The Great Ocean Road and The Grampians

Saturday morning started off with a slow stroll along the beach and rocks of Blanket Bay as we waited for the sun to eventually shine through the clouds. After slowly packing up and saying goodbye to all our koala mates we headed out to enjoy the last few stops in the Otway National Park. This involved stopping at Maits Rest and Melba Gully for a couple of rainforest walks and a quick morning tea break at Johanna’s Beach campground – where we saw our first up close and personal snake of the trip! We headed further along the Great Ocean Road to Wreck Beach, where I proceeded to have a shower in the car park and Michael set out on a walk that involved 732 steps in total to see an anchor – for his troubles he also got rained on, so I think I got the better end of the stick. We then headed back to Melba Gully for a BBQ at sunset then strolled through the freezing cold rainforest to spot glow worms all around, a rather magical experience. After we left the gully we headed towards Princetown and ended up sleeping in some random car park a minute out of town, good times!

The Beach at Blanket Bay

The nest morning we were total Muppets and decided to get up at stupid o’clock to see the 12 Apostles at sunrise. Well we saw the Apostles at sunrise except the sun decided not to show… Despite this minor setback the Apostles were magnificent. We spent the next few hours continuing along the Great Ocean Road stopping at any and all walks and lookouts. We saw Loch Ard Gorge, Mutton Bird Island, The Arch, London Bridge (well what’s left of it),The Grotto (well worth a look even though it doesn’t make it onto a lot of maps!) The Bay of Martyrs and The Bay of Islands. As we were up so early we managed to do all of this by a decent time and headed onwards to Warrnambool. On the way  we stopped off at Cheese World – after all we cannot resist free food.

Just before we left some clouds cleared - The "12" Apostles

Once in Warrnambool we restocked and thanks to having my birthday recently Michael had a free muffin and I had a free coffee at Muffin break, everything tastes better when its free. Then we headed to a camping reserve in Killarney for what was to be the worst weather night so far on the trip! Picture gale force winds, torrential rain and freezing cold temperatures and you probably only have half the picture. We had to get up during the night to pull the annex down because we were afraid of it ripping or flying off Absolutely a horrible night. Upside the washing machine was free, downside it took a few days to dry…

The Bay of Islands

The next morning we headed to Port Fairy for a quick squiz.  It was still freezing and very gusty so most of our viewing was done from the car. We then headed to Tower Hill, the site of a very old volcano. Upon entering the park we saw emus and kangaroos, which was enough to tempt us out of the car. We decided to climb the highest peak in the park, usually a half hour walk, but upon reaching the top it pelted down rain so we probably did the walk in 15 minutes or so. Once we reached the car the rain stopped – of course! So we headed further into the park to do a walk and see emus and a couple of koalas. We left Tower Hill and headed to Warrnambool to get some thermals and a hot water bottle since we’d had enough of the freezing cold wet weather on the coast and planned to “escape”  to The Grampians. Even though it had an average temperature of 8, we knew what we were getting into and knew there would be less rain and wind there, so we headed off late in the afternoon. We had a quick stop over in Dunkeld for dinner then headed into The Grampians to make camp. The roads driving in were about as picturesque as it gets, gum trees in abundance and marvellous mountains. Even though it was getting dark we could see we had made the right decision – The Grampians are spectacular. That night we camped at Wannon Crossing, within a few minutes we had seen some wallabies and a brush tail possum.

One very "special" emu at Tower Hill

Wednesday we woke up and decided to explore this wonderland of mountains (which includes The Wonderland Ranges). We explored several campgrounds (Jimmy’s Creek, Boreang and Smith’s Mill), several dirt and soft 4WD tracks and a few walking tracks including Mackenzie Falls, Boreang falls and Mafeking Picnic Area – the site of the last Victorian Gold Rush where the largest nugget found was the size of a match-head. Throughout the day several roos and emus crossed our paths – emus we’re beginning to understand are definitely not the sharpest tools in the shed. We settled down at a beautiful camp ground called Plantation, made a brilliant fire and watched the roos surround us.

A typical afternoon in the office.

The next morning we had a bush shower (several of the camp grounds have them and they’re bloody brilliant) and headed off to see the Giant Koala at Dadswells Bridge (which is for sale…). We had a scallop sandwich and an ice-cream, walked round the carpark, thus seeing all of Dadswells Bridge (other highlights including, and is limited to, a turkey farm and an Indian restaurant with a cat as the only patron, who didn’t look happy with the service either). We considered climbing Mount Zero, but then looked at the sky and considered settling down and making a fire instead. This time we camped near Mount Stapylton. When we arrived there wasn’t a soul in sight, but somehow by the end of the evening 3 school groups had shown up to break the peace and quiet. This was still a great site and there was once again skippies and emus around.

The Giant Koala!

The next morning we decided we’d try a bit of a challenging walk and climbed Hollow Mountain. This walk involved rock hopping and at times literally rock climbing, there was no railings, and we only had a yellow arrow painted on a rock every now and then to follow – there was definitely no set track just rocks. It was challenging and for those afraid of heights or sheer drops this would not be ideal – at one stage I almost turned back but thanks to Michael and his outstretched arm I persevered to climb the most amazing and picturesque mountain. On top we had 360 degree views of the Grampians. It was well worth the hard work.

A cave in Hollow Mountain

The actual Hollow in Hollow Mountain

Nearly at the top of Mount Hollow - What a sight!

Next we headed to Wartook Reservoir, a massive 1000ha lake that supplies a ridiculous amount of farms in and even out of the area. We somehow stumbled upon Wartook Lookout and after a very steep scramble and again following a silly yellow arrow that kept pointing upwards even though it seemed like you couldn’t get further up – somehow we managed it and were rewarded with once again spectacular views of  mountains and countryside. We then continued to Boroka Lookout and once more splendored at the beauty of the area. We left rather tired and headed to Smiths Mill Campground for the evening. We met some lovely random people, shared some stories and found whilst doing this that crows had attacked our cornflakes (that were still packaged but pecked through!) they also, and to my great distress, took the last of our damper! Simply unacceptable! There wasn’t much we could do, so we went to bed and in the morning I threw water at any crows that came near – a small consolation!

Wartook Lookout

Boroka Lookout

And that takes us to today. Michael and I went to Reed Lookout and walked to The Balconies then took a small journey to the Grand Canyon! Well The Grampians Grand Canyon, which I’m assured is actually the real Grand Canyon and the American one was named after this one! So we walked – or rock hopped – through the Canyon. Our legs a tad tired from the day before, we decided to head towards camp and so now we’re in the south west of the Grampians National Park at a place called Strachans. Once more the rain has appeared, but we’re happily inside the camper sipping Port from Central Tilba and nibbling on Fine Dark Chocolate from Phillip Island, so all is well. Tomorrow we plan on heading back towards the coast and potentially by this time next week we may have crossed the next border – BUT who knows and who cares really, as long as we’re having fun and seeing all these amazing things time means nothing!

The Grand Canyon

Another lookout we stumbled upon overlooking The Grampians

Lesson of the week: Perseverance is key, even though something may be challenging usually the rewards are then tenfold.

The Coast and the Great Ocean Rd take one

So this post has been a while in the waiting! Since our last blog we visited a family friend and had amazing pasta and wine and went to Melbourne for a day, where we saw a comedy show, rode several trams and got very achy feet. We slept at a rest stop roughly 5 minutes from Avalon Airport and flew back home the next morning. Michael and I flew back to the Central Coast for my graduation, birthday and a funeral, as well as for catch ups! Busy times! As a result of this adventure let me just take a moment to show off:

Tada!

Anyway moving on, our flight back to Avalon was rather delayed so again we slept at the same rest area (we left the airport some time after 12am). The next morning, after eventually getting up, we headed to Geelong. We stocked up the camper and went for a walk amongst the bollards on the foreshore. Later that day we visited the famous Bells Beach and went through Torquay. We had heard of a nice camp ground nearby so headed there at a reasonable time to make camp, unfortunately when we got there we found the site was closed due to planned burn offs. With no other appropriate campsites near, we headed to Sheoak picnic area and made use of the flat car park, bbq facilities and flushing loos – even daring to have showers that night by heating the billies up on the bbq. All in all not a bad spot! The next day marked a momentous event – my birthday. So Michael and I travelled along the Great Ocean Road, visited Erskine falls (spectacular!) and settled early at a very lush accommodation site – Big 4 Wye River! There was plenty of king parrots and ducks around, as well as amazing hot showers (I have awarded these showers the best on the trip so far) and a jumping pillow. With goon, some sunshine and being walking distance to the local pub we were set. Whilst visiting an info centre that day I also found the perfect way to spend some of my birthday money – Flying foxes in the Otway Forest. The forecast said Thursday was the day to do it so we booked it in.

The next morning we set out along the rather cold Great Ocean Road. We went to Grey River Road and played spot the koala - a fun game that involves driving along at 30km an hour yelling THERE'S ONE! every 2 seconds or so. We continued along the Great Ocean Road and eventually visited Apollo Bay then headed into the mountains to a little place called Beauchamp Falls. By this time I was feeling rather under the weather and set up in bed whilst Michael made himself dinner, removed bollards so we could park on the grass, made friends with a French man and was offered weed. Good times! The next day, feeling ever so slightly better we headed to Triplet Falls where Michael undertook a lengthy walk and I slept. I'm told it was lovely. I woke up, drugged up and it was off to the Otway Fly where we walked on platforms above the forest canopy, saw dinosaurs (I kid you not!) and went on our zip line tour. The tour ran for just over 3 hours and involved using a series of flying foxes and rope bridges to zip from tree to tree 20m above the forest floor. It was amazing. We couldn’t take cameras on the tour because if they fell they were lost forever, but we’ll always remember the experience.

That night we headed to Aire River Crossing Campground, where we were showered in rain. Gosh the weather has been wonderful! Anyway we slept well and headed off the next morning to Blanket Bay via Aire River. Along the way we saw several hundred Mana Gums and within their branches many Koalas. My camera got a serious work out. We pulled up at Blanket Bay that afternoon and set up shop for a couple of days. Next to our campsite was a gum with two Koalas in it – Meryl and Beryl as I named them. There was also a mum and bub koala around the corner. That night we had a wonderful fire and met a few ladies who had trekked 22km that day along the Great Ocean Walk. We also met a rather random german fellow, whom we taught how to cook potatoes, put sticks in a fire and how to make sure his car doesn’t die. Not sure how well the last session sunk in but all in all good fun. Since then we played on the beach, did a couple of walks and I took many more photos of Koalas. And that my friends is where the tale ends for now, fingers crossed next Saturday we have the internet and our fingers aren’t frozen solid – a hint at what’s to come: more Great Ocean Road and for some silly reason the Grampians where the temperature is averaging out to 8 degrees each day (we're off to kmart to buy a hot water bottle!)

Lesson of the week: Don’t get sick, it sucks butt!

Prom Country - Victoria

Nothing can describe the beauty, charm and character of Wilson’s Promontory. Within the first few minutes of driving into the park we had spotted emus, kangaroos, birds of every colour and sweeping views of coastlines, islands and meadows of untouched nature. The camping area was massive! With a whopping 484 sites, it took a little while to figure out where to stop. We eventually set up near what we jokingly called a wombat trail, however no sooner had we sat down that a wombat appeared on the trail and walked by camp. Too good to be true! The park was also the first we have been to that had flushing toilets and hot showers. We thought we were in heaven. That night we saw a couple of possums and several wombats.

The next day we decided to be a little ambitious and go for a 10km hike. We went over mountains, down and up some steep hills and along headlands, it was epic but absolutely worth it. Wilson’s Prom delivered many site-seeing goods. We said goodbye to the park and left the next day. Although more expensive than the camp sites outside the prom, it was well worth it for the wildlife and atmosphere, and still no night driving on country roads yet.

We headed to Cape Liptrap (Bear Gully Campground) and ended up staying for 5 nights to wait out the Easter break. We took off the camper to remind us what acceleration and 100 km/hr feels like, and to do a couple of day trips – most importantly to a winery and to the movies! The camp area filled up very quickly because of Easter. There was plenty of nice people around (as well as “special” people who created their own camp grounds on revegetation areas and bushland). One fellow across the way took  it upon himself to look after us, he pointed out a skippy and helped us with some additions to the car so he was our kind of alright – wished he would stop talking about how good turbos are… Again we were sad to leave, but this time it was because of all our wonderful neighbours. After several hugs and handshakes goodbye we headed to Phillip Island to see Koalas and the famous Penguin Parade.

Despite it being a rather chilly day, Phillip Island was everything we wanted and more. We had potentially the yummiest burger ever invented (potentially also the biggest), then went to a koala sanctuary. We spotted koalas sleeping, eating, adventuring around the railings and having a bit of a biff – so all in all very fun stuff! We then headed to the parade, where potentially every person on the island also went. The place was full to the brim, but that didn’t stop the little penguins from waddling up the beach. A spectacular sight. Then we headed to the board walk to see the penguins socialising and finding their burrows. We were joking about how it looked like a few were trying to make a run for it, but when we were in the car park we saw at least one little penguin was bound for bigger things (he’d made it to the car park and looked like he was trying to hitch-hike).

We slept in a rest area and adventured onto the Dandenong’s the next morning. We saw lots of quaint villages, beautiful views and even the Easter Bunny. Currently we’re staying at Ferntree Gully with some family friends, then heading to Eaglemont to visit another friend. Were planning to adventure around Melbourne then fly home for my graduation. Hopefully good times ahead.

This weeks lesson is provided by the many campers and parents around Bear Gully Campground – Don’t have kids until you’re good and ready, because once you’ve got ‘em you can’t give them back!

Gippsland – Victoria

Our last night in NSW we planned to stay in a state forest in a little camp ground called “Nelson’s Crossing” – we pulled up to find a few fellows with psychedelic towels strung up setting up an extensive sound system and DJ set – apparently they were holding some kind of bogan rave, otherwise known as a “Doof”. As a result, we were promptly on our way and set up in a nearby rest area. At 8am we could still hear the distant Doof, so were quite happy we decided not to stay! We made an impulsive decision to cross the border and headed into Mallacoota Victoria. This was a momentous occasion as I drove over the border (which I’d never done before), driving a manual car – something that seemed like it would never happen!

We camped the night at Shipwreck Cove (located within Croajingalong NP). Just before bed Michael managed to spot a possum near our campfire. After many coos of how cute it was, a baby possum ran out from under The Hulk and joined the other possum- Beautiful! The next day we headed out on a 6km walk to Seal Creek, then drove to Mallacoota to stock up. Whilst in town we thought it was rather odd to see two giant roos right next to the shops, no-one else seemed to care – so apparently this was not an unusual occurrence.  After that we thought travelling a couple of 4WD tracks to the next camp would be good fun and rather easy – Simple right? WRONG! The first track was mostly simple, except for a couple of steep hills and a river crossing. On one occasion I hopped out to lock the hubs, the gravel slipped away and I ended up bashing my back on the steel step into the car – as a result I’m still a bit of a cripple. We couldn’t find the next track easily so decided to go down a track that sounded similar..big mistake, 2 hours later and after navigating some very difficult terrain, we were truly in the middle of nowhere! Luckily our GPS found us and showed us the way back to the highway. Less than 5kms away from civilisation we came across a Gum tree that was too big to go around or over. We had to tow it off the road. If ever doing this note: always make sure it is easy to get your expensive strap back off the tree once you have moved it, otherwise it may take twice as long, involve more towing, a bit of digging and quite a bit of profuse language to get it back! We ended up staying at a rest area that night – we slept very well that evening!!!

The next day we did a couple of rainforest walks (Drummer and McKenzie tracks), explored Cann River, saw an older lady pee, drove along the Snowy River Estuary and camped by the Snowy River. All in all a nice day!

In the morning we explored Orbost and headed to Lakes Entrance, then to Pa Bert’s. He entertained us with stories of old, took us to the local pub for beer and really good steak and then home for some very yummy red wine. My favourite conversation of the evening being –

Michael – Dad sends his love and wanted me to give you a hug from him.

Bert – Well we can’t do that! We all know hugging is for poofs!!!

Good times.

The next day we were off to 90 Mile Beach. Along the way we created a new trend  (Pajumpers - a really good investment) and saw our first emus of the trip. We camped at Paradise Beach. We were both keen to go for a swim, but after touching the freezing cold water and finding a fellow who had just caught a shark, we decided that wine and cheese was a far better idea – Huzzah!

The next night we spent at Shallow Inlet, near Yanakie. It was lakeside accommodation, but the lake looked not so inviting, with mud and weed everywhere. However, come 5 o’clock the tide had risen, the sun was setting and black swans were everywhere. It was a magnificent sunset and we walked along the now full not muddy nor weedy lake – moral being don’t judge a book by its cover!

The next day we were heading to The Prom, but that’s another story.

Lesson of the week: If a sign sounds like the one you want, but does not say the exact track you are looking for DO NOT TAKE IT!