Post Singapore we made our way to Adelaide, Australia, where we arrived
bright, early, and 
freezing at 7 am. We then caught a cab to our Airbnb.
Rob is absolute perfection at finding restaurants, but this is the
first time I'd let him take the reigns on our housing. Well, we 
arrived
to a trailer in the back of someone's yard. Not just any trailer, but
one that had been used for the Sydney olympics.... Although we lacked
kitchen facilities, wifi, and warmth of any kind, that was probably the
closest I'll ever get to hanging out with Michael Phelps, so We took it.
We spent the next 3 days wandering around Adelaide, going into bars,
eating some (absolutely amazing) burgers, and sleeping an obscene
amount. This was my favorite.
Post Adelaide we began our road trip down the great ocean road to Melbourne. We made it
about 20 minutes to wine country and then made a 2
day pit stop. (We aren't so good at road tripping.....). McLaren Vale
was definitely top 5 of the trip for us. It is the tiny little area with
dozens of (mostly) family owned vineyards, each with its own story and
quirky sommelier. We had more interesting conversations with people in
that town than we'd had the whole of the trip. We did something called
the wine and cheese trail, where a place called blessed cheese provides a
4 course cheese basket and a list of the wines paired with each, at
various vineyards. The cheese for every course part was amazing enough,
and then they gave us wine on top of that. (I suggested changing the
name of the wine and cheese trail to Anne and Rob special day. They
decided not to take that suggestion.)
After McLaren vale we began our drive, first through Mount Gambier and
then to Apollo 
bay. We were actually supposed to continue on to Lorne
but we stopped at a craft brewery and it kind of went downhill from
there. Whoops. Mount Gambier was incredible. There is a beautiful lake
in the crater of an extinct volcano that turns neon blue. (Unfortunately
it didn't happen to coincide with our dates, which I thought was a
little rude, but we'll have to go back.) They also have a huge sinkhole
that was turned into one of the most gorgeous gardens I've ever seen. I
will be sure to pass these photos along to the city of NOLA regarding
the 'sinkhole de mayo' situation. We continued our drive stopping at
almost every lookout, taking our obligatory selfie, and standing in awe
of the vast natural beauty of Australia's southern coast.
We then continued on to our craft beer haven where we both shared a dark
beer with 12% alcohol, and decided maybe the driving for the day was
over. After about 2 or three of those bad boys I happened to look over
at the 
table next to us. I noticed a young girl wearing a maroon
sweatshirt which looked eerily similar to lesser Mississippi school with
those damn cowbells. (I kid. But I had to say it...) Rob convinces me,
for a second, to leave this nice family alone as it's probably just a
Melbourne rugby shirt. I immediately disregard his request, per usual,
and ask the dad where his daughter's sweatshirt is from. He then pulls
his jacket open revealing a Mississippi State polo. After he explained
that he probably shouldn't even talk to an ole miss girl, he told us
he'd been working for State for the past few years and had just moved
back to Australia. He then handed us his card, offering his assistance
in any way and a warm bed should we need it. If anyone ever doubted the
hospitality of the great state of Mississippi (or Southern Australia)
I'm here to tell you, it spans continents.
We continued our trip stopping at our lookouts and then in a cute little
city called Lorne. This place was
adorable. If I'm ever on the lam,
this is where I'd go. There is a beautiful surfing beach, and we even
hiked down to a waterfall, which I loved until we had to hike back up.
The walk back up was about 1,000 old wooden steps, or 35 flights per my
Fitbit, whichever is greater. We continued our drive to Port Fairy, our
next stopover where we discovered a ghost town. Everything closes at 8
pm and we arrived around 7:30. It was pizza, again, for dinner......
The next day we continued our drive and sightseeing and arrived outside of Melbourne in Yarra valley, another wine region. (If you can't tell, we kind of like wine.) We spent the day going wine tasting and taking in the beautiful sights of Yarra which I can describe only as 'Ireland like.'
We spent our last 3 days on the southern coast, in Melbourne, where we mainly were just
excited to stay in once place for more than a night. We
celebrated the 4th of July with feta lamb burgers (when in Rome) and
wandered around St. Kilda, and had dinner with some friends (Hey Marg
and Rich). I can safely say our first road trip was an absolute success,
mainly because I wasn't allowed to drive per my own request, but also
just driving until we didn't want to anymore, and staying wherever we
could find a room was a wildly new experience for these two type A
planner personalities. We drank (approximately) 5 gallons of wine, drove
what felt like 100 hours, got very little sleep, and saw some of the
most amazing scenery of our lives. So here's to you great ocean road,
thanks for the introductory road trip and the inspiration to do many
more. Our kids are going to hate us........
