Great Ocean Road

After a few nights staying in an amazing hotel in Melbourne, it was time to slum it a bit and become campers. I'd never actually been camping before so I wasn't really sure what to expect. However we decided when planning our trip, that renting a camper van and driving along Great Ocean Road and then part of the East Coast was in fact an excellent idea.

DAY 1 

We headed to Travellers Autobarn in Melbourne to pick up our home for the next few weeks.

My problem was that I was a complete fool, and left my driving license in the UK. So my life was in Hollie's hands for the foreseeable. We hoped my license would make an appearance in a few days (spoiler alert: it didn't), and unfortunately Travellers Autobarn would not accept a photocopy that my mum had sent over before posting.

After picking up a few essentials from the Mall (a USB double charger, snacks, a torch and some water and ice for the cool box - incase you were wondering) we hit the road and headed to our destination. Hollie got the hang of the driving pretty quickly, and we arrived at the start of Great Ocean Road about 2 hours later. The route was really easy, and it was well signposted. We (me) had a tiny meltdown about tolls - but it was later confirmed that there were no toll roads going towards Great Ocean Road.

Once we arrived, we decided to head straight to a campsite as it had been quite a busy day. We found a free campsite pretty quickly - Big Hill Campground in Great Otway National Park - it was very busy and there were no spots left. Some other people had just pulled up next to it to sleep so we decided to do the same. The spot was really good and nice and shady, the only downside was the toilets. Hollie ventured in first and came out looking horrified. I pictured filthy smelly toilets, but no, it was worse. It was pit toilets. Something I'd never actually seen or used before. The smell. I was almost sick numerous times (dramatic as always), and suddenly we didn't want to drink anymore due to the fear of needing to go back. Whilst we were making a scene of disgust, a local walked past laughing and shouted "Welcome to Australia". I took an instant dislike to him. Unfortunately these toilets were something we had to try and get used to during our camping experiences - we never did.

DAY 2 

Lorne

Our first stop was Lorne. We decided to stop there for a coffee in the morning. The area had plenty of choices of places to eat, get coffee and a few stores. There was also a tourist information centre that was visited to start off, and stock up on maps and leaflets so we could work out the rest of our adventure. We sat outside a coffee shop and were greeted by birds that looked like parrots. Hollie and I was fascinated and were taking lots of photos, but the locals looked at us like we were bit weird, and I wondered if this was in-fact the equivalent of taking a picture of a pigeon in Trafalgar Square.

Erskine Falls

Next we headed to Erskine Falls. This was a pretty waterfall about a 20 minute drive inland near Lorne. There was a lookout point at the top or you could walk down the steps to the bottom of the waterfall, which we decided to do. At the bottom there was a wedding party taking photos at the bottom of the waterfall so some strategic head positioning was required for our selfies to block them out. Due to the time of year, the waterfall was a bit of a trickle, but still very beautiful.

Teddy's Lookout

Another place to stop on the way back to the main road, a lookout up in the mountain looking over a beach - very pretty.

Kennet River

Our leaflets we had picked up in the tourist information centre had told us this was where we would see Koala's. So we parked up next to the 'Koala Cafe' and headed into the trees. There were tourists everywhere and we did spot one Koala asleep at the top of the tree (because every person there was trying to take a photo, I actually never would have noticed it) - it was so high up it was more of a fluff ball and we couldn't really see much.

Apollo Bay

This was one of my favourite places. It was a lovely seaside village, with a beautiful beach and lots of green area where you could have a picnic. There was another tourist information centre here, and some nice normal toilets - because that is what my life was currently revolving around. There was even a small supermarket. We decided to get some food from the bakery, and sit on a picnic area on the green. I chose a chicken, bacon and leek pie, which was delicious, but later discovered that this bakery was home to a famous scallop pie which I really wish I had tried. After a short stroll on the beach, and a nose around the souvenir shops we headed back to the van to locate a campsite for night 

According to our app there was a free campsite (Beauchamp Falls) with good reviews about a 30 minute drive away. We set off and basically got really lost (don't tell my mum, but we were definitely lost in the middle of a forest on a dirt track in Australia for a good 30 minutes). When we eventually got back to the main road, we had to make a new plan. Plan B was another campsite - Dandos Camping Spot, a further 20 mins away. At this point we were slightly concerned that we wouldn't be able to find this one either, and it was starting to get dark. We ended up going down a 13km dirt road (which involves driving about 20kph avoiding potholes, and took a very long time.) but thankfully, we did find the campsite. This was a nice spacious one with only a few others there, and they were all self contained which resulted in the toilets not smelling quite as bad. Dramatic Megan did make a reappearance that evening, when she mistook someone chopping wood for gun shots. I just don't trust the world okay?! 

DAY 3 

On day 3 we woke up to rain, which was actually quite refreshing. As we headed back on the long, slow dirt road we were greeted with our first spotting of a wild kangaroo that jumped out infront of our van - probably a good job we were going so slow.

Our first destination was Cape Otway Lighthouse. It was quite a long drive off the main road, with numerous areas along the way with tourists stopped to get photos of koalas. We got to the lighthouse, but decided it was a bit too pricey for us. It was slightly annoying, but we should have done our research before we went. You can't even see the lighthouse from the car park, so there was no chance of a sneaky photo to prove we did kind of visit. Luckily there are plenty of other lighthouses to see in Australia that you don't have to pay for, so we didn't regret our decision.

The 12 Apostles 

The day started to brighten up as we made the long drive to the most famous part of Great Ocean Road - The 12 Apostles Coast. One of the most iconic images that I relate to Australia, and I was very excited to finally see it in person. We were so pleased when we arrived to bright blue skies, as this made the views even more beautiful. There were numerous viewpoints along a short walk, filled with tourists like us taking selfies and get that treasured shot. I was losing my mind trying to use Hollie's Samsung - being quite vocal about how much I hated them,  when a British girl, who appeared to be on her own, tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if i could take a photo of her because 'she had an iPhone'. Awkward. Another couple of guys asked me to take their photo but not get the fence in - so they had just their heads at the bottom of a photo of the view - it was a bit weird, but if thats what they want? 

There is also a tiny gift shop (with basically no gifts) on site. I bought a Diet Coke because that's all I think about in life.

Port Campbell

Our final stop of the day was another beautiful little town - Port Campbell. There was a small beach in the middle of the town, and a selection of cafes, restaurants and a few shops. We had a walk around in search of wifi, and did eventually find a restaurant that had excellent wifi that reached the bench right outside - so we were a bit cheeky and used it - desperate times. (N.B - wifi is almost impossible to find on Great Ocean Road. Although its nice not to be constantly on Facebook - its also made me a little anxious not knowing what was going on in the world, and the fact that no one would be able to get hold of me if they needed to.)

We decided to get some chips to eat by the beach, and this is where the lady working asked me 'Would you like chicken salt or sea salt?' Chicken salt?! I wish at the time I had asked what chicken salt was because my response was to look a little bit confused and say 'er normal salt?'. I'm still not really sure what chicken salt is, but I did try some later in my Australian adventure and I can confirm it is pretty yummy.

That night we found a brilliant campsite. Brucknell Scout Camp. It had toilets and showers, and campers were free to use the scout hall facilities - power, kitchen etc. It was $20 for the night and we loved it so much we went back the following night. The lady that ran it was amazing, she was so friendly and when I told her we were from England she responded "OH London! I've been to Soho and Harrods" and she just seemed so excited. Brucknell Scout Camp is also the location that we had our best koala viewing.

DAY 4

Warrnambool

Our final full day on Great Ocean Road. We headed straight to Warrnambool. This town was a bit bigger and had a bit more going on than all are previous Great Ocean Road stops. We went into the town centre first, and for the first time on our trip had to pay to park - outrageous. We had a wander around the shops - This is where I discovered Cotton On (my fave shop in Australia/NZ) and I bought my truly ugly, but great bargain $3 hat which I had subsequently worn once - that day. We took a walk up to the Tourist Information Centre and on the way got some great views of Lake Pertobe. The Tourist centre is also the entrance to Flagstaff Hill, which is an 1870's style village that you can explore. We didn't go in, but we got some cute pictures from the balcony #cheaterlife. We jumped back in the van and headed to the outer town retail parks in search of food. We had been in need of a decent supermarket for a couple of days so were more than happy to spot a Woolworths. We stocked up on supplies and then tested out Hungry Jacks for lunch (and because we wanted to steal their wifi). I'm 99.9% Hungry Jacks is just Burger King as the logo and menu is basically the same, but we got a bargain $6 meal (burger, chips, nuggets, drink, AND an ice cream - result). 

Port Fairy

Our final stop along the coast was Port Fairy. Basically I just wanted to go there because it had the best name, but it was a great place. Probably my favourite. It was so beautiful. Another small town with a great atmosphere, as we drove through the main street they appeared to have some kind of event on with live music and it seemed like a really happy place. We ended up at Griffiths Island and took a walk towards the bay to get a view of the Lighthouse. It was a beautiful walk, and if it hadn't been so hot we would have walked around the whole island. The wind did start to pick up at this point and I did almost lose my new hat. 

A few beach views later and we headed back to camp. 

DAY 5 

Today was our long trip back to Melbourne, stopping in all the places we missed along the way. We headed off nice and early as we knew it would be a busy day. We headed back along the coast near the 12 Apostles, and spotted lots more viewpoints and 'scenic' areas to stop. This is where leaving earlier proved to be an advantage, as all the places were really quiet. Unfortunately the weather wasn't quite as nice, and there was the odd spot of rain and the need for a jumper, but we visited some amazing places. My favourite was The Grotto, which I did have to interrupt a couple photoshoot in order to get my selfie - sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. 

We made a pit stop back in Apollo Bay for coffee (much needed) and so Hollie could get a souvenir. 

Back on the road we eventually made it to Torquay, the starting point of Great Ocean Road that we had skipped through in order to find somewhere to sleep on our first night. Torquay is another small town, with a surfer vibe. There were lots of surf shops and a nice beach. It has a bit more going on than some of the town (it has branded places such as McDonalds and Subway) As we drove through, we realised there was some kind of car show on which meant it was super busy. We had a brief drive along the beach and through the town, and then stopped nearby for lunch. As we concluded our trip we made the decision that we were not feeling like camping again that night. So we decided to book a cheap hotel in Melbourne - wifi, beds, showers - we were a little bit excited for this luxury. 

Great Ocean Road was one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. We spent 5 days there, which although was enough time to see most main attractions and towns, there was still SO much we didn't do. There are hundreds of walks and activities to do along the way. We visited in February (Australian summer) which meant it was very hot so we didn't really fancy any long treks. There were so many beaches, food establishments, coffee shops, etc to choose from, it would be impossible to check them all out. 

COSTS:

Petrol - Each tank of fuel cost us $45-50 (Around £25). We took it in turns to pay and got fuel 4 times on this journey. 

Campsites - We paid for 2 nights at the Scout Camp $20 per night. The other 2 sites were free but had no facilities. 

Food - We spent about $10-15 a day on food - we were budgeting and generally eating pasties, chips etc. We also had snacks in our van - breakfast croissants, Cheetos, bananas etc. We also had water bottles which we were filling up at water fountains along the way.