"There are two people ahead who want to hitchhike, let's cut them off!" Not long after she finished complaining about the flies, Katie slowed down the car again.
"Gday! Can you take us to Jilang?" The people who stopped the car on the side of the road were two young girls, both dressed in tank tops, shorts and short-waisted hiking boots. Each of them was carrying a big backpack like a hill. This
You can always see this kind of people on the road. According to what we Chinese call them, these people should be regarded as travel companions or poor travelers, relying entirely on public transportation and their own two legs to travel.
"We happened to pass by Jilang, come up, these are my sister and brother-in-law." Katie stopped the car without waiting for Hong Tao to answer whether he agreed or not.
"Ta! Where are you from? Europe or the United States?" The two little girls were really polite. They threw their big backpacks on the luggage rack on the roof of the car, and got up one in the front seat and the other in the back seat.
Immediately after that, they chatted to each other a few words in what seemed to be English, and then the little girl in the back seat started asking questions.
"America, are you locals? Does Gday mean hello?" Hong Tao and Irene had been sitting in the back seat, and one of the two little girls was sitting next to him. They also asked him this question.
"It just means saying hello. It's too troublesome to say good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. We Australians have simplified them into one phrase. You can say it at any time every day. It's very convenient, right?" The little girl began to explain this to Hong Tao.
I proudly asked Hong Tao about the origin of the phrase.
"Well, it is indeed very convenient. You are so smart. So what does this mean?" Hong Tao can tell from the emphasis and expression on the little girl's words that they must be very young. At most, they are only college students, or even not yet.
Yes, because you can see their back molars if you give them a small compliment.
"Thank you! Hahahahahaha!" The two little girls kept laughing after getting in the car. Although it was a bit noisy, it was also quite lively. The journey of dozens of kilometers came in a flash.
"Oh...it's great to be young. Look at how happy they are all day long. They can laugh three times in one sentence..." Seeing the two little girls walking away with big backpacks and a string of laughter, Hong Tao felt
I seem to be much older.
"What's so strange about this? Irene and I were crazier than them when we were in school. When we went to Beijing to see Sam, we had less than 20 US dollars left in our pockets after buying the plane tickets. Sam still paid us for the taxi.
I paid for it." It seems that Katie doesn't feel the same way as Hong Tao. She thinks that young people should be like this, do whatever they want without thinking about the consequences at all.
These two hitchhiking girls are locals from Victoria, which is just a small town. They just graduated from high school this year and will go to Sydney to go to university in February, so they came to the Great Ocean Road to spend their summer vacation together. They are both poor students.
I definitely won’t ask my family for money when I go out for fun, so I can’t afford to take a tour bus or stay in a hotel, so I can only travel by car and camping along the way.
But the little girl was quite interesting. When Hong Tao offered to let them take a ride to the end of the Great Ocean Road, they refused without even thinking. The reason was not that they were afraid that Hong Tao was not a good person, but that they felt that they would have to go out to play.
On your own, you can stop wherever you want and leave wherever you want. If you follow others, it will affect your own feelings.
The ride was not in vain. Although the little girls did not pay for the gas, they gave Hong Tao a lot of useful knowledge, answered many of Hong Tao's questions, and taught Hong Tao a lot of Australian English usage, which can be regarded as a kind of
Get paid.
According to these two little girls, this season is the best time to travel to the Great Ocean Road, but it is also the most expensive. From December to February, there are both Christmas holidays and school holidays, so
There are so many people traveling here that almost all hotels and guesthouses need to be booked in advance. Even B&B, that is, bed and breakfast multi-person hostels, it is difficult to find wealthy beds.
Hong Tao also asked the little girl about the problem of fly abundance, which almost made the two girls laugh. They said that there are a lot of flies in Victoria near the coast, especially along the Great Ocean Road. The state government
The use of chemicals to kill flies is not allowed, so people living here have become accustomed to living with these flies. As for foreign tourists like Hong Tao, what should they do? The little girls gave their advice: just blast them with your hands if you have nothing to do.
Got it!
The other two little girls also briefed Hong Tao on the local laws and regulations, reminding Hong Tao not to suffer high fines because he did not know these regulations. Don’t underestimate these regulations. Hong Tao felt that with the temperament of himself and Sister Irene,
Several regulations are easy to violate.
For example, in Victoria, it is not allowed to touch wild animals. If you hug a kangaroo, koala, koala, etc. and take a photo, then wait for a fine, starting at 400 Australian dollars! Another example is that all state governments in Australia have
Fruit from other states is not allowed to enter this state, so if you buy fruit here, you must finish it, otherwise you will be fined when passing through the checkpoints at the state border!
The last two little girls also specifically reminded Erin and Katie to apply sunscreen of FPS 30 or higher when outdoors, even on cloudy days, because Victoria is under the largest black hole in the earth's ozone layer.
Ultraviolet radiation is very strong, so you need to protect yourself from the sun not only in summer, but all year round.
After bidding farewell to the two little girls who were hitchhiking, Hong Tao and the others officially set foot on the Great Ocean Road. It took a little more than a day to complete the 200-kilometer journey. If Hong Tao were to comment, the Great Ocean Road was not
It is not as breathtakingly beautiful as I imagined. It seems that Chinese and foreign tourism are similar, and many scenic spots are blown out by others.
Of course, it is still very beautiful here. The sea and the blue sky are the same color, that is, blue and blue. Beaches can be seen everywhere, but you can no longer find that kind of private place that is inaccessible. This road is full of people driving for fun.
There are locals and foreign tourists. As long as there is a flat beach,
People will swim and surf in the future. As for kangaroos and koalas, you can see them on the roadside. There is a section of the area called the Otway Region where there are large eucalyptus trees. Some koalas who have eaten their fill of eucalyptus leaves hug them.
You can digest and detoxify by leaning on the branches, and no one will be afraid of getting dizzy.
In addition to the natural scenery, there are also many cultural landscapes along this section of the highway, such as large tracts of lavender, just like the blooming rapeseed flowers in the south of the Yangtze River in my country. Everything is purple as far as the eye can see, making it the best choice for taking pictures. In addition, There are also many large and small wineries. The quality of Australian wine is also very good. The climate here is very beneficial to the growth of grapes.
Some of these wineries are quite large, with modern factory workshops, while others are very small. They are just a simple production line for one family and cannot produce many bottles of wine every year. Hong Tao does not know how to drink wine at all, but he stubbornly believes that
Those small wineries are more authentic and only a short distance away
When I pass by a small winery like this, I will go in and take a look, and buy two bottles of wine to take with me, since I have to drink it on the road anyway. These wines are very cheap, even if they are 10 Australian dollars a bottle, they are of a certain brand, but they are from a small winery without a name.
Wine is even cheaper, almost as much as the price of mineral water.
In addition, there are many orchards here, such as avocados, raspberries, lemons, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, passion fruits, etc. Generally, the owners of the orchards will pick their own fruits and put them in snack boxes one by one, which is convenient.
Tourists buy it. However, when you buy these fruits, the orchard owner will usually remind you not to buy more, because these fruits cannot be taken out of the state.
However, the consumer prices on the Great Ocean Road are really not low, even more expensive than Sydney. The small towns along the way are like our domestic tourist areas. The knife can be sharpened much faster. A sandwich can be sold for 7 Australian dollars. I think
A serious meal costs more than 30 Australian dollars per person, and the most expensive thing is accommodation. There are no three-star, four-star, or five-star hotels here. They are usually small hotels or motels.
An ordinary motel costs 50 Australian dollars per person. This price is enough to stay in a four-star hotel in Sydney. Even a youth hostel costs about 20 Australian dollars per person. Most ordinary hotels cost around 30 Australian dollars. No wonder people like those two
The little girls on the bus were all carrying tents on their backs. If they were to stay in a hotel, they probably wouldn't be able to spend even a day with the little money they had and would have to go back home.
In addition to expensive food and accommodation, entertainment is also quite expensive. Swimming and other activities are free here. The main reason is that there are too many good-quality beaches. If you are not afraid of sharks and jellyfish, you can swim everywhere. But apart from swimming, you need to
If you want to play other sports, you have to vomit some blood. Hong Tao
When I was in Torquay, I couldn't resist Erin and Katie's insistence. I went skydiving with them. In the end, the three of them spent 1,500 Australian dollars. When converted into RMB, this price is basically proportional to the height of the skydiving.
Yes, it’s one yuan per foot of rise!
Because Hong Tao was jealous that both Erin and Katie could surf, he took a 2-hour surfing lesson at the beach, with a one-on-one coach and a tutoring package. In the end, he spent 170 Australian dollars for 2 hours. As for whether it would be possible, Hong Tao can do it anyway.
I stood up on the surfboard, and then after a big wave, Hong Tao fell into the water again.
Since they couldn't find a suitable hotel and there were a lot of people at the campsite here, Hong Tao and the others started to return on the 5th day and drove all the way to the cliff. After discussing it, the three of them decided that it was rare to find such a quiet place.
So they stayed for another 2 days. But this time they learned wisely and no longer pitched their tents on the cliff.
Instead, it is set up next to the car. During the day, you bring a canopy and a moisture-proof mat to play with, and then climb up to sleep at night. As for the safety of the tent, Hong Tao also considered it. He deliberately put valuables and documents
The tents are all locked in the car. If anyone wants to steal the tent, let them do it. Just don’t steal the car.
