We left Melbourne mid-morning and drove as far as Geelong where we stopped to stock up the van and have a walk around. We’d spent the last few days in Melbourne which we’d really enjoyed. On both nights we’d parked the van up at a truck stop north of the city on Highway 31. It seemed really funny to see our little camper parked up amongst all the road-trains, some pulling up to 3 articulated bodies. We got a few odd looks off the drivers too when we used the truckers showers – I don’t think they’re used to seeing ‘tourists’ roughing it.
From Geelong we headed directly south onto the Great Ocean Road which was built by mainly by de-mobbed soldiers after the first world war. It hugs the coast almost all the way from Geelong to Adelaide passing some amazing sections of headland, eroded cliffs and beaches. It seemed that we stopped the van every ten minutes to get out and take photographs of ‘yet another’ amazing view. One thing that amazed us both was just how huge the seas are along this section of the Australian coastline, the waves are immense and literally batter the coast relentlessly. I don’t think either of us had seen such awesome power and it was almost mesmerizing to stand and watch it, it became blatantly obvious as to why the area is also known as the shipwreck coast. By mid-afternoon the weather had begun to close in, we watched rainstorms sweeping in from the Southern Ocean creating double and triple rainbows, which was spectacular. We decided to try and find somewhere to park up along the highway for the night, any without luck. It seemed that again the local town councils along the route were wise to people ‘free-camping’ in vans and had placed ‘NO SLEEPING IN VEHICLES – FINES APPLY’ signs strategically at every stopping point. By this time we’d passed Apollo Bay and the road swung inland around the back of Cape Otway. It was now dark, very foggy; worse still we were getting low on petrol. We figured that if we got off the main highway we’d be able to park up unnoticed somewhere inland a little, so we drove towards Laver hill, which we also noted had a fuel station marked on the map. When we got there the fuel station was shut along with everything else, where in the world do fuel stations shut at 6.30? It was around 70km to the main highway and I reckoned we’d got enough fuel to get us no more than about 15km at best, we didn’t even have enough to get us back to Apollo Bay and we were literally in the middle of nowhere. The weather had gotten worse too, low cloud and torrential rain made driving now almost impossible, especially with our old van not liking the wet and spluttering every time we hit a puddle! We decided there was nothing else to do other than stay put in Laver hill and wait until morning to fill up. We spotted a pub and asked the landlord if he’d mind us parking up round the back, he charged us $8 which I was gutted about, but at least we’d avoid the $150 fine that the local council threatened if they caught us on the roadside. So after near freezing to death cooking a meal on the stove in the pouring rain, we nipped into the ‘Slaughtered Lamb’ for a few beers and a warm by the fire!
Next morning the skies cleared as we descended back down below the cloud base to rejoin the Great Ocean Road. We reached the Twelve Apostles, twelve columns of weathered sandstone standing sentinel along the surfline. They really are awesome and it’s a view that I think will be etched permanently on both our minds when we think of our journey along the southern coast. Each lookout along the coast just got better. The weather had picked up and it was by now a perfect day. We stopped at Thunder cave, The Razorback and London Bridge – a piece of wave worn cliff that has become detached from the headland and believe it or not, looks like London bridge – if you sort of slant your head and squint your eyes and lean to the right a bit. One amazing area we stopped at along the Shipwreck trail was Loch Ard Gorge. There a steamer bound for Melbourne with immigrants from Ireland had been wrecked in a storm back in the early 1800’s. After being smashed on the rocks only two survived to be washed up in the narrow gorge. A young crew member and a young girl, whom had watched all her family drown, their graves are on the headland above the bay. The strange thing was that of the very few bodies recovered (five or six from memory of a crew of around 50) most were her family members. Eerily 11 of the bodies were washed into the nearby blowhole 100m inland, there they floated for a few days in the heaving waters which glowed purple, due to the phosphorous the Loch Ard had been carrying as cargo – it must have been a horrifying sight for the locals who came to watch them before they disappeared, none were ever able to be recovered.
After trying to spot whales in Logan Bay and passing through Port Fairy, by chance we decided to detour through Cape Bridgewater. I’m so glad we did, it’s probably the most perfect beach I’ve ever seen. The water was so calm and clear we could even see the outline of another early 1800’s shipwreck on the white sandy bottom 200m off shore – amazing, where’s my bloody diving gear when I need it! Reluctantly we headed off, picking up the C192 which took us through Nelson, Mt Gambier, Kingston and onto Meningie where we spent the night in a lay-by. Neither of us had slept really well for the last few nights as it was so cold, even though the weather had been relatively good (with the exception of the night on Laver Hill) the wind had constantly buffeted the van keeping us awake. One bonus though had been the clear night skies unaffected by city lights – we saw three shooting stars in the space of half-an-hour one night.
The drive to Adelaide next day didn’t take us too long and marked the end of our journey west along the southern coast of Australia. From here we’d be heading back to Sydney via Melbourne, all the way along Highway 31. We spent a few days in Adelaide. We really liked the city which seems more like a town. It’s clean, well laid out and a lot easier to drive around than Melbourne, although trying to park the ‘panzer’ was a challenge as in all major towns and cities we’ve been to. The good news was that it was warmer in Adelaide, so we slept a lot better in the van. Again there was no free-camping to be had, but we managed to find a little pull-in off the main road about 20km north of the city.
After a few days we headed back onto the Dukes Hwy back east towards Melbourne. After finding what seemed like the perfect lay-by that evening, we were both startled in the middle of the night when we thought we were caught in an earthquake or something. In the dark I’d managed to park up alongside a railway line and a freight train passed only a few metres from us at some ungodly hour in the morning – OK it may not sound too scary sat there reading this, but you imagine it at 3.00am when you’re half awake, it’s pitch black outside and suddenly it feels as though ground beneath you is trying to shake your teeth out!
Eventually we arrived on the outskirts of Melbourne and found another truckstop to park up for the night. We’d called the ELG operation in Melbourne the following day to get directions and to make sure it would be OK to drop in for a look around. By a stroke of luck it’s situated on Hwy 31 north of the city which was no more than ten minutes from where we’d parked up! We were greeted there by Dave Beardsall who left for Australia just after I began work with ELG in the UK, so it was pretty good to meet up and have a natter about all things ‘work’. We stayed for about an hour and had a good look around the operation, plus met up with the manager Jim and his wife. I must admit it did feel a little strange to be back in a scrapyard environment again.
From ELG we headed off back onto the highway, passing through Seymour and Euroa. Eventually we stopped at Benalla and had a look around the town there. It was in Benalla that Ned Kelly started off his career as a bushranger and had his first few scrapes with the law. We visited the Bootmakers’ shop that Ned ran into and started a fist fight with the police while being taken to the old Courthouse across the road. Over the next few days we got quite interested in the whole Ned Kelly story, we decided after a little research at the library and the Tourist information centre to visit some of the related historical sites around Benalla. Most interesting was Glenrowan, the site of the infamous ‘Last Stand.’ It was here the Kelly Gang were ambushed by the police in the Glenrowan Hotel, which was subsequently burned to the ground in the seige and Kelly shot in the legs and captured. We carried on north-eastwards through Kyeamba and Gundagai, passing through early pioneer country and visited the famous ‘Dog on a tuckerbox’ station.
It was slightly further northwards near Goulburn that we experienced our coldest night since beginning our travels in the van. We hadn’t slept well at all that night as it felt much colder than normal. When we awoke next morning there was actually ice on the inside of the van. Our water tank had frozen solid so we couldn’t even get a brew on – nightmare! After thawing out and prizing the frozen dishcloths from around the tap we carried on towards the coast where we hoped it would get a bit warmer.
We detoured along Hwy 79 towards Nowra and then out onto the small peninsula where Callala beach is situated. We spent a few days there just chilling out and driving to the various small bays and beaches along that stretch of coast. Sure enough, now we were at sea level it was much warmer too – thank god! In fact it got up to around 18C in the daytime which was quite nice as long as the wind kept off you.
From Nowra we mendered slowly northwards towards Sydney, we’d made much better progress than we anticipated so really needed to waste time before dropping off the van. As it happened a little further north we dropped into Kiama, a picture postcard seaside town set amongst rocky coves and beautiful beaches. We decided it was the perfect place to spend a few days and just unwind after eight weeks in the van. We actually found a parking spot on the harbour jetty directly above the ocean. Each morning when we pulled back the curtain we looked out over the Pacific. At night we slept with the sound of it lapping (occasionally crashing!) up against the harbour wall. People would pay millions for view we had – just fantastic, especially when it’s for free! The next few days were pretty uneventful. We walked miles and miles, visited the lighthouse and the awesome blowhole on the headland. We also swam quite a lot – in the pool of course – still too cold for the sea! We saw some incredible sunsets while in Kiama, which made an awesome backdrop for the craggy coastline crested with Norfolk Pines and the picturesque lighthouse. We ended up staying in Kiama for a week we like it that much!
However, I suppose all good things must come to an end and we reluctantly continued on the last leg of journey towards Sydney. We we’re now within a morning's drive of the city and our drop-off point, but had left a day spare to explore Botany Bay and Cronulla on the way.
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