i was behind the wheel for about 400+km (basically from Geelong all the way to Halls Gap at Grampians National Park)(see map below)(we did the whole red line journey, also known as the Great Southern Touring Route), and the joy of being behind the wheel for the entire was indescribable. i was already gushing about how happy i was even when we were still on the road. hehehe..
for more about the car rental, check out my earlier post. all together, we spent about AUD600 (apprx RM2,000) for this whole journey, including food, accom, and car rental. if we could stay the extra night at the Grampians (which i would totally do the next time), I guess it would cost around AUD700 (apprx RM2,300) for two pax for a 4D3N trip. this figure is for budget travel (it could go slightly lower, if you stay in a hostel)(this cost also assumes that you eat out only once a day, and cook the rest of your meals).
blue sky, blue sky everywhere.
the weather was gorgeous for most part, thank God! :) the sun was out every day, and the temperature was between high13-low6, which was just loverly. we didn't have to switch on the aircond, which saved us quite a bit in petrol money. i gather Sept would be the best time to go, because Spring would have just begun and the weather gorgeous, and there won't be the Summer crowd to annoy or distract you -- we practically had the road to ourselves for most part of the journey. :)
most stretches of the roads were sheer pleasure to drive. the roads are in good conditions, with hardly any potholes, coupled breathtaking scenery outside the windows that seamlessly change from trees and shrubs to vast grazing land and then miles and miles of shoreline. love it!
me at the wheels B-)
this wasn't on a main road. we had taken a detour into Tower Hill Reserve (about 10mins from Warnambool town), a supposedly dormant volcano. we parked and hiked up the hill (needless to say, we were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the surrounding area -- see below). here we also saw our first kangaroo here, and some emus too. :)
atop Tower Hill Reserve.
leaving Port Campbell, with the sea behind us.
it had just rained, and we were making our way up to Beroka Lookout Point at Grampians for a view of the valley. unfortunately, a heavy fog caused poor visibility and we could hardly make anything out. boo. the rain also thwarted our plan to hike up to the Pinnacle, and we were caught in about 10 minutes of it, which left us drenched and freezing.. thank God for the heater in the car :)
it was 6 degree outside the car, after the rain. the wind made it feel like it was zero degree, but we braved the cold and was outside chatting with a pair of old couple who was spending their week at the Grampians. the man said that every year, they load up their caravan with food and wine to last them a week, and they just spend their days there. i want to do the same when i retire!!
it gets dark quickly. by this time i had return the control of the wheels back to the husband, who is a much safer driver at night hehe. good thing too, cos there were at least three times that some kangaroos decided to dash across the road at that hour. there was even a pair of mother-kid hopping from the left to the right side of the road, prompting the age old riddle we all know so well: why did the kangaroos cross the road? :P
this was probably taken around 6pm at Ararat (hello, Noah :D)
took this pic just before we returned it. i had half a mind to drive around the block just so the meter would stop at 888.8 :D
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