day 7 Saturday.

Yesterday we drove all the way from Port Fairy to the Grampians, a beautifull place! Not too long before we reached Halls Gap; a nice looking main street with trees everywhere. We found out where the main attractions were and simply followed the road. 2 lookouts and the McKenzie falls. The first lookout was breathtaking, the second was a lot less. The falls......you had to walk 600 mts and we met people who were out of breath and we were wondering why. Ok, stairs down to the base of the falls and that's when i knew; it would be a hard climb back up. We also picked the absolute hottest day for this adventure; 43 degrees! Going down in 5 minutes, the way up about 40 with rests in between and where was my bottle of water that i wanted to take with me? After this nearly death experience and the time being midday we decided to drive on and see how far we could get. Well, the road between Horsham and Adelaide is one dry, long, straight road with nothing in between but a few houses which look abandoned and a couple of service stations. Closer to Adelaide i suggested Victor harbour; we arrived there at 7pm and both campings where closed, lucky next door in Middleton they were open; a nice quiet camping we thought; not knowing that the couple next door had a baby who could not go to sleep without crying. It was a hot stinker of a day with 48 degrees in the car while driving, the air was soooo hot, incredible.

Today Saturday we left for Adelaide city, what a boring place, Can't wait to leave tomorrow.

dag 7 Saturday, Translation of my son's experiences

My trip with my mother.
We started on Saturday morning early, 18 feb, 4.15 am
I started with driving, nice for both of us and more convenient as i could get used to driving on the other side of the road while not too many other cars on the road.
Mum had a itinerary, about how and what and where. But soon enough we didn't keep to it. Yes we did have a lot of fun straight away, laughing about nothing much, but it's a good sign.
We ended up in Old Bar, the name sounded good and our latest game is bottle shop spotting, our new saying is: Hup hup to the pub.
We found a camping which accepted us, parked the van and walked around the township. Found the bottleshp and sme food ofcourse.
We also discovered that our loyal (uptill now at least) yellow van, loves petrol, with a full tank we managed 330km, so our calculations regarding petrol usage has gone as well.....
Oh well, we don't care, we will only do this once....uhhh....we think........but you never know ofcourse.
Next day further again, i was driving again (it was so nice for mum; here too it's no drinking and driving, so it suits her, lol)
We went to The Entrance, it was supposed to be very beautiful but oh well nothing special so quickly some pics and on the road again.
WE planned to go to a camping south of Sydney. No not via the tunnel (the gps told us so) but via the bridge, because that's $4 cheaper.......We are travelling so we have to watch the pennies and $4 is also half a bottle of wine....
Due to this detour, we also saw the centre of Sydney.
At the camping there was no one at the office, so we had to call. Turned out to be $45. And it was a horrible looking camping first class. So after some consideration.....'i already know sydney'... 'I don't like it anyway', we decided to drive further. We took the Great Pacific Drive along the coast, ended up in Bulli Beach, a nice little coastal village near Wollongong. A lovely camping on the beach for only $29
We had a swim, something to eat, and early night as we were tired of driving, or in mums case...sitting next to me.
Next morning early on the road again; our goal: Jindabyne, near Thredbo - snowy mountains.
Along the coast, making photos and after a while into the mountains.
Climbing, 30-40 km per hour, our yellow van couldn't go any faster.......had to make mum push the van a few times but that didn't work either so better both sitting in the front.....
Found a camping in Jindabyne for $31, bought a woollies chicken and salad and our evening dinner was done.
Rain, thunder, lightning that night, hoping the next day would b e better. It was mighty cold that night, i reckon abut 10 degrees, brrrrrr! Next morning fine weather so we left early again.
To Thredbo, nice to see but without snow; a lot less specteculair. We took a route where we could see some nice things....but that was not the case..............some views were nice.
After the snowies we set our sight on Melbourne.............600km. Just about 1 long rad, 110km.....cruise control on (me). Melbourne a nice camping a bit north of the city, a bit more expensive but closer to the city, we stayed for 2 nights. I dropped mum off with a chair, table and computer and a bottle of bubbles and i took of in the van to get pizzas.
The next morning by bus to the city on a $7.60 tickets which allows you to travel all day on bus, tram and train, ferry, so a great deal.
On the tram to see St. Kilda, a nice little coastal place and back to the city for some more footwork.

Day 6, Thursday, 23 Feb

The great ocean road trip, great weather!, We stopped so many times along the road, there was so much to see, it was just lovely. Now we are in Port Fairy at a little camping, just had BBQ for dinner and a cold beer. Martijn says that when i say 'hello' to someone, it sounds like 'merlot', hahahaha

Day 5 Wednesday 22 Feb. 12

What a glorious day, woke up at 7 after a 15 degrees night. We jumped on the bus which stopped in front of the caravan park to explore Melbourne. We bought a ticket for $7.60 you can drive around on bus, train, tram as often as you like so after a couple of hours walking in the city we hopped on the tram to St. Kilda, had a coffee at the end of the pier, saw the Luna park, the main drag with heaps of nice little eateries. Did some cultural stuff on the way back in some art gallery but that didn't take me long. Back at the caravan park - Big 4 in Braybrook we bought our meat for the BBQ, had a swim and I did a wash load. Now it's time to relax again. Tomorrow the Great Ocean Road; good weather forecast so it should be great!!

dinsdag 21 feb, day 4

This morning we left Jindabyne at 8 am. It had been pretty cold and again we had a magnificent thunder and lightning show the night before. It was nice and quiet on the road. Got to a post where you have to buy a Kosciozcu National Park ticket for $16 other wise you are not supposed to stop anywhere. Ok we bought one as we thought there would be a lot to see on the way and didn't want to be caught out. Well, we didn't see anyone to control it and only 1 look out was nice to see. It took us 3 hours to get throught the whole park. Did see wallabies on the road who where mighty lucky that they didn't get hit by our car, some rabbits and that was it.
We decided to carry on and after a long boring road from Kharcoban to Wodonga we ended up on the highway to Melbourne. Yeah, Melbourne here we come. What a great road that Hume Highway. Ok, it's 2 lanes but all the way 110 km , straight and virtually empty. What a dream ride!! I keyed in the address of a camping place (in the gps) and after a long drive in peak traffic we arrived in this little street............turned out to be the wrong suburb!!!! Dayum, had to drive 30 km in another direction but we made it. Straight to the bottle shop, I'm sipping my champus now and Martijn took off to get pizzas, yeah baby, that's life

day 3

After an early start again at 8.10. The night before we had a terrible thunder and lightning storm but we felt pretty safe inside. Via Wollongong where we visited the lighthouse we went on to Kiama, a nice beachside town with a blowhole which did put a smile on my face because of private reasons...... At Gerroa a beautiful view of 7 mile beach. Batemans Bay was good for shopping, we got our lunch there and had lunch at Naroomah, next to the golf course, almost drove away without our little table. We decided to carry on as far as the day would take us so we ended up here in Jindabyne, snowy mountains and the great dividing range.

19 feb, day 2, Sunday

Day 2 -19 feb. After a good night sleep we left at 6.30. We made our plans to go to Foster/Tuncurry and after that ‘the entrance' and stay overnight in Sydney. On the road we quickly changed our plan; no Tuncurry, spending 10 minutes at the entrance...........mind you it looked nice, many families in the water but not for us. Up to Sydney where I had found a camping place not too far from the city. After a horrendous cartrip trying to save $4 on the toll tunnel and instead taking the bridge, we ended up in the ratrace of Sydney city. Finally found the Tourist camping site in Miranda, what a dump and they wanted $45 for the night. We, as true dutchies refused and hopped into the car again to give Sydney a miss and on to the Grande Pacific Drive. Beautifull drive along the coast. Saw a lovely place in Bulli Beach, just north of Wollongong , on the beach and only $29 for the night. We had a swim in the very clear water and had a nice steak and now enjoying our bottle again in front of our loyal yellow palace of abstinence.

18th of february - saturday

We left at 4.15 on the 18th of February for our trip around Oz. 15 minute delay however as I could not find my housekeys!!! Had to leave without them as Martijn was already driving down the street without me! I jumped in the van and we were off. At the first tollroad checkpoint by beeper did not go off!! Hello, why not, now I have to go and pay it somewhere......uh where in NSW??? Within 1 hour we crossed the NSW border. We were supposed to go to Grafton to get some stuff but passed the exit and also missed the gasstation. Martijn started laughing as we got on a stretch of road with no gasstation in sight..... I could see him walking along the road to get fuel while I was sitting comfortably in the van with wine and cheese crackers and internet, lol!! But the good Shell saved the day. We stopped at a shopping centre, guess what.........the car motor did not shut down even after taking the keys out. HELP! I was ready to call the RACQ and throw in the towel when Martijn put his big foot on the accelerator and it switched off! YES Forward to Port McQuarie but.......it's a busy city, not for us! So we decided to drive a bit further to Laurieton - thinking it was close to the beach but no, it was close to mangroves with the stanch to go with it so............a bit further down to OLD BAR. Martijn likes the sound of it, I forgot the name and with sign language he pointed at me (OLD) and a drinking movement (BAR). I love my son. Right now we are at a beach site campingsite, costs us $30, the beach is not that terrific, many rocks but our bottle of red is perfect and finished! (14.45!!) Tomorrow a bit further................