The Great Ocean Road

After much painstaking flyer posting, phonecalls and meetings I set off to explore the great ocean road with a Canadian girl called Laura and a Dutch guy called Joris in his 70's Nissan campervan called Rosy white clouds.

Laura and i were in the same hostel and she replied to my lift share ad. Joris had contacted me a few days earlier but i had dismissed it as we had found another lift but he failed to show up when we asked to meet him so had to go back to the drawing board.

Joris collected us and after picking up food supplies and fueling Rosy we were off. It was the hottest day and up front in a van sitting on plastic seats and no air con i did think... 'what the hell am i doing!???'

As the scorchio day became evening it all became much more pleasent. In some parts the land was very desert like. We arrived in Robe at around 8pm and set up camp in a campsite with electricity and water. Our first meal expertly cooked on a gas cooker was soup and toast. We dined on a great camping set of tables and chairs. Treated to milo with biscuits we retired to bed so as to make an early start in the morning to head to the Grampians.

We drove to a village called Penola and stopped in the Mary Mckillep memorial park (dedicated to the first saint of Australia) for breakfast.

We then drove onto Hamilton, another quaint village similar to Penola. From here we headed north through the Grampians National park, through Wannon crossing and jimmy creek, this was where the bush fires of 2006 happened. We went on a walk through some of the park lands at several points. We saw an elk that just ignored us as it bathed in a small pool of water. No koalas as yet!

Along the way we stopped to see Mackenzie falls. The walk through the rainforest to it was lovely, many ferns and a type of plant that looks like monkeys tails. Tonight we roughed it in one of the parks campsites. No electricity, running water only by the toilets so our pasta dinner was a challenge made much worse by the running out of gas on the cooker. To speed up the cooking process we were already trying to heat the sauce on the engine! genius!!!!! However, our plan failed and a lovely English couple helped us out and save us from starving by letting us borrow their stove. With our appetites filled, I threw on about 3 layers of clothes in attempt to keep warm in the van.

Another day more sights to see. We stoped in Zumsteins picnic spot and used the BBQ to have eggs, tea and toast for breakfast! We drove several hours to ur first stop, the Bay of Islands, similar to the 12 apostles we knew this was where the great ocean road became stunning. We stopped every 5 minutes to see another beautiful rock formation. We saw the Bay of Martyrs, The grottos, London Bridge, the arch and port cambell forshore. Loch Ard gorge followed, which is several differnt lookouts, the Razorback, the blowhole and thunder caves. All were made up of different types of rock and looked glorious in the sunshine. The ocean holds such power and i decide there that i could watch the waves crash up the rocks all day and not get bored.

Further down the road there was the famous 12 apostles...or 8 as they are now. We only just made it before nightfall so we headed to Princetown to camp for the night. We stayed in a campsite overlooking a beautiful river and rolling hils. After a very cordon bleu meal of beans on toast (i had to introduce this to Laura and Joris as neither had ever had it...would have been better if we hadn't used a contain that had stored washing powder in as they did have a strange tang...added a bit of cheese to mask the taste!) we headed over to the local pub. 9.30 and it was closed...rubbish, really fancied a drink too! We ended up drinking tea and playing cards in the van...life is good!

An early start took us to Melba Gully...a rainforest that we took a few km walk around. We had picked up a Chillian hitch hiker along the way and were taking him as close to Appollo Bay as we were going. We made another stop at Triplet falls which were absolutely beautiful. We hadn't planned to go to Appollo bay but a road diversion forced us to go there so we stopped by the beach and had a picnic lunch. I walked up and down the beach to stretch my legs before the next haul.

From here we were on amazing coastal roads that gave us great views of the ocean. The sun was shining and we had blue skys so it looked stunning...now i know why people say this drive is worth doing. We stopped in Lorne and watch the surfers as the waves here are notorious.

Joris wanted to make a stop in Fairhaven where Simon, his father friend who gave him the camper lives. We met Francis his wife who made us tea and gave us orios which was nice. Once simon had come home he took the kids straight to the beach and asked us to come too. It was quite chilly by this point so i managed a paddle! It is times like this that i really don't understand why i live in London when i could live somewhere like this!!! Both Simon and Francis offered for us to stay the night but we had planned to make it to Melbourne by the end of the day. The offer seemed such a nice idea and gave Joris some time to spend with Simon so we agreed. After dinner Simon took us to a local golf course where i got just a few feet away from a pack of Kangaroos feasting on the lush lawns. There was about 30 of them, some in pairs boxing, others just grazing and some jumping about. It was like nothing i have seen before. Back at the house, the three of us had a relaxed evening chatting about our families and watching 'Open season'...a disney/pixar film.The house was amazingly huge and I stayed in a room with floor to celing windows..such a great view to wake up to.

After a lazy morning and playing on the kids trampoline we drove back to Lorne, i donned a billabong rash vest and i gave body boarding a try. I wasn't bad for my first attempt, even if i do say so myself, caught a few waves. The sea was really cold though so didn't stick it out for long. We then got back on the road stopping in Geelong for some lunch. Melbourne was then only an hour away and after a few days in the country seeing the skyscrapers on the horizon got me in the mood for another city adventure!