The Groovy Grape Bus

Very quick bloggingtons with mainly pictures to pad it out today as nothing notably amusing happened on my 3 day tourist trip from Melbourne to Adelaide.

I was picked up by Brian, our groovy grape driver at 7am, there were only 4 other passengers; Paul from Leicester, Melanie from Dumfries and Hilda and Bjorn from Sweden. I'm thinking that Hilda is a really cool name and if I had ever procreated I may have christened my daughter Hilda. Or Gilda but that would mean she would have grown up to be a dirty old ho like the infamous Rita Hayworth character (or her mother lol, me not Rita's. Don't stress Bobs, that's a joke, I'm only slightly sleazy not a fully blown slapper.)

I really enjoyed the trip, it took us along the Great Ocean Road, a major tourist route and to The Grampians National Park. We stayed in hostels, Brian cooked, we all mucked in and I was in bed by 9pm each night. All very clean living and tea total. So now the photos...

This is a monument in honour of the men who built the road. Construction started after the war to provide work for the home coming soldiers.

It reminds me of Cornwall's north coast.

Wild parrots...

And I saw my first wild Koalas, how gobsmackingly cute are they?

This place is called Lorn, it looks like Derbyshire by the sea.

Then we stopped off for a walking in the rainforest. There were giant ferns, long lean trees and unfamiliar animal sounds. All very Jurassic Park. We saw a black wallaby, which is apparently very rare.

Next stop Loch Ard, named after a ship that wrecked there.

These limestone rock structures are called stacks.

Then it was down Gibson's steps to the only accessible beach in the area, I have been experimentaling with my new camera and the light.

The 12 apostles are mega famous but a bit over rated in my humblest; I think I was spoilt by the spectacular coastline of Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island. There are only 9, WTF is that all about? I think the other 3 fell into the sea; obviously Judas was the first to go closely followed by doubting Tom but who was the third? Boring fact, they used to be called 'the piggies' but were rebranded as 'apostles', twas thought to be more tourist friendly.

Below is my favourite pic, the hazy effect is due to the incredible sea spray.

End of day 1 finished with a wistful sunset.

Day 2 started with a trip to London Bridge. The other arch fell into the sea in the 90's.  A honeymooning couple walked across and then the first arch collapsed leaving them stranded. Fortunately they lived to tell the tale.

This is Martyr's Bay another name change for the sake of tourism. It used to be more accurately called Massacre Bay, the settlers rounded up the indigenous people, slaughtered them and chucked them into the sea. I think there must be a lot of name changing going on in Oz.

We got to the Grampians at about midday. This is Mt Abrupt, named because it comes to an abrupt end.

I can't remember the name of this plant, I know it begins with 'Z' and the word reminded me of gonorrhea, so I will call it the zonorrhea plant. I know it doesn't flower very often and the aborigines use the sap as an adhesive.

This is the Brambuck Cultural Centre, it was designed to look like a bird. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside. Apparently the local white folk kicked off because they didn't like how the aborigines had told their history, they had been too critical???!!! WTF, soak it up and let them have their say, its the least they deserve after genocide and annihilation. In my opinion we are not responsible for the crimes of our ancestors but have a duty to be proactive in solving the current issues caused by the past. The indigenous people need their identity, their voice and their equality.

Fellow groovy grapers. From left to right; Paul, Adilady, Melanie, Brian, Hilda and Bjorn.

The McKenzie Falls.

I can't remember what this place was called but it was timeless in its magnitude and beauty.

I love this photo, I call it 'Adilady in the jaws of death.'

A kanga with its roo.

Day 3 we climbed Mt Hollow, which was really a rocky hill. I got to do some scrambling which made me happy.

Adilady doing her Dora the Explorer impression, a pose stolen from Hilda.

Adi lady at the top...

And the views.

This is Mt Zero, it is the first mountain climbed by the settlers and they froze their arses off when night came, hence the name.

We left at midday for the 6 hour drive to Adelaide where things certainly livened up staying with Carey. Adelaide bloggingtons will have to wait however as today we are going into the hills to visit a winery or two. What made me happy on the groovy grape tour? That's an easy one, the stunning scenery and scale of the mountains. Lots of love and over and out xxxx