InTouch Magazine Articles Archive

Issue 15, February 2008

Our World Tour - Day 37 - 44

By Krys & Phil Lyon.

Day 37; Wednesday February 7: With Ceri on duty during the day, Rachael is our guide in temperatures; climbing into the mid-20's. It's T-shirt and shorts for the next month. We lunch in Hahndorf an Adelaide suburb originally colonised by German settlers, lined with trees and wonderful shops and a restaurant where I order Ceasar Salad and have to admit defeat, such is the size of the helping. Much of Australia's highly-palatable wine is grown in and around Adelaide, and Rachael is stocking up. Any number of varieties to choose from including 'Shadow's Run' named after the resident Border Collie who chases the vibrations along the wires as the pickers harvest the grapes. Said dog is now nine years old and prefers a kip on the veranda.

Day 37; Wednesday February 7: With Ceri on duty during the day, Rachael is our guide in temperatures; climbing into the mid-20’s. It’s T-shirt and shorts for the next month.
We lunch in Hahndorf an Adelaide suburb originally colonised by German settlers, lined with trees and wonderful shops and a restaurant where I order Ceasar Salad and have to admit defeat, such is the size of the helping.
Much of Australia’s highly-palatable wine is grown in and around Adelaide, and Rachael is stocking up. Any number of varieties to choose from including “Shadow’s Run” named after the resident Border Collie who chases the vibrations along the wires as the pickers harvest the grapes. Said dog is now nine years old and prefers a kip on the veranda.
Bill Bryson was in town yesterday signing copies of his new book, apparently. Would have been nice to meet him - I have three of his in the flight bag.
Day 38; Thursday February 8: We head for one of Australia’s best known wine-producing regions today - the Barossa Valley where the relevant road map looks like its developed a serious attack of measles so thick on the ground do they lie. The things are that close they practically overlap.
Back at base, Australian television has not noticeably improved since our last visit. There isn’t the money to produce the quality and what there is, is spread across five channels. The outside world might as well not exist so far as the news bulletins are concerned - I could lay bets on the running order it’s so predictable 1) the latest local/State/Federal Government scandal/ 2) the days’ armed robbery/fatal road accident and 3) which Aussie Rules player has been a bad boy THIS week.
Day 39; Friday February 9: Glenelg is Adelaide’s beach resort with acres of golden sand and a neat little pier where we are roundly abused as obvious Poms by a drunken Aussie fisherman at 10.30 in the morning.
Australia may be where the whole skin-cancer thing kicked off a few years back, but it hasn’t stopped the sun worshippers who are already picking their spots on the sand - not that it’s ever likely to get crowded.
Adelaide itself is a pretty city, especially down by the River, although its nickname as the City of Churches ought to read the City of Shops. Retail Therapy isn’t just a pastime here, its an epidemic.
By the time we reach the station for the train home, it’s rush-hour and we can detect no difference between this or any other big city other than the casual summer dress code. People still reach for their mobile phones to tell their nearest and dearest “I’m on the train.”
Day 40; Saturday February 10: We bid farewell to Rachael and Cheri who have been such splendid hosts, and hit the road south towards Victor Harbour where horse-drawn trams ferry the tourists along the pier out to Granite Island and halt for the night at Murray Bridge which may have been the centre of the universe one day, but isn’t any more.
We check into a run-down Best Western Motel, two days after its new owners have taken over including the receptionist who just so happens to have been born in Hipperholme and emigrated in 1974.
Day 41; Sunday February 11: A long day on the road today though generally uninspiring scenery crossing the State border into Victoria and Port Fairy - pronounced “Ferry” by the more macho locals - and two nights in a rather odd-little cottage just off the main street. We dine in the local pub where England are playing Australia in a limited overs game on the TV and just for once the Poms are making a decent fist of things.
The crash of Aussie wickets, however, is too much for the barmaid who mutters something about “bloody Australians” and turns the sound down. Good losers this lot, and by the time we reach the bar across the street in search of one of Barbara’s old workmates things have got even worse, or better, depending on your point of view.
A quick glance at the TV shows five wickets down and surrounded as we are by a barful of Australians, I take the Fifth Amendment and decline to celebrate on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.
Barbara’s old workmate is in no state to recognise her, let alone anyone else although he does provide the unintentional highlight of the night by walking into a lamppost in the street outside and like drunks the world over, wondering who put it there.
Day 42; Monday February 12: A scenic tour of Port Fairy today, before we tackle the main objective of the trip - the Great Ocean Road.
Day 43; Tuesday February 13: The book says it’s possible to drive the Great Ocean Road in a day - it takes us three. The problem is that this is one of the most spectacular drives anywhere in the world, and our frequent stops to photograph yet another sweeping section of coastline very quickly throw our schedule into chaos. Temperatures are climbing into the mid 30’s and with the heat comes that other Australian gift to the world - the fly. Japanese tourists scuttle past seeking shelter from both in between taking pictures of each other as the sightseeing helicopters clatter endlessly overhead.
We reach the 12 Apostles formation in late afternoon, by which time there is precious little room at the inn and it’s only late in the day we check into our cottage in the country.
We dine at the only restaurant within striking distance where Barbara’s request for no beetroot in the salad is somehow forgotten and the waitress confirms this by personally inspecting the food with her fingers.
Day 44;Wednesday February 14: A grey start to the day, but progress via the lighthouse at Cape Otway is no quicker and we halt for the night in Lorne where we check into what is by some way the best accommodation since leaving Adelaide, a shiny two-bedroom apartment with its own under-floor garage.
© Photographer: Ilya Genkin | Agency: Dreamstime.com

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