Adelaide to Coober Pedy

TUESDAY, APRIL 29

Up bright and early this morning (5:15 a.m.) to go to the airport. When John went out to bring the car around to load it, he discovered it was covered in frost! Guess they really do get some cold weather here. Once we were on the way, we discovered a second interesting fact – it was foggy (but mostly in the higher areas and not when we went down into valleys). I was hoping to see some wildlife on the drive but we didn’t spot anything.

We got to the outskirts of Melbourne about 7 a.m. and it took another 40 minutes to get to the airport (about 18 km). Returning the rental car was really easy (just a side note – we put 2850 km on it in the 10 days we had it) and we headed to the domestic terminal – I should have listened to Karen (my sister for those who don’t know) when she told me that just because you’re flying within Australia doesn’t mean it will be from the domestic terminal. We discovered that our flight to Adelaide from Melbourne was on an international flight that was heading to Singapore. So back we went to the International terminal, only to find that the lineup for the check-in was enormous. It did move fairly quickly however – it was good that we got to the terminal so early, although since there were only about 50 people on the entire plane – and 7 flight attendants, we wouldn’t have been bumped off because we were late. We got good service *lol*

The Maui rental place wasn’t too far from the airport and soon we were on the road in

our home for the next week. It was good to have had the experience driving on the left side in a small car – made the transition a little easier when we got the van. It’s bigger than I expected and has lots of storage space. John says that the van is about 1/2 again as long as a Dodge extended van. The drive out of Adelaide was made smoothly, thanks to some really good instructions from the fellow at the Maui rentals.

We headed for the Clare Valley. There are a lot of wineries in the valley, but we were looking for the Sevenhill Cellars – a winery established by Jesuits in 1851. It was as beautiful as the photos I had seen on the internet. They also had a museum of old wine making equipment and and underground cellar which was open for viewing.

John wanted to buy this wine keg (in case you can’t read the sign on it – it’s 500 gallons) but it didn’t fit in the van.

Unfortunately, we didn’t really enjoy most of the wines – but there was one that we really liked so we bought a bottle for on the road. We thought about staying in Clare, but it was only about 3 p.m. and we thought we could go a little further. We made it as far as Port Pirie and finally found a grocery store. It wasn’t very well stocked but we did manage to get most of what we needed (we got the last 1 litre jug of 2% milk!) – we’ll stop in Port Augusta tomorrow to try to get the rest. When we came out of the store, it was already dark (at 6 p.m.) and we still needed to find a campsite. We found the Port Pirie Caravan Park without too much problem. The campgrounds in Australia are pretty neat – most of them have rental cabins as well as spaces for vans or just for tent camping. Cost to camp for the night (no power hookup) was $25. Not sure what the cost of the cabins are, but it seems like it would be a more inexpensive way to travel (with a small car that gets good mileage.) The van has a 75 litre fuel tank and it takes diesel which is approximately $1.67 litre.

The road speeds here are something else – the posted speed on a fairly narrow, rough twisty road was 110 – we probably wouldn’t be allowed to do more than 60 on it at home. Driving the van was challenging for John as he could barely get to the speed limit *g* but he did manage to pass a few vehicles.

Only saw one animal on the road (that was alive, that is) – it was a large stag. He came running across the field just in time to leap across the road a short ways in front of the van.

Off to Coober Pedy tomorrow – about a 7 hour drive. We’ll probably get a fairly early start as it’s been a tiring day and we’re going to bed early.

Temperature: 18 to 20 C (after reaching Adelaide – it was bloody cold this morning in Ballarat) – sunny

Chris at the Sevenhills Cellars underground cellar

John at the Sevenhills Cellars underground cellar

Bamboo and Prickly Pear Cactus – an odd combination

St. Aloysius Church, Sevenhills Winery

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30

Even with going to bed at about 8:30, we slept until 6:30 this morning – waking up in the night to the sound of heavy rain and wind. When we got up, it was “misting” but wasn’t windy anymore. We discovered that our campsite was right beside a river, and that there was an iron smelter across the river. The only other thing to see was a grove of mangrove trees along the banks.

The bedding supplied by the rental company is interesting – there is a bottom sheet and a duvet plus two pillows. We found it a little cool – so when we got to Port Augusta this morning, we bought a polar fleece blanket as well as the rest of the supplies we had forgotten. We also made a stop at the information centre which was located at the Wadlata Outback Centre. It was interesting to see the history of the outback – including a short film on when the continent was mostly submerged under the ocean. We didn’t stay at the exhibit for too long as it was going to be a long drive to Coober Pedy (pronounced Pee-dee) and we wanted to get into a campsite before dark.

Just outside Port Augusta, the terrain started to change – you could see more red earth and fewer trees. Soon you could see for miles – the photos don’t do justice to the openness of the countryside. We saw

emus

numerous times during today’s travel. The first ones we saw were inside a fence so we wondered if they were being farmed but then we saw lots more on the side of the road with nothing around. We also saw some very large eagles – including one who absolutely refused to move off the road (he was guarding some roadkill) and we had to go around him. Luckily, there isn’t much traffic on the roads but some of the trucks are huge, like this

road train.
There were a lot of those on the road.

There wasn’t time to go to the Flinders Ranges but we could see them in the distance. We also saw quite a few salt flats – and one lake that had some water but was mostly salt flats too.

We got to Coober Pedy at about 4:30 p.m. and found the Oasis Tourist Park. The cost for a powered campsite was $22.50 and they have wireless internet access. Showers cost 20 cents for a 2 1/2 minute shower and the woman at the reception desk says that Coober Pedy has wonderful drinking water. We haven’t tested it yet but will before we leave – if it really is good, then we’ll refill all the water jugs we have with us.

They have a cute swimming pool – that we didn’t use.

We did go for a walk into the main town area and checked out the price of diesel – at one station it was $1.77 litre and at another it was $1.73 litre. There were some mosquitoes and small flies – but not enough to resort to buying nets for our heads (yet!). We toured the Desert Cave underground gallery – basically a small museum of the history of opal mining and we saw this:

in town. Settle a discussion please – was it from Mad Max or one of the Star Wars movies?

We also found this water refilling station – for 20 cents you can get 30 litres of water – not bad for a town in the desert.

Tomorrow we have a tour of Coober Pedy booked – and then I think we’re off again.

Temperature: 20 to 23 C – overcast with some big fat drops of rain – usually no more than 100 at a time – how do things survive with that little amount of rainfall?

Road sign – and the light spots are bullet holes

Trench on the side of the road – these were all along the roadside – not sure if they are to slow the cattle and sheep down or to collect rainfall or both or ??

You can start seeing the red earth just outside Port Pirie

Ballarat – 2

SATURDAY, APRIL 26

Today we decided to go to Bendigo – to find the

Bendigo Woollen Mill.

It looked like a fairly simple matter to navigate to the north of town…. Ha! The roads change names when they turn corners around here so we somehow ended up on the wrong road. When we pulled over to check the map, there was a wallaby – right in the middle of town. Of course, my camera was still in the backpack. I’m not leaving the condo without it around my neck from now on! We found the way back to the main road and started northeast through the towns of Creswick and Castlemaine – part of the Goldfields Route.

It was foggy on the way so we didn’t see much of the scenery but what we could see was like the foothills of Alberta. And this is sheep country for sure – they’ve been shorn and they blend in to the background that sometimes you had to really look to be sure it was a sheep and not a clump of dried grass. We stopped at the Information Centre in Castlemaine to find a map of Bendigo. The lady at the information centre pointed out where Lansell Street was – it made us happy to see that it was at the south end of the city. She also told us that the large number of motorbikes we were seeing was because there was a bike run from Castlemaine to Maldon on the Anzac long weekend and it was a huge event. Off we went to Bendigo, happy to know exactly where the street was but, surprise! there was no wool factory on Lansell Street. John asked a man who was in his yard and he didn’t know anything about it. Hmmm, back to the map. Turns out there are two Lansell streets in Bendigo – the other one was in the

centre of town. We found the street, with much confusion, only to discover that it stops and continues in another location off another street. Luckily, we had picked up a brochure of Bendigo at the Information Centre and it showed the location of the mill. With a few twists and turns, we located it. Inside the factory store, it was interesting – yarn was displayed in large bins and there were knitted samples for all the wool. It took a while, but I found some wool (with John’s help) and we headed back out of town. There is a trolley tour in the town, the rail goes down the centre of the street but people were parked on the rails, waiting to turn to the other side of the road. We were wondering what would happen if the trolley came along while there were cars there when we saw one approaching. It had to stop and wait for the traffic to clear.

From Bendigo, we took a detour to Maldon. The bikers had arrived for lunch there – there were thousands of bikes – apparently, for this event, they were all supposed to be British made motorcycles. There were a lot of Triumphs and some Nortons, Lee Enfields, and BSA’s. We did see a few Harley and Japanese made motorcycles but the majority were British. It was totally amazing to see them lining the street – and then we looked down another street and saw them lining that one too. We wanted to stop for photos but there was absolutely no parking anywhere in the town. Back to Castlemaine, to find some lunch. Castlemaine was busy too – we found a parking spot finally and wandered up and down the streets (well I wandered while John went to Subway). I did spot a wool shop but I restrained myself from going in *lol* When we were leaving the town, we spotted a number of motorbikes outside a hotel. One of the older ones even had a sidecar.

The fog had lifted when we came back – and we could see the Pyrenees Mountain Range in the distance. There was also this sign on the highway. Who knew they had snow and ice? Apparently, there hasn’t been much precipitation lately and the towns in this area are on strict water conservation measures.

Temperature on Saturday: 16 C – windy with heavy rain at times

They must actually get some cold weather

SUNDAY, APRIL 27

We’ve been wondering about going to the airport and this morning decided to drive down that way – to time it and to find out where the rental car is returned. We headed off (and didn’t get lost this time). A short way down the highway, I noticed a castle on the hill. We did a U-turn and discovered Kryal Castle. Apparently, it is the only “medieval” castle in Australia – and it does reenactments of medieval times (no we didn’t see that, it wasn’t the right time for a tour). It was pretty impressive to see.

After that detour, John noticed that the gas tank was below 1/4 so we started looking for a gas station. We saw an off-ramp (we were on a freeway) for a town so we went looking for a gas station. Apparently, if the town sign doesn’t show a gas pump, it means there’s no gas station there. John was given instructions to go to the next town – however, when we got there, the gas station was closed because it was Sunday. Back to the freeway, and about 6 km along it was a truck stop/gas station/KFC – of course the gas was more expensive than Ballarat but what can you do? Shortly after getting on the freeway again, we noticed a field of prickly pear cactus with fruit. It was being cultivated. All along the roadside were other prickly pears but not in as extensive quantity as that one place. We kept looking for a field that we could get a photo of but of course there weren’t anymore. If we go past the field in the daylight on Tuesday, I’ll try to get a photo. The route to the airport was well marked as was the rental car return area so we drove through the departure area and found ourselves back on the freeway. Oops, not the right freeway. We finally found a spot where we could turn around and go the opposite way and then we watched for signs to take us a back way to Buninyong and then to Ballarat. The scenery on the road was fantastic –

you could see miles before there was a mountain. The weather, however, was deceptive. It looked warm but there was a very cool wind when you got out of the car.

When we got back to the condo, John was ready for a powernap but I decided to head out to the grounds and take a few photos. I checked out the exercise room , the hot tub and the swimming pool (just a lap pool – only 1.5 metres deep) and then walked around the grounds a few times. It was brisk and I was the only person out there. The swan came swimming up to me, hoping for food but I disappointed him. Tomorrow, we have to do laundry, find a post office and a bookstore. Maybe there will even be some time to explore downtown Ballarat now that we’re a little more familiar with the city.

Temperature on Sunday: 10 C – sunny but windy

Kryal Castle

Sign at Kryal Castle

Flower in the gardens at the condo

Pathway around lake at condo – it’s autumn!

MONDAY, APRIL 28

We found the post office easily and had a nice chat with the lady who runs it. We sent the parcel off – will have to stop collecting as much in the way of books and pamphlets as postage is just as bad as it is at home. Our next stop was Lake Wendouree, site of the 1956 Olympics Rowing, Canoeing and Kayaking events. We had heard that the drought had affected the lake but we were surprised to see just how much. The information pamphlet I read stated that “A recently announced ‘rescue plan’ should see the Lake at full capacity again by 2008.” They were a little out on their planning.

This is how the lake looks now – the building in front is the Ballarat Yacht Club

And these are the yachts at the Yacht Club.

We found the site where the Olympic Rings are and couldn’t resist the chance to take a photo with our Olympic wear. My hat has the Olympic logos on it as does John’s shirt. (Lizz – my Olympic shirt is on the way home – the letters are coming off!)

John at the Olympic Rings

Chris at the Olympic Rings

We found these signs amusing while we were at the lake – you’d think they might change them slightly now that the lake is dry (well, John said it was a little damp where he walked but definitely not wet).

After driving around the lake, we went further into the downtown area and went looking for a bookstore. It was really windy while we were walking – and we really wished we had heavier clothing with us! The main street in town contains a “Sculpture Walk”. The sculptures range from a contemporary art structure called Eternal Flame to statues of

Robbie Burns and Queen Victoria. We found a large bookstore called Book City. Word of advice – if anyone is coming here and they want paperbacks to read, either bring them with you or try to find a used bookstore (or possibly thrift store). The paperbacks on the shelves were $20. We did find a book for John in the bargain bin and I found some guides to birds, mammals and reptiles found in Australia. They probably weigh as much as the papers we sent back already today *s*

Now it’s time to do the laundry and figure out how to pack everything for the flight tomorrow. Not sure when there’ll be internet access again – possibly in Coober Pedy. Will post again when we can. With today’s temperature, I’m really looking forward to getting to the desert.

Temperature on Monday: 10 C – clear but windy

Sign at the lake

Ballarat fly fishing club (see next photo for what the small sign on the building says)

Sign on the Fly Fishing Club building

Swamphen

Ballarat – 1

Woke up during the night to the sound of pouring rain – and we were sure it was going to be horrible and wet in the morning. To our surprise, it looked completely dry outside, like it hadn’t rained at all. It was a little overcast but still fairly warm.

We headed out to see the last scenic stops of the Great Ocean Road – first off was

The Arch.
There was an extra bonus from being out that early – there was no one else around. It was a short walk to the viewpoint for The Arch and the view was spectacular. The next stop was

London Bridge
– one section of it fell in the late 90’s so it’s not quite as impressive now but there was a descriptive plaque showing how it originally looked. We ran into a couple of other people there but they were heading back from the lookout.

It was still pretty quiet when we got to The Grotto. It was a long hike down the hill but well worth it. And it was so nice not to share the experience with 100’s of others. We used the self timer on the camera and took a picture at the lowest level of the lookouts.

Chris and John at The Grotto

The next stop was at

The Bay of Martyrs
– there was nothing to explain why it was called that but the limestone stacks all over the bay were fantastic. Just a short distance down the road was The Bay of Islands – similar to the Bay of Martyrs but the stacks were further apart.

We ran into a little rain on the way to Warrnambool but it didn’t last long. We did turn to go to Ballarat at Warrnambool – and I was glad we did. A short way up the highway, we spotted a family on the side of the road who were looking up a tree. As we drove past, I spotted a koala so John turned around and I got a couple of pictures of it. It was just sitting in the tree – and looking at me when I talked to it. It was so neat to see a koala in the wild *s*

We got to Ballarat about 1:30 and stopped for some groceries before finding the way to Worldmark, Ballarat. This place is fantastic – the main building was built in the late 1800’s – and it’s huge. The room wasn’t ready so we drove around for a while (trying hard not to get too lost) and then came back and walked around the grounds. There is a lake on the property and lots of trees.

We are in the main building – The Grange, and there are two other wings – Humbert House and Gilston House. To get to our apartment, you need to go up a long staircase – no elevators here. The apartment is smaller than a normal one bedroom, but about the same size as Seattle however, the ceilings are 8 feet high. The “full” kitchen has a convection oven, a two-burner hotplate, a microwave, a fridge and a sink. No dishwasher 🙁 oh well, it was good to be able to eat a balanced meal tonight. This is another wine region in Australia so we might try to find a winery and do some taste testing. *s*

There is no internet in the room here so will try and post as often as I can.

Temperature on Thursday: 20 C – sun, cloud and a little rain