Half way back, The Grampians

We both enjoyed our stay in Adelaide but we packed our bags and headed off back to Melbourne but this time we only intend to stop one night on the way back and I programmed a Motel into the satnav. We drove out of the Motel onto the main road and it chirped up, “Bear right in 80yards”. We followed its instruction and it chirped up again, “Stay on road for 190 miles”. That’s what this place is like; vast with long straight roads. Even after 190 miles it was only to go straight over the roundabout, then stay on road for another 59 miles. Again it took us straight to our Motel, the Central Park Motel in Stawell in The Grampians. It’s not the best of Motels but it is the cheapest we have found and it does have a TV, fridge, en-suite and aircon; not that Claire lets me put it on. She seems constantly cold; especially today as its been drizzling most of the way back. I think its better when you have a long driving day if it is a bit overcast else it gets really uncomfortable in the car all day.

We stopped for breakfast after about 90 minutes when we also needed more gas at the Coolabah tree café; not the best, but that’s what you get in a transport place everywhere. Stopping there, again reminded me of Waltzing Matilda and I sang again to Claire when we left wishing we could “camp by a billabong”. Very long straight roads for hours on end; they put signs to remind you that you are driving so you don’t go to sleep. We have seen, “Yawning, micro sleep kills in seconds”, or “Droopy eyes, take a power nap”. Great, a power nap, and they even have little stopping places called, “Power nap stops” where people could stop for a quick nap. It does help actually, when I was leaving for Somerset at 4am for a 3 hour solid drive to start work at 7am on a Monday morning earlier this year, sometimes I was slipping away. Once I stopped, switched the engine off and closed my eyes; only for about 3 minutes but it did stop my eyes closing when I got going again. I think it’s just the constant drone of the road for mile after mile, especially in the dark.

We didn’t stop for lunch but did stop in Keith at our favourite “Thirsty Camel” wine drive in wine store to stock up again. Stawell was one of Australia’s gold rush towns and saw 20,000 people here at the time mining the Pleasant Creek gold mine. 58,000 tons of gold was mined over 60 years of its main production, but today it’s the longest gold producing mine still in operation. We arrived at our Motel at about 4pm, unpacked and headed off for Halls Gap which I was told was 17 minutes away by the owner, dressed in his hand knitted woollen jumper, as he handed me a map of the Grampians. It was a very touristy little village with steep prices but no views that we could see so we headed off in search of some. We found a side road which went to Silverband falls so I followed that. There were plenty of signs saying “beware of kangaroos” and we even saw one “beware of Koala bears” but we didn’t see any again. You had to park your car and walk 1km to the falls along a little dirt path through the woods and Claire was frightened of the wild life so stayed in the car. I noticed that all the others had boots and long trousers on and I felt a little vulnerable in my shorts and open toed sandals. The falls were quite small because its summer but the water just disappeared into the ground; there must be an underground stream starting at the bottom of the waterfall. I took some photos and headed back to Claire. There is evidence of fire damage everywhere we have been through Victoria and South Australia; especially around the Grampians. It seems as if every tree has been affected but there is sign of re-growth coming back at last. Not sure if it was 2006 or February 2009 that this area was affected but it certainly made a mess.

We got back to the motel again and were both starving so we walked around the corner to find the drive in Chinese restaurant advertised outside our motel. Unfortunately it is closed on Tuesdays so we walked back again and drove into town where we ordered take away noodles and some fruit for our on the road breakfast. We found another wine shop because we didn’t think our wine would have cooled yet. We found the same make that we like in a 5 litre box for $14.99, a real bargain and its cold; that should last us for a week or so. Another driving day tomorrow so probably not much to report again I’m afraid. Next time we go away on one of these drives we will be more prepared taking knives and forks, bowls breakfast stuff and a cool box full of wine and food. All these places have basic cooking facilities and fridges. I guess that our next trip will be to Sydney but not sure if we will have time before our friends Jane and Ian come to Melbourne, they are already in Hong Kong as we speak. I believe that they are staying in the Grand Harbour hotel which has views over Hong Kong harbour on Hong Kong Island. Have a good time guys; we will see you next week!