We set out to do the King’s Canyon Rim walk a 6 km trek around the top of the canyon. Hendrik and his parents decided to buy hats at the gas station/ souvenir shop (the only store in the area). I already had a hat, but for some reason they only bought 2 hats to share among 3 people. We didn’t read the recommended amount of water we were supposed to bring and Hendrik and I each brought a 1.5 liter bottle. We didn’t know until later that his parents had only brought one to share amongst themselves. The recommended amount of water was 1 liter every hour and we were going to be hiking for 3-4 hours in midday. We could have finished all our water after the first steep climb, straight up the canyon. It is definitely the hardest part of the trail.

The steep climb

Hendrik and I did both detours and went to the Garden of Eden which is a cool pool. We wanted to take a dip but since there were so many bugs on the water and the bottom was really slippery we decided not to and just made our shirts and hats wet. Later we met another hiker who said swimming in it was great so we regretted not going swimming.

The Garden of Eden

The scenery was gorgeous and the hike is definitely worthwhile. Even with low water we enjoyed ourselves though the last bit was a killer since we were all dehydrated. We had to really ration our water and Hendrik and I even shared our water with his parents, but we all survived even tough Hendrik’s mom got quite sunburned since she was without a hat most of the time.

Kings Canyon

Back at the resort we relaxed and went to the pool which is freezing. I don’t know how they keep a pool that cold in the middle of the desert and even in the desert heat the pool was just too cold to spend more than a few minutes in.

At the buffet dinner the wait staff was surprised to see us again since they said most people only stayed one night. I was glad we stayed two days because I really liked the resort and because it was nice to relax after a day of hiking than go driving.

We flew from Adelaide in the morning to Alice Springs. It was remarkable landing into the tiny airport with bright red sand all around as far as I could see. I couldn’t even find Alice Springs because it’s so tiny it would qualify as a village in most other places. Extreme heat hit us as soon as we stepped out of the airplane. Miraculously we were able to fit all our belongings into the rental since it was smaller than we had thought it was going to be and drove into Alice Springs. It was much smaller than I thought it would be , and there were many Aboriginals, more than we’d seen anywhere else. Apparently the Alice Springs region is the only place in Australia where nomadic Aboriginals still live.

Alice Springs' trash can with Aboriginal Art

We had lunch and walked the main street which only took about five minutes and then we were off to Kings Canyon. Originally Hendrik’s parents wanted to stay a night in Alice Springs but the Master Games were being held there at exactly the same time and no hotels were available. After we’d seen the town I think we were all glad that we weren’t staying in Alice Springs longer than 2 hours because there would be nothing to do at all.  On the way there we saw a road train which is a truck which has 2 or more trailers.

road train

Kings Canyon is located in the Watarrka National Park and there is only one place to stay, the Kings Canyon Resort. All the rooms were booked there as well except for the deluxe rooms which had a Jacuzzi in each facing a gigantic window with views on the desert and therefore this was the best hotel we stayed in.

The Hot Tub and the View

The desert is an amazing place, since it’s both so beautiful and ugly- beautiful because of its colours and vastness and ugly because of its dry barrenness. Maybe I’m just amazed by deserts since I hardly ever go to deserts. I’ve been to one in New Mexico and California years before but this one was especially unique because of its red sand. I do know, though, that I’d never want to live in the desert.

We had one more day to spend in Adelaide. Because of Hendrik we visited Parliament. It was in secession so there weren’t any tours but we were able to sit in. There were hardly any people attending the meeting and those who were there were either talking amongst themselves or on their cell phones and no one was paying any attention to the man speaking on the mic. We got bored very fast too and left.

Sculpture in Adelaide

Then we went to visit Ayer’s house since we had come after hours the day before. We had a nice guided tour of the house which was interesting especially how fondly the old woman giving the tour talked of Sir Henry Ayers and was very proud that Australia’s icon the Ayers Rock was named after him. It was a complete 360 from what we recalled Captain Kirk saying at Fraser Island that he was happy that Ayers Rock is finally once again being called by its aboriginal name Uluru. I guess the differing in opinion is the reason for the rock’s double name. In 1993, it was renamed “Ayers Rock/Uluru” and became the first officially dual-named feature in the Northern Territory. The order of the dual names was officially reversed to “Uluru/Ayers Rock” in 2002. Since we were flying there the next day we were interested in learning about the rock.

Today was an early rise to get to Kangaroo Island. I was excited about this trip because a part of December Boys was filmed there and it looked absolutely amazing in the film. Hendrik’s parents had booked SeaLink’s one day tour of Kangaroo Island Highlights. The day began well with a coach transfer to the ferry.  On the way I took a nap but also saw lots of kangaroos in the fields. The ferry ride was long and boring but I knew the best was yet to come.

When we got on our coach on Kangaroo Island I was a bit disappointed to see that 95% of the people on it were over the age of 55 and the only seats available were way in the back so we took the last row so we could all sit together.

Then the tour began. Our guide, Les, was born and raised on Kangaroo Island and he used to be a farmer so he talked a lot about canola, the crop that grows on Kangaroo Island. He pointed out every single yellow field and said that’s canola. He also talked about Kangaroos and said the best way we could get close and personal to one was if the driver ran over one and hopefully we would be able to do this. Luckily we saw no Kangaroos on Kangaroo Island, and therefore, the bus didn’t have to hit one. Hendrik, his parents, and I were completely stunned. We were tourists and were hoping to see plenty of the jumping critters on Kangaroo Island, that’s the name of the island, but apparently Les had already run them all down. Then he continued to talk about the feral cats and the problem they cause to farmers and described how the farmers kill the cats in detail. He said he would love to give us each a gun and set us off to kill the cats around the island. I was completely in shock at this point.

The group slowly making its way down to the beach

Our first stop was Seal Bay where we could go down to the beach with a guide; at least it wasn’t Les, to see Australian Sea Lions so it was interesting. The only problem was that with such a huge group of old people it took about 10 minutes for everyone to get off the bus, and we were last. Then they walked at a snail’s pace down to the beach. I’d never seen sea lions in the wild before so it was a cool experience.

Sea lion

Then it was back on the bus so Les could point out some more canola fields and also bee hives. There were many bee hives on the island and because of their purity in genes they are famous for their honey. It was great once, but I didn’t think “expert commentary” included three or four times telling us to look at an old tattered wooden box. Then we had lunch and after lunch we attended the birds of prey live show. I’d seen many bird shows before but I enjoyed this one because people from the audience were allowed to grab a glove and let the bird rest on their hand. I’d never held a wild bird so I thought that was neat and this made it the best bird of prey show I’ve ever seen.

Next we stopped at the remarkable rocks, the set for the scene in December Boys. I was disappointed when Les said we had to be back on the bus in 21 minutes. That meant by the time I got off the bus I’d have 11 minutes for a mad dash to the rocks take some pictures and then a mad dash back, and that’s exactly what it was. Yes, I thought the rocks really were remarkable and wish I’d had more time to explore them.

Me pretending to be a December Boy

Then we headed to Admiral’s Arch where we only had 15 minutes to check out the famous rock formation. I was glad that I knew that if the passengers went down to Admiral’s Arch then no way would they make it in 15 minutes so this allowed for at least 25 minutes. Some of the slower passengers took Les so seriously that they didn’t even go down the ramp and stairs to see Admiral’s Arch and fur seals.

Admiral's Arch

Then we were taken to Flinders Chase National Park souvenir shop where we were given a good half hour to make purchases which I wouldn’t dare to make and give Les commission. Our last stop was to see a koala. Koalas live on the island and we went to a spot where we were guaranteed a sighting. We drove slowly by, and I spotted a koala in a tree and shouted out that there was a koala. Other people saw it too and started yelling to stop. Les was confused and asked, “did someone see a koala?” to which the whole bus yelled, “yes!” The bus stopped and after Les finally saw it he said, “Well I found you a koala.” I wanted to punch him right then and there. At least I can say that I’ve seen a koala in the wild.

Koala

Then we had the bus ride to the airport since Hendrik’s parents booked the option to fly back to Adelaide. Les had already pointed out every canola field and bee box on the island so there was nothing left for the funny man except to tell jokes. These jokes were cringe worthy and involved old women and condoms. They were dirty embarrassing jokes that made me feel surreal. I couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. That money was paid to sit on a bus and listen to this dribble. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse Les decided to entertain us with the Aussie folk song Waltzing Matilda, and not by playing a tape on the stereo but by singing it himself. He went through the first verse and refrain where I thought he’d stop but no he continued with his painfully raspy tone-deaf voice. Now this song had 4 verses not to mention the refrain between each verse, and I was already completely mortified. So when he continued Hendrik yelled, “Shut up.” I was so proud I started to applaud and others chuckled.  Les did stop singing which was definitely good, but then proceeded to analyze and explain every word of the song all four verses of it. I understood why the tour guide next to us who was with a small group who was on our tour played his mp3 player for this last leg of the journey.

The airport couldn’t have come soon enough and once we arrived we just bolted in only to be told that the company had confused our dates and there was no airplane for us. We were blown away yet again and just went off to the lady how horrible this whole tour had been. It wasn’t her fault but we needed to vent at someone and she was very understanding and lovely. She couldn’t move us to the other company’s plane because it was full so they had to call a plane from Adelaide. While we waited for 1.5 hours in the tiniest airport imaginable, the lady gave us cookies, tea and coffee. Finally, just as the sun was setting the tiniest airplane arrived and we could finally leave Kangaroo Island.

The plane

The airplane home was by far the highlight. It was the smallest airplane I’d ever been in and only seated 4 and the pilot gave us the safety briefing outside which we all found humorous and took pictures. At least the airplane ride redeemed some of the day because it was spectacular.

Safety Breifing

If anyone reading this is planning a day tour to Kangaroo Island do yourself a favor and do not go with SeaLink. It was absolutely the worst tour I’ve ever been on and I’ve been on many. If you do go with SeaLink and your guide is Les, run.

Sunset over Kangaroo Island

The first thing after breakfast was getting to the Airport. We took a taxi and got ripped off. In no way should a taxi ride cost $60 to the Airport, but it wasn’t up to me to argue since it wasn’t my trip.  Taxi drivers will rip you off if you’re going to an airport in Australia from a hotel or vise-versa. We got ripped off when we arrived in Sydney too.

Adelaide Botanical Gardens

We arrived safely in Adelaide and toured the city. There really wasn’t too much to see but a Natural History museum with a nice dead zoo, Ayer’s House, and a botanical garden. We walked around the Garden which is very nice, but the city itself is nothing special.

We had a relaxing day in Melbourne with not too many activities since we were really tired from the day before. It had been a very short night since Hendrik and I had to pack for the trip in the wee hours of the night and then get up really early to return the car in the morning. Hendrik’s parents got us a hotel room in Melbourne City so we could all go to the airport tomorrow morning together. So I took a nap in the hotel before our walk around town and lookout from the Rialto Tower.

View from Rialto

The next day we hit the Great Ocean Road.It was a sunny day which was great because it would have been pointless in the rain.The views of the crashing surf are gorgeous and definitely the most spectacular views are by the Twelve Apostles. Of course that’s where hordes of tour buses stop and way too many people mill about the small lookout but what can you do. Just do your best to take pictures without anyone interfering.

Twelve Apostles

There were other lookout points for rock formations which were also gorgeous, and had less people around, like the London Bridge. It was a long day of driving and I would have loved to spend more time around the coast and possibly try surfing in Torquay, but we only had one day.

Be weary of cops down there though because later we received a ticket from a speed camera when we had driven down there with our van for going 108km/h (67m/h) in 100 (62 m/h) zone which isn’t fast at all compared to other places of the world, but in AU the speed limit is low and you have to follow it exactly. I was driving the rental back to Melbourne, as Hendrik and I chauffeured his parents around all day. I was making my way slowly (100k/h) down the long straight road and Hendrik was bored and impatient and told me to go faster, that nothing would happen.So I told him over and over again that he’d pay for my ticket if I got one and when he agreed I sped up.About five minutes later I saw a cop do a Uie, and now he was following me.I promptly slowed down, and he followed me for a few minutes and then pulled me over.I only got a warning but I made sure not to let Hendrik live it down and it was even more ironic when we received the ticket for the van since Hendrik had been driving then.So don’t speed, you will get pulled over.

Hendrik’s parents came to visit us in Australia and planned a trip around the country and took us with them. This is the trip we took with them. It was more luxurious than the previous trip which means no campervan and instead nice hotels so it was definitely more pampering. They arrived in Melbourne in the morning and we met up with them and decided early on to rent a car and drive the Great Ocean Road. We had hardly seen the most spectacular aspect of it and wanted to see the Twelve Apostles. We spent a long time in the tourist centre planning the trip and then wondered aimlessly around Melbourne.

Melbourne Train Station

We woke up the next day to find that it was raining so now we really had nothing left to do than drive back to Melbourne, unload all our stuff, and return the van. I was happy that I would not have to sleep in the van anymore because after the month I’d been starting too feel a bit claustrophobic at times since we did everything in such a small compartment. I was sick and tiered of moving our suitcases from the bed every night (yeah we’re not light packers) and then back on it during the day, because that’s the most secure location we could find for them. Everything had to be secure while driving or everything would go flying. Even when it was secure we still heard the dishes rattling in the cupboards and things shifting around. It was an experience but I don’t think I’ll ever travel with a campervan or motor home again. It’s just not very convenient. As we figured it, it wasn’t cheaper either. We could have rented a car and stayed at cheap motels for about the same or less so its all relative, but that’s what people do in AU they buy or rent obnoxiously large vehicles and drive around the country.
They also start blogging….hmm I have to stop being a stereotype. Our next trip is in a few weeks when Hendrik’s parents are coming to visit and we have more travel plans with them minus the campervan, so I’ll fill you in later.