Advice on Great Ocean Road Trip

[tracemul7]

Hey All,

Being still a noob at this Patrol stuff - thought I would ask all you clever ppl for some advice!

We're driving from Adelaide to Melbourne via the great ocean road, and then back via the Western highway.
We have the following days planned:
Adelaide-Mount Gambier (1night)
Mount Gambier-Warrnambool (1night)
Warrnambool-Apollo Bay (1night)
Apollo Bay-?? (1night)
??-Horsham (2night)
Horhsham-Adelaide

The questions marks are because we were going to stay with friends in Melbourne who are no longer available - so looking for somewhere to stay. We're thinking of driving from Apollo Bay to Geelong, and then maybe to Ballarat?? We wanna go through Skipton on the Glenelg highway, as it's named after a village in England close to where I came from :)

Any advice on where to go/stay for that night?

Also, any advise in general about what stuff to take? We are camping, so have got the usual tent/sleeping bag/mattress stuff, but in terms of tools/spares for the patrol?
We were supposed to be doing the trip with another family who have dropped out, so I am just a little worried that we might forget something important!

Any help is much appreciated :D

[AB]

Don't forget Mozzie repellant and coil burners around the camp, Melbourne is getting an infestation of mozzies this year form the rain's and will be a nightmare camping without sprays and burners at night.

Great Ocean Road....Your in Plasnart's territory so I'm sure he will help you out tonight when he jumps on

12 Apostles is obviously the spot to go see for tourists....Think there is only 8 left now...lol
Torquay and Bells Beach worth stopping in and checking out the towns.


If you have time it can also be worth jumping on the car ferry from Queenscliff across to the other side of the bay in Sorrento without having to drive all the way around through Melbourne City (45 minute ferry ride I think)....You can spend half a day checking out the area's Sorrento, Portsea and Ashcombe Maze is worth a look. Very ritzy area of places we can't afford...haha. There's a public walking track at the Portsea Pub heading back towards Sorrento where you can see all of the million dollar homes and drool.

Don't forget to take a photo of the pole house in Fairhaven on the Great Ocean Road (http://www.greatoceanroadholidays.com.au/accommodation/13)....haha....It was the house used on the "McCain's chip advertisement for years".

I'll have a think about other places and advice tonight.

[Woof]

Probably won't help much as I was 10 years ago that me and my family did this trip but here is the info I have:
Victoria Lake Caravan park - Shepparton - rating 8/10
Anglesea Family Caravan park - Anglesea - rating 10/10
Kooringal Holiday park - Apollo Bay - rating 4/10
Belfast Cove Caravan park - Port Fairy - rating 10/10 got to check out the Mutton-Bird Colony on Griffiths Island Shearwater

[MudRunnerTD]

yeah i agree with Plasnart, Sounds like your not interested in Melbourne as such. From Angelsea you can head to Geelong then North to Skipton and your on your way to completing your loop. Sounds like a great trip.

Wouls certainly be worth dropping into Torquay and have a look at the Surf Museum and surf shop seconds outlets while your there.

WARNING ==> if your on the Great Ocean Road on a weekend then please be aware of the white line mate, there are MANY Motorcycle riders on the road relying on you being on your side of the road especially if the sun is out.

Stop in at Lorne for a Coffee on your way through.

[smiffy3011]

Stop in Port Fairy for a looksee, advice from a fellow Brit.

Mike

[tracemul7]

Thanks all :)
We have decided to book that night in Beaufort, with a couple of options:
Apollo Bay to Geelong (via Torquay etc), then on to Skipton and up to Beaufort.
Or just Apollo Bay and head straight up towards Skipton and Beaufort.

We'll probably decide the day before - just see how we're feeling. If we're up for a long day, we'll go via Geelong, otherwise we'll take a shorter path :)

Yeah - we'll keep an eye out for the bikes and other vehicles. Hubby has had bikes for years, so is very aware of them, however we'll be sure to keep inside our white lines :)

I'm really looking forward to it - we just got the tints on the patrol, and cargo barrier goes in next week :D I might have a trial run at packing it up though - coz i prob wanna take tons of rubbish that we dont need/dont have space for!

I'll do a long summary when we're back - as it will be our first road trip in her! And i'm fully expecting that I may get breathalised for the first time too! Seeing as we're coming back on New Year's Day, i'm sure there'll be plenty of police presence on the roads!