24.06.19 - 01.07.19 From Adelaide to Ballarat via The Great Ocean Road

In Adelaide, we stayed in an Airbnb room. A room in the house of a woman named Sarah and her seven cats. At first, we found it a bit messy but after we settled in and got to know nice Sarah in person in the evening, we felt comfortable. Since she also seemed to be a travel-loving person, we had plenty to chat about. We spent four nights in Adelaide. After the time in the desert, we welcomed a bit of city life, even if the city didn't exactly impress us. Too many big streets with a lot of traffic, at least in proportion to the size of the city. And it just didn't have the charm that we were used to from Melbourne. Nevertheless, we were able to take a few nice walks through the city and the many parks. And we enjoyed ourselves in a great bakery with delicious pies - even vegan ones. And during a trip to the sea, Lea saw her first dolphin in the wild at Adelaide Harbor, and as we later realized, we had accidentally taken a photo of it.

But the highlight of the last week came after Adelaide. From there, we drove along the coast heading south to eventually end up on the Great Ocean Road, also known as the B100, a coastal road between the towns of Allansford in the west and Torquay in the east. Even before we reached this famous road, we saw beautiful coastal landscapes, including an seemingly endless beach where we spent the night and had a great time. Unfortunately, we spent the next day in the rain, which made camping a bit less comfortable and more cumbersome. Therefore, we treated ourselves to burgers for lunch instead of having a snack in a nice spot as usual. Even though the sea and the coast still looked great in the rain and wind, it was a bit annoying. So we were delighted with a few rays of sunshine the next day.

When we stopped at the first viewpoint on the B100 the next day, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the cliffs and the stormy sea, a continuous state that causes the land to move about 2cm each year. We stopped at numerous viewpoints along the more than 300km road. Due to its proximity to Melbourne, many other people are also there, so everyone is constantly reminded by signs to drive on the left side of the road. At the most famous rock formation, the so-called Twelve Apostles, we saw most clearly the masses of people making their way here. We can't judge whether it was the most beautiful formation on the route, but it wasn't for us due to the crowds of people there. In addition to the natural beauty, you also pass through a few nice little villages. In a forest near Lorne, we spent our last night in the car before driving to our friends in Ballarat the next day. Here we will stay until Ste and Luki visit us next week.