Sydney to Adelaide and back......
And a good day to you all... Hope you enjoyed the photos and hope they were worth waiting for..I thought that I would add a brief entry to cover off the Adelaide trip on the basis that hilarity did prevail and that I have never driven so far in my life! The whole time I was on the road I kept thinking of that Alan Partridge radio sketch when he's interviewing the 'famous french racing car driver' Michel Lambert, and the first question he hits Michel with is: "What's the furthest you've ever driven without stopping?".... Because I knew for a fact that on this trip I would... drive the furthest that I have ever driven without stopping, mainly for the fact that I was the only insured driver and it's a rod of a long way.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAnyway. Dave (mate from Buffalo, New York State), Chris (Pom from Manchester) and I set off about 10.30am January 5th from Manly with the aim of making it to Adelaide via Canberra and Melbourne and back in 7 days. Now we were all under no illusion that this is a bastard of a long way, but it could be done, it would be short time wise but that's all we had to spare.
Leaving Syndey we took towards Botany Bay (the airport) and out towards Wollongong where I was desperate to visit the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple, the biggest Buddhist Temple in the southern hemisphere. This is an extraordinary place situated half way up a hill overlooking the rather dour, industrial site of Wollongong. So besides the rather suspect location it was a very peaceful first stop on Day 1.
Next stop had us pulling into the Italian fishing settlement of Ulladulla very near the Morton National Park. After refuelling with pasta we headed towards Canberra. I would like to say that there was an air of excitement amongst the crew but never have I had such low expectations heading towards the capital of a country... may I add, the capital of an incredibly beautiful country.
Canberra quite simply has to be the biggest shower of shite on earth, period. All I had been told about Canberra was true and that is why I and you should you ever go there, have very low expectations because the end result is that - you aren't disappointed and you can happily continue your journey south towards the Snowy Mountains into infinite beauty... There is one thing about Canberra that shocked me, and it is this. We drove straight into the car park in the belly of New Parliament Buildings in the middle of the day and there was ZERO security! Nothing, zilch, not any security of any description, not even a fat lad stuffing doughnuts down his gullet reading some top shelf material...
So the drive to Merimbula started. Merimbula was the chosen location of our first night on the road, for what reason I can't quite remember other than I was shattered and it kinda made sense. Merimbula is a very popular place for holidaymakers from Victoria to get a break from hectic?! Melbourne life. We pulled into Merimbula at around 8.30pm and checked into the delightful Wandarrah Lodge YHA, and were given a thorough run through the rules by 'Sweaty' Betty. Food then consumed it was off to the bottle shop for some beers which we decided to consume down by the lake. We immediately noticed about 20 people wading in the lake with buckets, which we later discovered was the local night-time past-time... prawn fishing. After an unusual meeting with 2 hammered female 'youths', who I add had never met someone from outside Australia?! we headed back to the comforts of the YHA for a few hours of shut eye.
After a 9am departure we headed into the state of Victoria through the beautiful Gippsland Region to Lakes Entrance, an old fishing port/tourst town. Now when arriving in Lakes Entrance there is something that you will notice almost immediately.... Everyone here seems to be very, very closely related - the Lakes might be big but the gene pool is definitely drying up. I found myself continually helping people struggling with 'knuckle drag'. That said, lunch at Dj's was good and huge giving us that extra bit of energy to make it through to Melbourne on Day 2. We decided that having heard such good things about the St Kilda district of Melbourne that that is where we would stay. On consulting the ever reliable Rough Guide to Australia, it described St Kilda as "sophisticated yet seedy" with a "raging nightlife". The search for a hostel bed at such short noticed proved to be more of a problem than we had anticipated but we finally struck 'Gold' by getting a dorm at Jackson's House run by someone that can only be described as a 'freak' called Tim.
It was at this stage that the cry for food and beer was performed and we did just that. Eager for entertainment and the 'raging nightlife' of St Kilda we headed to 'The Elephant and Wheelbarrow' a well-known English pub in St Kilda. Now going to English pubs ain't something I do abroad usually but to put I bluntly I needed a bloody good feed and the shite on offer everywhere else just didn't cut it for Uncle Chop Chops - so a Cumberland sausage maybe even laid by the elephant himself and some veg and mash was gonna have to do. It was shortly after dining that the 'band' came on.. Now I have heard a number of cover bands in my life, some good, some bad. But what I really object to is cover bands that play tunes that they never, ever have a hope of doing justice. I mean by all means murder your Crowded House etc but leave Bono and the likes alone, they don't deserve it.
My wait for the cacophony to end was in vain and we had to leave to Dave's disappointment at around 9.30pm when my ears started to bleed. Our evening then consisted of a futile wander around the streets of St Kilda in search of something bordering on fun. Even a few games of pool with a couple of kinda nice English ladies didn't quite cut it. Finally we made it back to Jackson's House where we sat our arses in front of the final 30 mins of Fahrenheit 9/11. Chris and I made it to bed but Dave passed out in the living room so I went down to revive him. There were about 5 people still there as well as Dave so I naively start slapping Dave shouting 'come to f***ing bed Dave', I then turn around to see everyone staring at me thinking: "Those 2 are gay! He's pleading with him to come to bed with him!" so I went back upstairs leaving Dave to make his own way to bed.
Now it's here that I have to tell you about Melbourne... Never have I been so disappointed by a place in my life. I had very high expectations of Melbourne, partly, I believe, because people regularly seem to mention it in the same breath as Sydney. Believe me people, do not swallow this crap. There are many attractive elements to Melbourne but with Sydney it simply does not compare and even forgetting that I left bitterly disappointed. There was one saving grace to our trip to Melbourne, well for Chris and I anyway... we got to wander around Ramsay Street or Pin Oak Crescent as it's actually known. There is something oddly satisfying that you have done exactly the same thing as millions of bored Neighbours fans in Melbourne in search of some of Melbourne's excitement. I must write to the Rough Guide when I get back to blighty.
As nice as it was to leave Melbourne the drive on the 7th was a beast. Around nightfall we landed in Warrnambool, a strange seaside agricultural town where we stumbled across the Warrnambool Hotel, a modest place with a great pub and a few rooms above. But although a test of stamina it is the drive to Warrnambool from Melbourne that stands out in my memory on this trip. It more than ably competes with the Big Sur coastline of California and the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The Great Ocean Road in Victoria is quite simply amazing. It's a very winding 280kms of awesome coastal scenery with gems such as the 12 apostles, London Bridge and Bells Beach (of Point Break fame). The road itself hugs the coastline betwen Torquay and Apollo Bay passing through the stunning coastal towns of Lorne and Angelsea. From Apollo Bay the road heads slightly inland through the forests of the Otway National Park before rejoining the coast at Princetown to wind along the shore for the entire length of the Port Campbell National Park (The Shipwreck Coast). I think we were still lost for words when we arrived in Warrnambool not to mention incapable of pronouncing it's name. After checking into our room (which I must add had the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in) we headed out for some nosh and decided rather predictably to grab some beers so back to the Warrnambool Hotel. This was a great place, full of friendly locals and average priced beer and even some entertainment as we watched two fully grown men attempt to strangle each other to death - laughed I nearly cried!
After a good night's kip we headed off through Port Fairy, Nelson, Mt Gambier and on to Kingston S.E - home of the Giant Lobster. Then through the incredible Fleurieu Peninsula to Glenelg, perhaps Adelaide's most popular beach town 11kms S.W of the City. Now I arrived in Adelaide with almost no expectations and I left thoroughly impressed. Impressed with the people, the beauty, the everything - full marks Adelaide. We found ourselves a great little hostel near the beach in Glenelg and had a really relaxing evening allowing us to get the most out of Adelaide the following day. Adelaide is definitely somewhere I will be returning to one day, I mean the place has a restaurant for every 29 people!!!
Sunday in Adelaide rocked and after visits to the Sir Don Bradman museum, the South Australia Museum and a good trot around the city, oh yeah and a chance meeting with Shaiob Akhtar at some traffic lights, we returned to Glenelg to drop Chris off and Dave and I started the monster 2000km drive back to Sydney at about 5pm.
That evening I managed 500km before we stopped for some well needed sleep in Mildura before getting up at sparrow's fart on Monday and nailing the 1,500km drive back to Sydney in around 11 hours taking the Sturt Highway across the Murray River and through the Riverland region to the New South Wales border.
Finally made it back to Manly at about 7pm on Monday two days ahead of schedule and with 4,500kms on the clock and a job well done. As Scott said to me on my return: "Chopper, you are a machine"... Although I am not sure I'll be doing that amount of Kms in 5 days again if I can help it.
Big shout out goes to Dave and Chris for navigation and managing to stay awake in the car after day 2, you guys made it such an awesome trip.
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