Feb 1st - 14th
1st February
Rach and Nath headed off early this morning in the direction of Victor Harbour and we lounged around camp reading and relaxing etc. Bec finished her book, Shapelle Corby's biography - an interesting read.
As we have run out of water and need some food we decided to head to Yankalilla to stock up. The climb up Rapid Bay hill was very tough on the bus so we decided that rather than back track we'd also head for Victor Harbour.
We arrived about 5pm and after stealing 180 liters of water from the local BP (Bec was shitting herself and hiding in the back of the bus with Charlie) we decided to take Charlie on a nice long walk. We did intend to go over to Garnet Island but as there is a colony of 'Little Fairy Penguins' Charlie wasn't welcome. Instead we walked alone the Natural Harbour - Mike taking photos and Charlie rolling around in the smelly seaweed. We were going to have a BBQ right in the centre of town but as the local rough nuts were having a drinking session we headed to another BBQ area along the Harbour. Had a lovely dinner and moved on to our camp for the night, another beach car park (becoming a regular camp spot - SA don't seem to have strict rules like WA when it comes to beach camping)
2nd February
Looks like we weren't the only ones that thought this might be a good spot to camp! Awoke to another bus sharing our car park.
Mike headed to Mitre 10 in search of some timber to make a nice little book/storage shelf at the back of the bus.
Headed into the middle of town and enjoyed our breakie with a view. Bec conned Mike into walking across to Garnit Island even though he wanted to catch the horse drawn tram. It was a nice 3km stroll round trip. All these walks are doing Mike favors as his pants are now hanging off his hips.
Moseyed around town in search of a new book for Bec, a belt for Mike and some food for Charlie. A beautiful little town, perfect for a stroll.
Moved on to Langhorne (Tom if it had of been Longhorne we would of stolen a sign for you) and set up for the night at Frank Potts Reserve, a grassy little spot on the side of Langhorne Creek. An hour or so later a nice lady and her dog Foxy (yes Pete it was also a Kelpie) arrived and decided it was 'happy hour'. At this point in time Mike was FINALLY finishing the varnishing and building our new shelf so he soldiered on and finished his jobs before joining Yvonne for a beer. (She was out of Rum so was drinking coffee). Bec spent an hour watching her TV soapies and then joined in on the festivities.
3rd February
Woke up this morning to the sound of bird scaring rifles as we were parked in the middle of a wine region. Said our farewells to Yvonne and then Mike made Bec breakfast in bed.
Got moving fairly early for a change today with the view of heading to Kingston or Robe depending on the available camp sites.
Did approx 250 - 300kms today and rested in Kingston for lunch where we spotted another Hino Rainbow RB145 (same bus as ours)!! Mike was so excited that we pulled up right next to it to have our lunch. Eventually the owners awoke from their nanna nap and we had the pleasure of swapping stories and guided tours. It opened Bec's eyes to what an unbelievably fantastic job Mike has done on HoneyMoonin. The other bus had been professionally fitted out but had caused a lot more heartache than pleasure and after being on the road since early December there were still things that weren't working and they were headed back to QLD for a pending court case to sue the plumber who did the gas on the bus and ripped them off.
No real camp sites in Keningston so we decided to push on to Robe and after stocking Mike up on grog we found a lovely little beach car park on Longbeach which is without a doubt the best beach we have seen in SA. We enjoyed another (yes Mike another) long walk along the beach with Charlie before drinks, dinner and the updating of our diary.
4th February
Left this morning after heading into town for some supplies. Decided to follow the coast and hopefully find a camp spot along the way.
Visited Beachport a nice fishing town on the coast heading south, though continued south in the hope of finding a nice beach camp. Found a nice beach camp at a place called Southend where Nath and Rach are also staying.
Went for a drive around town and headed back to camp area to set up for the night. Nath and I went Mulloway fishing after dark. Whilst the girls stayed home and chatted. Fished until midnight and Nath caught one nice sized Mulloway.
5th February
Had intended on staying tonight in Southend but the weather has taken a turn for the worst so we all decided to head for Mt Gambier for a look around and maybe do some walking in the cooler weather.
Mike decided this morning that doing his hair with gel everyday was getting annoying so thought he'd let Nath perfect his hair dressing skills and give Mike a number 2 hair cut - Rompa Stompa style all whilst Bec pissed herself and took photos!
Drove to Gambier and went to the Pine Country caravan park. Had lunch and went into town for a look around before heading back to camp to cook and eat last night’s catch! YUM! What a meal fresh Mulloway cooked in Nath’s secret herbs and spices on the BBQ! Followed by a few cleansing ales and the odd tall story.
6th February
The motley crew left camp for a tour of the Blue Lake. We were greeted at the gate by our tour guide nicknamed Harry as if his pants were any higher he'd choke! So Harry High Pants it was. His very scripted tour (He should have just played a tape) begun and we toured the Blue Lake pumping house (after a tricky question from Rach - the school teacher coming out!), the tour then took us down the service elevator to the waters edge. This lake is quite spectacular the water is the most vivid sky blue color - but only from November to March in the other months it turns a grey color.
Back to camp for lunch at which time the girls decided to go window shopping in town while the boys sorted through all of our digital photos and burnt them to CD for the Opo's.
Had a "Dirty" feed of pizza as tomorrow we are off bush.
Rach and Nath headed off early this morning in the direction of Victor Harbour and we lounged around camp reading and relaxing etc. Bec finished her book, Shapelle Corby's biography - an interesting read.
As we have run out of water and need some food we decided to head to Yankalilla to stock up. The climb up Rapid Bay hill was very tough on the bus so we decided that rather than back track we'd also head for Victor Harbour.
We arrived about 5pm and after stealing 180 liters of water from the local BP (Bec was shitting herself and hiding in the back of the bus with Charlie) we decided to take Charlie on a nice long walk. We did intend to go over to Garnet Island but as there is a colony of 'Little Fairy Penguins' Charlie wasn't welcome. Instead we walked alone the Natural Harbour - Mike taking photos and Charlie rolling around in the smelly seaweed. We were going to have a BBQ right in the centre of town but as the local rough nuts were having a drinking session we headed to another BBQ area along the Harbour. Had a lovely dinner and moved on to our camp for the night, another beach car park (becoming a regular camp spot - SA don't seem to have strict rules like WA when it comes to beach camping)
2nd February
Looks like we weren't the only ones that thought this might be a good spot to camp! Awoke to another bus sharing our car park.
Mike headed to Mitre 10 in search of some timber to make a nice little book/storage shelf at the back of the bus.
Headed into the middle of town and enjoyed our breakie with a view. Bec conned Mike into walking across to Garnit Island even though he wanted to catch the horse drawn tram. It was a nice 3km stroll round trip. All these walks are doing Mike favors as his pants are now hanging off his hips.
Moseyed around town in search of a new book for Bec, a belt for Mike and some food for Charlie. A beautiful little town, perfect for a stroll.
Moved on to Langhorne (Tom if it had of been Longhorne we would of stolen a sign for you) and set up for the night at Frank Potts Reserve, a grassy little spot on the side of Langhorne Creek. An hour or so later a nice lady and her dog Foxy (yes Pete it was also a Kelpie) arrived and decided it was 'happy hour'. At this point in time Mike was FINALLY finishing the varnishing and building our new shelf so he soldiered on and finished his jobs before joining Yvonne for a beer. (She was out of Rum so was drinking coffee). Bec spent an hour watching her TV soapies and then joined in on the festivities.
3rd February
Woke up this morning to the sound of bird scaring rifles as we were parked in the middle of a wine region. Said our farewells to Yvonne and then Mike made Bec breakfast in bed.
Got moving fairly early for a change today with the view of heading to Kingston or Robe depending on the available camp sites.
Did approx 250 - 300kms today and rested in Kingston for lunch where we spotted another Hino Rainbow RB145 (same bus as ours)!! Mike was so excited that we pulled up right next to it to have our lunch. Eventually the owners awoke from their nanna nap and we had the pleasure of swapping stories and guided tours. It opened Bec's eyes to what an unbelievably fantastic job Mike has done on HoneyMoonin. The other bus had been professionally fitted out but had caused a lot more heartache than pleasure and after being on the road since early December there were still things that weren't working and they were headed back to QLD for a pending court case to sue the plumber who did the gas on the bus and ripped them off.
No real camp sites in Keningston so we decided to push on to Robe and after stocking Mike up on grog we found a lovely little beach car park on Longbeach which is without a doubt the best beach we have seen in SA. We enjoyed another (yes Mike another) long walk along the beach with Charlie before drinks, dinner and the updating of our diary.
4th February
Left this morning after heading into town for some supplies. Decided to follow the coast and hopefully find a camp spot along the way.
Visited Beachport a nice fishing town on the coast heading south, though continued south in the hope of finding a nice beach camp. Found a nice beach camp at a place called Southend where Nath and Rach are also staying.
Went for a drive around town and headed back to camp area to set up for the night. Nath and I went Mulloway fishing after dark. Whilst the girls stayed home and chatted. Fished until midnight and Nath caught one nice sized Mulloway.
5th February
Had intended on staying tonight in Southend but the weather has taken a turn for the worst so we all decided to head for Mt Gambier for a look around and maybe do some walking in the cooler weather.
Mike decided this morning that doing his hair with gel everyday was getting annoying so thought he'd let Nath perfect his hair dressing skills and give Mike a number 2 hair cut - Rompa Stompa style all whilst Bec pissed herself and took photos!
Drove to Gambier and went to the Pine Country caravan park. Had lunch and went into town for a look around before heading back to camp to cook and eat last night’s catch! YUM! What a meal fresh Mulloway cooked in Nath’s secret herbs and spices on the BBQ! Followed by a few cleansing ales and the odd tall story.
6th February
The motley crew left camp for a tour of the Blue Lake. We were greeted at the gate by our tour guide nicknamed Harry as if his pants were any higher he'd choke! So Harry High Pants it was. His very scripted tour (He should have just played a tape) begun and we toured the Blue Lake pumping house (after a tricky question from Rach - the school teacher coming out!), the tour then took us down the service elevator to the waters edge. This lake is quite spectacular the water is the most vivid sky blue color - but only from November to March in the other months it turns a grey color.
Back to camp for lunch at which time the girls decided to go window shopping in town while the boys sorted through all of our digital photos and burnt them to CD for the Opo's.
Had a "Dirty" feed of pizza as tomorrow we are off bush.
7th February
The girls did some exercise in the morning, before we left Mt Gambier and headed for Victoria. We all decided to head for the Cobboboonee State Forrest.
Found a nice camp area named Jackass Fern Gully but decided to check out another area nearby before deciding - what a ordeal after about 45mins of hunting we decided to turn back for the first spot - All on gravel roads and both the boys having less than happy passengers - at one point Nath suggested the girls jump in the land cruiser and the boys in Honeymoonin and we could all go and see Australia separately Mike suggested renaming the bus HoneyPissOff!! Only joking once Bec got to the toilet and Rach got some lunch all was good!
The boys were very excited because they were allowed to light a camp fire! So they set off with the axe and chopped up every bit of wood in sight. After lighting the fire we all shared a BBQ dinner with a few beers and a game of Boul`e.
Nath attempted some night shots of the camp fire and campers! Before being interrupted by an Owl which he also attempted to film on the video camera!
8th February
Went for a morning walk around the road then we walked back to camp following the great southern walk way through the forest. Nath and Charlie found a Koala at the base of a tree and we all got to see it up close before it climbed the tree. We also saw a couple of Wallabies on the trail in a dense part of the bush.
Went back to camp after discussion on the walk of making damper in the fire. The talk of food and fire put the boys into mission mode as they hunted for more firewood and got on the internet to search for a damper recipe (the wonders of modern life) The girls had sandwiches while the boys patiently waited for the first plain damper to emerge from the coals. YUM! After the first success a second garlic and spice damper was made but the cook added a little too much of his favorite all purpose seasoning which resulted in a very salty damper!
Bec lounged around in one of our hammocks (thanks Tom) and read her book.
Had a BBQ dinner followed by the boys latest creation - Apple and cinnamon damper!! Very nice especially when you made it and cooked it in the bush though that's enough damper for a while.
9th February
Headed south after breakfast, and stopped at Portland for a look around replaced our broken outdoor chairs as the local camping store was cheap. Bec stocked up on jumpers as the weather has been cold and will be for the days to come.
All the camp areas in the area were expensive so decided to move on in search of another free camp we have read about.
Arrived back at the bus to find the windscreen wipers flicked up on the bus - a sure sign the Opalinski's were in town!
Drove to the Sawpit campground in the Mt Clay state forest. An area where large timbers were cut using a pit dug into the ground so two people could hand saw the huge trunks. Met some people from Scotland May and Ron.
Walked out to the whaler's lookout - a lookout used in the whaling days when a whale was spotted a flare was set off to signal the whaling ships.
10th February
Had a lazy morning in bed with a good book. Left after midday for Port Fairy.
A picturesque town with a natural harbor. Bec wondered was it called Port Fairy because it was discovered by fairies??!!
Again stole some water while Bec tried to hide in the bus. Toured the town but as the weather was blustery we decided to move on but not before Bec had a chance to go to the little English sweet shop!
Arrived in Warrnambool and hunted around town for a secluded parking area near the beach to set up camp. Found a very nice quite sheltered spot. Mike did some jobs on the power system on the bus as after 4 days of no solar power we needed another charging system.
11th February
Woke to the sound of the Warrnambools equivalent to the city to surf walking past our window - seems our perfect camping spot was right in the middle of the annual festivals walk trail! A sponsored walk around town with around 6000 entrants! We later found out that the spot we were in was actually closed off to all traffic early in the morning and everyone was wondering how we got a bus down the road closures!
Went for a walk with Charlie and stumbled across a vintage car show! Mike was frothing over the cars especially the new Pioneer car stereo truck complete with 50" plasma in the tray!
Did some laundry and shopping in town before heading to Hopkins Falls for a look which turned out to be our camping spot for the night along with an older lady in a HZ Ute camper. She was very nice, even thought it necessary to explain to us her toilet habits! We sure get to meet some interesting people out here.
12th February
Headed back into Warrnambool to check out the cheese factory and go to the town library for some internet surfing (the wireless on the road can be a little slow) as we heard there is a special on for the ferry trip to Tasmania.
Spoke with Rach and Nath and they were in town. Went there to catch up before we left up the coast as we thought we would from now remain in front of them so wouldn't see them again until after Tasmania. Well a quick visit turned into us staying for dinner and us all consuming our fair share of alcohol. All was going well until we decided to cook dinner in the camp kitchen - the kitchen closed at 9 - we arrived at 8:50!
So the guy cleaning the place decided to make it hard so we just said no worries and went back to cook on our bbq. After dinner we had all drunk a little too much and Rach had gone to bed. The lady from the caravan park came over and told us to stop talking as we were too loud!
Well Mike decided to ark up at this point and started thanking the lady for impeccable parks hospitality and that he was so happy they had a kitchen which closed at 9 in daylight savings time (it was still light!) Well she wasn't happy so Mike just sat down and continued to drink his beer! While she continued to rant about paying customers - which we weren't as dogs went allowed so we had parked the bus on their front verge - there was not a "No Camping" sign in sight!
All in all a bloody good night!
13th February
Today we started the Great Ocean road albeit with a slight hangover.
What an amazing site - One that cant be explained here in words or with pictures. It really is as the saying goes one of those things you really have to see to appreciate. All of the 12 Apostles road is great with viewing platforms at each of the apostles and finally at the end a viewing area looking back along all the coast !
This final viewing platform looks back and it is where a lot of the famous photos of the apostles are taken from - This place is amazing for two reasons - One the view, Second the tourists- Literally 1000's of people huge tour buses, mini vans cars, motor homes and helicopters. There are 7 helicopters in the air doing tours constantly at $195 for 15mins per person!
Stayed the night at the Princetown Recreation ground - not the best camp in the world but they had nice hot showers.
An excellent day - it is days like these that make you forget about all the hard work it took to get the bus built!
14th February - Valentine’s Day
As we'd camped on a river just after the 12 apostles and spent most of yesterday enjoying spectacular cliffs and coastline we were not expecting to so quickly be amongst rain forest and windy hilly roads where we were so high we were in the clouds!
How diverse the Great Ocean Road is. One minute you are overlooking the sea and 15kms later you are driving through a rainforest. Mike was reminded of his trips to Tasmania which has made us both look forward to Tasmania even more.
Headed for a lovely beach front camping area south of Lavers Hill called Johanna beach - named after the ship that was wrecked here.
Had a nice romantic dinner to celebrate St Valentine’s Day!! (Hallmark Day)
The girls did some exercise in the morning, before we left Mt Gambier and headed for Victoria. We all decided to head for the Cobboboonee State Forrest.
Found a nice camp area named Jackass Fern Gully but decided to check out another area nearby before deciding - what a ordeal after about 45mins of hunting we decided to turn back for the first spot - All on gravel roads and both the boys having less than happy passengers - at one point Nath suggested the girls jump in the land cruiser and the boys in Honeymoonin and we could all go and see Australia separately Mike suggested renaming the bus HoneyPissOff!! Only joking once Bec got to the toilet and Rach got some lunch all was good!
The boys were very excited because they were allowed to light a camp fire! So they set off with the axe and chopped up every bit of wood in sight. After lighting the fire we all shared a BBQ dinner with a few beers and a game of Boul`e.
Nath attempted some night shots of the camp fire and campers! Before being interrupted by an Owl which he also attempted to film on the video camera!
8th February
Went for a morning walk around the road then we walked back to camp following the great southern walk way through the forest. Nath and Charlie found a Koala at the base of a tree and we all got to see it up close before it climbed the tree. We also saw a couple of Wallabies on the trail in a dense part of the bush.
Went back to camp after discussion on the walk of making damper in the fire. The talk of food and fire put the boys into mission mode as they hunted for more firewood and got on the internet to search for a damper recipe (the wonders of modern life) The girls had sandwiches while the boys patiently waited for the first plain damper to emerge from the coals. YUM! After the first success a second garlic and spice damper was made but the cook added a little too much of his favorite all purpose seasoning which resulted in a very salty damper!
Bec lounged around in one of our hammocks (thanks Tom) and read her book.
Had a BBQ dinner followed by the boys latest creation - Apple and cinnamon damper!! Very nice especially when you made it and cooked it in the bush though that's enough damper for a while.
9th February
Headed south after breakfast, and stopped at Portland for a look around replaced our broken outdoor chairs as the local camping store was cheap. Bec stocked up on jumpers as the weather has been cold and will be for the days to come.
All the camp areas in the area were expensive so decided to move on in search of another free camp we have read about.
Arrived back at the bus to find the windscreen wipers flicked up on the bus - a sure sign the Opalinski's were in town!
Drove to the Sawpit campground in the Mt Clay state forest. An area where large timbers were cut using a pit dug into the ground so two people could hand saw the huge trunks. Met some people from Scotland May and Ron.
Walked out to the whaler's lookout - a lookout used in the whaling days when a whale was spotted a flare was set off to signal the whaling ships.
10th February
Had a lazy morning in bed with a good book. Left after midday for Port Fairy.
A picturesque town with a natural harbor. Bec wondered was it called Port Fairy because it was discovered by fairies??!!
Again stole some water while Bec tried to hide in the bus. Toured the town but as the weather was blustery we decided to move on but not before Bec had a chance to go to the little English sweet shop!
Arrived in Warrnambool and hunted around town for a secluded parking area near the beach to set up camp. Found a very nice quite sheltered spot. Mike did some jobs on the power system on the bus as after 4 days of no solar power we needed another charging system.
11th February
Woke to the sound of the Warrnambools equivalent to the city to surf walking past our window - seems our perfect camping spot was right in the middle of the annual festivals walk trail! A sponsored walk around town with around 6000 entrants! We later found out that the spot we were in was actually closed off to all traffic early in the morning and everyone was wondering how we got a bus down the road closures!
Went for a walk with Charlie and stumbled across a vintage car show! Mike was frothing over the cars especially the new Pioneer car stereo truck complete with 50" plasma in the tray!
Did some laundry and shopping in town before heading to Hopkins Falls for a look which turned out to be our camping spot for the night along with an older lady in a HZ Ute camper. She was very nice, even thought it necessary to explain to us her toilet habits! We sure get to meet some interesting people out here.
12th February
Headed back into Warrnambool to check out the cheese factory and go to the town library for some internet surfing (the wireless on the road can be a little slow) as we heard there is a special on for the ferry trip to Tasmania.
Spoke with Rach and Nath and they were in town. Went there to catch up before we left up the coast as we thought we would from now remain in front of them so wouldn't see them again until after Tasmania. Well a quick visit turned into us staying for dinner and us all consuming our fair share of alcohol. All was going well until we decided to cook dinner in the camp kitchen - the kitchen closed at 9 - we arrived at 8:50!
So the guy cleaning the place decided to make it hard so we just said no worries and went back to cook on our bbq. After dinner we had all drunk a little too much and Rach had gone to bed. The lady from the caravan park came over and told us to stop talking as we were too loud!
Well Mike decided to ark up at this point and started thanking the lady for impeccable parks hospitality and that he was so happy they had a kitchen which closed at 9 in daylight savings time (it was still light!) Well she wasn't happy so Mike just sat down and continued to drink his beer! While she continued to rant about paying customers - which we weren't as dogs went allowed so we had parked the bus on their front verge - there was not a "No Camping" sign in sight!
All in all a bloody good night!
13th February
Today we started the Great Ocean road albeit with a slight hangover.
What an amazing site - One that cant be explained here in words or with pictures. It really is as the saying goes one of those things you really have to see to appreciate. All of the 12 Apostles road is great with viewing platforms at each of the apostles and finally at the end a viewing area looking back along all the coast !
This final viewing platform looks back and it is where a lot of the famous photos of the apostles are taken from - This place is amazing for two reasons - One the view, Second the tourists- Literally 1000's of people huge tour buses, mini vans cars, motor homes and helicopters. There are 7 helicopters in the air doing tours constantly at $195 for 15mins per person!
Stayed the night at the Princetown Recreation ground - not the best camp in the world but they had nice hot showers.
An excellent day - it is days like these that make you forget about all the hard work it took to get the bus built!
14th February - Valentine’s Day
As we'd camped on a river just after the 12 apostles and spent most of yesterday enjoying spectacular cliffs and coastline we were not expecting to so quickly be amongst rain forest and windy hilly roads where we were so high we were in the clouds!
How diverse the Great Ocean Road is. One minute you are overlooking the sea and 15kms later you are driving through a rainforest. Mike was reminded of his trips to Tasmania which has made us both look forward to Tasmania even more.
Headed for a lovely beach front camping area south of Lavers Hill called Johanna beach - named after the ship that was wrecked here.
Had a nice romantic dinner to celebrate St Valentine’s Day!! (Hallmark Day)