Day 9: To Robe

A lot of driving had to be done today, while we had about 350km to cover in total. Starting off at Halls Gap in Victoria, we had to cross into South Australia to get to where we neded to be that night, which is Robe.

The weather now definitively turned for worse, as there have been gail force winds all night long. When combined with rain, one can imagine the night was quite restless. In the morning however, it lightened a bit, and we were lucky enough to wake up to the Kangaroos feeding on the grass lawn in front of our cabin. That is a sight for sore eyes! Right after we went out for our breakfast (pancakes!) we stumbled upon a field filled with a few hundred Corellas. These are a small white species of Cockatoo with a blueish eye patch and a red cheek, but without the tell tale Mohawk on the tops of their heads. A great start to the day after all.

Leaving the Grampians, the weather again showed its ugly face, as it started raining, and kept on raining for about an hour, after which we continuously had small showers interspersed with the occasional sunshine. When driving on Australian Highways, you have to drive on a two lane narrow road where you are on the left lane, and the right lane is for the oncoming traffic. And yes, you most of the time are allowed to get up to 100 km/h. Even if you do not go that fast, you can bet on the fact that the other traffic is, including the ones driving on the other side of the road. With very high winds, and limited visibility due to the rain, this was not a comfortable drive down to the coast.

Everything went well eventually, and we safely arrived at our destination within the time we had estimated it would take. Because of the fact that we changed States, we also changed time zones. We were in +8, right now we are in +7,5 from the Netherlands. Weird.

The town of Robe is pretty deserted at this time of year, which makes it hard to get something to eat. Most restaurants are closed, or close after lunch, but we managed to find a nice Malaysian restaurant (Don’s), who actually served good food at reasonable prices. And with our stomachs filled, we are preparing for an even longer day of driving tomorrow, going all the way to Cape Jervis to catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. The rain has let off since this afternoon, and let’s hope it will stay away tomorrow. Even if it only is for the pictures. 🙂