All the camping we've been up to means we have had next to no internet connection so we will catch up eventually in the meantime here's the next bit: on the 5th October, our first drive saw us heading to Adelaide from Melbourne, a total of 733km. It may not be big by Aussie standards but given our lack of time on the road and the fact that we wouldn't be setting off from Melbourne until mid afternoon, we chose to break halfway overnight at Horsham. The road to Horsham was inevitably uneventful apart from when we passed The Giant Koala. It is as it sounds, a giant model koala with red eyes that light up beside the road. There are apparently numerous such big things throughout Australia, essentially they are a ruse to get tourists like us to pull over and spend some dollar in the town or tourist complex. Equally they are a great way to break up a road trip. This is the first of the 'big things' on the trip and we hope to see a few more along the way.
At Horsham, a country town, we stayed in a friendly traditional pub hotel in the middle of town. A fish and chip dinner saw us happily into bed - though there was the local disco right below us until 2am. Let's just say if their taste in music is anything to go by, the 90's are alive and well in Horsham!
The next day en route to Adelaide, we stopped at Bordertown on the way, because you have to really, don't you? Crossing the state borders, while obviously very straight forward, adds a sense of occasion to a day's driving. We arrived in Adelaide in the afternoon which left enough time for a few beers with some kiwi friends, Scott and Tim who I met while in Oamaru in New Zealand during my gap year of 2005 and Sarah, Tim's partner, a new kiwi friend. Not to mention that Scott's whole family were in Adelaide celebrating his Granny's 80th birthday. We are very grateful that they let us join in the fun! Such fun as visiting the McLaren Vale wine region for our first session (of many) wine tasting. While in Adelaide we also caught up with Jane, my Aussie cousin. Jane and her husband Lloyd kindly showed us around the city and took us out to Hahndorf, an early German settlement in the Adelaide hills which was really interesting. The hills are really beautiful scenery though apparently we were lucky to see it so green and lush.
Our important task while in the city was to set ourselves up for the road. We got ourselves a mattress for the back of the station wagon from Clark rubber, a foam specialist and we were just about sorted. We have been living in the car for almost a month now, and it's pretty comfy so far. We have a small butane camp stove and some basic pots, pans and plates and whatnot and have more or less sorted out a system for where it all goes and each morning and evening involves a shuffle shuffle/sort to get ready for bed/driving. Our final task was to seek out the campers bible: a book called 'camps 7' a comprehensive list of camp sites, rest areas and caravan parks throughout Australia. And so at last we were ready to be on the road and for some serious camping! More on that soon..
X Annie
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