Limestone Coast: Dry, Hot & Dusty..

After close to a week being on the road, we were starting to run out of (fresh) clothes and without risking having to recycle our underwear, we made a pit stop for the laundrette.

Excited at the prospects of doing our washing at a public laundrette, we stopped at the first main town - Victor Harbour. Apparently, there are different detergents for 'top-load' vs 'front load' machines. But before laundry, most importantly - lunch, i.e. KFC!

Vedict: Malaysia's KFC spicy chicken & Zinger Burger are still the best. :)

Attempting the bored-housewife-with-trashy-magazine look / Versuch den gelangweilten-Hausfrau-mit-Schundheft zu imitieren

Limestone Coast earned its name from the soil/stones that the region is made off - Limestones. These limestones are formed close to 25 million years ago, from volcanoes. Therefore, the area is rich with Geoparks, caves, sinkholes and interesting wildlife (birds and plants).

The Coorong National Park is a huge span of marshland and forest spanning the coast, dividing the Indian Ocean and the rivers.

Our route was basically: Cape Jervis - Victor Harbour - Goolwa - Strathalbyn - Meningie (1st night: Mr. Focker was in town) - Kingston - Robe (2nd & 3rd Night: Cute place with cool cafe) - Milicent - Mt Gambier (Best Wagyu steak!) - Portland (4th night) - Port Fairy.

Highlights of the Limestone Coast are....

Meningie: The whole of South Australia is suffering from severe drought, and this is particularly obvious along the Limestone Coast. We drove past kilometres of dry grassland and barren lands with the scenery being mainly yellow grass and black burnt trees against the bright blue Australian sky. We could not decide if that was terrific...or tragic...

To get to Meningie, one has to cross the river Muray. As we approached the river, we were wondering how one gets across as there was no road or ferry visible. Very soon, the (crossing lights) went on and lo and behold comes a little ferry!

We drive onto it along with other cars...and got smoothly transported to the other side. Free of charge! Driving into Meningie, we drove along a long span of beach/coastline (or so we thought) and were excited at the prospects of finally being able to perhaps go swimming in the Australian Sea as it has been very hot.

Arriving at the caravan park, not only did we find out that this 'beach' is not a beach but the bottom of the lake because the lake has dried up so much due to the drought, but also Mr. Focker was in town!

If any of you watch the movie 'Meet the Fockers', you'll know what we are talking about. Next to this massive 'bus', our little Spaceship looked pathetic! This bus has not 1 but TWO satellites, a washing machine, and gawd knows what else inside. Amazing... We decided that if we were to do this caravan thing again, THAT was the way to travel!

Here, we watched the most amazing sunset as we enjoyed our romantic candlelight dinner of one of Pasci's favourite dish "Hörnli mit Gehacktem" (Macaroni & Mince). It was surreal walking along the 'beach'of this lake... certainly no swimming here!

Waiting to cross the Murray River with the Ferry / Warten um den Murray Fluss mit der Fähre zu überqueren

Cool view from our car on top the Ferry / Coole Aussicht im Auto auf der Fähre

Our Caravan spot..and our dinner spot..yup..just between those trees... :) / Unser Camping Platz...und unser Ort für das Abendessen....zwischen diesen Bäumen... :)

See the 'beach' behind? That is where the lake used to come up to... / Siehst du den 'Strand'? Bis dahin kam der See bevor er uner Wasserknappheit leidete...

Perfect spot and view for our romantic dinner / Perfekter Ort und Aussicht für ein romantisches Abendessen

Despite the Rosé (which we agreed does not go with 'Hörnli & Gehacktem'), it was pretty perfect.... / Obwohl wir beide den Rosé mit Hörnli & Gehacktem nicht so gemocht haben, war es ein perfekter Abend...

Amazing sunset view..we could not resist trying out our new camera. :) / Wunderschöner Sonnenuntergang..Wir mussten unsere neue Kamera ausprobieren. :)

The clouds were amazing - it was almost like Geography class all over again..Cumulonimbus, Cumulus, Stratus.../ Die Wolken waren wunderschön - es war wie im Geographie Unterricht..Cumulusnimbus, Cumulusstratus...(oder so ähnlich)

The colours were amazing at sunset..and it was near full-moon / Die Farben beim Sonnenuntergang waren super...und es war fast Vollmond

THIS is the way to caravan-it! / So wollen wir das nächste mal Campen gehen!

The sights of Limestone Coast.... / Die Aussicht entlang der Limestone Küste...

Coorong National Park - used to be filled with water and now dry... / Coorong National Park - war einst mit viel Wasser gesegnet und ist jetzt sehr trocken..

We stopped for a Pelican Walk - not quite sure what an 'interpretive walk' is. We did not see any Pelicans...perhaps that is why it is an Interpretive walk. Bollocks. / Wir hielten an für einen 'Pelikan-Spaziergang'. Wir haben jedoch keine Pelikane gesehen....Schei**e!

No Pelican but cool enough view / Keine Pelikane aber schöne Aussicht

We discovered that not only was it the wrong season to view Pelicans (May to September), we also needed super binoculars to see anything even if it was the right season / Wir mussten leider feststellen, dass es nicht nur die falsche Saison war um Pelikane zu sehen (Mai bis September), wir bräuchten auch einen Feldstecher um überhaupt etwas zu sehen

Not quite the white-t-shirt washgirl look achieved / Mishell sieht nicht gerade wie das typische 'Wet-t-shirt' Autowasch-Girl aus

Next day, we were off to Kingston which is famous for one thing...a giant Lobster in front of a Seafood restaurant (which we didnt take a photo of). Kingston is a fishing town and boasts fresh seafood, especially Lobster.

We also had one of the best fish & Chips here - very fresh and the batter was very light, fluffy and crispy!

Our measly budget did not allow a Lobster (AUD$65 for 1 kg), hence we settled for Lobster Paté. Was pretty good! / Unser Budget hat leider keinen Hummer zugelassen (AUD$65 pro 1KG), dafür haben wir Hummer-Paste gekauft und es war sehr lecker!

Fantastic Fish & Chips - with Butterfish / Fantastischer Fisch mit Pommes

Robe: That night, we stayed at Robe, a small & old fishing village with just one main street through the town.

The caravan park was just next to a white, sandy 14km beach...this time we can go swimming maybe? No chance! :(

Thanks to some freak wind, not only was it seriously windy, it was also really cold - it literally went from 34C to about 17C the next day. One thing we learnt about cold weather though, no mosquitoes! hurrah!

Australia's tourist information centres are really well-established with tons of information of each local spot available for the ready tourist / Die Australischen Touristen Infos sind sehr gut mit vielen Infos für die Touristen

The one & only main street that runs through Robe / Die einzige Hauptstrasse & Strasse die durch Robe führt

We like the Union Cafe in Robe very much..not only because they knew what Wi-fi is (the next door Cafe didn't), they have great coffee and brunches! The Cafe is run by a young-ish couple with their parents helping out. Cool. / Wir mochten das Union Cafe in Robe sehr...es bot nicht nur gratis Wi-Fi Internet, sondern sie hatten auch guten Kaffee und Gebäcke. Das Kaffee wird von einem jungen Paar geführt und die Eltern helfen aus. Cool.

We made Robe our base for 2 days and drove to Canunda National Park for some hiking (we actually use our hiking boots here more than ever in Switzerland!). After about 45 minutes of more bone-rattling dirt road, we arrived at our supposedly hiking trail point.

Not only was it deserted and badly sign-posted, we found out that the yellow lake that was supposed to be the highlight of the hike was yellow due to the pollution from the factories around it! Gross! Pasci did not enjoy this hike very much, finding it "spooky".

There were lots of these tiny white snails on the grass everywhere. And so were the huge, mean flies which stung Pasci again...poor guy. :(

That night, we walked from our Caravan Park via the beach to the local pub - thinking it was an easy 15 mins walk..which turned out to be 45mins. At least it was full moon - which made it really romantic. :) Luckily, the pub was still open when we got there. We tasted our first Australian beer there. Yum...

Boring trail with an interesting sand dune halfway through the walk. Notice the yellow lake on the left? We were wondering why it was that colour....luckily we didnt go swimming there! / Eine langweilige Wanderung mit einer interessanten Sand-Düne auf halbem Weg. Beachte den gelben See auf der linken Seite? Wir haben uns gewundert warum er diese Farbe hat...zum Glück sind wir nicht schwimmen gegangen!

Managing a smile despite the heat, strong winds and the amount of spiders and bugs around / Ein Lachen trotz der Hitze, dem Wind und den vielen Spinnen

We were intrigued by the little white snails which seem to be everywhere...wonder if they are edible.. / Wir wunderten uns über die vielen kleinen Schnecken die überall waren....kann man die essen?

Swizzys in nature-Australia / Schweizer in der Natur Australiens!

Yay...finished! What a relief! / Yuhu...fertig! Was für eine Erleichterung!

Pool of Siloam - apparently 10 times saltier than the Ocean! (Again, the water is extremely receeded) / Siloam See - angeblich 10mal salziger als der Ozean (und wieder, das Wasser ist ziemlich zurückgegangen)

Braving the cold and the strong winds / Wir hielten der kälte und dem Wind stand

Snoozing in our 'bedroom' / Ausschlafen in unserem 'Schlafzimmer'

It was pretty windy when we were in Robe! Our breakfast that Pasci lovingly prepared blew over the moment he turned his back. / Es war sehr windig in Robe! Unser Frühstück das Pasci vorbereitet hat wurde vom Wind davongeblassen.

So we had to eat our breakfast in the car instead...Pasci was not impressed. / Also mussten wir unser Frühstück im Auto essen...Pasci war nicht beeindruckt.

The 14km long white, sandy beach that we were parked next to. Too bad we didnt get to go that near it at all - too windy! / Der 14km lange weisse Strand. Leider konnten wir das Meer nicht ausprobieren - zu windig!

Not sure if this qualifies for the gay-calendar posè - Marco? / Nicht sicher ob das für den Schwulen-Kalender qualifiziert - Marco?

Mt. Gambier: Mt. Gambier is apparently the 2nd biggest town in South Australia, after Adelaide.

The most fascinating part of the town is actually BELOW the town..the caves and waterways. Apparently, one can go diving in the caves here - must be really cool. We went to see the couple of Sinkholes that were the local attraction.

One of the main attractions is the 'Blue Lake'. It turns bright blue during summer and becomes a dull grey during the colder months, i.e autumn and winter. Scientists have not figured out the true reason why this happens - there are various theories. Most fascinating.

The Umpherston Sinkhole was also pretty interesting..and beautiful...apart from being a useful distraction for us to wait for our dinner restaurant to open.

Sharp at 6pm, we were off to the Barn restaurant, a 'barnlike' restaurant about 20 mins away from Mt. Gambier town - in the middle of nowhere...which specialises in Beef/Steaks. The Wagyu beef (AUD$ 45) was by far the best wagyu I've tasted until now.

It was cooked to perfection..over charcoal...it was juicy, sumptuos, tender and perfectly cooked with the perfect hint of smokiness on your tongue as you chew and savour the juices of the meat. I still dream of the piece of meat till now. mMMmmm....

The forming of the Blue Lake - which used to be a sea / Wie der Blaue See zustande kam - es war einmal ein Meer..

The Blue Lake / Der blaue See

Pasci sets up lunch by the Grey Lagoon...no prize for guessing why its called that. / Pasci bereitet das Mittagessen zu bei der grauen Lagune

Lunch: Leftover Macaroni & mince, Salad & Leftover Bbq-ed Chicken...feast for the pauper! / Mittagessen: Übrige Hörnli mit gehacktem, Salat und gegrilltes poulet

The Umpherston Sinkhole... / Das Umpherston Sinkhole..

We did not wait for the wombats which apparently come out at sunset / Wir haben nicht auf den Sonnenuntergang gewartet obwohl dann anscheinend die Wombats rauskommen

The Barn Steakhouse at Mt Gambier...needs no introduction / 'The Barn' Steak Restaurant bei Mt. Gambier...müssen wir nicht näher vorstellen (SUPER Steak)

Juicy, succulent Wagyu Steak served with crispy Mangetout & Mustard mash / Saftiges und zartes Wagyu Steak serviert mit knackigen Erbsen und Kartoffelstock

We treated ourselved to dessert as well - Chocolate Pudding (almost like a Molten Lava Cake served a scoop of ice-cream) / Wir haben uns auch noch Dessert gegeönnt - 'Schoggi-Lava-Kuchen'

Port Fairy - which we didnt like because it was windy and cold. It still didnt seem to stop the locals from fishing. Crazy Australians. / Port-Fairy - mochten wir nicht da es zu windig und kalt war. Das konnte die Lokals nicht vom Fischen abhalten. Verrückte Australier!

Fishing seems to be a big Australian past time. / Fischen scheint ein populäres Hobby zu sein in Australien

We drove around looking for a good spot for lunch and ended up at some car park - which was very windy. / Wir sind rumgefahren um einen gemütlichen Platz für das Mittagessen zu finden - und es war wieder sehr windig!

Our view from the car park as we munched our Tuna sandwich /Aussicht vom Parkplatz als wir unser Thunfisch-Sandwich gegessen haben

We wouldnt mind one of these houses one day... / Wir hätten nichts dagegen ein solches zu besitzen eines Tages

Port Fairy - little quaint village/town. The buildings seem to be stuck in the 60's with modern cafes and shops inside.. / Port Fairy - kleine altertümliche Stadt. Die Gebäude scheinen in den 60er Jahren stecken geblieben zu sein mit modernen Shops und Kaffees drinnen..

Our last supper before the Great Ocean Road adventure! The barbecue here was pathetic... / Unsere letzte Mahlzeit bevor wir auf die Great Ocean Road getroffen sind! Der Grill war schlecht..

Don't blame the chef...blame the poor facilities. Grilled Chicken & Fish with Pasta-ala-Mishell / Beschuldige nicht den Koch...schuld sind die schlechten Einrichtugnen. Grilliertes Poulet und Fisch mit Pasta-ala-Mishell

Mt. Gambier was pretty much the end of Limestone Coast...next stop was .... the GREAT OCEAN ROAD!!