Travel Diary: Sydney, Melbourne and The Great Ocean Road

Hope your sitting comfortably since this post is 3,500 words long!  We could speak forever about Australia, we love it, but we have tried to limit ourselves!  Enjoy!!

10 – 11 January – Australia here we come

At 4am our alarm went off as we had to get to the airport early for our 6am flight. An hours flight took us to Bangkok airport where we had a 3 hour wait before boarding a 3 hour flight to Singapore where again we had to wait for the big 7 and a half hour flight to Sydney! Second leg of the Round-the-World ticket - woo hoo! Feeling completely zombied we eventually managed to get the airport bus for A$18 each to Wake Up Hostel which we had already booked online (complete shock at £25 each for a 6 person dorm, sharing toilets and showers with 50 other people whereas we had just left Laem Din Hotel in Thailand which was 5 star superior room with pool, gym etc for £25 for the 2 of us, and that was pushing the boat out!). As we arrived so early we weren’t able to check into our room until 11am but even then our beds weren’t made so we went into the tv room for a nap! When we eventually got into our room we accidentally slept in until 3pm so we were too late to start our camper hunt! In the evening we took a stroll and found China Town where we could actually eat for a reasonable price. We got our first idea of how huge the Ozzy portions are. When we got back to the dorm all of our new roomies were there! All surprisingly nice, aside from one hyperactive German!

12 January

Today we begin our hunt for a campervan!! All of the backpackers in Sydney head to Victoria Street in Potts Point to sell all their cars and campers. The streets are lined with them, most racking up on average 300,000 km and some campers from the 1970’s! We walked the street what seemed like a hundred times before getting the train back to the hostel. This evening we took a walk to the Opera House. We were in amazement!! The Sydney Bridge and the Opera House are amazing structures! We decided to splash out and have dinner by the Opera House and splurged on a beer and glass of wine!

13 January

We bought a camper today!! After choosing the vehicle yesterday, a 1995 Toyota Hiace, we took it in for a full mechanical inspection today which turned out surprisingly well and agreed on a price of $4500, about £2800. The mechanic said it was one of the best backpacker campers to pass through there! Unfortunately, to get our safety certificate (needed for changeover of the vehicle) we have to change the rear light. He also recommended we have the cooling system flushed – which is probably going to be vital if we are driving through the desert so it’s still going to set us back a little more plus kitting out the back! We had chosen a van based on how good it was mechanically and unfortunately, this one had nothing special inside basically just a bed and cooking utensils. To kit out the back will be like refurnishing a house!! Only problem now though is withdrawing that amount of cash! That is tomorrow’s dilemma! We were planning on watching Tron in 3D at the cinema with the World’s biggest cinema screen but stupidly, they changed the start time so we missed it and the Great Moscow Circus was closed again so we headed back to the hostel for an early night which actually turned into a late one after trying to pre-authorise the cash withdrawal to pay for the camper tomorrow. The driving plan: since the whole of the East Coast, even as far as Brisbane now, is flooding we have decided to head to Perth. We are going to drive along to Melbourne then the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide and then do the 2 day Nullabor journey across the outback to Perth. Hopefully, the rains will stop over the East Coast and we can do the second half of our 3 month stay in Australia over there.

14 January

We had our last decent shower this morning and checked out of the hostel. Shaun went to the bank and had no luck withdrawing the cash – HSBC the World’s worst bank! Instead he went to Commonwealth Bank and luckily they gave him the full amount straight away! After we had sorted out our insurance (Third Party Property as you are covered Third Party Personal by the Rego) we met Alex to pick up Letoya Toyota! We had a quick run through of how every works, signed the papers, had a few photos and we were on our way! First we went to Kmart and bought new duvets, pillows, sheets etc. then went to Coles to stock up on the food essentials – pasta, rice and noodles! Our next task was to find somewhere to park our house at night. We had heard of a car park just outside the City where people who were selling their vans usually stayed for the night. We eventually found it and settled in for our first night in our new home. The setting is fantastic - behind us is the motorway, infront is a beautiful beach next to Botony Bay Harbour and just infront of that is the international runway! So whether you’re into the beach, cars, bikes, boats or planes this is the place for you!

15 January

We woke up to bright sunlight filling the van and some intense heat however, it was a reasonable night’s sleep considering the motorway and the airport. First thing on the shopping list is a fan. As I refused to shower in the beach toilets we headed to Bondi to try and find a campsite, not without going for a swim first on the famous beach! It’s nothing like on Bondi Rescue though - no accidents, no sharks, no drama! And to our dismay we were informed there are no campsites here! Back to the scabby toilets in Brighton-Le-Sands for cold showers it was! To my surprise it wasn’t so bad, it’s not that cold!

16 January

Today we have chilled out taking a drive to Rockdale Centre and then had a swim in the freezing sea at Brighton-Le-Sands! Never knew the sea was cold in Oz! This evening’s shower was quite horrendous! The showers are open and only one works so I had to wait because there was a huge family all showering first so I came back when they had finished, or so I thought! Half way through my shower I was surrounded by 5 girls waiting for the shower who just stood there and watched me, I was shocked! Plus one of the younger girls jumped in whilst I was grabbing the shower gel, little brat! Back to MacDonalds this evening for a skype session on the free wifi! And to get some power Shaun had to climb on the table and pull out a plug for a light and managed to smash the light cover on the floor, hilarious!

17 January

We got up early this morning to Skype home from MacDonalds, brilliant for free wifi! We then headed into Rockdale to see a mechanic about doing a few jobs on the van. Amazingly he quoted a third of the price of the mechanic in Sydney city! We are all booked in for tomorrow morning then hopefully we can get on the road. The mechanic also informed us that you only need a Safety Certificate when you renew the Rego not change ownership so this saves us 30 bucks! We headed straight to the RTA in Rockdale and changed the vehicle ownership for $45. Typically, our first free afternoon is overcast and tres windy. So instead of laying on the gorgeous beach I did the washing! We are officially pikeys washing clothes in a carpark and hanging them from the van! This evening we actually made it to watch Tron! The film was awesome! The screen is HUGE, the World’s biggest, but we were probably sat a bit too close so the 3D wasn’t as great as it could’ve been. Definitely go again when we go back to Sydney.

18 January

At 9 this morning we took Letoya to the mechanics where he flushed the rad with new coolant, replaced all the spark plugs, cleaned the air filter and gave it a general once over for $150 dollars - expensive but a third of the price of Sydney! By 12 Letoya was in perfect working order and we went off to Rockdale Centre again to try and fix the generator, the one good thing the van came with and we can’t get to work! No luck with this so we have bought an inverter instead. This afternoon we worked out a route we are going to take to head to Melbourne, ready to set off tomorrow morning.

19 January

We got up early this morning we went shopping for some supplies before heading off on our first road trip!! We only drove for 3 hours today to ease Letoya in! We ended up in a place called Yass still in New South Wales. It is a tiny little village of 2000 people. We decided to treat ourselves to a caravan park this evening for $18 with warm private showers!!! We were able to really chill out here and got out the table and chairs and ate cheese and biscuits, wine and beer – perfect!

20 January

Today we set off at 1.30 again and got back on the M31 towards Melbourne. After 4 hours driving we settled for a campsite in Albury for $25 a night for two people but when Shaun went into to pay ask no questions tell no lies we only paid $15. Today we learnt a valuable lesson of driving slowly – today we did 300km on just under a third of a tank at 100km/hour whereas yesterday we did the same distance but well over a third of a tank at 110km/hour. Yesterday we maxed the speed limit which is 110km/hour but it burns more precious fuel – time we have, money we don’t. We saw another couple of signs for kangaroos (you definitely know you’re in Oz when you see those, otherwise it looks like the rolling hills of Wales out here but with glorious sunshine!) and upsettingly we saw a couple of kangaroo road kill, and no we didn’t stop to eat it! As we were going to the laundry room we saw the mother of all spiders hanging above the door! We both waited a few minutes before sprinting inside and patting ourselves down, so scary! We settled in early tonight and watched a few episodes of True Blood – still need to keep ourselves in the loop of programming out here ay!

21 January

This morning we set off early as we decided to make it to Melbourne today. On route we saw koala road signs – at first we were like ‘what on earth is that’ but soon realised it was a koala as we got close. Fortunately, no koala road kill but unfortunately no koalas. Sydney looked like a posh part of London and Melbourne looks like Blackpool! As we couldn’t find a campsite in Melbourne we drove straight through passing roads that looked like Ramsey Street to Geelong an hour’s drive away. This city is gorgeous with friendly people and cool architecture, we could stay here for weeks. As it was getting late we settled for the first campsite we found called Moolap Caravan Park which looked like something out of 8 Mile. After some tea we watched some true blood and settled in the freezing van. You would be surprised how cold it gets in the evenings.

22 January

Today we headed into Geelong town to get a few more bits and bobs for the camper which always ends up taking all day in the city. After asking some questions at the Tourist Information we headed to a packed campsite called Barwon River Caravan Park for $35! The site was packed as it is peak holiday season and the week lead up to Australia Day so Geelong (Victoria’s second biggest city) is full of activities including Audi Yacht Festival so there are tonnes of holiday makers. We had a chilled night in MacDonalds, like every Saturday night on Skype.

23 January

Time to see some real Australian wildlife!! Today we headed to Barwon Heads to the Jirrahlinga Koala Sanctuary. To be honest they can’t really call it a koala sanctuary as they only have 2 which were snoozing in the trees. We did however get to see hundreds of parrots, cockatoos, cockatiels, wombats, wallabies, kangaroos, snakes, ostrich, an echidna, a dingo and a fox! We even fed some baby wallabies by hand. The photos can tell the story ... Tonight we had ourselves a Barbie at Moolap and a few beers.

24 January

Back on the exercise regime today starting off with a game of Torture Cards Boot Camp. Basically every suit is an exercise (sprints, burpies, press ups and sit ups) and what ever number you draw from the pack you do that many of the exercise. The pack takes an hour and it made us realise how unfit we have become! Another scary haircut for Shaun today. We thought we had gotten away from those crazy haircuts they give in Asia but this woman attempted the lego man too!! It was quicjly rectified and we were on our way. We took a stroll along Geelong Waterfront where they are having a festival including music and loads of little shops. Shaun bought some Fox clothing and we ended up having a really useful chat with the Ozzy owners who even gave us free stickers for the van! Walking across the harbour we saw a fishing boat selling cheap mussels, how can we resist. We got a kilo for 5 bucks for our tea. We stayed another night in Moolap and cooked up our mussels in a bottle of cider and a clove of garlic – delicious!

25 January

This morning after we did some cheap washing before we headed back into Geelong waterfront to get some more mussels!! 2kilos today for 10 bucks, yum yum! Then we finally hit The Great Ocean Road! The first town along the Great Ocean Road is Torquay which is a surfers heaven and pretty much ours too! Surf shops everywhere, amazing beaches and winding roads. We had to stop at the imfamous Bells Beach where the Rip Curl Surf Championships are held every year. The waves were nothing like we have ever seen before and there were a few keen surfers out. We headed along the winding road for Airleys Inlet to find a free campsite, not before stopping off at a few surf shops and debating whether to buy a second hand board – how can you come to Australia and not surf. The guy in the surf shop looked astonished when we told him we have never surfed before, it’s like a crime out here! Before long we reached Airleys Inlet and followed some directions up a dirt track to find a ‘campsite’. Not finding anything we came back down for directions before being told to keep going up the track where ‘it’s not far’ - about 45 minutes later we reached the ‘campsite’. A tiny clearing in the middle of the Otway National Park full of drunken teenagers partying in the middle of the bush. We found a spot and settled in next to the billabong. We cooked up some amazing mussels for tea, had a few ciders and met some Swedish girls travelling the same route. As it had started raining we watched a bit of True Blood, a film and then got an early night. Well I did – Shaun was worried all night that we would fall into the billabong as the ground softened!

26 January

We headed straight back to the surf board shop in the morning where Shaun bought the biggest board he could find for the cheapest price (which is tiny and not for the learner really) for $125, a bargain! Whilst we were in the board shop we bumped into a group of people in a camper Shaun had spoken to at the campsite earlier this morning and we decided to head the beach together. Shaun and Jamie (a Scouse now living in Melbourne) headed straight out to the surf whilst I sunned it up on the sand with the girls - Elle (Jamie’s girlfriend from Canada), Sinead (from N. Ireland) and Kath (another Scouse). After having a shower at the beach toilets we headed to a free campsite together, Johanna Beach Campground further along the Great Ocean Road. Here is where it came into it’s own – it’s spectacular! The roads wind around the cliffs (and I mean wind, you actually feel quite ill sometimes) but the scenery is amazing, including the wildlife. There are fields of cattle and sheep the whole way and we also saw our first wild wallabies on the side of the road (and a few squished ones too). We arrived at the campsite after dark so quickly made tea which is challenging with only a little hand torch. We then all got into the Jucy for a few drinks and some giggles. A posh Cambridge boy came over to crash our party in his white jeans, shirt and winkle picker;, obviously not a camper! Shaun and Jamie went out after a few beers on a koala hunt, but had no luck only crazy stories!

27 January

Shaun and I took a stroll across Johanna Beach this morning – it’s amazing! Shaun actually said it’s his favourite beach yet! You cannot swim on the beach because the waves and the rip are huge but it’s so empty and peaceful just to walk along. We then got back on the Great Ocean Road and met the others at the 12 Apostles. We could only count 10 but they are ‘12’ rock formations sticking out of the water just off the coast. They are really stunning and look very dramatic amongst the HUGE waves! Further along the coast is ‘ship wreck coast’ and London Bridge which has fallen down! Another long drive and we stopped at another free campsite in Narrawong by Portland called Sawpit Campground in Mount Clay State Forest. Here you can have your own camp fires so we collected some logs and settled in for a bush BBQ! We even had kangaroo - it tastes amazing!!! Best meat going! After the fire had died out and we all had drunk a bottle of ‘goon’ each (cheap wine) we went to bed past 4am feeling very Australian after sitting in the bush around a camp fire after a Barbie and beers with some brilliant new friends.

28 January

We all drove into Portland to go to Bridgewater Beach for the day so the boys could keep practising their surfing. Shaun got up a few more times today, albeit only for a second or two! We all flocked to the one and only free town shower as the ladies was out of order we all had to use the one male shower on a 3 minute timer! I can’t even wash my hair in 3 minutes! After stocking up on the essentials - food, water and booze - we headed back to Sawpit for another night in the bush around a camp fire! We all had a curry for tea and had a few beers around the fire, not as late tonight though as we are getting up early to see some koalas.

29 January

Last night a local called Greg at the campsite told us about a place to see wild koalas (none of us had seen wild ones yet), at Mount Richmond National Park. He wasn’t wrong! On the highway we saw one dozing in a tree then we took a bush walk and spotted 4 more in the trees and even an Echidna (a cross between a porcupine and an ant eater). As we were sat eating lunch in the picnic area I spotted 2 chase each other up a tree. I grabbed my camera and sneaked over where they ran back down the tree. Then one of them just sat there on the floor and looked at us for ages before it climbed about 7ft up the tree to pose for some pictures! A great end to the morning! We said goodbye to the others as they were heading back to Melbourne. We have made some great friends and a place to stay should we come back to Melbourne or even Liverpool! We are now heading along the A1 to eventually get to Adelaide. Tonight we are staying in a ‘campsite’, well it’s a field where they ride horses which has a few toilets and a shower for $11 in Mount Gambier in South Australia. New Plans: Since time is running out fast and we only have about 8 weeks left before we fly to New Zealand we don’t have time to do both the West and East Coast so unfortunately we will not be going across the Nullabor to Perth. Instead we will be driving from Port Augusta to Ayres Rock then onto Cairns which will give us about 7 weeks to do the East Coast and sell Letoya the Camper.