Day 92 Melbourne to Warrnambool

No amount of trying was going to get us away early today.  Journals needed writing, a late wake up and very tired kids was only the beginning of a long and difficult pack up after eight days at Big 4 (BOG 4) Dandenong after the rain.

It wasn't all in vain though as the freeway into Melbourne ran quite smoothly after 10am, and it only took us a bit over an hour to get to Geelong.  Driving gets a whole lot more difficult from there though.

Our goal was one of the most picturesque drives in the country.  The Great Ocean Road.  A tribute to the fallen service men and women from WWI, built by the returned soldiers with pick and shovel, and a bit of dynamite. 

The drive is around 200km long and is carved into the cliffs of the Southern coast. 

For the uninitiated, the road itself is fairly well maintained, and rises from sea level, to spectacular vistas hundreds of metres up the cliff face.  It dips and twists and turns with fantastic cambers following the contours of the inlets and Southern shoreline. 

This would be one amazing day out on a motorcycle.  The speed is limited to 80kmh, but we struggled to get the rig above 50kmh without drifting over the centerline of the road in the corners.

We cruised along quite happily with the kids even paying attention in the back seat.  There were no morning arguments for Kindle's or I-Phones which was really refreshing for a change.

We drove on until we reached Apollo Bay, and then went and purchased shares in the local bakery for lunch.

Our fridge in the caravan has a nasty habit of falling open when we have left over butter chicken curry, so there was a touch of cleanup that was required at our lunch stop.

After lunch, we set our sights on getting through the Otway Ranges which was a beautiful drive through densely wooded mountain range.

The views were again, quite breath taking at times.  Lots of pastoral land began unfolding before us, and before we knew it, we were staring at rolling hills of dairy farmland.

Both Lisa and I were enjoying the drive immensely, and the kids had fallen asleep after their feed, so it was still peaceful in the back.








The drive had finally started to get to me, so I was glad to have a chance to stop and walk around, and have a look at the 12 Apostles.  The rain had just started to fall when we were pulling into the car park, so lots of tourists were running for their buses as we were parking.

They have built a walkway,  tunnel under the highway, a kiosk and heliport at the lookout site, and put an extensive car park in place for people to stop in.  I have very vague memories of this place, and Lisa reckons that it was nothing like it is now when she was last here 15 years ago.

At $100.00 per person for a 10 minute flight, we weren't going to lash out on helicopter rides, but the three choppers that each carry 3 passengers were in and out constantly for the 40 minutes that we were there.

The view from the look outs is pretty good in anyones book.  Sheer sandstone cliffs facing the blue ocean, and these monoliths jutting out of the water. 

Truly one of the must see landmarks in Australia.

It is short drive further on to The Arch, which is a natural bridge formed from the limestone erosion over time.

The colour of the water around the base is a deep aqua marine / turquoise which didn't translate on the camera no matter how much I tried.

The scrubby foreground makes for a nice contrast in colours between the blues, yellows and reds.

Our final stop today was to be the London Bridge.  This originally was accessible, but in 1990 the span cracked and fell into the ocean.  Two people were stranded on the remaining island, but were rescued by helicopter shortly after.  Miraculously, nobody was hurt during the collapse.

I really enjoyed being here, and lingered for a while to take more pictures as the sun was beginning to set.


I have mentioned the annoying, pushing, photo bombing, disrespectful tourists that have plagued us for some time now, well today was the last straw.  I waited patiently for a lovely elderly couple to scan the waters with binoculars before getting an opportunity to get the prime location for photos for a panorama. 

First photo didn't work so well, second was better and I was just setting up for a third when one of these charming people asked me to move out of the way because they wanted to take a photo!  I thought, that is what I was doing!  Why are my photos less important? 

I am a tourist here as well, and I have been polite and patient many times now whilst these particular tourists dance, jump, pull faces, do handstands and pose in a hundred different ways at the same spot. 

At the 12 Apostles, the whole family was lined up for a photo, whilst Lisa was holding the camera and we had to wait for a dozen of these lovely people whilst they walked through our shot!  Can you move, we want a photo...I DO TOO!

Rant done, the rest of the drive to Warrnambool was uneventful.  We leave Victoria tomorrow and enter the last state before returning to our beautiful WA.  The man I spoke to at the caravan park this afternoon is from Willeton...Small world.