Home                                                         UPDATE 7 DECEMBER

On return from Tasmania I stayed in Melbourne for 3 days catching up on the never ending admin, visiting other friends and taking people for rides in the car. The running lights and interior lights had packed it in and I was lucky that one of the friends I was visiting is an expert in automotive electrics. After a process of elimination we found that the number plate light was the culprit. All is now fixed although when I get home I will need to replace the taillight and rewire it completely. Thanks Rob!

I was lucky enough to be able to visit Tasman Motorsport who run a V8 Supercar team, and was shown around by their number one driver, Jason Richards, (He came outright second at this years Bathurst 1000km race). I saw the workshop area, the transporter and the cars being worked on as well as the engineering works nearby where some of their specialised parts are manufactured.

                                                                  

                                                The technology and the investment necessary at this level of motorsport is quite incredible.

                                                                  

 

Later that day I went sailing on a 31 foot UFO yacht on Port Phillip Bay. I haven't heard the results yet but  we think we came in the first five in our class. (Have since heard that we came 6th and are placed third in the annual championship).

After leaving Melbourne I dropped in at Point Cook, another old stamping ground of mine, and visited the RAAF Museum.

      

                                                                      

Then on to Geelong and along the Great Ocean Road. Very spectacular scenery and it would normally be good driving, but the holiday season had started and the road was clogged with holiday makers.

                                                                

I called in at Bells Beach, the internationally acclaimed surf beach, but it was as flat as a pancake. I was going to stay overnight at Lorne, but when I discovered it was a major "schoolies week" destination I decided to give it a miss and went on to Wye River where the Caravan Park turned out to be nice and quiet and peaceful. Next day was wet and foggy for the first couple of hours, but just as I approached the most scenic part of the trip it cleared. The 12 apostles, loch Ard Gorge, London bridge and other areas are just spectacular.

         

                  

                                                                      

There is so much to see that you go into "scenic overload" after a while. I stopped for the night at Warrnambool and continued on the next day to Mount Gambier. I saw the biggest wind farm I'd yet seen near Yambuk. I continued on via Portland and Nelson and then into South Australia and Port Macdonnel. On the way into Mount Gambier I climbed Mount Shan(c)k, an extinct volcano and checked out the famous Blue lake also the crater of an extinct volcano.

     

                                                                 

In Mount Gambier I stayed with the brother of a fellow clubbie owner from Adelaide. T.hanks michael! Next day started out badly with a bit of rain and managed to get worse. I tried accessing an ATM in Kingston and the machine took great delight in telling me that my card had expired (4 days ago!) and I would get no cash, moreover it would keep my card. Damn!!! I didn't have enough cash left to pay for overnight tent sites but I did have a 3/4 full fuel tank. There was no choice. I had to sneak back to Adelaide, (not easy in a bright yellow clubbie with a trailer on behind), find my replacement card (hopefully) amongst 4 months worth of mail and the sneak back to Meningie and continue my planned route via Victor harbor. Well, I've found the card and it works so tomorrow its back to near Meningie and the trip continues. I managed to sneak out of Adelaide and went across the ferry at Wellington and down to Goolwa, where I went over the controversial bridge to Hindmarsh Island and visited the Murray Mouth.

          

 I then went via Middleton and Port Elliot where I used to holiday as a kid. (The picture is of Horseshoe Bay at Port Elliot).

                                              

I spent my last night on the road at Victor Harbor. (The picture shows Granite Island and The Bluff at Victor Harbor)

                                             

This last night in the tent will be the 80th tent night of the trip with 40 nights actually spent in a bed. I'm starting to get used to it now. I will check by phone to make sure everything is OK for tomorrow. Now that its this close I just want to get it all over and done with. I headed off on the last day via Cape Jervis and then up the coast. (If you look really hard you can see Kangaroo Island in the background).

                                             

I had miscalculated the time a bit and there were a few speed limits left in tatters and thank goodness for the southern expressway. I managed to make my appointment with the Lord Mayor in front of the Town hall only a minute or so late. The Lord Mayor and Glen Dix, the flamboyant finish flag waver from the Adelaide Grand Prix days flagged me back home after 120 days and 28,844km. IT WAS ALL OVER!! It was good to see some familiar faces but I'm not sure whether I'd rather be here or still out on the road. At 4.45 pm I was interviewed over the phone on ABC drive time radio.

That's about it for a while. All that's left to do is a couple more miscellania pages and an epilogue. They will come over the next few days. (By 19th December hopefully)

To those who have followed my adventure via this site, thank you. I hope you have enjoyed sharing it with me.