Brisbane would be the last city which we would see before leaving Australia on the 7th of August. Before leaving here we also had to sell our Toyota Camry. Not having the time to redo the roadworthy certificate we sold the car to the first interested buyer from the Gold Coast. Maybe we could have gotten a better deal if we waited longer, but then again if we waited longer before selling it we ran the risk of not selling it at all. Relieved of having this burden off our shoulders, over the next couple of remaining days we would stay at Annie’s Inn, a great bed and breakfast place with a homey feel, and enjoyed some of what the city had to offer. Coincidentally, we also ran into our friends from Sydney, Rachel and Devin, who took us out for some great Thai food – a nice way of closing off the Australian chapter of our trip. Cheers to you two and all the other friendly Australians who we met along the way who added to our trip!!!
Car Selling Tips:
We listed our car on two websites a month before arriving in Brisbane. By the time we were in our last city we had a couple interested people who we could contact. We could have not done it without the following great sites:
We arrived here yesterday in the evening thinking of washing off the sweat and taking a break from the tent in a nicer hostel only to find out that everything was booked out in this city. Well we should have known better - it’s the so called Dry now and tourism is at its peak. The Dry is the season where it does not rain, the sun is out without a cloud in the sky and temperatures are comfortably niiiiiiice. Yes yes … there is also the Wet, and when the rains hit later on in November it rains very well for many months flooding down roads and making tourism possible only for crocodile hunters with 4WD trucks. Anyhow, we ended up staying at a caravan park in our tent over at a cool resort near Lee’s Point. We restocked on water, took those much needed showers too, did laundry and recharged our batteries. Later on in the evening we hit up the city for the Mandil Beach Sunset Market where delicious food, fire juggling, mellow music, a sunset and beer was plenty.
Another 700km of driving yesterday got us to Coober Pedy – an opal mining town. We landed in an underground motel – a motel carved out of a sandstone hill. It was nice to have a warm place to sleep and being able to take a hot shower. :) There are actually plenty of other houses which are underground here. The place feels very alien as there is no grass, and the town is surrounded by very little life outside of the miners who live here. Last night we also went on the top of our motel and watched the sunset with 4WD cars going along dirt roads into the distance. Going on the top of the hill we’ve also noticed satellites and vents sticking out of the ground - which reinforced the very weird feeling of the town. Today we visited a mining museum and checked out some underground churches. We then found free internet at a local public library, and will be off towards Uluru very soon. Woohoo.
Left Melbourne at 8:20am. Stopped once in the middle at Horsham to refuel, drink some coffee, and eat a tuna sandwich. Arrived in Adelaide at 4:45pm. Reset the clock -30min to a new time zone. Ewa was at the hostel we planned to meet up at. Woohoo. So far so good. The car continues to serve us well.
I travelled on the Indian Pacific, a train that travels right across Australia (Perth-Adelaide-Sydney). I just did the Perth-Adelaide route, which is two nights on the train. It was a great experience. You get to see lots of the outback country and the Nullarbor Plains (this is where the longest straightest stretch of rail in the world is located at 478km). Sleeping on the trains was not too bad. I was in economy class or Red Kangaroo where I had one relining seat allotted. The carriage that I was in was not full, so most people had two seats to take a snooze on. It also helps having good company on board. I had two gentlemen to talk with, a journalist from Italy and a guy from France that will be studying at the same uni as I in the Netherlands. Small world!
Currently, I am in Adelaide. This city is more alive the Perth was, that is the downtown area does not die down after 8pm. The planning of the city is interesting as well. There is a clear grid pattern for the streets, incorporated with green park squares and the city is bordered with more parks. Yesterday I walked the city, went to the South Australia Art Gallery (which has lots of lovely Aussie paintings) and saw many nice classical and Victorian buildings. PLUS this is the meeting point for Jakub and I. I will see him tonight, he should be on the road right now.
… ok this is it. “KITT, super pursuit mode.”, “Yes Michael”. I’m leaving Melbourne tomorrow morning before 8am to drive 740km and find Ewa somewhere in Adelaide. Rodney, our house mate, threw in a small shovel in case we get stuck again - I hope we don’t have to use it - Thanks Mate. :) If I make it to Adelaide, the remaining route might look something like this. The two big stops are Darwin and Brisbane. Google thinks it can be done in 4 days and 6 hours. I think we’ll take 4 weeks instead. Free wifi permitting, we will try our best to update this site.
Another weekend without Ewa. I continued the trip preparations by calling a couple of dealers in Brisbane and getting a feel for the car sale. It looks like it might be doable. So far I put up a quick car add on our website. Maybe during the week I’ll link to it from some more popular car sales sites such as tradingpost and carsguide. I also bought a small 10L fuel container today over at Bunnings in case we run out of fuel somewhere in the open. :) Also this week I bought more groceries and more water for the trip. :) Getting there.
Knowing that I would not have much more time left for the city with the remaining working days, I went for a walk near south of St Kilda. I found a nice little beach and park where I enjoyed the panoramas of the city which was a temporary home to us.
It was a nice day today, so I went to the Yarra Bend park for a walk. What do I see? A bat colony. Hundreds and hundreds of sleeping and screeching bats (flying foxes). Niiiiiccceeee. Oh, and Ewa jumped on msn chat today. She’s all fine enjoying the nice Monkey Mia beaches and outdoors. Miss her. Can’t wait to jump in the car and hit the gas. 12 more days till the Adelaide reunion.
