We enjoyed our 2 weeks in Tasmania and returned the car with no bumps or scratches - despite what the hire car place tried to tell Jon. Anyway, we didn't pay any excesses.
Our last few days with the car saw us drive from the west coast to Hobart, camping 2 nights on the way. We saw more waterfalls, Australia's oldest bridge at Richmond built in 1825
and MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. Nothing was written to explain any of the exhibits, but each person was loaned an i-pod which gave instructions and information as you walked around. Very weird, but all in the name of art. Some of it was quite interesting, other bits were just weird but we guess that's just modern art.
Our last day in Hobart was spent at the outdoor Salamanca Market and in the Botanical Gardens.
Luckily the backpackers allowed us to check out and leave our gear in reception so we could walk around unencumbered. Our flight to Melbourne wasn't until 10pm (it was the cheap flight!).
Having arrived in Melbourne at 11.15pm we then had to find our way by tram and foot to the hostel in St Kilda. It was above an Irish pub! It could have been even noisier but luckily we were on the 2nd floor, had earplugs and were very tired!
On 13th March (Sunday) we walked around St Kilda in very hot weather. The highlight of the day was the rollercoaster ride at Luna Park - an old style wooden boneshaker! As the heavens opened we hotfooted it back to the hostel for a subsidised evening meal.
Monday 14th saw us collect our Jucy campervan which we had hired for 30 days. It's not the biggest van in the world, but at least we could unpack our rucksacks and not have to pitch the very small tent each night.
We set off from Melbourne via Geelong toward the Great Ocean Road. During our lunch stop at Torquay we got chatting to an English couple from Stevenage who were very intrigued by the van - its fridge, stove, DVD player, fan etc. That night we found a free campsite - yay!
The next 2 days were spent travelling the Great Ocean Road and stopping frequently to view the amazing coastline.
We bumped into a guy we'd camped next to at Port Arthur on Tasmania a couple of weeks before - small world! We stopped at a place called Kennett River where we were assured we'd see koalas in the wild. Not really believing we would, we stopped anyway. And there they were - we saw at least 6 and they were even moving!
We'd hoped to head to Adelaide via The Grampians, but found they were shut because of the flooding in Victoria in January - must leave that for next time! We hit Adelaide at the weekend which wouldn't have been a problem except it was a big motor racing weekend - the Clipsal 500. It seems everyone comes from all over Australia, New Zealand and everywhere else. We were lucky to get a campsite that night!
After a day in Adelaide we pointed our Jucy van northwards towards the Outback - and into torrential rain! The windscreen wipers didn't work too well so it was an interesting journey from Adelaide via Port Augusta to Woomera where finally the sun had come out.
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