Road Trip: Around The South Coast And Into The Desert

We started our trek to the “hot spot” of Australia in our little g Adventures bus. The bus held 22 persons and we were only 10 so we had plenty of room to spread out. Our luggage followed in its own little trailer. We shared play lists and rolled along for a good many kilometers. I was always trying to figure our miles by dividing kilometers by 1.6–it was a lot of miles.Not too far outside of Melbourne we started on The Great Ocean Road which runs along the coast line for 151 miles. The road was build as a post 1st world war work project. There are magnificent views and many “photo ops”. The limestone cliffs have eroded over the past million or so years and pieces have become free standing. One of the most famous is: The Twelve Apostles A stop along the Road provided the opportunity to see kowala bears sleeping up in a tree (look close, they blend in and they are hard to see), cockatoos and a parrot party on my head.While there were little towns and beach villages located on the Road there were absolutely no beach front homes and no docks, piers or seafood restaurants. You could always get coffee, beer and a toasti – a white bread slice sandwich done up on the grill. The cheese ones were tasty. I wasn’t very impressed with the food and only found grilled octopus on one menu. It was the most tender example of that delicacy that I have ever eaten. Just delicious.The distance to our destination in the desert was long and pretty boring. I amused myself with “Barb’s Road Trip” playlist–90 songs with a travel theme that Jen made for me, downloaded shows on Netflix and a good audio “who done it” mystery.

We had to stay in several hotels on this trip and I enjoyed the diversity of the landscape and the wild life that were coexisting with us. Lots of “Shippy’s”A midday stop for wine tasting and antipasti was great. This local winery had a yummy dry reisling and superb Pino Noir. When I asked the wine master about screw tops vs corks he expressed his very strong opinion: Cork comes out of the ground and no matter what the French do they can’t get rid of all the dirt! Ugh….I’ll never be able to look at a cork again and not think about that.Two overnight stops were enjoyable experiences. The first was shortly after we started into the outback and the temperatures started to go up up and up. One hotel was in the middle of nowhere but was memorable because it was where I started my quest to experience the best Kangaroo fillet ( Roo for short) in the land. We stayed two nights and the first Roo was cooked to a second death. I learned quick to order my Roo rare (blue is the Australian term) and it came out perfect for my carnerivous needs. I could live happily on cheese toasti’s and sashimi but can’t pass up fillets. The Roo taste is very mild….not as bold as beef and is great grilled.

I haven’t had any burgers in Australia but they serve them with a slice of beet……strange. The rest of my food ventures have been pretty bland and unremarkable. Can’t say the same for beer and wine. These lovely liquids have been very accessible and I can travel with samples to store in my mini fridges with cheese, olives, salmon, and crackers for apre lunch or dinner.

One of the most unique hotels was in Cooper Pedy. Since this little town is pretty deep in the outback and has extremely hot days and near freezing nights are common about 1500 residents have built there homes underground. Our hotel was underground. There was no air con and no heater in the rooms. The temperature stays pretty constant and a comply duvet and a heated mattress pad can take off the chill.There was an air vent in the ceiling with an umbrella to catch the dust. I was assured no critters could get in thru the vent. It was dark at night and a little light was available in the bathroom.After nine days in our “magic bus” we reached our desert highlight: Ulura and its famous rock. This formation is amazing for its size and location–in the middle of nowhere. The Aborigines feel this is a holy shrine and have been lobbying for 37 years to have it closed to climbers/hikers. This finally happened two days before we got there and I was perfectly happy to experience it from a distance. It is pretty much all there is to enjoy in the area but illicits a great sense of awe and respect for nature. It is so big that you get to see it for miles before you get there.Uluru was the cause of my first helicopter ride and didn’t disappoint. In one pic you can see a tiny bus in the middle of the pic and a plane off to the side. This is a really big rock.

How about some champagne and cheese while watching the sunset. Life is good!I doubt that I will ever return to see this spectacular serene manifestation again. The heat was about the hottest and driest I have felt in my life. It was only 39 degrees (102.2) and gets up to 50 in the summer. The breeze was like a heater and the ground radiated warmer than the air. The other issue that I had was the flys. They were small but just loved to land on your face or go into your mouth or eyes. I eliminated that problem with my $10 (6.8 US) fly net. I wasn’t going for a fashion statement and I kept trying to eat and drink thru the netting but it made life good again! We are flying to the tropical north and them starting our exploration of Queensland–the sunshine state before moseying on down the Gold Coast. I will continue to search out “blue roo” and report on my findings.