Australia - Southwest and Melbourne
After Exmouth we tried one last time in Coral Bay and this time they had a vacancy on one of the campsites. Coral Bay only has two campsites, a few hotels and hardly any houses. It’s sounds rather touristy but because of its size it’s a very cosy place at a beautiful bay where you practically have the beach to yourself. Snorkelling in the bay was wonderful and during a morning walk on the beach we got another close encounter with a dolphin that was on a hunt for fish. Best place to do so looking at the abundance of fish in the bay. It was filled with huge white snappers that were being fed every afternoon. Sara wanted to pet them but since they’re called snappers for a reason we managed to stop her from doing so just in time. Just like the feeding of the dolphins in Monkey Mia a bit of a doubtful activity to attract tourists. In Coral Bay we also met John and Doreen again, the couple we swapped campsites with back in Exmouth. You would think that people at their age would live their lives one day at the time not doing much, but the contrary happened to be true. Their day existed of all sorts of daily routines like going to the supermarket, sight seeing, dish washing etc., all done at set times. They also had a daily ‘free hour’ which they used for calling their (grand)children. They were a wonderful couple that connected with Sara from day one, despite the language barrier. For a few days they were like grandpa and grandma to her, something she enjoyed as much as they did. They were the main reason why we stayed in coral Bay for four whole days. After that, it was really time for us to leave and head south.
I don’t know if it was because of the cds we burned or because our white stallion smelled his stable, but the same road back to Perth went amazingly fast. And as for the saying we have in the Netherlands that’s you’ll never get rid of a white coloured vehicle, the opposite must be true Down Under. Every second car is white and every third a Toyota Landcruiser, varying in type and size. Our planned itinerary to drive back to Perth via Kalgoorlie and Esperance was too long, so we decided to drive straight to Perth and visit the Janssens. Vianne and Peter sold their house in Maastricht a while ago, shipped all their belongings in a big container and immigrated with their daughter Bibiche, son Pjotr and poodle Kanuche to Perth. Definitely not the closest place in the world to move to. To not change too much, they decided to live in the Subiaco area, which is just like the area in Maastricht they used to live in, according to Peter. It was great to be speaking your own language with others again and to enjoy the same kind of humour. Sara went mad over the huge amount of toys the kids had and we were pampered big time while enjoying early spring sun. We stayed for lunch and dinner and agreed to come back a week later, after visiting the Southwest first.
From Perth we drove to Albany on the Southwest coast in one go. The scenery was very different again from what we had seen so far; huge forests followed by green land and loads of sheep. It was cold in Albany but the beautiful coastal roads and the savage sea made up for the lack of sun and warmth. Sara had long spotted the playground before we did and was unstoppable after a full day in the van. Because it was dark early and too cold to sit outside we were in bed at 20h00. We watched one of Peter’s DVDs and snuggled up underneath our sleeping bags with the sound of the rough sea in the background. The only thing missing was a fireplace to complete the idyllic setting. The next day we had our first rain in months at our next stop in Denmark. But, after 4012 km of driving through Roo Country we also saw our first kangaroo, alive and kicking! Denmark is a small and relaxed place surrounded by forest and has an impressive and rocky coastline, so beautiful you can’t stop taking pictures of it. There will be few people in the world that would associate the huge amount of sheep with a pair of shoes, but Brigitte saw a pair of Uggs in each one of them. So we took a small gravel road to the Jassi family, who had their own handmade ugg business, using the skin and wool of their own cattle. Unfortunately no pair of Brigitte’s like in her size, but we did buy a pair of uggs for Sara, for the cold days ahead of us.
On our way from Denmark to Margaret River we stopped at the Walpole Tree Top Walk. An ancient forest with trees that only grow in this area, some of which over 400 years old. Brigitte’s vertigo was tested big time with a walking path that went as high as 40m, especially when the walking bridge started wobbling because of the wind. She looked straight ahead and fastened her way to the exit. Sara thought it was extremely exciting. It is a strange experience to stand in the top of a tree while a parrot is eating his lunch right next to you.
The area around Margaret River is known for its vineyards and the scenery looks a bit like the Vogues in France. We camped at a farm and since it was low season we could even pick our own spot. They had a few donkeys, horses, and cows and Sara was allowed to help the farmer feeding them. One of the donkeys had bad eyes and must have thought her finger was a nice piece of straw. Her screaming was so loud that people were coming out of their vans to check what happened. With everybody comforting her and with help of an ice cream the pain was gone quickly. Fortunately the donkey realised in time he wasn’t a carnivore after all. After a beautiful drive through the winery area we pulled over at one of the bigger vineyards, Howard Park. We were the only visitors and while Sara was playing in the kids corner, we could taste all wines one by one, especially the ones that weren’t for sale in shops. We bought a few bottles of Sauvignon Blanc as a thank you gift for our hosts in Fremantle and Perth and then unfortunately we had to leave. It was getting dark quickly and I didn’t feel like hitting a kangaroo while under influence.
We needed to hand in our campervan in Perth spick and span and we decided to stay one more night at Gerard’s so we’d have enough time to give our temporary home a good wash. It’s was great seeing Gerard again and he had really made huge progression on the renovation of the house. The toilet and shower were temporarily in the garden but this of course wasn’t a problem at all, especially with thought of a real and soft bed in mind. Astrid made lasagne for everybody and Larry was still recovering from his first working days as an Australian Mail postie. The women in the kitchen, the kids playing and the guys talking about the latest developments in Aussie Rules football league with Larry’s mum (who owns a season card for the Fremantle Dockers for decennia already) while enjoying a cold beer in the evening sun. Very old fashioned but great. The Janssens invited us last minute to stay at their place the last night, before leaving to Melbourne. As we don’t like to be late we arrived inconveniently too early, just like the week before and Peter opened the door wearing nothing but his shorts. They were just about to go to bed for a siesta after the champagne they drank to celebrate Peter’s new job. It was party time and the first beers were out before we knew. For the people that know Peter, he wanted to know what the plans were so he could already program his car navigator. By the way, while on our way back from the campervan depot, he was constantly arguing and ignoring the commands of the nice female voice so I wonder if he wouldn’t be better off with an old fashioned roadmap and some common sense. In the end we didn’t go anywhere and after a great dinner and a few bottles of wine we rolled into our bed; a huge aero bed that Peter inflated in a McGyverish way by using a hairdryer and a plastic bottle, fortunately at the beginning of the evening when we were all still sober. With a bit of a hangover we got into the spacious Kia Cathedral for some Perth sight seeing. Park, museum, shops, lunch in a bar next to some heavy drinking construction workers on a lunch break and as a perfect ending some champagne near the water with views to the skyline of Perth. A beautiful day. We can definitely recommend this warm welcome and royal treatment to friends and family of the Janssens, so book a flight and go visit them. Saying goodbye was quite difficult but Melbourne was waiting. We booked an evening flight with Jetstar, the cheap sister of Qantas and were treated to the worst landing so far hopping on the landing strip like Skippy the bush kangaroo before coming to a stop. Fortunately, Sara went straight back to sleep when she finally got to bed late that night.
Melbourne was a lot colder than Perth and very windy. They say the weather can be so unpredictable that it’s possible to get four seasons in one day. Quite a challenging job for the weather man probably. Our hotel was at walking distance from the centre and was a so called “flashpackers” hotel, a new and more luxurious formula in backpacker-world for those backpackers who have a bit more money to spend. We were the only family in the hotel and when eating our free evening meal at the in house bar we felt a bit like parents on a high school party. To ease the pain a very young girl invited us to join the Jäger Train (shots of Jägermeister and Red bull in a row to drink in one go) but when Sara appeared from behind the sofa the girl realised the uselessness of her invitation. Sarah was staying with her sister who lived in the suburbs of Melbourne and we met her and boyfriend Timmo down town. Our Sara was very happy to see them again and since the sun was shining bright we took the tram to St Kilda at the beach. In the evening it was time to enjoy Brigitte’s goodbye gift from her colleagues; dinner at Vibe on Smith in Fitzroy, a trendy area of Melbourne. We got the full VIP treatment of Tony the owner, who welcomed us by our first names as we walked in. The food was great, the wine even better. As a desert Sara got a piece of chocolate cake so big that it could feed an entire family for two days. She attacked and was unstoppable but there was no way she could win this savoury battle, victory was on chocolate’s side in the end.
The next day we wandered along the Yarra riverside with Sarah and Timmo. The city was preparing itself for the apotheosis in Aussie rules football, the grand final on the 27th of September. The weekend we were there the semis were played in the MCG, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, also called the “G” amongst locals. What Wembley is for European football fans is the “G” for sport fans in Australia. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince anyone to go to a game. In the afternoon we went for some drinks in Fitzroy at Little Creatures, the tasty beer brewed in Fremantle which I tried for the first time with Larry. It was an old factory, serving 5 different beers from one brand and some easy to prepare appetizers and meals. It was filled with worn off chairs and tables, lacking any kind of decoration except the industrial features that were already there. The place was packed every single day since opening six weeks before. How simple can success be? For Brigitte Melbourne was “shopping heaven” on earth or actually “shopping hell” since we were on a budget. Bravely she forced herself not to buy anything even though various shops were visited. Therefore it wasn’t a really difficult decision when she had to choose between renting a car and drive the Great Ocean Road for two days or spending two more days in shopping hell. The Great Ocean Road has been competing forever with the Highway 1 in California over being the most beautiful in the world. Since I already drove the impressive way from San Francisco to LA I was very curious about its rival. In the end Sarah and Timmo also joined and we could even take the car of Sarah’s sister. So all four of us, plus kid, plus luggage squeezed ourselves in to a brand-new Suzuki Swift, which was surprisingly spacious on the inside. The Great Ocean Road officially goes from Torquay near Geelong to Allansford near Warnambool and is about 375 km long. We took the inland highway to the start of the road near Warnambool and we would stay overnight so the next day we’d have enough time to drive the Great Ocean Road and make all necessary stops on our way back. Sarah had already driven the Great Ocean Road once before, so she allowed me to drive. What a fantastic drive it was! One highlight after the other, with an absolute winner at the lookout of the Twelve Apostles, originally twelve separate rocks in the wild sea shore. Our camera had difficulty coping with the amount of pictures we took. The ongoing storm made the views and sight even more dramatic. Sara was almost blown away by the wind that according to the weatherman got up to speeds of 100 km per hour.
After a long day in the car our evening flight to Cairns with Virgin Blue was heavily delayed. Time for the marketing department to adjust their slogan “the airline that’s never late”. Finally, the Boeing set off for the tropics at 22h30.
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