Days 197 - 210

In the words of Bon Jovi, (que appropriate music and air guitar), “it’s the final countdown”. We have 15 sleeps left in our little traveller’s world before we hit Sydney, civilisation, hot showers and proper toilets. Are we looking forward to this? NO, long live the Battered Fish adventure we say.

Time is now precious and we have been making the most of each day since we left Adelaide. During our time in Adelaide, we visited the Fleurieu Peninsula, taking in yet more beautiful wineries in Maclaren Vale and the seaside towns of Victor Harbour, Port Elliott and Goowlah, made a visit to Parliament House (see blog posted on 27 November), had a press conference in Botanical Park and caught up with our friends, Noel and Shelia. It was a very hectic 3 days but great fun. Whilst in Victor Harbour, we caught a horse drawn tram (a slower mode of transport compared to the Fish but still sustainable) pulled by a Clydesdale horse called Carmen (so the poster entitled "horse talk" told us) over to Granite Island.

From Adelaide, we headed inland to the Grampians, a stunning area for keen bush walkers and nature lovers alike. We set up camp in an idyllic spot, with only black wallabies (that at first sight we thought were puma’s) for company. We spent our time bush walking in preparation for our hike to the most Southern point of mainland Australia and learnt quite a bit about the rating of certain treks. For instance, when they say something is classed as “moderate - hard, with some parts of the track being difficult to identify”, they actually mean you have to scramble over fallen down trees, over large boulders and wade through bracken to keep on the track. Also, when something has a “Mt” in front of it, one way is going to be purely up hill and the other purely down hill. We amateur bush walkers learnt the hard way, but had a great time in the process and are very much looking forward to our first overnight hikes in Wilsons Promontory next week.

From the Grampians, we headed for the coast and stayed in Great Otway National Park, about 5 kms behind the seaside town of Lorne. Again, we were spoilt with the beautiful location of our bush camp. We had wanted to see wild koala’s for some time and thought that we would get viewings of these adorable creatures in the Grampians. However, the devastating bush fires in Christmas 2006 had claimed the lives of a lot of the koala population and we did not see any. As we were setting up camp in Great Otway, we heard a scrambling noise to the left of us. There, no more than 10 ft away from us, was a koala about to climb its home, a eucalyptus tree. About half way up the tree, it looked down at us and started making a noise like an ape makes. I could not believe that such a small animal could make such a large and strange noise. It pacified itself for a good hour munching on the leaves of the tree before it started up its strange noise again. Was it mating season we wondered? Would we witness something you only see on the discovery channel? Alas not, but we were woken up several times during the night to the koala’s calls.

We drove along the Great Ocean Road and saw the 12 Apostles and other rock formations. On the drive to the coast, the Battered Fish had her birthday. She turned the ripe old age of 400,000 kms. Thanks to the juice she has been drinking since we set out on our trip in May, she is working perfectly and still looks no older than the day she was born. We celebrated her birthday with some good friends of ours, the Vanderkellens. Have a look at the pictures we posted on the 4 December of the morning after. Bear and Rabbit really did overdo it!

The waste cooking oil is going well thanks to the help of some generous people Gerard met through a forum specialising in alternative fuels. Before we left on our trip in May, Gerard posted a message on the forum setting out our adventure and if anyone around Australia could help us out with some waste veggie oil as we visit different places. Many people replied to the message and once again, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Australian people. Thanks goes to Sandy and Bob from Victor Harbour, John at Morphett Vale and Matt and Barb in the Grampians for supplying us with some good quality WVO to help the Battered Fish on its adventure. Also, thanks to Matt and Barb for dinner and allowing us to use your shower after a long stint without hot water!! We did not know these people but each invited us into their homes. It goes to show that the Aussie generosity is still out there.

We are currently in Sorrento for a few days before we head over to Phillip Island to see the penguin parade at dusk – where little penguins come waddling up the beach from the ocean to their home. From here, we are going to Melbourne to catch up with some of Gerard’s relatives.

I have included some photos of Gerard and I at the 12 Apostles, the view of Great Ocean Road, the noisy Koala we saw at Great Otway NP, the view from one of the "Mt" walks we did in the Grampians, some vines at Maclaren Vale and Carmen the Clydesdale horse pulling the tram.

We hope everyone is well and as always, thanks for your messages and comments. One of our favourite comments has been “never mind about Gerard’s clothing, what has happened to his hair?” Fair point I say!

Rachel and Gerard