December 21: Great Ocean Road

We got up pretty early today and caught the tram to go pick up the rental car at 7:30. Upon arrival we got a Uni Melbourne dicount (thanks to my sweatshirt) and we also got an upgrade. Same car as when we went down to Phillip Island. By 8:15 we had picked up Jake and the four of us (Jake, Pemi, Andi and I) were on the freeway towards Geelong. Driving on the left wasn’t hard at all, or much different. You get used to it pretty quickly and it was great sitting behind the wheel again. It was a quick drive to Geelong and didn’t take a whole lot more till we reached Torquay. Torquay was the first stop and from there we headed to Bells Beach. Bells Beach is one of the top Surf beaches in the world and apparently they got some competition there too. It was really beautiful. The Victorian coast is breathtaking. We walked down to the water and hung out for a bit. Even saw the split point lighthouse we visited from here. The water along the great ocean road is the most beautiful greenish-blue and the whole scenery is stunning. I was so amazed. From Bells Beach we headed to Anglesea where the Great Ocean Road officially starts. It was build after WWI. The veterans needed jobs and so thats how this road was created. We took photos underneath the Great Ocean Road sign and headed to Aireys Inlet/Fairhaven and saw the lighthouse from earlier. Another view of the Bass Strait and breathtaking scenery. There’s huge cliffs and standstone boulders in the ocean. Makes sense to have a lighthouse here From here we made our way along the road and after Ptticoat creek took a turn inland. We drove through what seemed like rainforest and it was very windy. This area is the Otway National Park and we visited the tree top walk here. In my opinion it was worth the very windy drive. The walk was great. First you walk through the forest and learn about it’s species/animals etc. Then they have this area with disonsaurs. It was funny because Andi told Jake to touch the tounge of a Rex and as he did that Andi scared the crap out of Jake. Hilarious!!!! I wish I had that on camera. From here we went on this metal walk thing where you are 30-40 meters up in the air. It’s a bit scary as you can feel the whole thing shake but the view is awesome. From here we drove on and sooner than expected hit the parking spot for the Twelve Apostles look out. There were so many people here and even more flies. The view was AMAZING! I LOVED this so much. Even with all the people it was just breathtaking. I was in awe. The beach, clear water and sandstone rocks in the water are just kind of impressive. Apparently there were never twelve apostles. The last on that collapsed was in 2005. We took heaps of photos and waked a bit then continued driving. Dinner was good. Just something small but filling. We stopped at Loch Ard Gorge before heading into Port Campbell for our first meal of the day: dinner. Pemi drove the car around the parking lot and it was her first time driving in Oz. After we stopped and saw London Bridge and took a photo of Petersborough (same town name as Pemi’s hometown), we made our way back. WE took the A1 through the cuntry and it was also pretty. I had no idea Victoria was so much farmland. There were cows everywhere. Mrs Cronn would have loved it haha. We saw a lovely sunset out here as well. It did remind me of Germany a lot. WE dropped off Jake and Andi back in Melbroune and met up with Allan and Matt as it was Matt’s birthday. We left by 2:30am. Someone dropped a glass of beer from the rooftop bar and it almost landed on my head downstairs at cookie. It sucked. I was full of beer so we decided it was time to go home. We had to return the car by 7:30 the next day so I figured I should head home. So drove Pemi home and grabbed a lovely parking spot right outside my doorstep. It was a WONDERFUL day and super fun. I was so impressed with the Great Ocean Road and will definetly come back.

Keep smiling
Cheers

I am writing a couple posts. Be patient. This one is long!

It’s already been almost ten days since I got back from the Outback and time to tell you all about my travels. I LOVED the Red Centre. It was Fantastic!

Day 1 (Dec 10): I actually started my Journey on the 9th. Pemi and I headed over to my friend Jake’s house to waste some time before heading to Southern Cross Station and catching the Skybus to the Airport. We got to the Station around 1 in the morning and had missed the Sky bus by 5 minutes so we waited at the Station until 2 and got to the Airport by 2:30 in the morning. We found some benches and tried to sleep. As this was pretty uncomfortable we barely slept but joked around and were excited to be heading to the Outback. When 5:30 am rolled around we made our way to check in and then to the gate. We went to grab some breakfast before hand. I traveled via Tiger Airways and the three hour flight took some time to go by. Arriving in Alice Springs was really funny. Because you land on the runaway instead of at a gate you walk along this pathway. Behind some large metal fences are a lot of people waiting on the arriving passangers and it looked like we were walking through a Zoo looking at animals. Really funny. We got picked up by the Hostel and made our way to Alice Springs. It was only a short 15 minute drive. Then we checked in and the room I stayed in was full of Germans. There were five of us, Pemi from the US and then Lindsey from Canada. One of the other German girls, Julia, came with Pemi and me to grab some lunch. Afterwards we headed back to the Hostel for a nap. In the afternoon we walked to Anzac Hill where there is a WWI memorial. I think every city, village, town has an Anzac/Gallipoli/WWI memorial. From here you have a great view of Alice Springs and it’s surroundings. Alice Springs is really boring though. There is not much happening. The aboriginals come here to visit or when they have been kicked out of their tribes for drinking/drugs, but the people are friendly so whatever. In the evening we just made some dinner, shared a tub of ice cream between Lindsey, Julia, Pemi and I and went back to sleep.

Day 2 (Dec 11):
I woke up at 5:10 because I got picked up at 5:50 for the three day tour I signed up for. Had a small Brekky at the hostel (Toast and Jam), then packed and headed off. As Australians are usually never on time, neither was the tour guide but that’s alright. Two other German girls (Patricia and Ruth) got on the bus with us at Haven Hostel. The bus is called Betsy. Then we went to YHA and a couple other places and picked up the rest of the crew. We were 18 people from Norway, UK, Germany, Taiwan, USA and the guide was Australian. Our tour guide, Jake, is really funny and played “Highway to Hell” as we left Alice Springs. After a 5.5hr drive we arrived at Kings Canyon. Before getting there, and after the first gas stop, we all had to introduce ourselves. Everyone had to sit in the hot seat at the front of the bus and talk a bit about themselves. Luckily the microphone wasn’t working properly and we ditched it after the second introduction Anyway, when we arrived in Kings Canyon we started a 6.5 km hike with a really steep hill called Heart Attack Hill. It is mainly randomly placed stones that make up a bunch of stairs. Not easy at all but once you get to the top it’s not a hard walk from here. When everyone reached the top we hiked another 5 min before eating sandwiches, apples, müsli bars, drinking lots of water and taking a rest. You needed to have 3 liters of water for every hike. 1 Liter per hour of walking. While we ate, Jake explained a bit about one of the gumtrees (eukalyptus). The one that grew where we rested has a white bark and when you rub on it the residue has an SPF (Sonnenschutzfaktor) of about 15. The aboriginals use this when they go on a walkabout. We also learned about a plant that dates back to Dinosaur age and looks like a palm tree without the trunk. We had a beautiful view of the whole canyon from this area and took lots of photos. This side of the canyon was pretty unstable and you can’t go to the edge. The other side of the canyon hasn’t changed in 100s of years and is much more stable. The canyon has been formed through the last 50 million years and used to be a lake. Water runs beneath the many layers of rock (often sandstone) which leaves many green plants. We walked over a bunch of boulders/rocks and took a group photo along the edge as well as with the canyon in the background. I was so excited to see the Garden of Eden but it was a bit disappointed. Because it hasn’t rained here for a year there is almost no water in this area and no swimming was involved. We did have a lovely view of the area though. From the other side of the canyon I was able to see the water hole though. It’s almost empty. Jake explained more plants along our way one of them called Ippy Ippy. Ippy means breast/milk and the plant has a milky substance that heals cuts. The milk inside looks a bit like the one thats inside Dandylions. A lot of people are apparently researching this plant because it is so healing. Withing a couple days a wound will have healed. The only downfall of this plant is that if it gets in your eye you will be blind for a day or two. I also learned about this other tree that Aboriginals use to make spears. One of the trees had soft boucny wood that straightens over fire. There there was a certain grass bush as well as the spear tree. When an animal was hit the poison from the spear tree would numb the animal. Aboriginals could track the animal either through blood stains or the spear trail in the sand. The Mulga tree was also used to make boomerangs at is is really hard wood. They also used wood from this tree as it would burn great. The coals would stay warm for up to 24 hours so if fire needed to be carried somewhere else then Aboriginals would use the testicals from a kangaroo, turn it inside out, make it into a sac and carried hot coals in it. Nasty, but it worked
The weather for the hike was really nice. It was overcast and around 32 degrees and slightly windy. We got super lucky with out hike as the group before us that went with Jake had around 48 degrees and the forecast for the group after us was in the high 40s also. Towards our way back down to the bottom of the Canyon the sun did come out and it was really hot. From Kings Canyon we made our way to our bush camp. The first stop we made though was at a view point to see Mt Conner, also called Atilla. On the other side was a short pathway to see the salt lakes. Camesl first had to be sued to cross these lakes to get to Uluru from Kings Canyon. Horses weren’t good enough. The road to Ayers Rock still goes around these salt lakes and as a result is much longer than the direct 100km. We then stopped on the side of the road and collected some Mulga wood from trees that have died. Then we made another stop where we bought beer. From here we headed to the bush camp. At the camp we had some people set up the fire, some grabbed all the swags and some other people cut potatos, etc for dinner. Ludwig and I cut the onions (no crying involved) while Patricia and Brigitte were responsible for the Potatoes and Carrots. Ruth made the beer bread (which Jake sadly burned but the inside was still good) and Andi was responsible for putting the beer on ice. The Germans at work haha. It was a really good dinner. The pot that the potatoes and bread was cooked/baked in was great. You put hot coals in the bottom, then the food, the coals on top. 30 minutes later everything was done and we had Beans, Veggies, Beef (for the meat eaters) and the bread. Yum. After dinner we sat around the campfire on our swags. Swags are AWESOME and I want to buy one. They are like a big bag with a 3cm mattress and this cover you can put over your head. The sleeping bag goes inside the swag and it’s really warm. Plus it allows for sleeping under the stars as no tent is required. When we were all really tired (around 10pm) we fell asleep in our swags. I was so amazed lying underneath the stars I didn’t fall asleep straight away. There were just millions of stars and I saw a bunch of satellites and shooting stars. You could even see Venus.

Day 3 (Dec 12):
Jake came around and woke everyone up around 5:30 but I was up before then and got to see the Sunrise. It was lovely. We had breakfast, brushed our teeth, took down camp and headed off. Today was the day to listen to Aussie music. The song G’Day G’Day by Slim Dusty became the theme song for this trip and I am sure by the end of our trip Jake was sick of this song. Bunch of other good music too including digeridoos and also some not so great country music. But it was all in good fun! From the camp we mde our way to Kata Tjuta while listening to Land Down under with Uluru in sight. At Kata Tjuta we walked the Valley of the Winds. We filled up our water bottles and started the 7.5km walk. Along the walk (hike), Jake explained about this pine tree/bush that functions as an antispetic. The needles from these trees were used by Aboriginals for healing as well. They would stick needles into warts to heal them. We continued our hike, crossing over large boulder/hills made of rock and along many paths. After a strenous hike to the top we got to enjoy a beautiful view that reminded us of a dinoasaur filled world. It really looked like Jurrassic Park. On the other side of the view was one of the 36 Rockforms that make up Kata Tjuta. Kata Tjuta = Many Heads. Aboriginals thought these rock formations looked like heads and named them many heads as they only have words for the number 1,2 and 3. Anything above 3 is many. Kata Tjuta is a sacred place for Aboriginal men and no Aboriginal woman has ever seen this place. When Aboriginal boys get initated and become men they get to come to Kata Tjuta. The Rock formation we saw had a winking face relating to an Aboriginal Story at Uluru. From the top we could go back or contine on down a steep hill back into the valley and back to the bus. But before we continued our walk, our guide had found some Ocre rock and showed us how they were used. Depending on the Iron content in this rock it gets colors between white and dark red. They have a chalk like texture and when crushed and mixed with animal fat are used in paintings, teachings, ceremonies, body paintings, and during initiation. The white color is used for the most important Aboriginal elder. Jake found so many colors, which is pretty unusual, that he hid his findings from the other guides and covered them with some leaves before all of us headed down into the valley. After a steep hike and through some river beds, taking lots of photos and chatting with the people from the tour we reached the bus. From here we drove to the campground where would would spend the second night. Extremly dirty, we all decided to hop in the pool because we all thought it was either pool or shower and we decided to hop in the pool. After the swim we ended up having enough time for a shower and some lunch. This campsite is part of a six star resort. There are only two six star resorts in the world. Why this is one of them, I have no idea. The word Schwagen, which became our tour motto and word was introduced we headed to the cultural centre. On the wayt here we picked up some Aboriginals who just returned from Alice Springs. Their car had broken down and Jake offered a ride. He dropped us of at the centre and then dropped of the Aboriginals. They took a card game and matches. Random.
The centre was really interesting, explaining 4 of the creation stories at Uluru, how Abroginals used trees/fruit from trees, hunting, art, etc. Some photos are covered up because the person has passed away and it’s unacceptable to still look at a photo of them because you are holding back their spirit. There is also a “Sorry-book” where people send back letters with sand, rocks etc that they have taken. They want to return it to it’s origin because taking it has resulted in bad luck or they didn’t know how sacred the item was. From the centre we did a 1km walk to a watering hole. Along the way Jake explained certain signs, showd us rock paintings that were used to teach, told thes tory about the 4 boys who didnt get initated, shoed us the kitchend that women and girls learned to cook. We also saw a place that was sacred for women and no Aboriginal men has ever seen. Jake made the guys line up on one side and the girls on the other. We got to look at it, the guys didn’t. There are a few of these places around Uluru that Aboriginal men wont ever see and they walk many kilometers around these parts of the rock with their head down. National Geographic ruined some of the Aboriginal men’s lives by publishing photos of these sacred places. It had a really negative mental affect on these men. For example, one of the places we saw was a hole in the rock that looked like a wedding bell. Women would come here to birth their children. No men has ever seen this or ever will. I thought this was interesting.
From the 1km walk we drove toa Bus Parking place where we had some dinner, beers, and a lovely view of Uluru at Sunset. We had a Schwagen Photo Shooting with Uluru in the Background and it was breathtaking to see the rock change color. From here we drove back to camp and had more beer/showers and talked. It was so bright here from the street lamps that i encouraged some others to move to the darker/shaded area with me. Ended up that all the Germans except Ludwig came. We were on a lookout for shooting stars before falling sleep as no one believed me that there were any until they saw some themselves.

Day 4:
Woke up around 4am in the morning to get ready to see the sunrise over Uluru. We just moved the swags, hopped on the bus and drove over to the sunrise area. The ranger at the park entrance was a bit stupid and smoked/had coffe/took his time until he let us in the park. By then the sun was starting to rise. At the sunrise area, als the new area for postcard pictures/rebranding Uluru, we had breakky and waited on the colors to change. Not much happened till after the sun was already in the air and everyone agreed it would have been nice to watch the sunrise from the same spot as yesterdays Sunset watch. The sunrise area has lots of trees and bush in the way. Patricia, Ludwig and I walked to a small platform that has just been build where you can see Kata Tjuta and Uluru. It was a lovely morning though a bit chilly. After this Jake dropped us off for a base walk of Uluru while he went to take a well needed rest before the drive home. The climb was closed due to the weather (thank god) and so everyone had to settle for the base walk. People have done so much damage to the rock and you can see from kilometers away where people walk up the rock. Many people die while doing the climb to the top and whenever someone does the Aboriginals drop everything and do a 2 day ceremony for the person who has died. Either way, as a group we walked the base and it was really amazing. Walking next to this huge spiritual rock was just kind of undescribable. It wasreally warm though and we all had lots of water. Good conversation made the 8.5km walk go by faster than expected.
After our walk we each had a piece of cake as we were driving back to take down camp. Then we headed back towards Alice Springs. We stopped at one of the few gas stations/rest areas and made wraps for lunch. Then we got back to the bus, listened to more aussie music (by request of course the G’Day G’Day was involved) and drove back. Everyone was exhausted and napping. We collected everybodys email list to stay in touch as we couldnt have been luckier to have such a wonderful group. We stopped at a Camel Farm 1 hour south of Alice Springs. It was a little disappointing but we got to see a baby camel as well as had an ice cream. Then back on the bus. More G’Day G’Day, conversation, and stopped to take a photo of a crazy Kangaroo/Car Crash sign. Pemi, Patricia, Ruth and I got dropped of at the hostel first and asked if we could all share a room. Later that evening (after doing laundry) we all met up with everyone for Dinner and Beer at the Rock Bar before going next door to the Saloon. Here we requested Slim Dusty’s song one more time and had a lovely evening before heading our own ways. Allan and Matt, two of the people from Liverpool were on the same bus as Pemi and I the next morning so we were gonna see them again. Andi was gonna meet up with us in Melbourne and the rest of the people we will surely have to meet again.

Day 4 (Dec 13):
We got up to go to Coles (yes I shop at Coles – inside joke) and run errands before going back to the Hostel to say goodbye to Ruth and Patricia and checking out. Walked back to the Greyhound station and hopped on the bus to Adelaide. Allan slept for most of it, Matt and I had some conversation but slept most of the way. It was freeeeezing and luckily Matt let me borrow his jacket or I would have had some frozen arms and legs We stopped in Coober Pedy and I wish I could have stayed here an extra day. About 20 hours later we arrived in Adelaide. This bus trip went by so fast and because there weren’t many people on the bus we each got to have our own two seats

Day 5 (Dec 14):
Got Breakfast and first coffee in a long time in adelaide. Also grabbed a Bagel. The first one in 5 months. Headed to the Aboriginal Centre but it was under construction so we only got to see the Gallery. But it was really pretty. Saw the Uni, National Gallery of South Australia, South Australian Museum (Ausgestopfte Tiere, Wal-skelette, etc). From here we walked to the World Ends Bar then sat in the bark. Went to the Glasblwoing Gallery as well. In the park I got bitten and that along with allergies made my feet swell up to twice their size. On the way back to the greyhound station we got some ice cream (it was 40 degrees) and cheese for the drive back. We were so ready to escape the heat in Adelaide. The bus ride back to Melbourne was packed, the driver was in a bad mood and it took ages. Thus, shitty bus ride. We stopped at a Road House that was full of bugs and moths and it was the most disgusting thing. Millions of little bugs. And people brought them back on the bus so you though you constantly had bugs crawling on you. So it was great to be back at the Southern Cross Station. Went home, then to the doctor and now I am better.

OVERALL, AMAZING trip that I would do again any time.
Cheers and Schwagen!

PS: Big Photo update from the last month when I get to the city (without it raining) and once the photos are edited.
PSS: Aboriginal Dreamtime/Creation stories