A "wild" koala, if you can ever describe koalas as wild.After staying the night in Warrambool we set out for the Grampians. The range of mountains lends its name to a national park as well. Halls Gap is in the middle of the Grampians and served as our base camp. It turned out to be a tiny town, which suited us just fine. Driving there my dad noted that the speed limit was generally 100 kph or about 65 mph. That doesn’t sound odd except that these were pretty windy mountain roads and the speed limit was the same as on the expressways in Melbourne. We also saw a sign telling us that “drink driving” is dangerous. They also list prices for a “serve” instead of for a “serving.” They seem to have noun/verb agreement problems. We also saw a government sign that read, “There’s 3 million reasons…” Yes, I know, I have issues.
The Grampians from afarOur day in the Grampians was a nice change. We saw more scenic sights and ended the day relatively early. We had a dinner that included kangaroo steaks and then a quiet evening. After dark I wandered into town alone and was drawn toward a tent from which came strains of Elton John’s “Mr. Pianoman.” We had seen classic cars driving through town all day, and it turns out that this was the kickoff for a weekend car show for hot-rodded classic cars. Everyone had come into town and taken up residence in the trailer camping lot, so I started wandering the streets of the trailer town and looked at the cars. A guy I talked to had a 1932 Ford. He envied the U.S. classic car buffs he said because usually the only cars imported to Australia were family sedans. We had seen one Camaro in Australia, and this guy confirmed that it was an import. I also saw a bunch of kids riding chopper-style bicycles around and wearing helmets like those from the Nazi German army. It turns out that one kid made them all (and did a very good job, I might add) and it was his hobby to tinker with bikes just like his dad’s hobby was tinkering with cars.
View from part of the Grampians into Halls Gap.Aussie lingo of the day: “No worries.” It may or may not be Australia’s unofficial philosophy, but it is definitely a prevalent phrase. It replaces “no problem,” “you’re welcome,” and other such phrases. You hear it everywhere.
1 comment:
David, I hate to shatter your happy tourist delusions but Koalas are mean as sin, just FYI. So your caption is misleading all who traverse this blog. I feel you are duty bound to correct this grossly unethical, misinformed slander on the Phascolarctos cinereus. Allow the last remaining representatives of the family Phascolarctidae to be the mafia-like cretans they are. They've earned their branch cred.
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