July 15, 2012

Journal Notes:

• Recaps from earlier posts (because they didn't make it into my journal yet)
• Werribee Open Range Zoo
• Halls Gap, Grampians National Park, and Mackenzie Falls
• I'm in Adelaide, on my way to Coober Pedy and then Alice Springs
• Hooray for GPS!

Pictures:

Yes, that is a baby camel

Water bucks

This is some sort of deer, but I forget the name.  There are two of them in this picture.

I forget this one's name as well, but I can tell you it's an African antelope, virtually extinct in the wild, and can go its whole life without drinking a drop of water - they can take in all their water from their food.

An ostrich.  I didn't see any with their heads in the sand

More antelope

Giraffe giving the raspberry

Female white rhino - notice the horn is long and narrow

Male white rhino - the horn is much thicker

Hip... hip... hiphopanonymous?

The cheetahs were not happy about all the people standing in front of the glass... or maybe they just thought the small children looked tasty.  I'm not really sure which.

I have no idea what kind of bird this is, but it hopped around a lot

Baby crocodile

Wild dogs.  The females kept peeing in their pond, which was also their drinking water.

If they ever make a cartoon starring a meerkat again, I hope they portray it drinking 6 pots of coffee per day.  This little guy was wired

These are actually male lions - they've just lost their manes due to hormone treatments.  The female was hiding, so I never got any pictures of her.

This was a sheep farm on Great Ocean Road, near Otway National Park

Cliff face at 12 Apostles

12 Apostles

The 12 apostles were formed by water eroding the cliffs.  There are only 8 of them now.

This is an apostle in the making

That's a fault line

Logan's Beach.  It was in the high 40s but the dog would still run into the water to fetch sticks

She also went nuts when her owner would kick sand up into the air

Logan's Beach is a whale nursery.  Although it was in season, I didn't see any whales.  Just some surfers.

Mackenzie Falls in Grampians National Park

That fog is on the mountains, not on the camera lens

My friends from the YHA.  Left to right: Karina, Sarah, Robert, and Neville

That's me, at the base of Mackenzie Falls.  I never could get my hair to stay in place...

Side view of Mackenzie Falls.  That's Sarah on top of the boulder on the left.

Broken Falls, just upstream from Mackenzie Falls

I've been here 11 days and this is the first bloody kangaroo I've seen

Another rainbow, not far from the Victoria/South Australia border

It's been a while since I've written in my journal - probably not since I got off of the Matisse, eleven days ago.  Presently, I am sitting in the dining room of the YHA Eco Hostel in Grampians National Park.  It is 9:00 AM and I am waiting for some friends to get up so I can say goodbye to them, then I will be off to Coober Pedy.

I spent a week and some change in Melbourne - I got my stay extended through Friday (July 13), then rented a car for a road trip to Cairns.  They gave me three weeks to go 1800 miles, so I've decided to take the scenic route.

I've met some lovely people in and around Melbourne: Lisa is from New Jersey, and is recovering from a pair of strokes - her speech is slurred and she has to get around with a walker, but she does still get around; she is in Melbourne doing some legal research.  Jared is from Adelaide.  He is about my age, with long hair pulled up in a bob (a common hairstyle in Australia, I have discovered) and a scraggly Fu Manchu beard on his chin.  When I last saw him, he was taking a course on ropes and rigging; he is going to work on a drilling rig at sea.  I met him Tuesday night when YHA members were given free admission to amateur night at The Comedy Lounge, along with Robert (from East Germany) and Neville (from near Brighton, in the UK), the latter two I was pleasantly surprised to meet again when I checked in here last night.  Both are about my age.  Robert and I stayed after the show and met the Nelson twins, an identical twin comedy act.  They are currently competing in the final round on Australia's Got Talent (a TV show) and were rehearsing their set for the next round.  Tanja is 27, from Germany, and showed me where to get a cheap beer in Melbourne on Monday nights - a place called The Workers Club.  It's a hipster bar in Fitzroy.  While waiting there to meet Tanja, I noticed a pretty blonde with a Florida Gators koozie keeping her hand from getting cold and her beer from getting warm.  This was Shannon, who is studying architecture at the University of Florida, in Melbourne on an exchange program.  She was impressed when I recognized her koozie, then a little put off when I told her I was from Tennessee, but we soon made friends and she insisted I should visit the Eureka Skydeck, a viewing place atop one of the larger skyscrapers in Melbourne's Central Business District.  Mike is 40.  I have known him for a couple of years through playing World of Warcraft, an online roleplaying game, and I was glad to finally have an opportunity to meet him face-to-face.  He just found out this week that he is going to need a knee replacement.  He was hit by a car while on a motorcycle about 10 years ago, and it never healed properly.  He walks with the help of a crutch, and is looking forward to being able to run and play with his children (two boys, ages 1.5 and 2.5 years).

Most of my time in Melbourne was spent transcribing my ship's journal entries to my blog, so the folks back home can see what's been going on.  I plan to live there for a few months, so I wasn't pressed to see everything while it was cold and rainy.  I picked up my car and left around midday on Friday.  Travellers Autobarn caters to backpackers and set me up with some camping gear - a tent, chair, cooler, foam mat (for sleeping on), table, and butane stove.  They did not, however, include a sleeping bag, and I spent my first night in the car in Geelong, with all my clothes piled on top of me to keep warm.  I left at dawn and drove the whole length of the Great Ocean Road yesterday, stopping once or twice along the way to take some pictures, including the 12 Apostles (rock formations along the coast) and the Logans Beach whale nursery.  I didn't see any whales there (though it was the right time of year), but I did see a lot of surfers.  One woman, after she had finished surfing, was playing with her dog on the beach.  She'd throw a stick into the water, and the dog would fetch it, or she'd kick up some sand and the dog would jump into the air to catch it.  It was really entertaining.

I made sure to stop at Ray's Outdoors in Warnambool, where I bought a sleeping bag, travel pillow, gloves, and a headlamp, so I will be able to sleep a bit more comfortably in the car, when I decide to.  So far I have been pleased with the accommodations at the YHA, especially in Grampians.  I met a wonderful family of Germans last night.  The wife, Birget (hope I spelled that right), stayed up with us watching the Tour de France, along with her husband, Andreas.  They have been in Melbourne for 5 months, and are traveling to expose their children to different cultures and also to teach them English.  She said they have not yet decided when (or if) they will go back to Germany - the school systems are so different between Germany and Australia, that it will be difficult for the kids to go back if they stay too long.

Traveling with Neville and Robert are two German girls, both in their 20s.  Karina is pretty introverted and went to bed early last night, so I don't know much about her.  Sarah is friendly and more talkative, although I don't know much about her either.  As I have been writing, the four of them have joined me at the table and are finishing their breakfast (it is now 10:15 AM).  Sarah says they are going to see Mackenzie Falls, then drive back to Melbourne.

I am very glad I have that GPS - it got me here without incident after I napped too long yesterday afternoon at a parking area along the highway, and I had to drive some rough backroads in the wind and rain to get to the YHA in Halls Gap.  It is now 10:45 AM and everyone I have mentioned here has left.  I am waiting for one last cup of coffee to brew, then I will make my way as well.  Where I go, and who I will meet along the way, God only knows.

---

It is now 10:20 PM and I am sitting in the YHA in Adelaide.  After spending half a day in Grampians, I still made it over 500km (300 miles) in one day, and even had time for dinner and a beer (or three).  Mackenzie Falls was only about 15km from the Grampians YHA, so I decided to check it out, and I'm very glad I did.  The drive was just what I needed - foggy mountain roads with a few switchback curves scattered throughout.  I straightened a few curves and powered through a few others, which I haven't done in close to 2 months now; it felt great, although I'm sure I raised a few eyebrows from the cars I passed and/or got stuck behind along the way (that's just how we drive the mountain roads back home).  While at Mackenzie Falls, I ran into my friends from the Grampians YHA (both Robert's and Birget's groups), and I was very glad to see them again, if only for a short time.


On the way out Friday, I stopped at the open range zoo in Werribee, and saw a bunch of cool animals, including several endangered species, such as white rhinos.  I liked it so much I was tempted to ask if they hired seasonal workers.  I think I'll keep that in mind as a fallback if I can't find an office job.

Mackenzie Falls reminds me of some of the state parks we have in Tennessee, like Fall Creek Falls or maybe Cummins Falls.  There are overlooks to the gorge, and you can hike down to both the top and bottom of the falls.  Although swimming is not allowed (which would be really awesome in the summertime), the trail is paved the whole way down, with well-maintained rock steps and handrails for the steeper parts (no climbing down ropes, thankfully).

Tomorrow, I plan to drive to Coober Pedy.  I think I can make it there in one day.  It's an old opal mining town, and the big tourist attraction there is that you can sleep underground in most of the hotels. The plan is to stay 2 nights - one for getting there and one for doing tourist stuff.  Then I'm off to Alice Springs.

Other thoughts not big enough for their own paragraphs:

• I saw my first kangaroo in the wild as I was filling up the car in Halls Gap today.
• I wasn't aware that South Australia has a produce quarantine (similar to California).  I had to throw away a 3kg bag of navel oranges and 6kg of perfectly good potatoes this afternoon when I entered the state.  Had I known about that, I would have gladly left them up for grabs at the YHA in Halls Gap instead.
• Adelaide seems to be one giant red-light district.  It doesn't feel particularly dangerous, but it's strange to see so much out in the open, and all the adult-themed establishments mixed in with the usual bars and restaurants.  To each his own, I guess...