Great Ocean Road and Kangaroo Island

So after we got stopped by the police, we had a lovely breakfast on funky Brunswick St. Oh wait- did we forget to mention that we got stopped by the police? Well, as Rob was just getting the hang of this novel left-side-of-the-road-driving thing, we heard sirens, and immediately started thinking of all the potential road rules we might have broken. Two police officers emerged and surrounded the car. Without skipping a beat, Rob pulled out the Canada card, explaining how he was just learning how to drive on the left side of the road. The police officer replied, “Ya, I can tell.” He made us pull over onto a side street, but we still didn’t know what we did wrong. After inquiring, the officer explained “nothing specific, you just looked like you didn’t know what you were doing.” Rob exclaimed, “I don’t!” They were rather sweet and a bit apologetic, giving us travel tips, and chatting with us about our future vacation plans. What’s a RANAD vacation without at least one encounter with the authorities?

Now for the Great Ocean Road. Think Route 1 California crossed with Cabot Trail Nova Scotia with a twist of Amalfi Italy (see our previous blogs).

Everyone has made it abundantly clear that one should never drive the great ocean road after dark...but we did. Nonetheless we had the majority of the day in light to appreciate the spectacular vista, and feel spectacularly jealous of those that live so near. With ocean on one side, and cliffs and sea-facing villas on the other, it’s not hard to be impressed. Continuing with the theme of past RANAD road trips, Aviva read us a novel: The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green. The book is about a teenager living with terminal cancer, and while certainly tragic, it’s not overly sentimental and chock full of satire and wit.

That night after dinner (which included kangaroo steak for the guys), we stayed on a farm, and our host, Sue, had a little surprise for us: A baby koala that she had rescued after its mother was killed by a car. Words cannot express the cuteness of this furry creature, and we all took turns petting him. In addition, the next morning there was a herd of wild kangaroos grazing on the property, just outside our windows. We felt like we had VIP passes for some nature show. Just as quickly as they appeared at our windows, off they hopped (or rather leaped), agile and swift.
We got an early start that day so that we could get in a couple of hikes before continuing on our drive. Our hike was along the cliffs edge, and down to the beach in Port Campbell National Park. Though not the most physically demanding of all hikes, it was certainly one of the most beautiful. Next, we went to see the 12 Apostles. Not a religious site, but a natural one; 12 giant rocks protruding from the ocean that have been carved out from the mainland by the relentless waves. During our drive that day, we stopped in a town called Warnambool, a small, non-descript town, but surprisingly we had a lovely lunch in a hip cafe because in Australia you can spit and find a good cafe.

That night, however, we had a uniquely different experience. We had no reservations, so pulling into a town called Naracoorte, Aviva suggested we stop at the best lit hotel for the night. Now, the tip-off should have been that attached to the hotel was a “drive-thru bar.” Seriously. But we decided to give it a go because after all, it was well lit. Rob went in to scope it out and the next tip-off should have been the sign saying “No Minors Allowed;” the receptionist was reluctant to give a room to a family because of the no minors rule, but acquiesced when he learned that the eldest was an 18-year old girl. The price seemed good, so Rob continued to check it out. He noted the casino, shared-bathroom and finally, the real deal-breaker: Four barefooted guys sitting in the hallway, drying their socks on chairs. So we nixed that hotel. The next hotel was no better, so we took a break to buy some groceries, but even the grocery store was a bit sketchy, with posters of bikini-clad girls advertising firewood, and ads for discounts on alcohol and tobacco on pension cheque day. Finally the woman at cash recommended we try Carolynne’s Cottages. Aviva was sceptical, as it was completely un-lit and almost impossible to find, as though Carolynne was challenging us to find her business. Aviva was certain that we were going to be murdered in this remote forested location at the outskirts of town, and pointed at the stone statues in the yard, claiming they were Carolynne’s past guests...Hmm. Carolynne turned out to be an elderly woman who should have been more scared of us than we were of her, and showed us to our cozy cottage with a fully-stocked fridge.

The next day, we drove inland through South Australia wine country, passing several wineries along the way. We drove to our ferry that took us to Kangaroo Island. Due to Diane’s unruly behaviour -shrieking with fear as Rob was driving along the cliff- Diane was demoted to the very back of the minivan where her inability to accurately see the road drastically improved her behaviour! Kangaroo Island is sort of like the P.E.I. of Australia, but it’s almost completely uninhabited by people (loads of wildlife though). Our first night there, we went for a nature walk looking for wallabies, kangaroos, and possums. Key word is “looking”-we never actually saw any that night. We did see a pitch-black night sky strewn with stars; no clouds, no light pollution just us and the galaxy.

We despaired that we were only going to see wildlife in the form of road kill (sadly, the highways are dotted with dead wallabies, possums, and some kangaroos), but we did get to see tons of live animals the next day. First we went to the Remarkable Rocks,

which is a dome formed by rising molten lava that cooled, and then was exposed to erosion by wind and sea. They are basically giant boulders in kooky shapes that you can climb; we didn’t climb though. Then we went on to the Admiral’s Arch, where we were feet away from New Zealand fur seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

We saw sleeping pups, a few territorial scuffles, and some were swimming in the crashing deathly waves, totally nonplussed. We watched them for at least an hour. We then went on a nature walk in Flinders Chase National Park where we got to see the Australian wildlife we were looking for: Kangaroos and wallabies grazing in the planes, exotic birds (emus?), and amazing plant life. There was a platypus viewing site where you have a 98% chance of not viewing a platypus. And guess what? We didn’t see one.

On our last day in Kangaroo Island, we toured the local farms. First we visited a bee farm where they produce honey using a Ligurian (from Italy) bee. This bee only exists in its purest strain on Kangaroo Island because the island has been so successfully quarantined for the past 150 years. We also visited a eucalyptus distillery where they make eucalyptus oil. We wondered what eucalyptus oil can’t do since it seems to be a cure for anything and everything. Finally we went to a sheep dairy, and got some amazing cheeses. The owner let us feed the sheep, which included one very bossy (i.e., territorial) ewe who kept butting the others out of the way when we’d try to feed them. The advantage of coming to Australia during the winter, their off-season, was that we got a lot of appreciative proprietors, who gave us little free tours.

After taking the ferry back to the mainland, we drove to Adelaide to spend the night prior to a flight to Alice Springs. What to say about Adelaide? After seeing the culture and sophistication of Sydney and Melbourne, the gritty feel of Adelaide was particularly striking. Lots of sex shops, gaming rooms (casinos), massage parlours, etc... It’s a raunchy city with a reputation for being so.
Currently we are in the airport waiting for our delayed flight to Alice Springs.

More soon.

Love,
RANAD