On Saturday 12th February, Rob and I set off dreary and hung-over from the night before to Williamstown station in the North of the city to pick up our backpacker customized Toyota Previa- our home for the next ten days. We drove back to Murray street packed up, took some pictures, said our last goodbyes to the Gean Gens and drove off that evening through Melbourne centre and South through the open country to Torquay- the official start of the Natural Wonder that is the Great Ocean Road. We arrived in at dusk, had some pizza in the small town centre and slept up in an empty car park by the beach. It wasn’t the most glamorous location, but it was free, and would set the tone for the next 10 days on the road. For me the sleep was deep and continous, though my snoring kept Robert awake for most of the night, again something which would be common over the trip.
In the morning we took a shower at some beach toilets, visited the local information centre, had a McDonalds and set off along the Great Ocean Road. The road took us four days to complete, being 243 Kilometers long, with coastline that gets more spectacular and fantastic with every twist and turn. We slept in free campsites along the great ocean road and throughout most of the trip. They were basic sites, nearly always located in forests and woodlands just meters from the coast and teeming with wildlife, from the spectacular- butterflies, wallabies, kangaroos and dragonflies to the purely irritating- giant red ants, flies the size of bumble-bees and of course countless mosquitos. The sites often required a bumpy tense drive up gravel dirt and sand tracks littered with potholes, proper camping as my dad would say. Most had toilets, aluminum walls with a hole in the ground. None, bar one had showers, so most mornings we would attempt to find free showers in the vicinity. Along the great ocean road, most beaches had outside standing showers, though in the latter stages we ended up going to the depths of freeloading off other campsites. The reason for this was of course in the name of economy and efficiency- considering the car had been a pricey rent extra costs were unnecessary to incur. During the day we then drove along the road, admiring the coastal views, and stopping regularly at the large number of sites pointed out to us by the very helpful information centre staff. These ranged from long white beaches with strong surfs ( some so strong in fact that swimming was prohibited) occupied mainly by surfers tapping into the at times chilly water of the Antarctic seas, to the stunning golden coves, hidden caves, microharbours and spectacular rock and island formations of the latter stages. We passed through and camped at the small coastal towns, often with the largest having populations of just a few thousand. These towns were all similar in style, sleepy communities economically dependent on the rich pickings the coaches, cars and campervans that drifted through. Between the towns was the road, with the coast on the left and the woodlands and forests on the right.
Some of the more spectacular sights we saw were the twelve apostles- a formation of six rocks abandoned by the sea, the high cliffs and small entrance to the cosy enclave of Lock Ard Gorge where we spent a few hours relaxing in the sea, and the bay of islands. I feel the pictures attached can give a glimpse of the beauty of the road.
The road ended at Warrambol, a town the first town with a proper supermarket we had seen in days. The town was so American- so much so that it was easier to believe you were in the states than Australia
We left the great ocean road behind and headed into the scrubland north to the Grampians national park. This was a detour from the original plan which had been to go to Adelaide
The early part in the Grampians was probably the low of the trip. We arrived and ended up having to top up on drinking water by asking in the information centre- its amazingly hard to come across-most places simply wont give it out and a bottle in the small shops we had come across will set you back several pounds. After a fairly good walk up Mount Muddleford , the highlight being the streams of butterflies that appeared from the trees as we walked up, we could only find a layby as the place to set up base in the dreary town of Dunkeld
The next day we drove up to Halls Gap-the northern town in the park where we walked up… and saw some of the fantastic scenery the park is famed for. The drive takes you right through the centre of the park and supposedly provides spectacular views, however recent flooding in Victoria meant the road, and some walks were closed so unfortunately we had to detour around the outside of the park- even on this route fields either side of the car were flooded . We walked 6.6 km Boronia Peak through the lower forests which teemed with kangaroos. The top offered spectacular views of the small town, which itself was far more interesting and developed for tourism than Dunkeld. Another dirt track and free campsite later we were on the road- this one with an interesting bucket shower.
Our final leg of the roadtrip took us to the blue mountains, two hours outside of Sydney. The journey there took a full day of driving- 16 hours in total which we shared. Heavy Fog in the Blue Mountains meant we had to pull up half an hour before reaching our objective of Katoomba and pay for a campsite which was in a blessing, as having access to electricity and clean hot showers was a relief. The blue mountains(named because of a blue haze caused by scattering of UV radiation) are used by Sydneysiders as a retreat from the heat of the city, with cooler temperatures at their altitude of ~1000m.
These mountains were far more spectacular than any in the Grampians, though far more developed by tourists (in the Grampians on the first walk we saw nobody, on the second there were only a few people and a tour party). The first day took us on a walk from the major viewpoint in Katoomba down the Giant Stairway which hugs the steep cliffs, then through the Leura forest and back up via the forests of the Federal path. The major attraction here is the rock formation of the three sisters and the views offered across the Jamison valley. The forests are teeming with lizards, we had a shock walking along the path when one the size of a small dog appeared, though it fortunately wondered off.
The penultimate day of walking was fittingly the most spectacular. We drove down to a town called Wentworth and took a walk around the national pass skirting the valley around the grand Wentworth falls. We spent over half an hour in the falls itself, swimming around, taking pictures(often whilst bemused tourists looked on) and chatting to some Aussie tourists on holiday.
I have also attached some photos of the Previa to give a better idea of what we stayed in. The van was customised and included a fridge, DVD player, storage areas, and had a detachable tent which could be hung off the roof for sleeping. The car was automatic and easy to drive. Driving in Australia was a doddle. The roads, car parking spaces and crossings are extremely wide, plus compared to Europe there are so few cars on the Roads. Even on the great ocean road, a tourist magnate, there were no traffic jams and often you could drive and see only a handful of cars. Sometimes you would see nothing for hours. The only traffic Jam we encountered on the whole trip was in central Sydney.
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