The Last Day of the Road Trip

Up bright and early and heading towards Jervis Bay. A bay full of beautiful beaches, the whitest sand in the world and a pod of 40 dolphins. 

Murrays beach - right at the tip of Jervis bay, was a beautifully calm and clear. Its set with a national park, which costs $10 to enter (lasts for 48 hours) there are campsites which you can stay the night for free just off the beaches.

Hyams beach has the whitest sand in the world, while we were there we spotted the resident dolphins. 

On route back to Sydney we went past the 7 mile beach, a blow hole and a many scenic view points. 

Heading Up the Coast - Beach Haven

This part of the journey was full of sumptuous beaches, stunning surroundings and breath taking waves! 

One of the many visited were The Pinnacles, some sort of rock formation in the sand, but the beach was closed, Michael Lerner Look out point, Durra, Camel Beach, Depot Beach and Pebbly Beach. The latter 2 have resident kangaroos who come out late afternoon to feed on the grassy banks. We werent there late enough, though we did spoke a giant lizard.

We spent the night near Lake Conjola, no up to this we hadn’t seen a Kangaroos close in the wild, we knew they were about and must get close to the road as we’d seen many dead ones at the side of the roads. Around 8pm, we found this was prime roo spotting time. They seem to come out of everywhere and were indeed not afraid of cars and seemed quite happy to sit in the middle of the road and proceed to jump in front of the vehicle. Not the brightest of animals. 

The Last Leg of Victoria

Most of this day was aimed at covering as much ground as possible. Going back up to the Princess Highway, we spent the early hours of the morning at Maru Koala Park, which as the name might suggest, didn't have that many koalas. It did however have a lot of kangaroos and wallabies. For $1 you can buy a pot of food and walk round the park and feed the animals. A truly delightful experience if you haven't been up close to these animals. Being the early birds and getting there just after 9 meant we had the place, and critters, to ourselves. We were in time for there breakfast and had the roos hopping over, some I did wonder, if they had breaks on those powerful legs as they can cover the round quick!

There are a few towns along this part of the road, none of which had any personal interest, so where driven through fairly quickly, but made convenient stop offs. Moe, Morwell and Sale all have a few interesting points. Coming into Lakes Entrance there are spectacular view points across the bays and beaches. 

We carried on driving for another couple of hours to almost the boarder of NSW and Victoria near a place called Genoa. Here there was a rest point which had camping facilities - all free of charge. There are a few of these dotted along the around Australia, and a great way to keep costs low. But of course they are not 5* sites.

Apollo Bay to Phillip Island

A morning of waterfalls, just outside of Apollo Bay was a small valley which abruptly started in the form of a cascading waterfall. There are little stops everywhere which one can put up a tent and spend a very quiet night - no a sole around - which does have an eery feeling, but worth it! That night we happen to spend it next to this waterfall. Staying near fast moving water rather than stagnant means there are less mosquitoes. 

Lorne is a very pretty town and where a lot of people come to from Melbourne. Also home,
well a 10 min drive, to the Erskine Falls. Another waterfall!

Moving on, we briefly visited the sights along the route up to Melbourne, including Torquay, which is where the surf competitions where born, Rip Curl Pros are held here every year and it is the surfing capital!

Inland a detour to You Yangs National Park, where there is a 12km track you can drive around a spot the local - very well hidden wildlife - you need a keen eye, or luck to see much. There is also a Big Rock - the Aussies are not very creative - which really is a big rock, huge in fact! Coming out of the park in the fields near by was a group of 40 strong kangaroos, at least it wasn’t a wasted journey.

Driving through Melbourne, not really stopping, coming out the other side is not very much.  However heading south, we went to Phillip Island, or fondly known as Penguin Island, home to 1000’s of little penguins, who without fail every night come out of the surf and up the beach to their nests on shore. So routinely everyday do they do this commute, the national park has made a spectacle out it, which is one of the most visited places in Australia, but well worth a visit. 

That evening we stayed in a place called Cowes, after driving through Brighton and then Hove!

Otway Detour

Taking a detour of the GOR, through Lavers Hill, Melba Gully is set within the rainforest and a good half hour walk through the green ferns and trees leads to the ‘big tree’ with a  27m circumference at the base of the trunk. What they have yet to update on any of the national parks information boards is the tree is no longer standing! Still impressive and you can get an idea of the size - its a wasted walk if thats all you came for.

Otway fly walk is a 25 meter high walk way through the rainforest in Great Otway National Park. The walk peaks with a 47 meter tower, bringing you to the tree tops and great views of the canopy below. The tower and walk ways are not ridged and do move with the wind and people walking along, their cantilever is not for the faint hearted. 

Not far from the walk is Triplet Falls, however from the car park its an hour walk to the falls,  after an afternoon of walking this was not ideal, on the board it mentioned Hopetown Falls, with only a 10 minute walk to. Back into the car and 4km down a dirt track, we soon heard the thunder of the fall. From the view point at the top it was pretty impressive, even more so from the bottom.

The Great Ocean Road

The landscape along the Great Ocean Road is stunning, the waves have moulded and eroded arches, coves and the famous sea stacks for miles along the coastline.

Starting with Childers Cove, there were numerous stops, sights and view points along this section of the road before the 12 apostles, including: London’s Bridge, Lord Arc Gorge.

Watch out for wildlife in the national parks - snakes, birds, marsupials and echidnas were all seen from the walk ways.

Adelaide to Sydney - Warrnambool

Portland, Cape Nelson, The Crags, Port Fairy and Warrnambool.

Driving through Dartmoor was surreal, along the side of the road a line of cedar trees had been planted in 1918, since then they had been lopped and carved to form soldiers as a memorial to the first world war.

Portland was one of the many costal towns visited on route, another old fishing port used many years ago, famous for whaling. They have a small museum, of its highlights is a whale skeleton, which shows some of their history. 

A detour was made to visit Cape Nelson, a light house set in a national park. A moody day, with dark clouds cleared for better views further along the coastline. 

The Crags begin the stunning coastline which has been battered by ragging seas to form the landscape that makes this area so famous. 

Port Fairy, was another old fishing village - when Australians say old, its no more than 200 years old - but it was a welcome stop, with some random visitors in the form of camels.

Warrnambool is at the beginning (or end depending which way your going) of the Great Ocean Road. It was bustling with holiday makers - the campsites where full to the brim with families enjoying the summer break - due to its location, booking ahead all year round is a must. Located on a stunning long beach there is lots to do, for us after a long day - all we wanted to do was get watered, fed and sleep.

Adelaide to Sydney - Salt Plains, Kingston SE, Caves, Blue Lakes, Sink Holes and Mount Gambier

An early start, with a open road heading out towards the coast. So open and flat there were numerous salt plains along the way. The few rest stops on route, broke up the monotonous landscape. Some made the open road seem much

more appealing.

By early morning we had arrived at Kingston SE home of Larry the Lobster standing in at 18 meters. Home also to Analemmatic Sundial, where you see your own shadow to tell the time, and and a light house which is no longer on the pier.

Larry!

Tantanoola Caves is on route - smaller than imagined it has stalactites and stalagmites is cold and dark - a welcome break from a hot day. Also a gander around the walking trails - extinct volcanoes and impressive views of the pine plantations.

Mount Gambier is set amongst some very old extinct volcanoes, of which the craters had filled with water. One, aptly named the BLue Lake, is the towns water supply and truly has the bluest water. 

There is also a limestone sink hole which has been made into a bizarre sunken garden - free to wonder around and open late into the night when possums come out.