Americans. They scare me a little. But that’s normal… right?? So, when my phone rang and the elderly American couple asked “Are you still looking for a ride to Melbourne then?” I was pretty unprepared. I panicked, hyperventilated and said I’d call back.
I was looking for a ride. Or at least I think I was [I generally am confused at all times about what exactly I’m doing.] But I didn’t know where I wanted to go to from the lovely Adelaide or when or how… normally the biggest challenges in a gypsy’s day are working out what to have for lunch. I was ill prepared.
I returned the call. I accepted. It was set to be a five-day trip to Melbourne in a rental car. By the description it sounded like five days of fine dining and luxury hotels. It sounded terrifying.
I packed my bag and bid farewell to the Homette (soon to be a great hostel in all of Adelaide – ask for Shane) and O-bahned (the must do transport experience in Adelaide) into the city thinking that I really should have taken the time to call mum and write a will before heading off on this daunting new adventure.
I walked and walked and walked a little more and took a deep breath. There they were – Nils and Hannah and our Hundai Getz.
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| My elderly Americans... The friendly sort... |
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| Little Getzy - our noble steed... |
But as it turns out they were German. I should have seen it coming; the whole world seems to be turning German these days. Also instead of the 60-somethings I’d anticipated they turned out to be 30ishers. Fortunately I was not alone - they’d conned Dutch Max into coming too. The 4 of us squished into the teeny two-doored car with our massive backpacks – it made us closest companions immediately!
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| Nils (left) and Hannah (Right) - my friendly not-americans and cheese and more cheese and olives |
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| Nils and Max in the Grampians |
We drove. We drove. And drove a little further. Almost half an hour down the road we reached the Maclarenvale wineries and the wine tasting began.
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| Maclarenvale wineries |
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| More of Maclarenvale |
I can’t possibly imagine a better road trip to Melbourne – Great food, great wine, great company, great experiences… the Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, white kangaroos, dead kangaroos, a billion beautiful beaches and lots of lamas. How do you beat lamas?
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| White kangaroo at Border Town, Victoria |
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| One of the many lamas in Port Fairy |
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| The German way of dealing with mosquitoes. |
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| Griffiths Island |
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| The start of the Great ocean road |
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| 12(ish) apostles |
The moral of the story here – and you should take this to heart – don’t be afraid of Americans. Even if they’re not Americans.
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