21 Feb: Farewells  to our Australian family in Melbourne, we pick up our (upgraded) hire car from Avis (a sporty Ford) but, only after having to evacuate their office after a fire alarm and the arrival of 3 fire engines.

Good map reading from Julie and it was a trouble free exit from the City and we were on The Great Ocean Road within a couple of hours. Lovely coastline straight away. We drove to Lorne after quite a few stops for photos on the way.

Lorne is a lovely seaside town, nice beach, boutique shops and great ice cream! We are staying on our first campsite of the trip. All very chilled and laid back with Harley riders, tourists and locals. Self cooked Tuna Pasta for tea is not only heathy for us but also for the budget 🙂

22 Feb: What a spectacular day of driving! Right from the very off the scenery took sharp contrasts, from coastal views, to lush hillsides, to dense bush, to burnt out bush, to grasslands full of sheep, to tall cliff faces. Add to that the weather; light rain to start, overcast, humid, then sunny and very warm, then the last two hours of the day on the twisty sections to our eventual stop at Port Campbell, heavy rain!  Just amazing and a driving dream ….. If you ever get the chance to drive this road, it’s a must do.

Firstly today it was scenery on the outskirts of Lorne. ‘Teddy’s Lookout’ gave plunging views down onto the Great Ocean Road, that made it look like a Scalextric track. Then on to Erskine Falls, one of the few waterfalls with water in the area, due to a drought.

Next it was the drive to Kennett River which passed the scene of the recent fires and the road had a couple of roadwork sections where repairs were being undertaken. Koalas in the tree at Kennett made for many camera lenses being pointed skywards. Brilliant to see these animals in their Gum Tree homes.

Lunch stop at Apollo Bay was followed by a walk through the Rain Forrest at Maits Rest, another amazing experience. Then it was off to the Southernmost tip of Australia at Cape Otway and a visit to the famous lighthouse there.  Yet another  history lesson. 

4.30pm ish and for the first time this trip we have not booked our lodgings for the night and our inti enquiries found all the campsites full. The rain came down, the roads became challenging as we headed for our eventual overnight stop at Port Campbell. 

23 Feb: Our last day in Victoria and it’s a spectacular send off on the coastline containing the 12 Apostles and other cliff formations that have formed since breaking away from the mainland. The coastline is just breathtaking. All these rocks will be reclaimed by the sea at some point but for now visiting Gibson Steps, The Twelve Apostles,  The Arch, London Bridge, The Grotto, Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands is an awesome experience.

We complete the Great Ocean Road just before Warrnambool and the it’s the Princes Highway next. Warrnambool itself is a big town, quite a shock to hit roundabouts and traffic lights again!

Lunch at Port Fairy is excellent, we have discovered all the smaller towns have a bakery and coffee shop with excellent rolls for lunch (and custard tarts). Port Fairy is tiny and has a lot of old time charm. The 40th Port Fairy Folk festival is in March.

Last stop in Victoria is Nelson, where we ended up chatting to John and Linda who were on their first road trip after  John had collapsed and ended up with a triple heart by-pass operation in 2014. Good luck to them! 
We crossed the border into South Australia, turned our watches back 30 minutes and powered on across wide open farmland and some immense forests. A road shared with a whole host of logging trucks, with their foot to the metal (fortunately all going the other way!).

Mount Gambier is famous for its Blue Lake (in the summer) and Sink Hole. The former is totally blue, quite naturally and the latter is an amazing horticultural and animal paradise. We went in the evening and by chance Julie got to feed a possum! …. Dolphins, Possums, what’s the third one?

Onwards to Adelaide!

Pete & Jules