Around Victoria in a campervan
While coming out from Melbourne airport, a suffocating heat wave invaded our lungs. It made us almost miss the chilli Kiwi weather. But we were happy and very curious to discover this continent-sized country.
Actually, Australia and me have some history in common. It started in 2000 when I was planning to go there for the summer holidays. As I did not have the French citizenship back then, I had to apply for a visa at the Australian embassy. The result of the silly process was negative - my intentions were not genuine - they said. With a passport with the right color this time, we cleared the migration control easily.
Our goal was to concentrate on 3 highlights of the Victoria state : Melbourne, the capital, the Grampians national park and the “Great Ocean Road” which runs along the coast west of Melbourne. A 1300 km trip that we did like snails, trailing our house behind us. Even if our camper-van had only the basic comforts, it gave us a much needed flexibility.
So we stopped first at the Grampians, where on the 25th of December we were waken up by the noise made by cockatoos and parrots. When we opened the door of the camper-van, we faced a group of kangaroos. Wildlife is everywhere in this country. Later on the coast, when snorkeling from the beach, we saw a huge stinger ray of at least 2 meter wide span.
The park is well-known for the reddish rock formations carved by the wind. We hiked through canyons and the bush to reach pinnacles with breath taking scenery. But the area is also home of Brambuk Cultural Center where you can learn about the sad history of Aboriginal people, for whom discrimination and forced assimilation took the lion's share. They have been been living in Australia for more than 40 000 years but gained access to the Australian citizenship only in the 1970s.
We headed then to Port Fairy to start our road trip on the «Great Ocean Road». In this part of the world summer holidays take place in December and January. We had the feeling that the whole country has gathered on this stretch of foreshore where the people spend their holiday time surfing, fishing, playing cricket on the beach and eating 'alfresco' around the free public barbecues.
The coast on this side of Australia has been carved by the waves that transformed the limestone cliffs to many amazing shapes nick-named “London Bidge” or the “12 Apostoles”. The landscape is even more impressive if you wait until the sunset and can resist the fierce flies that try to get into your nose.
On the 150th day of this round-the-world trip, which happened to be the 31/12/09, we wanted to see some fireworks (I know, we have been spoiled by Mr Delanoé). The place to be was Cobden, a small village, famous for its miniature train and its new year's eve celebration. Over here, the fireworks started at 22:00 and the atmosphere was so relaxed that the count down to the 2010 started 5 minutes late as no senior official was found to do it on time. But I would like reassure our Spanish friends and family : Bea made sure that the 12 grapes where eaten at midnight.
Melboune was our terminus. We returned our camper-van, enjoyed this nice city and had another great couch-surfing experience. I am still amazed by the warm welcome and the great hosting that we received from a perfect stranger.
Sorry about the length of this post but we have so many things to tell whereas the clock is ticking and internet connections are so expensive here (up to 6€ for 30 minutes).
Anyway, talk to you next time from the Est Coast that we will be cruising with yet another campervan from Cairns to Sydney.
Karim
Actually, Australia and me have some history in common. It started in 2000 when I was planning to go there for the summer holidays. As I did not have the French citizenship back then, I had to apply for a visa at the Australian embassy. The result of the silly process was negative - my intentions were not genuine - they said. With a passport with the right color this time, we cleared the migration control easily.
Our goal was to concentrate on 3 highlights of the Victoria state : Melbourne, the capital, the Grampians national park and the “Great Ocean Road” which runs along the coast west of Melbourne. A 1300 km trip that we did like snails, trailing our house behind us. Even if our camper-van had only the basic comforts, it gave us a much needed flexibility.
So we stopped first at the Grampians, where on the 25th of December we were waken up by the noise made by cockatoos and parrots. When we opened the door of the camper-van, we faced a group of kangaroos. Wildlife is everywhere in this country. Later on the coast, when snorkeling from the beach, we saw a huge stinger ray of at least 2 meter wide span.
The park is well-known for the reddish rock formations carved by the wind. We hiked through canyons and the bush to reach pinnacles with breath taking scenery. But the area is also home of Brambuk Cultural Center where you can learn about the sad history of Aboriginal people, for whom discrimination and forced assimilation took the lion's share. They have been been living in Australia for more than 40 000 years but gained access to the Australian citizenship only in the 1970s.
We headed then to Port Fairy to start our road trip on the «Great Ocean Road». In this part of the world summer holidays take place in December and January. We had the feeling that the whole country has gathered on this stretch of foreshore where the people spend their holiday time surfing, fishing, playing cricket on the beach and eating 'alfresco' around the free public barbecues.
The coast on this side of Australia has been carved by the waves that transformed the limestone cliffs to many amazing shapes nick-named “London Bidge” or the “12 Apostoles”. The landscape is even more impressive if you wait until the sunset and can resist the fierce flies that try to get into your nose.
On the 150th day of this round-the-world trip, which happened to be the 31/12/09, we wanted to see some fireworks (I know, we have been spoiled by Mr Delanoé). The place to be was Cobden, a small village, famous for its miniature train and its new year's eve celebration. Over here, the fireworks started at 22:00 and the atmosphere was so relaxed that the count down to the 2010 started 5 minutes late as no senior official was found to do it on time. But I would like reassure our Spanish friends and family : Bea made sure that the 12 grapes where eaten at midnight.
Melboune was our terminus. We returned our camper-van, enjoyed this nice city and had another great couch-surfing experience. I am still amazed by the warm welcome and the great hosting that we received from a perfect stranger.
Sorry about the length of this post but we have so many things to tell whereas the clock is ticking and internet connections are so expensive here (up to 6€ for 30 minutes).
Anyway, talk to you next time from the Est Coast that we will be cruising with yet another campervan from Cairns to Sydney.
Karim
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