Canberra, OZ

I've wound up in Canberra, winding my way here a few days ago, driving finally North from Wilson's Promontory (southernmost point in mainland Australia). I'd been told that the drive through the the Tarra Bulga Nat. Park was a pretty one, so when I saw the sign for it on the road, we turned left and headed for the hills. We made it as far as the Tarra Valley before dusk fell. We ended up staying in an empty motor park and were upgraded from an unpowered site to there best cabin complete with a DVD player (and they had a ton of DVD's) which cost us $20, for the both of us. So, we opted for the cabin that night, Lucille because of the heating, me for the movies.

The next day, we drove into the Tarra Bulga Nat. Park, a lush rainforest which the winding road snakes its way through. We creeped along my speed rarely over 40k, most of the time I was in 2nd gear. There was no other traffic which was well as the road was barely big enough for two cars to pass, all the the bridges were single lane, reminding me a bit of NZ. When we finally broke free of the forest we found the sun beaming down upon us, our first sunshine since leaving Melbourne, warm and welcome.

As the sun set in the rear view mirrors, I pointed Vaciendo East, putting down the pedal on the A1. We turned North onto the B23 as darkness fell, our nose finally pointed at Canberra, we began our burn North, making for the nation's capital.

From this point, I can only tell you what we passed through from the signs on the road. But I crossed the Snowy River and passed by the Snowy River Nat. Park before crossing the Great Dividing Range. There aren't so much of lights on the roads here in OZ, I saw a whole lot of darkness and other headlights in the night. Two of the more exciting parts to this leg of the road were that I finally passed my first car after a month of continually being passed (I'm no longer the slowest thing on the road, merely the 2nd slowest), and an hour or so of wondering A. where the next gas station was, and B. exactly how many kilometers did I get per tank in Vaciendo. At least 400k as it turns out, I noted as we pulled into Cooma to finally refuel.

We rattled into Canberra finally around 12.30am, making for a hostel in the city center. Lucille wanted a room for the night, so I dropped her there before finding a quiet place to park in Vaciendo for the night. Found one and slept late the following day, exhausted but what was finally 11 hours on the road, having left Tarra Valley around 1.30pm the day before.

Yesterday, I checked into the hostel as well, for a shower as much as anything else, but I wanted to go out last night, and night have to drive somewhere to sleep afterwards, as it turns out there's a bit of a price war on drinks going on here at the bars in Canberra, and there are $2 drinks till midnight, any day of the week. Definitely didn't want to drive. I plan to stay here a few more days, before completing this leg of the journey and winding it up in Sydney. It's only 300k from here so I should make my way there either Sunday or Monday.

Wilson's Promontory

I have finally left Melbourne, and this time for good, maybe. I'm on my way to Sydney now, I left Melbourne on Sunday, driving to Phillip Island. Lucille, from the Coffee Palace is riding with me up to Sydney, and she really wanted to go to Phillip Is. to see the penguins there. Didn't get to see them, Lucille didn't want to pay the $17 admission fee and wasn't able to find them on her own. After dark, we continued on to Wilson's Prom, which both Ula and Ty told me was beautiful. It's been rather lousy weather since we arrived, but we'll see what there is to see

Vaciendo now has a second floor. I bought some wood on the way out of town and built the sleeping platform so someone can sleep under the pop top. So far so good. Gotta run now, will update again when I can.

Melbourne, OZ

Well, I'm back in Melbourne after driving the Great Ocean Rd. I was booted from bed last Friday and promptly headed Vaciendo (the Van) out of town. I drove till dusk and parked by the beach in a deserted parking lot. I cooked myself some dinner then read for a bit before turning in. It was a beautiful evening, the stars were out in force and I'd loved hearing the waves as I drifted off to bed.

The next morning I was awoken by the surfers who'd come for a sunrise session. I brewed some coffee then took off along the coastline drive, stopping for a breakfast of croissants along the way. The weather was mixed, it started alright, the sun shining but this gave way to clouds and at times, pouring rain. I stopped off to view the 12 Apostles and was buffeted by the wind coming over the cliffsides. When I returned to the carpark, I saw that the wind had not been kind to Vaciendo either, and had ripped the skylight from the roof. I mended it as best I could with the universal remedy I know...duct tape and continued on the road. I stopped off for dinner and drove for a bit as it grew dark. My next stop was an unexpected one as I found myself stuck in a ditch on the side of a road.

I'd pulled off to go to the bathroom and hadn't seen the puddle that I found my rear wheels sunk in. After a few determined efforts I realized that I was going to need some help to get out. I wasn't too worried however, worst case I slept at angle in a ditch for the night. Eventually, a car stopped though, and a woman returning from the movies with her kids went off to find someone to tow Vaciendo out of the ditch. A farmer was found and he showed up with a 4x4 which quickly pulled Vaciendo back onto the road. I continued on to the next town where I decided to stop for a few drinks, it was saturday night, after all. I hit a club in where everyone seemed to know everyone, except me, and stayed there for a few hours. I eventually called it an evening and found a factory building to park behind for the night. And so, Sunday, I made my way back to Melbourne driving through myriads of farms, passing grazing cattle and sheep. I'm stopping to retool and clean Vaciendo, before leaving Melbourne for good, and head towards Sydney and warmer weather.

Melbourne, OZ

Well, I'm wrapping thing's up in Melbourne, I'm ready to hit the road, sorta. This past weekend, like all before it was a wild one. Friday night was one out with the Irish lads. I've met roughly 20 Dubliners here in Melbourne, and the accent's beginning to rub off I'm told, I've been asked a few times if I was Irish myself. Saturday, I ventured out into unknown parts of the city. I eventually returned to St. Kilda on Monday, what was normally a 20 minute drive. I didn't know about the busted hose in the radiator and it ended up taking an hour and a half to nurse my van back to St. Kilda where I could park for the night. It was interesting to get stuck in an intersection for 10 min. while the engine cooled enough to restart, but it's either a good time or a good story, right? Got the hoses fixed this morning, and am about to head off to the zoo. I hope to finally tear myself away from Melbourne in the next day or so, and start seeing other parts of OZ.

Melbourne, OZ

Well, it's been a somewhat wild week. Wednesday I slept in the van parked in the drive of Ty's new place. Thursday I went out. Didn't get back to Ty's till Sunday, it was a long and wild night I had which stretched over four days. This past week, I've basically been moving into the van, getting it set up, buying what I need for it and practicing driving on the wrong side of the road. I'm getting ready to finally move out, and hit the road, I may do a short three day roadtrip with some friends before heading up the coast towards Sydney.