. I guess it’s OK since we had a beach to ourselves….
After Rottnest we drove to a town called York and stayed the night at a caravan park. The people who ran the caravan park were the nicest people we have come across so far and even said it was a pleasure having us stay there. Ha. Pretty funny since we came in two hours after they closed and took them away from whatever they were doing. We’re exhausted and should sleep well tonight.
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