Great Ocean Road, the Third

Finally the time has come! The 24th is finally here. Even though the month is wrong, this day felt a bit like Christmas: Finally we can pick up our campervan. Especially in the last week in Tassie, the anticipation grew day by day for a warm, soft bed.
And now it's finally in front of us, our living room on wheels. 3 seats in the front, a mini kitchen with sink, refrigerator and microwave (!) in the back. Our sleeping quarters consist of a fold-out bed on top and a sleeping area below, which can easily be transformed into a corner bench with table.
After another yearly shopping trip, we finally set off and... After the first turn, all tuna cans roll around the car. Okay, the door is not working. After everything is stowed away again, I go for the third time to the Great Ocean Road. We are 3 cars packed with 7 girls and 1 boy - yes, the male quota is fucked up. Stop 1 is Lorne, where we stay in a bush camp and can cook for the first time! On the same evening, he joined us, whose name no one knew at first, at the campsite and joined our trip. Even though the Great Ocean Road was no longer particularly exciting for me, it was a milestone for me the next day to sit behind the wheel and cruise along the curved coast. After the 12 Apostles and a small cave, we made it to Portland before it started to get dark. Arriving, we had to realize: We lost our dude, whom we baptized our stranger buddy. The joy was all the greater the next day when we coincidentally caught up with him on the way to the Grampians National Park. After a joint lunch, our Grampians discovery tour should begin, until suddenly there was a loud crash behind us. Our dude (by the way, he had a name) had crashed into 2 of our girls. After a few shocked minutes, we could at least quickly say that no one was hurt and our girls could continue driving, even though the trunk could no longer be opened. However, Jonas' car (now the secret is out) looked different. As he told us a few days later, his car was written off and no longer usable. So we had to leave our dude behind (too bad about the male quota - and Jonas, of course) and visited the McKenzie Falls and the Balconies again with 7 people (yeah, we somehow lost Hannah along the way... strange). We celebrated the super successful day in the national park in the evening with a goon bag, drinking games and good music. If it hadn't been for this strange school teacher, who warned us 18 times to turn the music down because her pimples had to sleep or these huntsman spiders, which made us all jump up within seconds when they appeared under the table, the evening would have been very relaxed (just kidding).
The next morning rewarded us with glowing colors and kangaroos looking for food at the campsite.
The next destination was Mt. Williams, where we took a short hike to the summit. The rock formations were a dream - this is what it must look like in Yosemite!

However, after a few minutes at the summit, a storm was approaching and just as we wanted to go back, we were caught in a heavy rain, causing all of us to run like crazy to the car. For our last point on the Grampians list, we had to pay a high price again. A half-hour drive over an outrageously rough gravel road finally led us to Aboriginal cave paintings. Shaken but glad that all parts of the car were still intact (no, we are not insured on gravel roads), we finally saw the paintings after the little hellish trip, which, despite being barely recognizable, had a bit of a Brother Bear feeling to it. The way out of the national park was another adventure ride: in the rain through the narrow bends of the park, surrounded by forests and steep slopes. Past a pink lake, we stayed at a rest area halfway to Adelaide in the evening.

While our girls got their trunks treated the next morning, we had pancakes at the rest area, in the company of 2 llamas that suddenly appeared next to us.

On the way to Adelaide, I once again took the wheel and enjoyed the drive through the hilly and colorful landscape of South Australia, passing the first road trains.

In retrospect, I probably enjoyed the drive a bit too much, and so a few weeks later I received a speeding ticket for going 8 (!) km/h over the limit. Hold on tight: $264. I repeat: $264. Fuck off!

Upon arrival, we used the sunshine for a beach session in Glenelg before heading to our campsite right on the beach. For the first time in 2 weeks, we paid for a campsite to recharge our van and take showers. On the same evening, we organized our own burger BBQ to celebrate Mayk's 22nd birthday. In the end, only Melli, Leïa, and I were left, and soon a road train driver joined us, who could tell us a lot about the profession and life as a truck driver. On the one hand, he explained to us the 18 gears in the road trains and told us about trucks with 4 trailers, which still drive on normal highways, as well as road trains with 8 trailers and a second engine behind the 4th trailer, which drive on separate gravel roads (!). Finally, he revealed to us the trick of many drivers to simply put their laptop behind the steering wheel and watch DVD after DVD while driving. We should consider that too!
Furthermore, he warned us about the aborigines in the outback, who still rob tourists. He informed us about the outrageously high gasoline prices of up to $2 per liter (and it got even worse) and told us about camels and buffalos in the Outback. Australians like him are one of the reasons why I love Australia so much. It's fascinating how open and warm-hearted people treat each other. We laughed a lot that evening and once again learned a lot. Top!
The next morning was dedicated to the preparation for the outback: buy gasoline cans, refuel, refill gas. After 2 rainy hours in the city center, where fortunately I could call my parents again, we drove a first small part out of the city Adelaide to Snowtown, where we stayed at a rest area for the night.
After a joint evening in our van, where we had taken refuge from the icy wind and played one card game after another, the next morning greeted us with a beautiful sunrise. And as I sat in the warm morning light with my muesli sitting on the van, I was honked at by a road train and waved at, my anticipation for the outback grew immeasurably. Since our 2 girls were stuck in the workshop again, we started without them and drove with 5 people via Port Augusta to the Flinders Ranges National Park to Wilpena, where the beautiful mountain range Wilpena Pound could be admired. The drive through the varied landscape of the Flinders Ranges was incredibly fun, and I had to restrain myself from ripping out the camera while driving.

Flinders is by far one of the most beautiful national parks in Australia and I was the lucky one who was allowed to visit this place twice. The meeting point in the evening was a rest area just before Port Augusta and the Flinders Ranges, a perfect mix. We let the evening and thus the first part of our road trip come to an end once again with wine and card games. From Melbourne via the Great Ocean Road and the Grampians, we landed in Port Augusta in one week, the gateway to the outback. Tomorrow the outback adventure finally begins and we are so ready, Australia!