So we enjoyed the first few days of 2008 in our favourite Australian city, Sydney. The Sydney festival started on the 5th so we managed to catch some of the free events. Not sure if free equates to crap but Brian Wilson(of the Beach Boys fame) opened the event and left alot to be desired. Mark was soon dragging me off instead to the live wedding event and we were pleased the entertainment improved with 3 unconventional weddings; a very pregnant bride, a bride dressed as Madonna and of course the gay wedding. I had to pass Mark a tissue, he gets very emotional at such "girlie" events.
Our final activity in Sydney was the ridiculously expensive but great all the same bridge climb. Apart from the all-in-one very snugly fitting suits, modelled on the star trek costumes(oh, and the rain) climbing 1200+ steps for the amazing views of Sydney was well worth it.
We left Sydney for Melbourne, the longest leg of our road trip so far. The drive was 9 1/2 hours and we were starting to go mad listening to the best Aussie radio can offer-80's rock, mullets and all. As you can imagine driving from Cape Tribulation to our furthest destination Adelaide has been quite a challenge not least with Guns and Roses for company!
Melbourne was great, we did the cultural things- the Museum where they had an exhibition on "The Body", Mark was as ever queasy and needed to sit down, especially in the naked photo part! He managed the immigration museum ok and we had fun at the seaside resort of St Kilda. Cultural things done we then decided to test the local wine during a good night out with friends Jag and Shane who live in nearby Narre Warren. They were kind enough to accommodate us for 4 nights at their lovely pad, 5 stars for service! We enjoyed getting to know their adorable kids, Jag's home cooking, a truly fantastic Aussie barbie and a splash in Shane's folks' pool.
We also visited nearby Phillip Island, the temperature this day was 40+ degrees! We spent most of our time body surfing to cool down(no nude incidents this time) and also found a bird hide in which we took shelter until we realised the look wasn't cool and couldn't stand the smell of bird poo anymore.
Back of the road from Melbourne we took the very scenic route along the Great Ocean Road. This drive is stunning with amazing views of the limestone coast, we passed the 12 Apostles, the London Bridge(a weathered limestone rock face similar to any bridge) and the Arch. We stayed along the route in Apollo Bay, Port Fairy and our favourite choice of Robe. The temperature was somewhat cooler, cooler but not cold like we're used to at home though. Even so the motels here supplied electric blankets, I would have never believed Australia would own an electric blanket and needless to say we didn't use them as a temperature of mid 20's is just perfect not cold! The cooler climate not only provided unnecessary electric blankets but also the unnecessary Aussie fly, back to haunt us. I wound have bought one of those hats with a net to make me look like a bee keeper if I could have found one- the little buggers are unbelievable- they never stop buzzing around every orifice(I mean every) and we were forced to join every other person demonstrating the Aussie wave to waft the flies a few inches for less than a single second. As if by constantly waving our arms we didn't look psychotic enough we then found ourselves doing a crazy dance by the car to get them off us before our run up and propulsion into our seats. Thinking we'd escaped we would then find one off the buggers had still managed to enter the car with us and we'd be left dreaming of owning a bee keeping outfit- or a gun! Speaking of cars, we had another incident whilst driving on the beach in Robe. Of course it had to be me driving when we managed to get stuck in the sand. Blaming my driving, Mark summoned help from a local- "no worries mate", and the 2 of them pushed the car out, I off course I had the more challenging task of turning the wheel occasionally.
From Robe our next port of call was the Barossa Valley before our final destination of Adelaide. Our accommodation in Barossa was one of the best yet, it was a lovely little mountain cottage with solar panels(and hence no extravagant electric blankets here), home grown veggies including carrots to feed to the 2 resident donkeys, a telescope to star gaze and home baked bread. Hippie paradise, and all built by the owner who sported a bright red skin head and numerous piercings- SHE was great and had actually won the "Better homes and gardens" award for DIY Oz queen. I was inspired, Mark intimidated. He liked the donkeys though and we both loved the local wine and food. We hired bikes for another steaming day of exercise combined with visits to 8 or so vineyards. I'd say I was spitting 50%, worried me and 2 wheels may not match too well intoxicated, Mark spat 0% but fortunately the only casualty was his T-shirt which was covered extensively with tastings from most vineyards but hey, it matched his Jack Duckworth look. A wee accident had occurred(whilst sober) between his foot and his specs, the first aid kit finally got some use, the plaster tape effect is great look!
Adelaide is our final destination and I'm writing this on our last day in Oz before we fly to New Zealand tomorrow. We've chilled out here, drank lots of caffeine, ate great food, sampled the wine, admired the city and surrounding rural areas- pretty much more of what we've enjoyed for the past 3 months. Cheers to Australia, we've had a great time and we know we'll be back, lets hope the flies aren't waiting.
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