Victoria and South Australia roadtrip in a nutshell

A FEW NUMBERS:

• Trip duration: 14 days (excluding flights) - 11 days car rental & 3 days in Melbourne.
• Flight time: 23 hours, London - Melbourne, via Dubai (with same aircraft A380, Qantas Airways).
• Total distance: 4,500 KM (the map below shows the main visited cities).
• Max speed allowed on Oz freeways: 110 Km/h.
• Av. speed of 70-80 km/h drops significantly (to 40-50 perhaps) after 5 pm due to wildlife.
• Weather in September: sunny all day (10), one/two up to a few showers (4 days).
• Max temp: 25 C (Adelaide).
• Min temp: 6 C (850 m Altitude - Boroka Lookout Grampians National Park).
• Average temp: 17-19 C during the day.
• Kangaroos spotted in the wild: 40.
• Kangaroos that jumped in front of our car while driving: 2.
• We spotted a koala in the wild after having spent over an hour in the bush looking for one.

FACTS ABOUT AUSTRALIA

• Surprisingly Australia is the most obese country in the world as of 2012 with a 26 percent obesity rate despite being a sport loving nation.
• The only nation-continent of only 20 million people in the world.
• Canberra was selected as the capital because Sydney and Melbourne could not stop arguing which city should be the capital of Australia.
• Melbourne has been named the world's most liveable city for the fourth year in a row, by the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability survey of 140 cities.
• Despite having a convict colony history, Australia's homicide rate is 1.2 per 100,000 population compared to the 6.3 per 100,000 in the United States 

BUDGETING A TRIP TO OZ

• Spending budget: main costs excluding accommodation: (1.63 AUD = 1 GBP as at Sept 2014).
• Av. Fuel cost: Unleaded 95 - 1.65 AUD / L.
• Av. budget mealprice: 10-15 AUD
• Flight cost: 950 GBP per pers.
• Car rental price: 500 GBP.
• Speeding fines: 350 GBP two fines - exceeded allowed speed by respectively 7km/h (100 GBP) and 15 km/h (250GBP)
• Av. wildlife park price per pers: 30 AUD.

OUR TRAVEL MAP (-> click to enlarge)

Note : A few day trips are not represented below due to Google maps restriction on the number of destinations. 

Yarra Ranges and Prahran

Our last day with Bob couldn't be wasted on traffic jams in the city, so we took him for a trip to Yarra Ranges National Park. The park turned out to be astonishing with its vast ferns and enormously high trees. Rain and milky fog added to its mystery, making it even more otherwordly.
In the evening we explored the area we are currently staying in- Prahran and were surprised by its narrow Victorian- like streets and hippie cafes. Unfortunately our adventure in the Land of Kangaroos draws to an end. (Tomorrow Raph will upload his post summing up our trip.)

Nie moglismy stracic ostatniego dnia z Bobem na stanie w korkach, wiec zabralismy go na wycieczke do Yarra National Ranges Park. Park okazal sie przepiekny - zachwycil nas swoimi rozlozystymi paprociami i niesamowicie wysokimi drzewami. Deszcz i mleczna mgla tylko dodaly tajemniczosci.
WIeczorem odkrylismy okolice, w ktorej teraz mieszkamy- Prahran i byli zdziwieni malutkimi wiktorianskimi uliczkami i niesamowta iloscia hipsterskich kafejek. Niestety nasza przygoda w Krainie Kangurow dobiega konca. (Rafcio jutro wrzuci swojego podsumowujacego posta)

Grampians National Park

Although we had booked plane tickets from Adelaide to Melbourne our road trip with Bob turned out to be too much fun to end it in Adelaide (and Bob clearly preferred to go back to his home town- Melbourne), so we decided  to drive back to Melbourne. On our way back( we spent a night in a quaint town called Horsham) we visited Grampians National Park. This turned out to be a perfect decision- the park with its sandstone mountain ranges and waterfalls is beautiful and we got another opportunity to admire wallabies (one wanted to get to know Bob too well but luckily Bob didn't share this desire). Melbourne greeted us with rain and at one point the temperature fell down to 6 degrees.( notice the discrepancy between temperatures- two days ago on Adelaide's beach the temperature was 25 degrees!).

Pomimo, iz mielismy wykupione bilety lotnicze z Adelaide do Melbourne, nasza wycieczka z Bobem okazala sie byc zbyt przyjemna, zeby ja zakonczyc w Adelaide ( poza tym Bob zdecydowanie wolal wracac do swojego miasta czyli Melbourne), wiec zdecydowalismy wrocic samochodem. Po drodze (spalismy w uroczym miasteczku Horsham) odwiedzilismy Grampians National Park. To byl strzal w dziesiatke- park ze swoimi gorami i wodospadami jest przepiekny, a poza tym mielismy okazje podziwiac wiecej wallabies (prawie jak kangury). Jeden z nich chcial sie blizej zapoznac z Bobem, jednak na szczescie Bob nie podzielal tej checi. Melbourne przywitalo nas deszczem, a po drodze w jednym momencie temperatura spadla do 6 stopni ( zwroccie uwage na roznice temperatur- dwa dni temu na plazy w Adelaide cieszylismy sie z 25 stopni!)

On the road

Adelaide(McLaren Vale)- Horsham

A page from a book called 'Wildlife of Australia' and The End of the World

Today resembled a page out of a book that could be entitled ' Wildlife of Australia'.  Having boycotted the ZOO in Adelaide ( the satisfaction of encountering a koala in the wild bush is far greater than seeing one behind the bars) we went to Urimbirra Wildlife Park to meet the animals that inhabit Australia. We were surprised to discover how sweet and nice the kangaroos were (of course, having tasty crackers in the outstretched palm must have been helpful) and how similar they behaved to a dog while licking the crackers gently out of our hands. The appetite of some of them seemed insatiable, as they kept jumping back asking for more snacks. Dingos turned out bear close resemblance to foxes that can be seen in London, whilst the fur of koalas was surprisingly velvety. I was most enchanted by exotic wombats, which I have never seen before. These close relatives of koalas dig extensive burrow systems( hence their powerful claws and huge front teeth). They are mostly nocturnal and can be  found in forests, mountains as well as heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Another animal that we have only seen on a road sign before, was an echidna, which resembles a hedgehog. Apparently echidnas and platypuses are the only egg-laying mammals. Echidnas' strange beak helps them to ingest termites and ants which are their main source of food. We also saw dozens of cheerful parrots, cowardly  emus (which have very powerful legs and can run away surprisingly fast). Imagine our surprise, when walking through a forest we were greeted by a ' hello' said in a hoarse voice. As it soon turned out, the voice belonged to a white funny parrot, which was really proud of its abilities to amuse us and kept greeting us cheerfully as we went along.
If the first part of today could be named 'Wildlife of Australia', the second deserves the title of 'The End of the World' as that's what it felt like when we reached Cape Jervis (south west tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula). The impression was further enhanced by strong wind and lush green hillocks with hundreds of sheep (and at one point we even spotted a colony of the kangaroos hopping across a field). The fog and grey clouds added to the mystery of Cape Jervis, making it similar to Cape of Good Hope.

Dzisiejszy dzien przypominal strone wyjeta z albumu pt. 'Dzikie Zwierzeta Australii'. Po zbojkotowaniu ZOO w Adelaidzie ( uznalismy, ze ogladanie zwierzat za kratkami nie przyniesie nam takiej satysfakcji, jak wypatrzenie koali w dzikim buszu), wybralismy sie do Uribimirra Wildlife Park, zeby spotkac rdzennych mieszkancow Australii. Bylismy zaskoczeni tym, jak slodkimi i milymi zwierzakami sa kangury (oczywscie, smakolyki w postaci krakersow w naszych dloniach na pewno pomogly im w oslodzeniu charakteru) oraz tym, jak bardzo przypominaly psy, gdy zlizywaly te przysmaki z naszych rak. Apetyt niektorych wydawal sie nieposkromiony- ciagle przyskakiwaly po wiecej przysmakow. Dingo okazaly sie bardzo podobne do lisow, ktore mozna spotkac na londynskich ulicach (noca). Mnie najbardziej oczarowaly egzotyczne wombaty, ktorych nigdy wczesniej nie wizialam. Ci bliscy krewni koali ryja korytarze z norek, tworzac cale systemy korytarzow(stad silne lapki i ogromne przednie zeby). Sa glownie zwierzetami nocnymi i zamieszkuja lasy, gory oraz wrzosowiska poludniowo-wschodniej Australii, wlaczajac Tasmanie. Inne zwierze, ktore tylko dotychczas ogladalismy na znakach drogowych to echidna( rodzina Kolczatkowatych), ktora wygladem przypomina jeza. Echidny oraz dziobaki to jedyne ssaki znoszace jaja. Dziwny dziobek echidny pomaga jej we wciaganiu termitow i mrowek, ktore sa jej glownym pozywieniem. Widzielismy tez dziesiatki wesolych papug, plochliwych emu (ktore maja bardzo silne nogi i dzieki temu potrafia zaskakujaco szybko uciec). Wyobrazcie sobie nasze zdumienie, gdy idac przez las zostalismy przywitani: 'Hello' przez kogos o zachrypnietym glosie. Tym kims okazala sie smieszna, biala papuga, bardzo zadowolona z tego, ze jej zdolnosci tak bardzo nam przypadly do gustu. Jej powitania towarzyszyly nam podczas dalszej wedrowki.
Jesli pierwsza czesc dnia moznaby okreslic jako 'Fauna Australii', to druga zasluguje na tytul 'Koniec Swiata', gdyz tak sie wlasnie czulismy, gdy dotarlismy na Przyladek Jervis (poludniowo zachodni skrawek Polwyspu Fleurieu). To wrazenie potegowal bardzo silny wiatr oraz przesycone zielenia pola z setkami owiec ( nawet udalo nam sie wypatrzec kolonie kangurow). Mgla oraz szare chmury dodaly tajemniczosci przyladkowi, ktory przypomnial nam Przyladek Dobrej Nadzieji.

Adelaide

Lonely Planet describes Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, as a 'perfect host city'. When taking into consideration its green parks, wide streets, beautiful sandy beaches and streets with a multitude of  restaurants catering for all tastes, one cannot disagree with this description. One of the main attractions of the city is Botanical Garden with various exotic plants. Even more interesting, however, are hordes of grey-headed flying foxes(which are apparently megabats, native to Australia) sleeping( obviously upside down) just outside its gates. Not far from the city one can enjoy white and spacious beaches resembling the Californian ones. Perhaps, because of those beaches and proximity of the Adelaide Hills with its beautiful vineyards, the pace of life in Adelaide seems to be more relaxed than in Melbourne (and definitely cannot be compared to the London one!).

Adelaide, stolica Poludniowej Australii, zostala opisana w Lonely Planet jako 'idealny gospodarz'. Biorac pod uwage jej zielone parki, szerokie ulice, piekne biale,  plaze oraz ulice z restauracjami, w ktorymi kazdy moze odnalezc cos dla siebie, trudno sie z tym opisem nie zgodzic. Jedna z glownych atrakcji jest ogrod botaniczny z wieloma egzotycznymi roslinami. Jednak chyba nawet ciekawsze od ogrodu sa 'szaroglowe latajace lisy' (ktore okreslane sa jako 'meganietoperze' i naleza do fauny Australii) spiace do gory nogami tuz za wejsciem do ogrodu botanicznego. Niedaleko od miasta mozna spacerowac po bialych i przestrzennych plazach przypominajacych do zludzenia te kalifornijskie. Byc moze to te plaze wlasnie oraz bliskosc Adelaide Hills z pieknymi winnicami, sprawia, ze tempo zycia w Adelaide wydaje sie o wiele wolniejsze niz w Melbourne (a juz na pewno nie moze byc porownane do tempa zycia w Londynie!)

Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills

Today we discovered the beauty of Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills .The latter were even more impressive with its tiny towns that were set up by Prussian Lutherans and roads widing like ribbons between the vineyards. Barossa Valley, where one can find Jacob's Creek (wine connaisseurs will definitely recognise the name) turned out to be beautiful, yet not as charming as the Adelaide Hills. The whole area is a mizture between Tusany, California and vineyards surrounding Cape Town and we were most surprised to discover an amazing, lush green forest that could well be found in the States or Canada. Australia never ceases to amaze us!

Dzis odkrylismy piekno Doliny Barossa i Adelaide Hills, ktore nawet bardziej przypadly nam do gustu ze wzgledy na malutkie miasteczka zalozone przez pruskich Luteran i urocze drozki wijace sie jak wstazki przez winnice. Barossa Valley, gdzie mozna znalezc Jacob's Creek (milosnicy wina na pewno doskonale znaja ta nazwe) okazala sie sliczna, jednak nie az tak urokliwa jak, wczesniej wspomniane, Adelaide Hills. Cala okolica jest mieszanka Toskanii, Kalifornii oraz winnic z okolic Kapsztadu. Najwiekszym zaskoczeniem zas bylo dzisiaj odkrycie pieknego, zielonego lasu, ktory rownie dobrze moglby sie znajdowac w Stanach lub Kanadzie. Australia nie przestaje zaskakiwac!