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The Great Ocean Road to Adelaide, AU

December 15th, 2024

We landed pretty much on time from Saigon and after taking the bus to the to terminal, got to the immigration kiosks.  Once again Fran’s passport was accepted at the E-Passport machine but Doug’s was not (we think it’s because it’s 9 years old so maybe the technology has changed) so he had to go to an agent to enter the country. We waited about 20 minutes for our bags (those Dreamliner 787’s carry a lot of people and their bags and boxes – oh so many boxes came off that plane). But it all arrived safe and sound. At customs we declared our food purchases: two packages of macadamia nuts and a bag of coconut candy and there was no issue. The rule of thumb here in Australia is it’s better to declare anything you’re not sure of than have it “found” and get fined – and we understand it’s quite severe.

The sky was blue and the sun was out – it’s been several days since we’ve seen that big yellow ball in the sky – our last sunny day was the second day of the cruise the week before we left.

We found the bus stop to take us back to the Value Parking Lot and Matilda was safe and sound and started on the first try! We put our luggage in the back and after confusing directions from our GPS, we found the exit and paid at $12 per day a total of $438 AUD ($275 USD) for that 31 days of parking – we’d arrived about 30 minutes too late to pay only 30 days.

First thing we had to do is go grocery shopping but as the back was full of luggage, up arriving at Woolworth’s, we parked and spent an hour unpacking and putting away; when you live in a small space, you can’t just leave stuff out. After shopping it was already after 3pm so Fran found a pub about 12 km / 7 mi after the mall, which lets RVs park for the night if they are self contained for a $10 donation to a local charity – that will do for today. We got parked under a tree to get some shade and other than the odd train speeding by, had a quiet night. We are back on eastern Australian time – four hours ahead of Vietnam so it make take us a couple of days to adjust. The temp reached 30C / 86F today but cooled down reasonably well overnight; Fran used the fan for the first couple of hours and turned it off first time she woke up. Doug was up by 6 to do a long run and Fran slept until 7:30 before getting up to exercise.

Today was supposed to jump to 42C / 108F so Fran booked us a campsite for tonight and a different one down the road for tomorrow night as we tour the “Great Ocean Road” so we are not frying overnight.

It took us less than an hour to reach the famous road and today we drove just under half of it.  The road officially starts in the city of Torquay – which is a major surfing hub and this is where you find the shops like Rip Curl and Quicksilver as well as a Billabong shop.

The sky was mostly clear, it got quite hot and we stopped at several lookouts to take photos.  One of them was right on the beach so we had to go check it out; the water was cold Fran said but the beach was clean and lovely.

We went through the touristy towns of Lorne, Wye River and the largest city on the route, Apollo Bay and made our way to Princetown where on the outskirts is a Recreation area with camping.

We made short stops at various pullouts for views:

We had paid $32 AUD ($20 USD) online and this got us a spot with power and well water (they say not to drink it) as well as bathrooms and hot showers. The cell reception was spotty but we’re only here one night.

We both took advantage of the hot showers offered and had a chill afternoon. By 4pm the temperature had dropped to the low 20’s from the low 40’s – amazing; we had to turn off the AC and put out the awning for the forecast rain in the evening.

It got super windy overnight and by 3am the camper was really moving around and the awning, which was only out about two feet, was rattling a lot and neither of us slept any more. It began to rain just when Doug was about to go for a run and the wind was just too strong so he left it until the afternoon when we got camped in Portland. Fran managed to get in a short yoga session before we left around 7:30. The sun was out by 8 and stayed with us most of the day.

Today’s drive along the Great Ocean Road was about lookouts at cliffs and rocks.

We made several stops along the way:

Twelve Apostles – there’s only seven left

Port Campbell National Park to see:

Island Archway Islands Lookout – but we saw no arch

The Razorback

Loch Ard Gorge and caves

The London Bridge

The Grotto

Crofts Bay with the Martyrs Rocks

Killarney Beach – considered one of the best in the country:

Near the end of the Great Ocean Road is the town of Apollo Bay:

Our final stop before reaching Portland was the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area which was a little disappointing after the description we read in our guide book but it was also for somber as it ended with setting out the data on the massacre of thousands of aboriginals.

The Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area is an area of lava flow featuring an inter-connected complex of 18 stone wall dams/weirs, seven excavated channels and numerous swampy depressions associated with trapping and holding kooyang (eel).

The Tyrendarra aquaculture complex features multiple swampy depressions that were artificially filled by flood waters (and kooyang) from Killara via a series of four excavated channels. Swampy depressions were also linked by a series of “natural, modified or artificial water channels that featured eel traps”. Modelling reveals that the Gunditjmara used a system of inter-connected excavated channels to allow winter flood waters from Killara to infill adjacent swamp depressions to varying depths through installation of strategically placed dams. These same dams enabled the swamp depressions to retain water throughout the summer dry season, and thus function as sustainable holding ponds or ‘pens’ for kooyang. The Tyrendarra fish trap complex, located adjacent to Killara, shows how dams artificially hold-in winter flood waters and kooyang during periods of dry conditions.

spot where homes used to be:

a recreated hut:

fish channel:

We then topped up the tank and got to our booked campsite in Portland. This is another NRMA “holiday park” (Fran has a membership – we got the first four months free and now pay $5 a month but it saves us at least 10% on camping) and we paid $33 for this; we have a power & water site, Wi-Fi, the usual bathroom blocks, camp kitchen and more which we didn’t use.

We have a view of the water but it’s the harbour so not a beach per se.

First things first, we had a late brekkie, did some chores, Doug went for his run and Fran sorted through photos. It didn’t get that warm today, maybe 20C/ 70F and it was super windy so it felt colder later in the day. We had a few sprinkles around dinner time and the sky was overcast once again.

To see all our pics from this drive, click  here.

We both slept well and after our usual morning routine, we hit the road around 9:30 am after also filling and dumping our tanks. The sky was clearing and it was in the mid 20’s C / upper 70’s F today. We wanted to get about half way back to Adelaide today. About a month ago, Doug made an appointment with John’s mechanic to get an oil change for Matilda as just dropping in places was not working; everyone was booked out a few weeks. We also had packages from the kids for Christmas to pick up and a few things we ordered as well. This will be our last time going to Adelaide as we begin the journey west and clockwise around the country to end in Sydney next year sometime….

On the drive a car flashed its headlights and we were not sure why until Doug saw a koala crawling into the tall grass on the other side of the road and shortly after that we saw one that didn’t make it in our lane. 🙁 After that it was a bunny running across the road.

We made just north of Kingston South Australia at a parking lot right on Granites beach. Here’s our view from the back window over the dune:

We had brekkie and both went for walks and spent time online as we actually had a 5G signal here and Fran could get some website stuff done.

an actual intact shell on the beach:

We had a super clear and quiet night – the sunset was pretty intense and the stars were amazing!

Thursday morning after exercising Fran walked over to the lookout to enjoy her tea. There were Little Pied Cormorants on the rocks and roo prints in the sand:

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After Doug returned and we had tea, we left around 8:30 made our way towards Adelaide. On the first road we saw a fox heading into the bush and Doug said he’d also seen one on this run this morning.

We made a stop to dump the cassette, one for beer and one for diesel before arriving at John & Pam’s just before 2. It was so lovely to seem them again and we enjoyed some catch up time and a lovely rib dinner before calling it a night.

All our expected packages that we had ordered and the ones from our children for Christmas had arrived but one. It apparently gotten to Sydney the day before so we’re not sure if we’ll get it in time. Worse comes to worse, Pam and can forward it to us as Fran has set up an Australia Post Account where we can have packages delivered anywhere in the country.

They offered us a bedroom but we chose to sleep in our own beds. It got pretty warm today and it was a bit of a warm night. We had cooled off the rig with the AC for about a half hour before going to sleep but did not leave it running. This was not a good idea as it didn’t cool off much overnight and neither of us slept that well. The next day was quite warm as well but it cooled in the late afternoon as a good wind came through.

Friday, after packing up some stuff and laundry, Fran left Doug with Matilda, she went into the house and got laundry started before showering. Doug took Matilda to John’s mechanic whom he’d made an appointment for about 6 weeks ago. We wanted an oil/lube, brake inspection as well as having that suspension work that was done before we left Adelaide, checked again.

Good news and bad news; oil change went well and they used up the spare oil we had been carrying in two different jugs in the cab, and the brakes were in great shape with 80% of life left on them.

Bad news: the tail shaft that had been installed back when we left Adelaide (when it all fell out!) had a bent section from where it had been re-installed and it was leaking! They suggested we take it back to them but we don’t trust them now and Claude said they’d do the work for $300 if they could get the part by tomorrow. Okay we can live with that.  However, it turns out the part won’t arrive till Monday but they are still open that day (last day before Christmas) so we’ll be hanging at John & Pam’s over the weekend. We are SO fortunate to have them in our lives!

Doug returned to the house and now we wait. He is to return Matilda first thing Monday so they can get it ready to install the new parts as soon as they arrive. We have a campground booking for Tuesday and over Christmas in the Coffin Bay National Park so it will be a long day and a half drive instead of the slow four day drive we had anticipated. On the plus side, it’s getting taken care of before we head across the remote Nullarbor region of Australia on our way to Perth. We can make a 700 km / 400 mi drive in that time if required. It’s not the end of the world.

It was pretty warm today with full sun. As Fran was working away today, she pulled out our external hard drives to do something and discovered one was corrupted. She has recovery software and everything seems to be there so we’ve ordered a new one locally and will pick it up tomorrow.

Saturday the temps cooled into the mid 20’s / high 70’s. After Fran started her day, she took on the task of dragging out our suitcases up to the house to an outside table in the shade. She emptied them completely and repacked them taking an inventory (helps so much to find things when needed). On our return from Vietnam we were just trying to get stuff put away and already needed something from one of them but which one? That took a while but it was great to have a big table to spread out on and reorganize.

Doug managed a half marathon run today despite the hills and after getting showered etc. we took Matilda into the city to pick up the new hard drive and get some other shopping done.

We spent the afternoon with John & Pam watching the Survivor finale; John made us a clam linguini for dinner and we played cards for a couple of hours before hitting the hay.

Sunday morning was a lazy morning and we spent much of the day chillin’ in Matilde as Pam and John were getting ready for a family gathering in their backyard. In the middle of the afternoon they took us over to a cherry orchard to have a treat before their party, and later as their gathering wound down, they invited us up to meet their family.

Monday, Doug was out the door around 7:30 again to get Matilda to the garage; Fran went up to the house for a shower and Wi-Fi. The part was supposed to arrive before noon.  John kindly took Fran over to the Woollie’s around 10:30 so we could stock up and right after she got back Doug messaged that the part had arrived. By noon he was picking her up with the groceries and we were on our way! It wasn’t a cheap exercise but it’s done and he feels much better about this mechanic than the idiots who installed the suspension.  He had reached out to them via text and they weren’t much help other than to bring it over.  He intends to leave a bad Google review – it’s unfortunate as they came across so nice and helpful while we were there parked for nearly a week.

Today the sun is out in full force but it’s quite breezy; temps will reach low to mid 20’s C / mid to high 70’s and the wind will keep away the flies!

This link will take you to the rest of the photos from this leg.