AUSTRALIA - DAY TWELVE & THIRTEEN - The Southern Ports

Previous Blogs: Day 1 Portland & Honolulu | Day 2 Oahu | Day 3+4 Melbourne | Day 5 Williamstown | Day 6 Launceston | Day 7 Cradle Mountain | Day 8 Road to Hobart | Day 9 Port Arthur | Day 10 Apollo Beach | Day 11 Port Fairy | Day12+13 Southern Ports | Day 14 Kangaroo Island | Day 15 Kangaroo Island | Day 16 Kangaroo Island | Day 17 Adelaide | Day 18 Adelaide | Day 19 Adelaide Hills | Day 20+21 Uluru | Day 22+23 Alice Springs | Day 24 Darwin | Day 25 Darwin | Day 26+27 Port Douglas | Day 28 Daintree | Day 29+30 Gold Coast | Day 31+32 Brisbane | Day 33 Brisbane | Day 34-36 Hawaii

Click photos for a larger image...

We had to make a lot of miles in the past two days, so I decided to consolidate the two days into one blog. 

By now we have left the beautiful Great Ocean Road behind and we traversed a little inland and then back to the Coast again taking the Southern Ports Highway.

The road from Port Fairy via Mount Gambier to Victor Harbor, which is where we are right now, encompassed  about 650 km (403 miles) of twisty roads to nothingness in desolate scrub. We would have loved to take more photos but it was like...

- We were in Africa with views of its plains

- We were in Nevada on the 50; The Loneliest Road

- We were in Napa Valley with endless views of grapevines

The landscape is truly amazing and sometime photos don't do it justice.  Not to mention, there was NO PLACE to pull off. 

There are countless beaches just like the one above every few miles. I liked the name of this one, the Pea Soup Beach. Every day starts grey skies in the morning and then opens up in the afternoon. The water temperature is disgusting, at the height of summer (right now) the sea temp is 19 C (67 degrees F). Hmmmm.....Antarctica is due south of us, probably explains why the ocean breeze is freezing (ok - very, very chilly!)

When the clouds and fog clear, the color of the water is beautiful!

Our stop last evening was in Mount Gambier. Above is "Blue Lake" - one of the most famed attractions. The reason the lake is so blue (only in summer) is because it is very, very pure water.  Pure water scatters light in the blue range. You see this phenomenon in Glacial lakes for those of you who've been to Alaska.  However, this blue is much more azure, whereas Alaska blue is more the color of anti-freeze.  Just an observation on the blue color scale - just sayin'....

In winter the lake is green-grey. It is stirred up with dead algae which is mixed into the top of the lake. The lake appears less blue due to absorption of blue light by the substances of near surface water.

Our hotel in Mount Gambier had a heated indoor swimming pool so yours truly decided to go for a swim, my first in Australia, coz the sea is too damn cold for me!  The "heated" hot tub was not so hot.  Wendy stuck her big toe in and nearly went into hypothermia.  She quickly grabbed both her and my towel and relented into the fetal position to warm up.  I'm sure the Aussie wine helped.

Back on the road this morning. Each port town we stopped at was super adorable, had a pier and a bunch of boats sitting on mooring balls. Pretty much the standard design of each town. Then the road turned to rugged coastline with rock outcrops interspersed with beaches.

We then crossed state lines from Victoria to South Australia. We noticed a couple things immediately:

1. They have a disposal bin for any fruits, vegetables and soil (?) you might be carrying. You are expected to dispose of this in the provided bin. We had just bought a bunch of fruit for our lunch, so in the absence of any agricultural police, we kept it, thereby breaking State Law. Oooopppps!

2. The speed limit in SA is higher. On a single lane country winding road with no shoulders, the speed limit is 110 kmph (almost 70 mph). That's pretty damn high.

3. I was adamant on driving.  If Wendy drove, she would (a) drive at about 50kmph (35mph) and (b) freak out.  It's just easier if I drive.  So I duct taped her mouth and blindfolded her in the trunk so I could have a peaceful day.

I did acquiesce and give in to her Lighthouse demands...

A very unique designed lighthouse.  It was relocated to this locale several years ago when the funky square lighthouse replaced it from Cape Jaffe.

This is the first square lighthouse we have ever seen before, very funky!

This is not a light house but a storage bunker where they kept rockets in order to shoot out rescue lines to ships stranded on the rocks off shore.

The further we went, the more the landscape changed...

Coastline became craggy... A mixture of limestone and lava rock

Wendy freaking me out... on the edge of a cliff

Flat farm land as far as the eye can see

And loads of salt pans...

(Above)  What happens when you take back roads and not highways?  A 5 minute ferry across the river - it was free and fun!  Available 24 hours a day for those of you in the planning stages...

We arrived at our hotel in Victor Harbor by 5 PM with enough time to shop for dinner. (EVERYTHING closes at 5  Everywhere in Oz!!)

And for the first time, the hotel had a BBQ! YAY! A hot dinner for a change. All our other hotels did not have stoves, BBQs or even microwaves, so we made sandwiches or ate fruits, salads, cheese platters, etc.

Our first Aussie BBQ!  We actually had a couple Aussies ask if they could join us.  We said yes, but we need more meat!

A word on prices here. Food in the grocery store is CHEAP! Half the price of the USA.

Wine is the same or cheaper. Beer and liquor is EXPENSIVE! Beer is twice the price and liquor THREE times the price!

Gas is OK, about $3/gallon. What is interesting is the honesty values in Oz are like the USA was 20 years ago. Gas station pumps don't accept credit cards. You pump your own gas and then walk into the office to pay for it by cash or by card. Honor system only. You say what number pump you were at.

If you order room service, they put it in the box at the requested time.  You simply open the "servery" from inside your room....and VOILA!  FOOD! 

No worries, it is locked from inside your room so mean, nasty burglars can squiggle their way in!

Kangaroos love wine...

Heaven is....

When you find your hotel... and there is a liquor store RIGHT NEXT DOOR!!!

Um...this has happened 4 times since our arrival! Kizmet? Fate?  God? Karma?

Who cares?  Liquor Gods love US!  YEAH!!!

Tomorrow we head to Kangaroo Island.  Wendy's dream of a lifetime.  Stay tuned!!!