Hi everyone. I’ll bet you all thought we had drunk ourselves into oblivion on Barossa Wine. No such luck. Truth is we are now back in good old NZ, and with all the excitement of getting home and setting up house the poor old blog got put on the back burner. Added to this has been the problem of trying to get internet set up again. After trying numerous perspective communication companies, and even going to the extent of hijacking Christel’s parents computer, only to find it wouldn’t read our hard drive, on the morning of Xmas Eve we finally received a long awaited T Stick in the mail. So at long last we are up and running again, and for those few faithful who are still waiting for the final episode, here it is.
Hope you have enjoyed travelling with us via your computer. Now on to the last episode.
Barossa Valley to Murray Bridge
The agreed settlement day for the sale of the caravan was Wednesday the 23rd, so Monday the 21st and Tuesday the 22nd were spent sorting, cleaning, and packing. We finally managed to refine our take home luggage down to 6 bags. The Gawler branch of the Salvation Army benefited by several box loads of stuff that wouldn’t fit into our 6 bags.
Now that the sale of the caravan was all sorted out, we went on line to look for some seats for our flight home. The day that most suited us was Tuesday the 29th, and there were a few seats available, so we booked for the midday flight.
On the night of Tuesday the 22nd we had our final tea in the van, and toasted it with some Barossa Valley Bubbly. Then it was into bed for our final night in our home of the last 11 months.
On Wednesday the 23rd we hooked up the van for the last time and headed south to Adelaide where we met with the owner of the caravan yard. After a good look over the van he was satisfied all was well and the deal was done. As simple as that. Our home of the last 11 months was left behind looking rather forlorn in the middle of a yard with about 200 other caravans. At least it won’t be lonely.
With some very nostalgic backward glances, we drove out of the yard and headed into Adelaide City and then south east to the town of Hahndorf. For a while we were all quiet with our own thoughts about leaving the van. It was almost like a death in the family.
As the name suggests, Hahndorf is a town that was settled by immigrants from Prussia in the late 1800s. Many of the original buildings are still standing and many traditional German type shops and small industries are still carried on there. We had been told it was well worth a visit, but we were a bit disappointed with what we saw. Perhaps we were expecting too much.
From Hahndorf we continued on south east along the South Eastern Freeway to Murray Bridge on the banks of the Murray River, about 30 km from its mouth at Lake Alexandrina. We booked into a cabin in a motor camp right on the river bank, and the first thing we noticed was how much room we all had, after so long in the confines of the caravan.
Murray Bridge is so named because it is built on the site of the first bridge ever built over the Murray River, and is on the main route between Adelaide and Melbourne. It is home to hundreds of River Boats, some of them huge floating mansions that are used as permanent homes. Tomorrow we will cross over the Murray and continue on towards Melbourne.
Thursday 24th November
Murray Bridge to Halls Gap
With a few days to fill in before our flight home, we decided to head for the Grampians National Park, famous for its mountainous scenery and bush walks. Away back in April when we were first travelling through western Victoria, we called in to the Grampians, only to find that due to the floods the region was then experiencing, most of the park was closed.
After making enquiries at the Murray Bridge Visitors Centre we found out the Park was now open, but the damage had been so severe, some of the roads had only just been opened in the last week.
From Murray Bridge we headed south east to Tailem Bend, where we took our last look at the mighty Murray River. From there we continued on to Keith, where we stopped for lunch. We decided to go as far as Horsham for the night, but when we tried ringing through to book some accommodation, everything was booked out.
We finally got a cabin at Halls Gap right in the middle of the Grampians National Park. This was a lot further than we intended to travel for the day, but with nothing available closer we were left with little choice. We would now have to travel well over 400 km to get there, and it would put us one day ahead of our planned schedule to get to Melbourne on Sunday the 27th. Never mind, we couldn’t do much about it.
From Keith we continued on to Bordertown, and then about 20 km later, crossed back in to Victoria. There was nothing to mark the border, other than a small sign saying ‘Welcome to Victoria’. The whole way we travelled through miles and miles of wheat fields with each little town we came to, dominated by huge grain silos, visible on the horizon for more than 20 km away, across the flat countryside.
Our first major town in Victoria was Horsham, and we got there at about 2.30, to complete our round trip of Australia. A quick look at the speedometer showed we had done 35,306km since leaving Horsham on the 4th April. We still had to get back to Melbourne, but from now on we would be largely backtracking over roads we had travelled on our way north at the beginning of the year.
We celebrated completing the circle by going into the same pub we had visited on our way up country on the 2nd April, and downing a couple of beers. The owner/barman was very interested to hear about our trip, and we spent a very pleasant time sharing some of our adventures with him.
From Horsham we drove south east for about 20km and then turned onto a secondary road leading down into the Grampians National Park. This was one of the roads that had been closed when we first visited the area in April. We followed a narrow winding road up on to the top of the Grampian Ranges to the McKenzie Falls, where we took a short walk to view the falls from a lookout. We continued on along the top of the ranges, past Lake Wartook, and then eventually wound our way down to Halls Gap Village, arriving at about 5.30pm.
Our Camp ground at Halls Gap had lots of kangaroos, and a couple of emus, wandering around it. They were semi wild, and would rapidly head off into the bush if you got too close. One of the Emus was a bit tamer than the rest, and came wandering up to the door of our cabin looking for a handout, which Cameron was only too happy to give him.
Friday 25th November
Halls Gap to Ballarat
From Halls Gap we drove south for about 70km through the National Park, with some great views of the rocky hills that form the Grampians, to the small town of Dunkeld, and then headed east towards Ballarat. We stopped for lunch at the little village called Lake Bolac, on the edge of a large lake, named, strangely enough, Lake Bolac. We then continued on east, again through more miles and miles of wheat fields, finally arriving in Ballarat at about 3.00pm.
After settling in to our cabin and having a couple of drinks, we took a drive into town and had a look at their Arch of Victory, and Avenue of Honour. Both are a tribute to Australians who served in the First World War. We spent a bit of time driving around the city admiring some of their huge old stone buildings, before heading to a supermarket to buy some dinner. Now that we haven’t got a caravan we are living a bit day to day, and are more or less buying our meals as and when we need them.
We tried to book in for an extra night here in Ballarat, but they were booked out, so tomorrow we will head on to Melbourne. That will really complete our trip around Australia.
Saturday 26th November
The last leg, Ballarat to Melbourne
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE
Woke up to a very wet morning. At least we don’t have to pack up a caravan in the wet. Drove the 100 odd km down to Melbourne through heavy rain. The Aussie roads aren’t designed for rain, with lots of surface water lying in the hollows of the wheel tracks, making driving a bit tricky. Didn’t seem to worry the Aussies motorists though, who happily charged along at the maximum speed limit of 110 kph, chucking huge curtains of water everywhere.
Faithful old Nancy took us straight to our Motorcamp, where we were more than happy to get away from the mad Aussie Motorists, and into our cabin out of the shitty weather. We have booked in here for one night only, and tomorrow we will move to another motor camp closer to the airport where we will stay for our last two nights in Aussie. With nothing better to do, after lunch we decided to fill in part of the day by visiting a nearby shopping centre to have a look around.
It was a huge complex of a couple of hundred shops spread over 3 stories. We battled our way through the 3 million or so other shoppers, playing ‘Spot the White Person’, and ‘See if you can find someone who speaks English.’ We soon gave up on both games, and, getting sick and tired of all the pushing and shoving of the crowds, headed back to our cabin for drinkies and a game or two of cards. Hope it’s a bit finer tomorrow.
For Cameron these are the longest days of our holiday. Now that we have booked tickets and are getting so close to going home, he just can’t wait. His excitement is mounting by the day, and he is almost becoming hyperactive. Getting him to sleep at night is almost impossible. We send him off to bed and after a while out he comes to discuss something we’ve ‘got to do’, when we get home. No sooner is he back in bed and he’s out again to discuss the next thing that’s on his mind. It’s going to be a long few days until we get on that plane!!
Sunday 27th November
Melbourne
We moved across town to our new motorcamp near the airport, and after dragging all our bags inside, set to once again shifting stuff from one bag to the next, trying to keep within the allowed 23kg, and still managing to close the bags. After lunch we drove over to the airport to familiarise ourselves with the route, and the location of the Rental Car company, where we had to pick up a rental car later in the day.
At about 3.30 we headed back to the airport to pick up our Rental Car. Christel had managed to book an XR6, and it turned out to be a 2011 model, so now she’s not talking to us ordinary Pajero drivers. I guess after we deliver the Pajero to Howard, the guy that’s selling it for us, that’ll be the end of my driving in Australia. First thing tomorrow morning, we will head right across town in the two cars to deliver the Pajero to Howard. Then there are a hundred and one last minute things to do before coming back to our motor camp for our last night. Then just like that, it will be all over.
Monday 28th November
It took us just under an hour to get across town to Howard’s place. Thank god for Nancy who faithfully guided us from our motor camp, along side streets to a motorway, then off onto more side streets, then a freeway, more side streets, another motorway, then another freeway, until finally we were back in familiar territory in the suburb of Ringwood, and we were soon turning into Howard’s Street and there he was to greet us.
A chat about the trip and how the Pajero had performed, then we left the Pajero in Howard’s capable hands for him to spruce up and put on e-bay for us. Thank you Howard for your interest, support, and advice before and during our trip. You certainly made travelling a lot easier for us.
We unplugged Nancy from the Pajero, and installed her in Christel’s rental XR6 for the journey back to our motorcamp. The rest of the day was spent cancelling insurances, and phone accounts and a myriad of other things, and final checking of our luggage. Then we headed off to a nearby RSL Club for our final dinner.
Tuesday 29th November
We got to the airport at about 9.00am and joined the hundreds of other travellers in the usual endless queues for bag check in, customs, and immigration. On to the departure lounges where Cameron spotted our plane - a huge jumbo 747. Boy was he excited. We got our boarding call, and the next thing we are leaving Australia behind, our great adventure all over.
Hope you have enjoyed travelling with us. What a wonderful trip. The Highlights?? Too many to mention, but swimming with the Whale Sharks always comes to mind for all of us as being high on the list. That and the lasting impression of that huge empty vastness of the outback. A gigantic harsh land that gives no quarter to anyone.
Here are a few stats that might be of interest.
Total kilometres travelled - 44,430.
Kilometres travelled with caravan - 25,830.
Amount of fuel used - 7550.71 litres.
Fuel costs - $11,248.60.
Average fuel consumption - 16.99 litres per 100 km.
Average Daily expenses - $208 NZ.
What a great year it has been.
Urban, Christel and Cameron.
