- The GREAT Ocean Road -

The Great Ocean Road is tipped to be one of the worlds most scenic drives. So the decision came fairly naturally to make it apart of our trek around Oz.

After we spent a wonderful few nights on the Mornington Penninsula with Bren's Pa we drove further south to Sorrento to board the Vehicle ferry across the waters of Port Phillip Bay to Queenscliff. The 45 minute journey was over before we knew it and marked the beginning of our journey along the Great Ocean Road. We took a quick detour into Geelong and then headed onto Torquay, the Surfing capital of Victoria.

Torquay, famous for Bell's Beach, a popular Surf break and apart of the world Surf championships was really interesting to visit. We called into the Surfing Museum, which was more like a shrine to the Greats like Kelly Slater or our very own Layne Beechly. Also a history lesson into the size and shape changes of the board of the years. With our heads filled with Gnarly information we headed out to check out Bells Beach. The swell wasn't that big, however that doesn't stop the avid surfer.

(Bell's Beach.)

From Bell's we followed the coast road through smaller surfing towns perched along the spectacular coastline. Calling into Angelsea, with its grand lighthouse and awesome view at Spit Point. We pushed onto Lorne, finding the perfect camp spot high in the hills behind the township.

(Our camp in hills behind Lorne.)

The following morning was a little cool so we decided to take a walk out to the Erskine falls. Although not flowing, it was a nice drive/walk through the towering forest to see all but a trickle left of the waterfall. We drove back to Lorne to walk along the local jetty, however with the cool morning a thick fog had rolled in from the ocean blanketing the township. It was quite erie and made for some interesting photo's! As we continued on from Lorne the fog continued to hug the coast line obscuring a lot of the view, however we had found out about this little coastal settlement which is home to a colony of Koala's and having not yet seen one in the wild we were very excited to spot our own Bear! We slowly drove the car up into the hills and sure enough tucked up high in the branches were cute, grey fuzzy koalas! We counted a total of 25 bears and our favourite was right beside the road, perfect for some up close photo's.

(Morning fog over Lorne.)

(Awww... I took too many photo's of this guy.)

Returning to the road the fog had begun to clear and we called into the Cape Otway Lighthouse. It is the oldest on mainland Australia, with continuous operation since 1848, making for some interesting history!

(Cape Otway Lighthouse.)

The road continued to wind along the rugged coastline and before too long we had arrived at the most popular destination along the Great Ocean Road. The 12 Apostles are giant pillars of limestone jutted along a small section of a spectacular coastline of cliffs. Created by erosion over millions of ears these pillars are photographers delight and it was amazing to see the dramatic effects of nature, with every lookout providing a different angle.

The day seemed to slip away from us with many hours spent exploring, we ended up staying the night at Port Campbell. A unique place as its port has been established between the cliffs in a secluded bay. With a good nights sleep we were up with the sun and headed of to explore the eroded sections of coast known as The Arch and London Bridge. Again we were spoilt for photo opportunities with the morning light highlighting the vivid colours locked within the limestone. This continued further around the corner with excellent views of the Bay of Islands.

(Beautiful London Bridge.)

Eventually the road took us to the seaside town of Warrnambool, on the south/eastern leg of the Great Ocean Road. Rich in history with many shipwrecks occurring over the years just of the coast we took a tour around their award winning Flag Staff Hill Maritime Museum, complete with its own re-created 19th Century port village. It was really well presented, complete with volunteers in period costume posing as the bank manager or the store person.

(The pub & sail maker, part of the Flagstaff Hill museum.)

From Warrnambool we headed off to the Glenelg River National Park to settle up camp. It was a beautiful spot, and the following morning we drove along its banks stopping to check out the different camp spots along the way. This marked the end of the Great Ocean Road for us and the beginning of our journey into South Australia.

(Glenelg River)

To say that The Great Ocean Road is GREAT would be an understatement. The words spectacular, dramatic and amazing come to mind. I wouldn't go too far as to say it was an epic journey, but one definitely worth experiencing and should be on any ones must visit list.

- Experiencing Melbourne -

We woke to a beautiful morning and once organised, caught a bus & tram into the heart of Melbourne. Tram's are largely associated with the city of Melbourne within Australia, so what better way to ride into the city. I wouldn't however rate it as a memorable experience, it was much like any public transport, busy, noisy and many stops making the journey much longer than it needed to be. It did however take you through many suburbs and gain a greater view of the city of Melbourne.

(Traditional Style Melbourne Tram, our ride into the city was a modern, longer version.)

We jumped off the Tram at the renowned Queen Victoria Markets. Situated on 7 hectares of land, this is the place to come for fresh produce! It was certainly an eye opener wandering through the fresh fish market, past the rows of butchers and into the delicatessens with their yummy smelling salamis and cheeses. Around the corner we walked through the colourful displays of fresh fruit and veg and then into the isles and isles of bric-a-brac stores. We could spend hours exploring the wonderful displays and soaking up the atmosphere, however after a coffee break we decided to head on and explore more of the city.

Along the footpath i took in what i now believe to be the essence of Melbourne. The old style store fronts, the Bohemian style art shops, the lane way cafes, the sounds of trams, and buskers. It wasn't long before we reached the State Library of Victoria, and i know what your thinking, why travel all this way to go to a Library? We didn't come to read, we called in here to bring together the story of Ned Kelly. The library offers a guided tour to see the display of his famous armour and give details on his short life. The armour was incredible, almost imposing along side an 1860's rifle and one of Kelly's boots.

(Typical street scene, drizzly weather, tram lines and historic buildings.)

(Victorian State Library, Statue of Sir Edmund Barry, the judge who sentenced Ned Kelly to his death.)

(The beautiful reading room.)

(The original armour worn by Ned Kelly at Glenrowan.)

To finish off our discovery about the life of Ned we visited the Old Melbourne Gaol where Ned Kelly was sent to his death and hung in 1880 at the age of 25. The tour around the goal includes a watch house experience, once through the doors we were treated like criminals! Separated into gender, given an identity with charge sheet! We had to shout out, YES SARGENT, NO SARGENT when asked, we were booked in, searched and thrown in the cells! The door slammed shut and the lights went out... pitch black locked in a room with complete strangers... the sounds of the goal being played out on speakers! It was certainly a different tour to what we were used to and eventually our "Sargent" calmed down and let us out to look around! After we got our mug shots taken we wandered over to the Old Gaol and took a look around. It was pretty amazing reading about the criminals of the past and the crimes that eventually led to their death by hanging. A bit morbid i know but it was pretty interesting.

(Inside the old Melbourne Gaol.)

(Sargent, locking us in & ready to give orders.)

(I wonder has he had his mugshot taken before?)

In true Melbourne style the day went from fine in the morning to grey and drizzly in the afternoon! That didn't dampen our appetite though, so we headed down to Federation Square for Lunch! Passing by the iconic Flinders Street Station and taking a peek into the beautiful St Paul's Cathedral! with satisfied bellies we wandered through the shopping streets of Bourke St, the Royal Arcade and into Melbourne Central. All this walking was beginning to ware us down so we returned to the caravan park via Tram & Bus. It was a wonderful day spent exploring the city and I'd love to come back and explore it some more one day.

(Flinders Street Station)

The next morning we drove through Chapel Street and called by St Kilda to see Luna Park and enjoy a coffee in one of the many cafes along the main strip! We finally made our way out of the city down to the Mornington Peninsula to visit Bren's Pa in Rosebud for a few days.

- Bush Ranger Country -

From Canberra we continued on further south stopping overnight just short of the Victorian border. The following morning shortly after crossing the border we called into the original Ettamogah Pub, which was first created by cartoonist Ken Maynard. It was quite interesting to explore around the famously quirky pub, including the museum of some of Ken's comics.

We continued on to Wangaratta, where we stopped in again with Bren's Family for a week. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and it gave us a chance to service the car and take a look around the surrounding towns. One day we drove out to Bright, situated along the Alpine drive near Mount Buffalo. It was a beautiful little town and would be very busy during the winter with a number of ski resorts in the nearby mountains. On the way back from Bright we made a detour into Beechworth.


Beechworth very unique and is Australia's best preserved gold rush town, complete with colonial buildings and rich history. For some they visit for its amazing bakery or the local sweet company, however for many others they come to learn more about Australia's most famous bush ranger Ned Kelly who used to frequent the local pubs and lived with his family in nearby Greta.

(Statue outside the old Beachworth Bank, surprisingly one that Ned didn't rob!)

As the week came to a close we said goodbye to the Parker Family and continued south to Glenrowan. Here is another place famous in the history of Ned Kelly. It is home to the site of the Glenrowan Siege where Ned and his gang had their final shoot out with the Victorian police which eventually led to Ned's capture. Today the town survives on the legacy of the country's most known bush ranger with a number of museums & souvenir shops. It was quite intriguing and we decided to find out more once we arrived in Melbourne.


We travelled further south along the Hume Hwy, eventually arriving in Coburg just north of the city to book into a caravan park before nightfall.

(One of the few photo's on record of Ned Kelly.)

(The massive and imposing statue in Glenrown, home of the 'Last Stand' made by the Kelly Gang.)

- A Calling To The Captial -

After exploring the Ambercrombie Caves we pushed on through the dry countryside down to the Australian Capital, Canberra. I suppose for any Australian travelling around the country it would be very UN Australian to drive on past. So to ease our minds and out of curiosity we headed into the nations capital.

Surprisingly, Canberra is just one large country town with all roads leading to Parliament House perched on top of Capital Hill. Fittingly all roads in are named after the states of Australia. With the Australian flag flying proudly on top of Parliament House as it loomed before us we took a few photo's before deciding to head inside for a look around.

Naturally we had to be security checked before we could look around and once this was done we pretty much has free reign to look around. The inside was just as impressive as the out. Marble columns and grand staircases guide you to the upper levels to peek into the chambers & walk around the public galleries. We even took the lift up to the roof to see the amazing views of the city and across to the war memorial.

(The foyer, after security checks.)


('Yes, Mister Speaker'.... a glimps inside the chambers.)

(The view from the roof, looking over to the War Memorial.)

- A Very Aussie Australia Day -

To us, Australia Day Celebrations attract a bigger celebration than New Years Eve, whether it be a BBQ at home with friends or a night out to see a band playing Aussie Anthems, we always plan something for the big day. This year proved to be a little different. Not wanting to spend the big bucks with a day out in crowded Sydney, we opted to soak up the sun while exploring the Blue Mountains! It was a glorious day and we began with visiting many lookouts showcasing the beauty of the land.

The escarpment was impressive at every lookout and soon discovered there were plenty of walks you could do to explore! We did a couple of the shorter walks as we wanted to continue on in the same day. However we made a promise to come back and explore the longer walks at a later date. The highlight and most popular lookout is Echo Point in Katoomba. This is where the rock formations known as the Three Sisters can be seen.

The Aboriginal dream-time legend has it that three sisters, 'Meehni',
'Wimlah' and Gunnedoo' lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba
tribe.

These beautiful young ladies had fallen in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe, yet tribal law forbade them to marry. The brothers were not happy to accept this law and so decided to use force to capture the three sisters causing a major tribal battle.

As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger, a witchdoctor from the
Katoomba tribe took it upon himself to turn the three sisters into stone to
protect them from any harm. While he had intended to reverse the spell when the
battle was over, the witchdoctor himself was killed. As only he could reverse
the spell to return the ladies to their former beauty, the sisters remain in
their magnificent rock formation as a reminder of this battle for generations to
come.

(Courtesy of: www.bluemts.com.au)

We continued on our journey west out to Bathurst, it was lovely to watch the country change from the mountains into the dry rolling hills. However we had driven out further west for a reason... a pilgrimage if you like to the home of Australian Motor Racing and the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama.

Its quite unique as the actual track is a tourist drive, and surprisingly people's homes are dotted around the circuit. With a speed limit of 60, you can "slowly" enjoy Pit Straight, The Cutting and finally coming down Conrad's Straight! Although no top speed records were broken i can assure you we would probably be in the running for the slowest lap record with the car crawling up Mount Panorama!

From Bathurst we turned south and drove for about an hour and a half to Ambercrombie Caves for the night. As it was late in the day, we camped and decided to explore the caves the following morning. It was a beautiful spot to camp with plenty of shade and a little creek running through the middle. Directly in front of where we set up the tent was a Wombat burrow, and later that night we saw the wombat wander from his burrow and cross the creek! A little excitement for us as this was the first time we saw one in the wild! What a wonderful and unforgettable way to spend Australia Day!

The next morning we set off to explore the caves. Although not as spectacular as nearby Jenolan Caves, it was still an amazing adventure and we had the place all to ourselves! There is also some interesting history with the caves as back in 1830 the Ribbon Gang of bush rangers used the caves as a hiding place!

- Hunter Valley & Sydney Sights -

The Hunter Valley is a maze of wineries, restaurants, and galleries so it was really really hard to decide where to visit. We finally we chose to call into the local cheese factory complete with taste testing!! Ooo yummy... it was too much indulgence and what to buy for later?? Eventually we settled for a triple Brie and a blue cheese i cant remember the fancy name of!

Next we wanted to have lunch at winery we had heard of however we ended up having a taste for beer and head out to the Blue Tongue Brewery! It was pretty good.. we bought a tasting paddle, which was 6 shooters of every beer they make and at the end you receive a free middy of your favourite beer. We ordered a lovely lunch to go with our beers and enjoyed the country side before the place got too busy! There is so much to see and taste in the valley, though we decided it was best to press on and save the pennies.

(The Blue Tongue Brewry Tasting Plate.)

We began to drive into the outer suburbs of Sydney and made our way out to Palm Beach, where Home & Away is set. Its a beautiful place at the end of a peninsula, and after a drive round and few photo's we decided to head off in search of a place to stay. Then DISASTER struck, we had no brakes!! We had to pull into a nearby park and investigate, soon realising we had lost all the brake fluid and a "special part" was broken! The timing couldn't have been any more annoying! Friday afternoon on a long weekend... eventually we organised a tow truck & somewhere to stay. Ahead was a nervous wait until Monday to see if & when it could be fixed!

(Summer Bay... Ah I mean Palm Beach...)

We thankfully found a place to stay in Cremorne, just north of the city. This proved to be quite handy for planning our exploration of the city. On the Sunday the weather was a bit drizzly which wasn't all that good for photo's however it was a nice change to the heat we had been experiencing lately. We bought tickets for the city explorer bus which you can hop on/off all day, included with this was a number of discounts to venues all over the city. So off we went... the first stop was the Opera House looking out to the Bridge. It was pretty awesome to be finally here after all this time and was a great starting point for our day. We continued onto the Sydney Museum & the Australian Museum which had some great exhibitions on. We had brunch in Kings Cross & went shopping at the Beautiful Queen Victoria Building which covers an entire block. However i think the biggest highlight of the day was heading out to the Australian Maritime Museum where we had the opportunity to explore the James Craig tall Ship, the replica of the Endeavour, HMAS Vampire & the Submarine HMAS Onslow and then through all the displays inside! It was an amazing day topped off with drinks on Darling Harbour!

(Street views, including the Sydney Tower.)


(Even though the weather was miserable, the view was still spectacular.)

(Fountain in Kings Cross near where we had brunch.)

(The marvellous Queen Victoria Building.)

(The Endeavour Replica.)

(Ready to sail the seven seas.)

(It was fun exploring the confined spaces of the SUB.)

The following day was dedicated to getting the car back on the road, after hours waiting and a small fortune taken out of my bank account we were back on the road! It was a pretty good feeling to have the car back and we wasted no time and headed for the hills to begin our next adventure!!