SEGMENT 3
March 14: After leaving Melbourne we spent a few days along the marvelous Great Ocean Road with its secluded coves, gorgeous sandstone cliffs and spectacular scenery. The most famous formation, the Twelve Apostles (pic01), are testimony to the ever-changing landscape; currently there are only eight stacks left. The other four went for a swim :-).
Otway Ranges National Park impressed us with lush forests and abundant wildlife - we saw our first koalas! Just after passing into South Australia, we visited the Princess Margaret Rose Cave which features rare helectites - formations that defy gravity by growing sideways out of the walls. We were surprised to also learn that South Australia is half an hour behind Victoria -- what an interesting time change!
We continued to Robe and enjoyed driving through the sand dunes and along the beach of the local conservation park. This is an absolutely stunning area! We were too lazy to down-air but our ProComp Tires safely carried us through the deep sand. After camping out, we pushed on north and detoured briefly into Coorong National Park where the beach consists almost entirely of crushed sea shells (pic02). I dug a hole almost 1 foot (30cm) deep and still didn't find any sand!

It was time to move on as we had dinner plans: We were to meet a few local 4wheelers at a restaurant in Hahndorf, a German village close to Adelaide. The group (pic03) welcomed us warmly and we enjoyed an evening of exchanging 4x4 stories and travel experiences. Glenn and Pam invited us to stay with them and we explored Adelaide the following days. While the city was sleepy on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, life was buzzing in the beach town Glenelg. Conveniently, Glenn runs the Mount Barker 4x4 Centre and we took some time on Monday to thoroughly check the vehicle and prepare it for the desert tracks ahead of us. We also discovered that the oil pressure sensor broke off and Glenn organized a replacement part for us. We were very lucky that this happened here in Adelaide where Glenn had contacts as Jeep parts generally are very hard to come by in Australia.

After topping off all our water and gas tanks and stocking up on supplies, we were ready to leave civilization for the rugged terrain of the Flinders Ranges. On our way, however, we were going to indulge in some wine tasting in the famous Barossa Valley.

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for more pics click here