6 Months exploring Australia!: Apollo Bay

The towtruck took me and the van to Apollo Bay. A small town known for its Koala sightings.

The local YHA was fully booked and the only backpackers place I found was the Apollo Bay Backpackers.

Costs only $28 (cash, credit is $30) for a night in a dorm, free WiFi and breakfast included.

I ended up staying for 7 nights.

It had a homy feeling. Most of the guests were young people who were spending time in Apollo Bay working.

The lady who was running it was a backpacker from France who was travelling around the world. She had a job in the welfare sector in France and was told she would have a job whenever she comes back. For now she was staying for three months in Apollo Bay/AU.

I always need to adapt when I am forced to stay in a YHA or a backpackers place instead of on my On my own in my van, but after a couple of days when I have to leave I find myself attached to the place or the people.

After the first day I made two calculations. One for the go home early scenario and one for the stay in AU till the end of Feb. I could go back and spent all the money I had left on rent, water, electricity, etc..or stay, buy or rent a car for $2500 and try and camp for free as much as possible. The result would be the same in both cases I would just have enough left for rent and a bond of two months.

As I wasn't keen on returning to BE the choice was easy. I found a used car dealer in Geelong on the web who sold cars with rego and RWC that fitted into my budget.

The next morning I took the bus to Geelong. About 2h30 from Apollo Bay. Once there I found the place, Formula Uno, was in a suburb called Corio about 12 kms from the bus station. So I started walking. Formula Uno is a family business run by father Charlie and his son Ricky. Ricky used to be a professional car racer and lived in the UK back then. Now he worked with his father who has Italian roots, he came with his parents to AU as a little boy. Ricky travelled a lot and the family has a home in Sicilie. But Charlie never leaves Australia.

When I arrived (after walking 2h45 in a hot sun) I told them what had happened to me with the two vans and what I was looking for. A reliable car with a roadworthy certificate and rego till at least the end of Feb 2015 that would get me safely to Cairns.

They had two left, one was a Mazda, which looked a bit worn out and had a narrow trunk and one a Ford that was at the mechanics to get the RWC. Both men were very friendly and Ricky went to get the Ford so I could compare the two cars.

I had seen the Ford on their website and had it already in mind. When Ricky arrived I knew that was the car I wanted. Problem was there was still some work to be done to it so it would get a RWC. Feeling for me and willing to help as much as possible Ricky lent me a car so I wouldn't have to take the bus back to Apollo Bay. I gave a deposit and we arranged for me to come back after the weekend to get the Ford and be on my way.

When the day came to pick up the Ford I stopped at a K Mart to buy a tent ($35), air mattress ($10) and pump ($10). I had cleaned out Trevor, taking the blankets, pillows, table, chairs, gas cookers, etc..

I eventually found a buyer who was willing to meet me near Melbourne and buy Trevor for $150.

Once I had sorted the Ford out and was leaving Geelong it was to late to find a camp area so I decided to stay at a rest area on the highway and sleep on the backseat. I used to do this years ago when I was pretending to be at school, but at the age of 41 it was a very painful experience.