TRAVEL // The Great Ocean Road, Australia

Hey there!

In the next instalment of my travel diary across Australia comes my drive down the Great Ocean road. We picked up a bright yellow hire car and drove all the way from Adelaide to Melbourne to see as many beaches as we could on the way. First up we stopped for a night in Kingston, one of the smallest little towns I have ever come across. It had a couple of pubs, a couple of small supermarkets and few small shops and that's it! From there, we stopped off in Robe before making it over to Mount Gambier as our final stop before reaching Melbs. It was a bit of a long trek, but really worth it - honest!

Kingston was a small town, but quite a good place to stay if you're driving along the Great Ocean Road. It's not too far from Adelaide and one of the cheapest places we were able to stay in. Sure, there's not too much to do, but the pub right by the beach had some really great food. Their pizzas could not have had more topping if they tried and all meals included a salad bar too for a darn good price. 

The next day we woke up early and drove to a little seaside town called Robe. It was where we actually wanted to stay on our first night but almost a year in advance and there was not a spare room in any hotels (that we could find at least!) It has lots of little shops, cafes and restaurants and I bet would be a lovely place to stay for a few days. The sea was the most gorgeous colour, that's for sure. 

One place you have to visit is the ice cream shop (it's right at the top and you cannot miss it!). It has some really interesting flavours, including Kinder Surprise, and their seating area is absolutely adorable. They've covered it in flowers and painted the walls with murals and it's just lovely. If anything, it's ridiculously photogenic and perfect for Instagram. 

A few more hours down the road and we reached Mount Gambier, home of the blue lake. For a few months every year, the lake is the most beautiful, incredible blue colour. I wish I could have jumped in! You can see if for free from the observatory desk at the top, take a hike around the lake or pay a little something (I think it was around $30 per person) to have a guided walk closer to the edge. A tour guide takes you down to that little house you can see where they do water purification for the town of Mount Gambier (who actually use that water!). After a little tour of the house, you go down a lift right to the edge of the water which is just as blue up close. There are a few opportunities to get a quick photo or two but that's really not the point of the tour (as much as I wish it was!)

Another tour that is available is an exploration of the Engelbrecht Caves. Once a rubbish dump, they were cleaned out in the 70s and now used for diving. It's really quite a cheap tour (Maybe $10 or so...I think!) and a good half hour-45 minutes. It's better if there is a smaller group of you and there are a lot of stairs but I was glad I did it. Even better was the opportunity to try Blue Lake Lemonade. There are very few places who stock this lemonade, which matches the colour of the famous blue lake, and turns your tongue very blue. If I could have had a second bottle I would but I was very much worried about ever getting a pink tongue back (so you know - I did!)

After seeing the beauty of the Blue Lake, we continued our trek along beautiful beaches before popping into Tower Hill. It has a volcano you can climb and once my dad heard about it we just had to do it and there was no stopping him. So, once I managed to avoid getting attacked by emus, I had to start on a 1 hour long hike up a mountain in flip flops and a summer dress. It's not an easy walk up and I was really not happy the entire way up because I was wearing everything that you shouldn't. The amount of scary bugs I saw and then googled to find out if they were poisonous was ridiculous. However, I did it and now I can say I climbed up a volcano (in a summer dress and flip flops!)

Unfortunately we couldn't drive as far along the Great Ocean Road as we would have liked because of a large bush fire. It meant that there were diversions away from the coast for a long part of the journey but fortunately very few people got hurt and the emergency services got it under control. However, once we passed it, the beaches were absolutely stunning and if you have the opportunity to drive it at some point, I'd seriously consider it if I were you.

Finally we drove along more beautiful beaches before finally making it to Melbourne. There's just something about white sands and blue seas that makes wish I was back. Instead, I'm in bed and looking at how horrifically windy it is outside. Well, we all have to come back to reality at some point!

Have you driven along The Great Ocean Road? Where were your favourite places to stop? Let me know!