The Great Ocean Road / Adelaide and Perth

I left Melbourne at the end of May and did the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. It has taken me until now (late July) to get around to writing up this part of my adventure and to be honest with you it may take me a while to recall all of it! But I'll give it ago...

Leaving Melbourne was sad but I was also extremely excited to be heading off to see and discover more of Oz. After eventually managing to re-cram everything back into my back pack and rucksack I left Port Melbourne early on the 24th May. The final part of my Oz Experience bus was operated by Bunyip Tours and involved a 3 day trip to along the Great Ocean Road and Grampians. The Great Ocean Road in its entirety was simply stunning, we were extremely lucky and had very good weather for most of the trip, so the sunshine simply added to the breathtaking views. The first day consisted off stopping at Bells Beach which is one of Australia's most famous surfing beaches, after having a stroll along here we headed off to stop at and admire the views from Lorne and Apollo Bay, both two small coastal towns. We then headed to Cape Otway Lighthouse for a spot of lunch before heading off to the 12 Apostles and Gibson's steps.

Bells Beach

The 2nd day we started off fairly early to re-visit the 12 Apostles in a different light, we then continued on to visit London Bridge, the Bay of Isles and the Bay of Martyrs before heading into the Grampians, stopping off at an Aboriginal Cultural centre. The next day was spent mostly exploring the Grampians; Mackenzie Falls and Wonderland (which the best way to describe this is lots of rock formations that you can walk/climb across) before those of us who were heading to Adelaide got dropped off to catch another coach.

Bay of Martyrs (I think)

12 Apostles

Grampians

London Bridge

Glenelg Beach

4/5 hours later we arrived in Adelaide. I spent the first night at the YHA in the city center, good location for exploring the city and reasonably priced too, even for non members (as some YHA's can be fairly overpriced in my opinion). I spent my first day in Adelaide walking around a large part of the city, I took myself off to the National Wine Centre which is nestled in a corner of the Botanical Gardens, I had a quick nose in the SA museum (but I felt a bit museumed out by the time I got here towards the end of the day). the SA art gallery and the jam factory (no its not a jam factory its another art gallery). Around mid afternoon I headed off to Glenelg which is where I was staying for 2 more nights, its a tram ride out of the city to a little seaside town, which in the summer is hugely popular but as I was in low season was very very quiet (much like Adelaide in general). On my last day before I flew from Adelaide to Perth I went to Victor Harbor to spend the day with some family that I hadn't seen for more than a decade. It was so lovely to catch up with them, which surprisingly (and thankfully) wasn't awkward in the slightest. Sam and Uncle Dick took me around Victor Harbor to show me the popular tourist town, we had a spot of lunch and then had a walk around the Island of Granite.

Granite Island

Adelaide as a city, is far too quiet and small for me but I can understand why a lot of families settle there - it has a real suburban feel, even in the CBD. As I was only there for a flying visit I unfortuantely didn't get to travel to any wineries but I am hoping to go back in September / October so will ensure that I pay them a visit then!

After goodbyes with my family and re-packing my rucksack once again, the next morning I was off to catch my flight to Perth. A note I have made to myself if not to fly with Jetstar ever again, they are the easyjet of Australia and although they get you from A-B, I ended up being charged for a few more kilo's that I was carrying (even after throwing away a lot of things including my hairdryer!) and I realised that for the extra money that I ended up spending I may have simply have booked with Virgin and had a more pleasant experience than I did but you live and learn. So my advice for any backpackers out there, unless you are traveling very light or definitely within the weight limit I'd recommend not flying with Jetstar (or Tiger - I have heard they are even worse) and paying that little bit more for a far superior service which includes food and entertainment!

In Perth I decided to stay at the Wickham Retreat, which is a really small hostel in comparison to a lot of other places I have stayed, I think they had a capacity of around 30 people, so it had a lovely cosy homely feel and situated in East Perth. Its a tad more expensive but if you are looking at staying a while if you speak with the owner who is always on the property, apparently he can do deals so its a lot more reasonable - I only found this out once I had left, but I still really liked staying there. I was only in Perth initially for 3 nights whilst I was waiting to head south to start my regional work. I can't comment too much on Perth as I didn't get to see or experience that much of it, but I will say these few things - the centre of Perth is...not the nicest of area's, even though parts of the shopping centre and surrounding look like it has recently been re-done it has quite a run down / down trodden feel to it. They do however offer three free bus services around the main parts of the city, which is great if you're a tourist! I took myself off to Fremantle one day, which I would recommend when the markets are on, either a Friday or a Saturday and also to Kings Park, which has simply the most amazing view of the city. I didn't feel particularly safe in Perth so didn't really venture out at night but I did take myself to a quirky little cinema to see The Great Gatsby (loved it!).

View from Kings Park of Perth city

On the Saturday morning I was picked up by the farmer and his wife and I was taken off to Boyup Brook to commence my 3 months on a vineyard completing my regional work. Needless to say, it didn't work out as planned I am now writing this blog from back in Melbourne....my next post details my time pruning in WA. Which is now thankfully only a memory.