Road Trippin

Road Trippin in Oz

One of the things that we just had to do was Melbourne Cup which is Australia’s Biggest Party, and oh yeah. A very cool horse race.

Instead of flying this time, we chose to drive. We drove because, why not knock out two birds with one stone? Not only did we get to see Melbourne and go to Melbourne Cup. We also got to drive and experience The Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

I’ve been wanting to do this drive for quite some time. I’ve heard and seen so much about it, I just had to go. It was definitely worth both the wait and the drive.

It was only a short Road Trip but it was a lot of fun. The weather cooperated with us most of the time.

It’s still early spring time in Australia and while things are finally starting to warm up in Sydney. Melbourne and South Victoria are still a little cold and getting some weather.

Leg 1 Sydney to Canberra

The first leg of our Miniature Great Australian Road Trip was Sydney to Canberra. I would have been happy zooming right past Canberra.

Canberra is the Capital of Australia, which is located in the Australian Capital Territory.

I’ve never had any desire to visit Canberra but it turned out to be an okay stop, I guess.

I wouldn’t go back though. I don’t really recommend Canberra to others either.

Sorry guys!

Leg 2 – Canberra to Lakes Entrance

After our brief stop in North Korea, I mean Canberra. We headed down south even further to a small coastal community called Lakes Entrance.

Lakes Entrance is a very scenic little town which has a huge beach called 90 Mile Beach.

Unfortunately for us the weather was not being very nice and gave use lots of cold wind, gray clouds and some nasty tartar sauce from a local Fish and Chips shop.

We roughed in while we were in Lakes Entrance which was kind of fun. We hadn’t used our tent since last February when we were in the Florida Keys earlier this year.

Leg 3 Lakes Entrance to Melbourne

Finally we were getting closer to Melbourne and Melbourne Cup. It wasn’t long now.

Our third leg of our journey was a hop, skip and a jump away from Lakes Entrance. We arrived in Melbourne and hung on in the City for the first day. Taking in all the local sights and sounds.

I really like the very creative and artistic flare that Melbourne has. If Melbourne didn’t have such a cold climate and bucket loads of depressing rain. It would definitely give living in Sydney a close run.

Okay, I’m kidding. Not close.

Still. Melbourne is an awesome city. Check it out sometime.

Leg 4 Melbourne to Petersborough

The fourth leg of our journey is where things get fun. This was the unplanned part of our Road Trip where we just chose to ‘wing it‘.

I don’t like plans, reservations, times, dates, you gotta be here, you gotta be there, at ‘X’ time, etc.

We didn’t know where we were staying for the night. We did know that we would be traveling through Geelong and then finally hitting the Great Ocean Road which I have heard so much about.

First Stop. Bells Beach.

Totally gnarly, dude!

Bells Beach is home of the Rip Curl Pro Surf Competition which is held annually.

We just had to go.

Bells Beach is also where the final and totally epic scene of Point Break was set. Although, I was saddened to find out that the final scene of Point Break was actually shot at Indian Beach which is on the other side of the pond in Oregon.

Another cold, gray and miserable place.

After finally driving The Great Ocean Road and seeing the Twelve Apostles we decided that our best bet was to camp out at Petersborough for the night. Which was a blast!

We met a Dutch couple who were backpacking across Australia. They were a lot of fun and very funny. If you’re reading this. Thanks for the drinks guys!

…and the headache!

Leg 4 Petersborough to Lake Colac

After we mended our dehydrated brains. It was time to continue our adventure driving down The Great Ocean Road. There was a lot more to see and I was a trigger happy photographer happily shooting everything in sight.

This was a great day as the gray skies finally broke and the blue skies were once again high above us. Finally some good light!

We took advantage of this situation and stopped off to see The Twelve Apostles again. Which was absolutely packed this time around! There were tour busses, helicopters and tourists buzzing around everywhere.

This was a great day. The sun was shining and the weather was beautiful. We went on an absolutely stunning bush and beach walk at Lord Arch Gorge. There were some unreal visuals that I won’t soon forget.

This part of Australia is simply breathtaking.

After almost a full day of driving, sight seeing, shooting, and walking. We were quickly running out of time and day light.

We had to leave and say our Goodbyes to The Great Ocean Road.

We drove to Lake Colac and camped there for the night.

Final Stretch

The last leg of our journey was the longest. We left from Lake Colac back to Sydney which was a solid 11 hour drive, with stops. That was the end of our Great but Miniature Australian Road Trip.

This was a very small Road Trip indeed. It does not come close to the time we drove across the Nullarbor all the way from Perth to Sydney.

But, that’s another story…