Victoria in the Sunshine.

Tuesday we continued along the Great Ocean Road, a visit to the lighthouse at Airies Inlet, then via Lorne, Angelsea to Torquay. At Torquay we visited the giant tiled sundial on the backbeach to show Jim hen went to visit Claire & Lou where we had lunch. Mid-afternoon we moved on to Geelong and booke into a cabin at the Batesford Top Tourist Holiday Park. This park is almost 100 percent pre-fab cabins, jammed together with no open grasse spaces. It appears that Top Tourist are concentrating on cabin accomodation exclusively with little or no provision for open spaces, playgrounds etc. We drove to Ocean Grove where we had dinner.
Wednesday and we drove to Melbourne where Gail visited Pop while I took Chris & Jim on a short drive to Edwards Lake. Then onto the Hume freeway heading north, we diverted to the old Hume highway to visit Benalla and Glenrowan where we spent n hour or so visiting some of the Ned Kelly historic sites. Today is Gail's birthday so we have planned to stop at the Beechworth bakery for a special afternoon tea before stopping at Donna and Pauls new home in Beechworth. Glenice is currently visiting Donna, we all had a lovely birthday dinner and cake there for the birthday girl. Our plan from here is to travel home today (Thur) which is about a 600km drive.
The trip is almost over, one which we have all enjoyed immensley.
A special thanks from Gail to everyone who contacted her on her birthday yesterday.
Over and Out...
Kevin, Gail. Chris & Jim.
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Great Ocean Road.

Another visit to the Blue Lake for more photos of the incredible blue water, then on to the Lady Nelson Discovery/Information Centre where we spent an hour or so. We then drove to Caves Garden Sinkhole in the centre of Mt Gambier. This is a huge old sinkhole which has been beautified by the local councl and due to the heavy overnight rain had two magnificent waterfalls cascading down into the landscaped hole. A series of steps and landings enables visitors to descend to the bottom of the sinkhole which is about 40 metres across and 20 metres deep. We then drove to the outskirts of town to the Umpherson Hanging Gardens which is also in a sinkhole. This one has been beautfully landscaped by a series of owners over the last 100 years. The giant hanging ivy drops about 25 metres into the delightful gardens where there are BBQ and picnic facilities. Access is via a series of timber walkways and viewing platforms.
As it was still raining we continued on, crossing into Victoria then on to Warrnambool via Heywood. After a quick reccy of Warrnambool in the heavy rain we pushed on to Peterborough and checked into our motel around 4:30pm. As there is still a lot of daylight remaining we decided to drive to Port Campbell and beyond to view Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge. This turned out to be a great decision as despite the continuing rain we saw these two wonders of nature at their wildest best. The wind was horrific, barely able to stand still to take a photo, but this had the impact of whipping up the seas into a raging tempest which really magnified the spectacle of the rock formations. Despite this and the driving sleet rain we were able to get some great shots. Back into Port Campbell for dinner at a licensed tavern.
Monday morning dawned fine and clear as we continued back through Port Campbell to The Twelve Apostles. The visitor viewing area has been drastically changed since our last visit. There is a huge visitor centre on the northern side of the GOR with a pedestrian underpass across to a revegitated area wher new walkways and viewing platforms have been constructed. More photos in very pleasant conditions, then continued on to Lavers Hill where we detoured away from the GOR to visit the Otway Fly Tree Top Walk. This is a spectacular walk of about 1 hour among the giants of the rainforest high up in the Otway Ranges. The platform walk rises 25 metres above ground level and to 47 metres for those who dare to climb the spiral stairs to the lookout tower, which Chris did. As Gail and I had done this 18 months ago we elected to relax in the visitor centre while Jim & Chris did the walk. Upon their return we had our picnic lunch which Gail had prepared in the picnic area of the visitor !
centre. On departure from "The Fly" we drove via the Otway Ranges State Forest gravel road and rejoined the GOR at Apollo Bay some 46km later. Then on to Wye River, our overnight stop at the Big4 Holiday Park where we have a 2 bedroom cabin. We were fortunate to spot a number of koala's in the trees as we approached Kennett River then again later within the caravan park. A BBQ for dinner cooked in the camp kitchen, then a walk down to the beach rounded out yet another great day.
The Happy Wanderers.

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Has The Drought Broken ?

Thursday morning saw us on the road again facing a full day of driving in order to ensure we stayed ahead of the forecast torrential rains moving down from Central Australia towards Port Augusta. For once the forcasts were very accurate, for as we passed Iron Knob and Whyalla and approaching Port Augusta the rain caught up with us. Fortunately for the next hour or so it was little more than heavy drizzle, so we were able to press on passing Port Pirie, Port Wakefield, Gawler and then on to Adelaide. As you are probably aware all of these areas are now subject to extensive flooding in addition to Coober Pedy, Oodnadatta and Alice Springs, so it appears that our luck is holding out in relation to keeping ahead of the rain. Our intention now is to head to the Adelaide Hills area, however due to an error on our part we incorrectly phoned ahead and made an accomodation booking in Nuriootpa which is North East of Adelaide by about 70km, and in fact we were right in the CBD area be!
fore we realised this mistake. So, we called back to the motel and cancelled that booking after deciding that Hahndorf in the hills suited us far better.
Upon arrival in Hahndorf, a delightful small German village situated in a central location of the Adelaide Hills, we booked into the Hahndorf Resort set in 12 lovely acres on the edge of town. Today we travelled 765km, again in 2 hour shifts. After setling in we drove into the village for dinner at a great little restaurant called Zorro's where they served authentic Balkan cuisine.
The "Tour Down Under" international cycle race had completed its third stage here earlier this afternoon so the main street was still heavily decorated with baloons and banners. This event is held annually in January - at a time when European teams are beginning their intensive competition and training for the European cycling circuit. The race features professional riders from Australia and around the world.
We have decided to stay in Hahndorf for two nights to slow down a little following two days of intensive driving across the Nullarbor. Friday was mainly spent investigating all the quaint shops in Hahndorf, then a drive through the hills region to Gumerecha and a visit to the "Big Rocking Horse" toy factory. Dinner at the German Arms Hotel back in Hahndorf with a pianist playing non stop near our table rounded off another great day.
Saturday morning, departed this delightful area travelling south east via Murray Bridge, Meningie, Kingston S.E. Millicent to Mount Gambier. The skies are looking very threatening as we approach Mt Gambier, but we were able to visit the beautiful Blue Lake in Mt Gambier. The water in this crater lake is a very intense cobalt blue and looks fantastic at the present time. The colour of the water is definately not influenced by reflection from the sky as the sky is now an intense black cloud and the heavens are about to open in a big way. We managed a drive around the lake stopping at several lookout points before the rain finally caught up with us, it teemed for about two hours, but then eased. All is going well, the four of us are still good friends, the Subaru has not missed a beat and tomorrow we cross into Victoria....
Well, it is now Sunday morning and I have just revised the subject title of this blog entry. Originally I had called it "Floods - What Floods", however as it has absolutely teemed all night that hardly seemed an appropriate heading. Our luck in relation to keeping ahead of the rain may have run out. Only time and today's travel following the coast to Warrnambool and Port Campbell will tell.
The Bloodtree Road Travellers.
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Day Two- Crossing The Nullarbor.

Chris took the first 2 hour driving shift from Madura to Mundrabilla after a 7:30am depature. For this section of the crossing we ran parallel with the escarpment on our left. Then Kevin drove a 2 hour stint to Nullarbor Roadhouse where we stopped for our picnic lunch. It was during this later section that we stopped at two of the vantage points overlooking the Great Australian Bight, for the compulsory photo session and general leg stretch for everyone. The sheer cliffs dropping vertically to the Southern Ocean are a truly magnificent sight. After our lunch stop Gail got behind the wheel and drove a further 250km to Penong where we re-fuelled again. Jim drove the final leg today into and through Ceduna then south on the Eyre Peninsula to Streaky Bay - our overnight destination. We covered 802km today in very mild conditions, top temp 28 degrees which made it much easier on all and on the Subaru.
Dearest petrol to date was at Balledonia in WA, 165.9 cents/litre.
After checking in to a motel Jim and I drove out to the caravan park for a look then popped into the hotel for a quick beer. Diner for all was at the hotel where we enjoyed the very reasonable and delicious daily special, over-looking the water.
Back at the motel we planned tomorrow's travel.

Kevin & Gail.
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The Nullarbor.

Well our wishfull thinking re a drop in temperature for today has been realised. At 8:30am as we departed Norseman the temp was a mere 16 degrees C. The Eyre Highway has certainly received it's fair share of upgrading since our last crossing. From Norseman to Balledonia, a distance of 193km the road is a very wide 2 lanes with minimum bends. As we moved east the Nullarbor beckoned with its timeless landscape engulfing us with one breathtaking vista after another. Vast salt lakes, which are believed to be relics of ancient river systems are situated on both sides of the highway. Traffic is minimal so we are able to cruise along comfortably at the speed limit, consequently the huge distances between civilization are quickly gobbled up. The highway has now narrowed a little, but is a dead straight ribbon of ashphalt stretching as far as the eye can see.
A further 182 km to Caiguna where we had a picnic lunch stop under the shade of a picnic shelter adjacent to the roadhouse. Temperature is a mere 23, 20 degrees below yesterday at the same time. We swapped drivers back at Balledonia, with Gail taking over from me for her two hour stint. After lunch, Jim took a turn at the wheel for the next 100km, then Kevin again for the final 50km into Madura. Along the way we had to stop for some bushcraft roadside running repairs. A forward facing thin fibre/plastic cover had become dislodged under the tailshaft and every now and then dug into the road surface and sounded as though the arse end of the Subaru was about to explode. The inner front guard had also lost a retaining clip and flapped frantically in the wind at speed above 80km/h. A bit of wire picked up from the side of the road and my trusty Swiss Army knife solved the problems.
Arrived Madura around 4:15pm Central Western time and checked into the Madura Oasis Motel/Caravan Park/Roadhouse. A swim in the salt water pool went down very well, followed by dinner in the snack bar for Gail & I, the restaurant for Jim & Chris.
Tomorrow our target destination is Streaky Bay, south east of Ceduna, a distance of 750km.
Kevin & Gail.
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Esperance escapade.

Sunday morning up bright and early to a beautiful clear blue sky and quite warm conditions. This morning we went on the "Seabreeze II", a half day cruise catarmarine out to the off-shore islands. We saw Australian sea lions, basking in the sun on the rocky islands as well as a variety of sea birds. As the conditions were perfect the bow of the boat was able to nudge to within 5-10 metres of the rocky shoreline due to the very steep drop-off from the land into the sea. This enabled us to get good close-up views. At one point we stopped adjacent to a split rock outcrop where there were New Zealand fur seals frolicking in the surging water. A stop over of approx 1-1/2 hours at Woody Island where morning tea was provided followed by a short glass bottom boat trip in the immediate area surrounding the small wharf.
Lunch back at our cabin, then Jim and I went for a swim in the Southern Ocean at one of the many lovely beaches in Esperance. It was nice to have a two night stop as we are able to relax for a while.
Monday morning we checked out of the Holiday Park, spent some time in town looking around, then drove out to Bandy Bay boat harbour where the worst damage from the recent storms occured. It was difficult to determine the extent of damage until we saw some "before and after" photos in the window of a local shop. A weir was completely demolished by the rushing floodwaters which in turn caused extensive damage to a portion of the fishing fleet harbour.
Departed Esperance around mid-day heading north on Highway 1 to Norseman, a distance of approx. 200 kilometres. Today has been very hot, it was 30 at 9am, then 43 during our picnic lunch stop at Salmon Gums. Our overnight tonight is in a very nice chalet in Norseman. Tomorrow we hit the Nullarbor Plain, hoping that the temperature will be down a little on today.
Kevin & Gail.
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On The Road Again.

Departed All Seasons Hotel in Northbridge at 7am, then negotiated our way onto the Sterling Highway in the general direction of Fremantle. We stopped at Kwinana for breakfast, then continued on by-passing Fremantle to Mandura. Here Jim & Chris looked up an old acquatance from Mona Vale, Ted & Barbara. Gail and I attempted to contact Ed & Mary Crane but were unsuccessful so we joined the others for morning tea. Departed Mandura around 11am bound for Bunbury where we stopped for lunch and shopped for food & drinks. Continued on to Bussleton where we visited the Busselton jetty - took photos etc then pressed on to Cowaramup to our pre booked accomodation at Taunton Farm - a combined caravan park, chalet place. Our one bedroom cabin was quite comfortable with a queen bed in the bedroom and bunks plus a single in the spacious living area. We called in to a winery for tasting then visited a cheese factory where we sampled many of their products before purchasing some cheese, wine !
and port for later consumption.
Cooked a BBQ in the camp kitchen area then sat on our verandah and relaxed. We covered 304 km today.
Friday morning and on the road by 8am
bound for Albany via Pemberton where we visited the Gloucester Tree after mistakingly driving about 30km out of town to another fire lookout tree. Lunch in Pemberton then on to Albany where we are booked into the Albany Holiday Park, about 5km out of town. Jim & I drove into town, found a fish and chip shop and took them back to the cabin for dinner.
Saturday morning we were on the road by 8am, called into the town Sat morning market then drove out to the wind farm about 6km out of town. The huge wind generators make a very impressive sight, 12 in all spread out over a 3km stretch. Each blade is 34 metres long. As it was quite early we were the only visitors there. Departed Albany about 9:30am on the long drive to Esperance. Stopped at Ravensthorpe for lunch, then due to the recent cyclonic storms around Esperance we had to detour from highway 1 on a gravel road for approx. 126km in order to get through to Esperance. Arrived at the Pink Lake Holiday Park around 4:30pm and then popped over to an IGA shop for a few items. Today has been the first hot day we have had.

Kevin & Gail.
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Two Days in Perth.

After collecting Chris and Jim's Subaru from the Indian Pacific motor rail car, we drove to Kings Park to give them an overall view of the city and the Swan River. Under a clear blue sky the views in all directions were magnificent. We then made our way to our hotel - the All Seasons in Northbridge on the outskirts of the CBD. After settling in we walked into the city, had lunch, checked out the shopping malls, then jumped on the free "Blue Cat" bus and rode the complete city circuit. We were very fortunate to strike a very proud and informative bus driver who took it upon himself to provide a non stop commentary on points of interest along the way. Unfortunately at the bus interchange we changed buses, only to discover that our new driver was nothing more than a sombre bus driver. Overall we rate the Perth public transport system as first class. We made contact with fellow Indian Pacific passengers, Vince & Margaret from Queensland and arranged to meet them for dinner at th!
eir hotel in town.
Wednesday morning we walked into town, had breakfast then caught the Captain Cook cruise down the Swan River to Fremantle. This 1-1/4 hour leisurley cruise was very relaxing & enjoyable. We walked all around Fremantle having a look at the changes since we were last here in 1994. The new maritime museum was of special interest, housing 1983 Americas Cup winner Australia II.
We again met up with Vince & Margaret and had a fish and chips lunch at one of the many waterfront
eateries. We then caught the train back to Perth, caught the Blue Cat bus back to Northbridge then walked back the two blocks to our hotel.
Jim, Gail & I had a drink at the bar in the hotel before returning to our rooms for a snack.
Kevin & Gail.
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How The Other Half Live.

Well in Kalgoorlie anyway..
During the three hour whistle stop in Kalgoorlie, Chris, Jim, Gail & I went on the City Highlights coach tour. The city's historic buildings have been magnificently restored and under the night lights looked fantastic. Our coach driver was a local lady who had been previosly been a full time driver driving the massive dump trucks in the Superpit, an open cut gold and nickel mine in adjoining Boulder. This open cut mine is the largest in the world,
measuring approx. 2-1/2 km long by 1km wide and currently 300 metres deep with plans to increase this to 600 metres by the year 2017. We stopped at a vantage point on the edge and were able to see the giant dump trucks slowly grinding their way up the zig zag road to the top. Each of the 60 dump trucks have a payload of 250 tonne, with each of the eight tyres costing $30,000 and a maximum life of six months. It was hard to imagine how this Superpit would look when it reaches the max. planned depth as the huge diggers and trucks already look like tiny matchbox toys from our vantage point.
Our final point of interest on the tour was the infamous Hay Street.
Our coach driver seemed to have an intimate knowledge of several of the better class brothels and in fact came to a complete stop outside the most elaborate establishment where we were joined by the "madam" who gave us a very detailed and open run-down on her high class business - a most entertaining 15 or so minutes. We were even "flashed" on two seperate occasions, once by a well endowed barmaid outside the Main Reef Hotel and later by one of the "girls" outside Club 183 in Hay St. who gave us a quick glimpse of her scantily clad rear end.
After this very informative hour or so we re-boarded the train and departed Kalgoorlie about 11pm. We are due to arrive in Perth at about 9am tomorrow morning.
Kevin & Gail.
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Monday highlights.

Our next stop this evening is a 3 hour whistle stop in Kalgoorlie which gives us the opportunity to do a two hour bus tour and also to send emails from the Pocketmail.
Backtracking to yesterday, we spent a pleasant couple of hours in Adelaide, so Gail & I caught a shuttle bus from the Keswick rail terminal into the CBD. Sunday afternoon in town is quite busy with almost all shops in the Rundle St mall open. It was a good opportunity to stretch our legs after most of the day on board after leaving Broken Hill. We departed Adelaide about 7pm, dinner at 9pm, then a much better nights sleep. The square wheels of the train appear to have taken on a more circular shape or perhaps we are more adjusted to it.
Another great breakfast followed our wake-up cup of tea in bed, then spent most of the day chatting to new found friends and taking in the ever changing panorama. We made a very interesting whistle stop in Cook on the Nullarbor Plain. A permanent population of two, however a number of un-occupied houses are still in very good condition. This "town" would have to be one of the most isolated places we have stopped at - 2,800 km from Sydney and about 1,600 from Perth. Cook still serves as a water top-up point for all trans-continental trains and is also the place where driver change-overs take place. A number of freight trains plus Indian Pacific's in both directions utilise the rail loop here to pass each other on the mostly single trans - continental line.
Currently we are using "train time", although in WA we are still on SA time until we depart Kalgoorlie, which simplifies meal times for staff and passengers. The experience of this 4,500 km rail journey has been something we can highly recommend. Seriously consider it sometime in your life. We are amazed at the number of overseas passengers travelling with us.
Jim is having the time of his life; we reckon he knows everyone in our carriage plus two or three adjoining carriages in either direction as well as their life history.
Kevin & Gail.
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The Only Way To Go.

It appears that private enterprise has it's act together far better than Government operated railways. Although the Indan Pacific was delayed on it's arrival into Sydney, Great Southern Railways (who operate this service plus The Ghan and The Overland) pulled out all stops and had the train fully serviced and re-stocked ready for an "on time" departure from Central railway station at 2:55pm Saturday.
Everything went smoothly with checking the car into the Motor rail receiving yard. Our vehicle is one of only eight accompanying us to Perth on the train.
Upon boarding The Indian Pacific Gail and I were shown to our "Gold Kangaroo" twin berth cabin. Although rather compact it has all the facilities we require for this 3 day/night trip, including private shower and toilet, forward facing day lounge (which is converted to a single bed by our cabin attendant while we are at dinner each evening), plus a second bunk bed above. Two hanging wardrobes, a fold down table and piped music. All in all quite comfortable considering that we will spend a large amount of time in the adjoining Lounge Car. This is beautifully set up with plenty of lounge chairs and lounges plus small round tables, magazines, books, a bar and coffee/tea available. The Dining Car is the next carriage along, also tastefully furnished with full silver service for three meals a day. The beauty of rail travel (in 1st class at least) is the total feeling of relaxation and the ability to be able to move around as you wish and never miss a moment of the ever changing m!
agnificent scenery through the panoramic windows.
The Indian Pacific on this trip has 28 carriages including a crew car, a power car, a double deck motor rail car, 2 dining and 2 lounge cars - all up it is 612 metres long - quite a spectacular sight on bends. It weighs 1,292 tonne all up, with a maximum quoted speed of 115 km/h.
There are two sittings for meals, with each Dining car having a seating capacity of 48 people.

Our first night was quite good once we had sorted out an annoying squeak in the lower bed and adjusted to the slight sideways pitching. An early morning wake-up announcement had everyone up just prior to arrival in Broken Hill at 6:40am local time. An optional whistle stop one hour bus tour of Broken Hill is offered, however Gail and I went for a nice long walk instead as we feel we know the major tourist sights there because of our may previous caravan stops in Broken Hill, particularly the 5 days in October 2005.
All aboard at 8:20am and departure again right on time. As soon as we got under way, the first siting for breakfast was called, to be followed an hour later by the second sitting. This gave us time to relax in our cabin as we took in the vast red earth ad spinifex expanses of far western NSW.
Our next scheduled stop is Adelaide around 3pm local time. We have a 3 hour stop there, optional whistle stop bus tour again available, while the train crew change over and the train is fully serviced in preparation for the remaining 3,500 km crossing to Perth.
Kevin & Gail.
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2007 and Away We Go, again.

Well, as incredible as it may seem, Gail & I are about to embark on yet another holiday. This time within Australia, accompanied by Jim & Chris. Destination - Perth initially, via the Indian Pacific train from Sydney to Perth, a three day trip travelling Gold Kangaroo class (what else). This opportunity arose about two months ago when we received a letter from Great Southern Railways (who we had travelled with in 2002 from Sydney to Alice Springs - on their other train, The Ghan.)
The offer was a "two for one" fare structure. After discussions with Jim & Chris we all decided to "bite the bullet" and accept the offer. One of the conditions was that travel had to be between November '06 and March '07, however the only dates left were early January, hence our planned departure on January 6th '07.
We have decided to take Jim & Chris' Subaru Outback on the train to Perth ($99 extra), then travel to the southwest of WA, then via the Nullabor to SA, then via MtGambier and Warrnambool to The Great Ocean Road, then north to Sydney. Twenty days in all. The idea of another Blog seems the best way for us to maintain a travel diary utilising our portable "Pocketmail" device, as we did during our Alaska & Beyond trip last year.