From Melbourne to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road

We’d been camping a little bit before, but our preferred choice of family holiday had always been a hotel-based beach holiday. So the decision to hire a motor home and drive the 1000km journey from Melbourne to Adelaide stopping at campsites along the way was quite a new experience for us. The drive south from Melbourne to Geelong (pronounced J’long, one of the many towns and cities that we managed to pronounce incorrectly along the way) was highway based, but once we met the ocean road at Torquay (one of the numerous towns with the same name as those found in the UK) our road trip really started! About an hour along the coast we stopped at Lorne, a lovely small coastal town with boutique shops and cafes along the seafront, and also that all important view of the surfers braving the freezing cold sea to catch the waves. Our first night was spent at a campsite in Apollo Bay – another smallish coastal town. Luckily, whilst our motorhome had all the ‘mod-cons’, the site also had clean hot showers, a camp kitchen and of course that all important kids play area! The picture window view of the ocean from our pitch was awesome. We were up quite early the following morning as we’d decided to drive inland a little to experience the famous ‘Otway Fly’ – an amazing zip-wire and suspension bridge thriller deep in the rainforest and suspended high above the enormous trees. A truly amazing experience, although not for the faint hearted! There was also a canopy walkway suspended within the forest and a cantilever – again, not for the faint hearted. A definite highlight of the trip! From then it was quickly back on to the Great Ocean Road and towards the famous Twelve Apostles. One of the most iconic images of Australia (certainly from our point of view), so we were very excited to see these majestic rock features protruding from the sea. We weren’t disappointed. Yes it’s all very commercialised around there, from the modern swanky visitors’ centre, to the walkway calved beneath the road to allow access to the cliff tops and of course the wooden walkway swarming with tourists of all nationalities. However, nothing can take away the phenomenal views you are rewarded with once you reach the cliffs and sea the rocks for the first time – just beautiful. A few kilometres further north however, we were treated to uninterrupted views and no fellow tourists at the beautiful ‘Boat Bay’ – well worth a stop if you’ve not had your fair share of rock formations! Unfortunately, one thing that you can never guarantee is the weather, and whilst our stay so far in Australia had been pretty warm and cloud free, a full cloud cover descended on the state of Victoria during our stay, so our photos came out a little dull – and do not quite do the coastline justice! We overnighted at Warrnambool on our second night – a pretty big town about an hour from the 12 Apostles. Again, our campsite was pretty good with all the facilities could wish for. And by this stage we had worked out how to use all the appliances in our motorhome, the best sleeping arrangements and where to store things – something which we were rather amateur-like on the first night! The following morning was a little less rushed and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the campsite before heading off to Port Fairy – a gorgeous little town about an hour from Warrnambool. Lots of lovely shops and cafes as well as a small marina. Port Fairy is the western most point of the Great Ocean Road, and whilst we continued along the coastal route, the drive was not quite as spectacular as what we had experienced over the last couple of days. We continued our journey westwards, and we’d read about a ‘giant dune slide’ in one of the many tourist booklets that we’d picked up on the way, so decided to stop off at Yambuk to test this out. Whilst this provided some great fun for the kids (and us adults too), what we hadn’t expected was the most amazing beach on the other side of the dunes. A deserted, white sand beach with mesmerising waves – a truly fabulous find. Our next stop, and overnight destination was Mount Gambier – and the beautiful Blue Lake. Our campsite was located right next to this beautiful lake, formed 4-5,000 years ago by a volcanic explosion which left behind an immense crater and deep blue lake below – although we did find out that this changed colour seasonally! Another must-see stop along this famous route. After another leisurely breakfast we left Mount Gambier and continued our journey west towards Robe. We stopped on the way at the amazing Tantalooma Cave - a beautiful cave hidden away just off the main highway and discovered in the 1930’s by a local family showcasing a magnificent array of stalactites and stalagmites! Our next night was spent at the lovely little town of Robe where we enjoyed local fish and chips as the sun set on one of the many deserted beaches that we came across during our trip. The following day was pretty much spent driving along the coastal route towards Adelaide. We were aware there was little to see on this section of the road trip, so put our foot down and powered on through to Adelaide. Stopping off at the picturesque town of Hahndorf before finishing off in the beautiful McLaren Vale for a spot of wine tasting to polish our amazing trip off! We had such a fantastic time on our motor-homing holiday in the South of Australia and would highly recommend it to everyone!