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Previous Adventures

Scuba Fun (October 2003)

July 20th - July 26th, 2004

Melbourne, Adelaide, and the Great Ocean Road - A quick tour of the southern states here in Australia - Victoria and South Australia. I'd like to thank Virgin Airlines for their $48AUD flight from Brisbane to Melbourne and a $99AUD return flight from Adelaide back to Brizzy.

Melbourne - Two Days in Melbourne had me wandering the streets from the city centre to the Queen Victoria markets to the suburbs of Fitzroy, South Yarra, and St. Kilda. Getting around couldn't have been any easier with the trams that run constantly and take you just about anywhere. Atop Rialto Towers gave the best view of the entire city but the Yarra River makes for a nice serene. (PIC) Then a little trip to the southern side of town planted me in the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), your world famous cricketers and AFL legends play here. I'd compare it to an Aussie Fenway Park. Unfortunately I was not able to catch an AFL match during my 2 days there. Another fun little thing was the Melbourne Aquarium which was pretty cool except for the fact that I got sick on there little scuba diving ride. But from the gigantic shark tank to the fish swimming around in a flooded Volkswagen it was way cool.

Great Ocean Road - Unfortunately I had to leave Melbourne behind As I only had about 4 days to get to Adelaide. I figured 2 days along the great ocean road and 2 days in Adelaide. So I rented a car for 3 days and proceeded to head south past Geelong along the Surf Coast Highway to the Great Ocean Road. The road itself is absolutely ridiculous, not more than 10 meters ahead of a sign which tells you the speed limit is 100 km/h you find yourself tearing around a series of hairpin turns that you should probably be only going 20 if you want to stay in your lane and not plunge off the cliffs into the sea below. Signs are posted reminding foreigners to “drive on the left in Australia” along with others posted warning you that a high number of accidents occur on this stretch of road. Not surprising, you drive but you want to look over the ocean to check out the spectacular view. Highlighted by the 12 Apostles and the Loch Ard Gorge rock formations there is also a drive through the rainforest like national parks and even others that make you think you’re in New Zealand.

"12 Apostles"

Loch Ard Gorge - Funny thing happened here. I wandered down to the beach below to watch the waves crash. I thought a picture here might be nice so I set up my camera on a nearby rock with the timer on and walked out to pose. “click”. Fine no problems. But then I felt like I needed another one. Timer on. “click”. Fine, but do you see that wave behind me. Yeah, Look Out! Yep, it pretty much covered me up to my ass and surrounded the rock I had left my camera on like and island as I ran out in panic! Luckily I had a change of pants, but I did have to go the rest of the day without shoes. Doh!

Adelaide - From Mount Gambia to Adelaide took most of the day, but I was able to book my winery tour for my last and final day. The van picked me up at 8:30am, and let the drinking commence... 6 wineries later it was time to head to the airport for some good napping. Only one day in Adelaide, that was ashame, but seeing wine country was what I was looking forward to. With McLaren Vale out of the way, the Borrossa Valley will have to be on tap for next time.

-The End-

Created and Maintained:
Graham Dawson

Last Updated 8/14/04