1 CAMPERVAN, 3 PEOPLE, 7 DAYS - Melbourne to Adelaide - The Great Ocean Road
After 3 unsuccessful days househunting in Melbourne Louise, Chris and I decided we’d bring forward the campervan trip we’d been planning and then return to Melbourne later.
DAY ONE - Leaving Melbourne
We got our little van (little being the operative word) and were suitably impressed with the Led Zeppelin lyrics and logos painted on it (some of the Wicked vans are so rude I’d be embarassed driving near old people). We dumped all our stuff in the back of the van and said goodbye to Alice and Emily (my excellent travel buddies of 3 months - v sad to say goodbye but they have left me with some great backpack-cover-artwork) and hit the road. Chris was at the wheel (there was no way I was tackling Melbourne on a Friday afternoon in a wierd vehicle) and after getting petrol and gas we tried to leave the city which is easier said than done. Within five minutes of us being in the van we’d stopped on a tram line, cut up a policeman and then jumped a red light in front of the police station, careered (out of control?) round a corner and unsuccusefully tried to join the freeway. Later on in the journey, after a brief stop in Geelong for a Maccy D’s and some tourist info we drove in the bike lane for a while and to top off a great driving afternoon we booked ourselves a nice powered site at a campsite in Torquay before realising we didn’t have a power cord anyway!!! That evening we spent at a wierd pub with wierd locals and a wierd band!
DAY TWO - Torquay to Apollo Bay
Day two of the trip saw me taking to the wheel (after ages waiting for the engine to warm up) and arguably the highlight of the trip, Split Point Lighthouse! After heading to the car park where long vehicles aren’t allowed (ooops, we’re not that long anyway) we walked along the lighthouse used in the kids TV programme Round The Twist!!! Not that exciting to be honest but it gave me an opportunity to test out my 3 point turn skills with a big audience afterwards.
Following the lighthouse we headed to Lorne, via Anglesea, where the tourist information office people told us we must see their ONE koala!! It sits up in a tree behind a chip shop and generally does nothing but we went and had a look anyway. After that we headed up a steeeep hill (had to stop half way and attempt a rubbish hillstart - I’m only mentioning this because I know Chris no doubt will on my behalf otherwise) to Teddy’s Point, a scenic lookout point. On this drive we drove down a little street where 2 kangaroos were sat in a front garden just watching the world go by!!
That afternoon we did most of The Great Ocean Road which was amazing to drive (minus the stupid Britz campervan who well deserved the finger they got for driving right up my back for ages) because it twists and turns round loads of bends right next to the sea. Chris and Lou were even having a conversation so they obviously weren’t terrified I was behind the wheel.
In the early evening we arrived in Apollo Bay and after buying a pack of cards (where some suits go up to 13 before starting on the jacks and queens etc.!!!) we settled in at our campsite. After Two Minute Noodles (Louise was the nominated chef yet disappeared to the toilet in the 2 minutes needed to cook the food) we saw smoke coming from the little communal area and decided to investigate. Fast forward 3 hours and we’re still sat there with Les (an old fisherman who’s lived at the site for 8 years and even gave us some fish to take away - yummy), his friend Paul, Paul’s wife and their children and dog around a roaring fire! It was a really good evening!!
DAY THREE - Apollo Bay to Port Campbell
Day three saw Chris returning to driving duties and on this day the highlights included Phillips Track (hehe) and Otway’s treetop walk where you rise to 45 metres above the ground and follow a walk for about an hour through all the different levels of the forest. Following this we’d planned to stop in Lavers Hill for lunch but as with lots of Australian towns blink and you miss them so we ended up stopping at Melba Gully (yawn).
Princetown was our planned stop off point for the night but it turned out to be a shop, a cafe and a campsite so we drove on to Port Campbell and parked next to another Wicked van at the site. We headed out again to see The Twelve Apostles at sunset and then returned to the campsite.
We cooked our fish for dinner and then sat around the big campfire with Andrew and Alison (from the other van), 3 foreign guys who are studying in Adelaide and an Israeli guy having a great evening. Chris passed over all driving responsibility to me (while drunk) in order to allow him to be drunk every night which pleased me because I prefer being in control (does that suprise anyone?) and it also meant the end of the Snow Patrol CD.
DAY FOUR - Port Campbell to Port Fairy
After a FREEZING COLD night we set off bright and early towards Port Fairy. You cant drive for more than five minutes along the coast at this section without there being something to see so we spent ages pulling in and out of carparks taking photos of rock formations; London Bridge, The Bay of Martyrs and The Bay of Islands to name a few.
We then drove to Mornambool for lunch (where I broke a glass EVERYWHERE and bought a new CD - the driver chooses the music). On the way to Port Fairy (the most boring place on earth) we stopped at Logan Beach Whale lookout (didn’t see any whales but had Louise fooled for about a day) and then when we hit Port Fairy we had a quick walk to Grifith Island.
In the evening Chris walked back into town because we’d lost our matches and then Andrew (Wicked vans stick together) lit the gas stove for us in his absence. Tea was bacon butties and then I got an early (cold) night.
The highlight of this day for me was learning how to fill up a car!!! That demonstrates how boring Port Fairy was. Don’t be fooled by its pretty name.
THE GRAMPIANS
After an early start (as early as is possible when opening the door in the morning lets in even more cold) we set off on our day trip to The Grampians, an inland mountain range. On the way we stopped at Dunkeld, where an old man who once swam the British Channel chatted to us until we practically dragged ourselves away. We stopped at Hall’s Gap and had a (gross) lunch while watching yet another Wicked van pull up beside us. We did a quick walk; quick because we couldn’t read the map and got sidetracked watching a kangaroo, and then had a quick look round Brambuk Aboringinal Cultural Centre before heading back to the coast as we really couldn’t face a night’s camping in the hills.
Portland was busier than Port Fairy but still not that interesting so after a couple of hours sat chatting round our table we had another early night.
Portland to Murray Bridge
On this day we planned to get all the way up to Adelaide but the distance was just too great and we also did a little detour to The Petrified Forest (unfortunately no trees there, just remains that have been covered with limestone - it looks like Mars but less red), some blowholes (which weren’t blowing), some caves and Larry The Giant Lobster in Kingston we ended up stopping in Murray Bridge overnight. I stopped counting after about 30 but we saw so many dead animals (mostly roos) at the side of the road this day so I was quite scared one might try to end its life by means of our fast-moving van but I was in luck; all the kangaroos and emus we saw stayed well way (apart from 2 kangaroos near The Petrified Forest but I was going pretty slow here and they had time to run away).
Murray Bridge was cold and quiet. Didn’t arive there untill pretty late (it gets confusing because South Australia is half an hour behind Victoria (why didn’t they just make it a full hour?) and so we had a stressful drive around town in the dark looking for somewhere to stay but eventually found somewhere.
FINAL DAY - Driving into Adelaide
This morning we did the final leg of our journey. Last night I was wearing my tights, my pj’s, 3 T-shirts and I was in my sleeping bag with my sleeping bag liner and a sheet but I was still absolutely freezing so we’ve handed the van back a day early because none of us could face another night like that in it! Also the petrol money was bankrupting us slowly.
The drive into Adelaide involved my first Freeway experience (something I’d been dreading all the trip) and then a bit of proper city driving. It was all going well but then I got beeped at and was well and truly fed up of trying to drive round a big heap of junk (which is basically what Grieg The Van was).
So the trip has ended. We’re all still alive. We’re all still talking. The van has survived (saw one at the garage that had been rolled in the outback, after robbing a petrol station).
Now its time to go backwards and start again in Melbourne!!