Vash the Stampede

Our passage back to Melbourne on the Spirit of Tasmania was smooth and comfortable. We had a nice deluxe cabin (of which I have attached two photos) which was located at the front of the ship, with two portholes and a superb view across the bow.

The advantage of travelling by boat is that you can take your car with you. This costs about $69 (£27) each way.

A word of warning: the price of food on board is utterly scandalous; make sure you pack your own food, unless you want to be ripped off like a sheet of wallpaper!

Having discovered the limits of the Mitsu, Mrs Stampede and I decided that it would be wise to hire a car for the next leg of our journey: Melbourne to Adelaide.

I booked a 3-door manual Hyundai Getz with Budget, which cost us $338 (£136) for the week, including $110 (£44.40) to reduce the insurance excess from $2,750 (£1,111) to $330 (£133).

We picked up the car from Bayswater, where I discovered that they were out of 3-door manuals, so we had been given a 5-door automatic at no extra cost. I didn't complain.

Driving from Melbourne to Adelaide is a relatively simple task, though rather tedious if you have to do part of it at night. The highway is in excellent condition, and traffic is light (for obvious reasons). Even better, it is possible to do the whole thing without a map, since you can basically follow the road signs to Adelaide.

If you're not in a hurry, you might want to take a few photos of the Grampians on your way across.

The journey took us about nine hours, since we were travelling from Kalorama (the other side of the city) and had to stop a couple of times to refuel (the Getz' petrol tank was surprisingly small). In total, we covered a distance of around 760 km, or 475 miles. This is equivalent to driving from London to Aberdeen.

We caught sight of The Giant Koala on the way over.

Vash the Stampede

As with Launceston, I had booked our Adelaide accommodation whilst still in the UK. We stayed at Castle Apartment, located on a little side-street off Halifax St.

I have attached photos of the front (taken at night), the rear (where we parked the little white Getz) and a couple of neighbouring houses.

Castle Apartment is owned by an ex-pat Pom, who moved to Australia about 25 years ago. The house itself was built in the 19th Century and now serves a dual purpose; the rental accommodation comprises only one third of the original building, while the rest is a cafe run by Jason Goldup, the owner.

We discovered him to be very friendly, helpful and laid-back. Having briefly shown us around the apartment, he handed us the keys and told us to let him know if we needed anything. From hereon, we were free to come and go as we pleased.

The apartment was cosy, clean and well-appointed. We found it exactly as it appears in these photos:







It is designed for self-catering tenants, which suited us perfectly. The only things we lacked (which I would have preferred) were a washing machine and vaccuum cleaner. However, we did have everything else that you'd find in a home, including a TV and DVD player, spare blankets, an iron and an ironing board.

At $60 (£24) per night, it was an absolute bargain! It is so close to the city that you can walk to Rundle Mall, yet its location in a little one-way street means that it doesn't get any traffic. If you don't feel like cooking, that's fine; the Hutt St cafe strip is just around the corner.

Alternatively, you can walk round to the front of the building and have a lovely sit-down meal in Jason's cafe! We found his food excellent and his prices considerably lower than the average rate; you can't go too far wrong with cappucinos at around $2.50 (£1)!

I can definitely recommend Castle Apartment to anyone spending time in Adelaide.

Vash the Stampede

Most of our time in SA was spent visiting my friends, and my mother and sister. We were invited out to lunch and dinner a few times, but still had some meals at home in the apartment. This helped to assess the price of groceries, and gave us some time to ourselves.

When we weren't visiting my mates, we were driving through the countryside. I gave Mrs Stampede a miniature tour of several villages in the Adelaide hills: Stirling, Aldgate, Mylor, Nairne, Hahndorf, Balhannah, Littlehampton and Lobethal.

As you can probably tell by some of the names, certain parts of the hills were originally settled by the German immigrants who flocked to South Australia during the 19th Century.

Their legacy lives on in a number of villages - particularly Hahndorf, where I took lots of photos and Mrs Stampede enjoyed some retail therapy.

Vash the Stampede

More photos of Hahndorf; I just couldn't stop myself.

wafc

Loving your work Vash!

Vash the Stampede

If you're ever in South Australia, make sure you check out the Adelaide Markets! Like most markets, there's plenty of rubbish on sale - but an astute buyer can pick up some terrific bargains, and it's a great place to stop for lunch.

Mrs Stampede bought some gifts for her family from the Wilderness Shop, and we both enjoyed a fantastic Chinese meal in the food hall which cost us a paltry $5.25 (£2.11) each! Portions were large and filling; Mrs Stampede had to off-load some of hers onto my plate, because she couldn't finish it.

On Wednesday we cleaned up the apartment, surrendered the keys to Jason, and drove back to Melbourne, where we successfully negotiated the city traffic, drove to the other side of town, and finally staggered into Kalorama.

At some point during the long drive from Adelaide, we saw the Giant Koala again.

wafc

Ah, the Giant Koala, I remember it well from your previous post!

Its great this, its like reading a novel and getting to know the characters!

loz

Glad I'm not going out tonight.................this is brilliant. Just time to open a tinnie I think

Loz x

geordie mandy

My kids love the koala and asked if they sell toys koala's there LOL
I look forward to more Vash travels
Mandy

Sam

Fantastic Vash

I'm following with interest, and must admit have added Tas to my list of must visit once in Oz, as well as Mel and Ad

Keep up the good work!

Lord Pom Percy

Tasmania is definently worth visiting, summers the best time of year to go because it can be very cold in winter.

Vash the Stampede

We returned the hire car on Thursday. Budget tried to hit me with a $200 penalty for excess kms, claiming that my car was limited to 200 kms per day. :scared:

I protested that I had paid an agreed price at the time of hire, and there had been no mention of a km limit on the paperwork (which I was able to produce as evidence).

I also pointed out that I had originally informed Budget of my intention to drive between VIC and SA (a round trip of more than 1400 kms), and had naturally expected the hire rate to include unlimited kms.

I expected them to put up a fight, but Budget actually backed down and waived the excess.

The rest of the day was spent in packing and preparation for our final departure.

On Friday evening we were picked up by a couple of mates, who drove us to the airport.

Then it was back on the plane, through Singapore and Dubai... and eventually, the UK.

We managed to catch a semi-express train from Gatwick to Birmingham New St, and a cab for the rest of the way.

So here we are, back in the West Midlands again.

Vash the Stampede

And now a series of miscellaneous bits & bobs...

Warning: security in Dubai Aiport is disturbingly inconsistent. During our 3-hour stopover on the return journey, Mrs Stampede and I wandered outside the airport and had to re-enter the International Departures section. When we came to the security checkpoint, we were alarmed to find it staffed by only two people - a woman and a bloke - neither of whom paid any attention to us.

After trying (and failing) to get their attention, we decided that we would have to check ourselves through security. We placed our hand luggage on the X-ray conveyer belt, and walked through the metal detector doorframe.

The two security staff didn't even blink; they just kept right on talking to each other, in what must have been the world's most fascinating conversation.

The woman at the X-ray machine didn't even glance at her screen, while the bloke by the metal detector paid no attention to the chorus of beeps and squeaks which filled the air as Mrs Stampede walked through it.

We were left to pick up our hand luggage, shrug our shoulders, and march on towards the departure gates. We could have been armed; we could have been carrying explosives. But the two jokers at the security checkpoint just let us waltz right through.

By contrast, the staff at Tullamarine Airport (Melbourne) and Changi Airport (Singapore) were scrupulously thorough, leaving nothing to chance. Gatwick, too, was tightly controlled. But Dubai... well, let's just say that it left us feeling a trifle uneasy.

username 34

love the posts!! looks like you had an awesome time. Are you going back to live there or are you now permenantly in the Midlnads !

geordie mandy

A little worrying about lack of security from Dubai, what was security like when you left the UK? or was that before all the latest threats?
Mandy