We came to Adelaide from the Northern territory and needed a way to get to Melbourne. Renting a car was a bit expensive (also a bit scared of driving on the left) so we decided for a tour with the end point in Melbourne – ideal for us.
We started in Adelaide and headed east to the Grampians. The highlight of this part was the walk to the Mackenzie falls. The falls are nice, but we have to admit that waterfalls haven’t been the same since we saw the Iguazu falls. We spent the night in Halls Gap, a village where kangaroos on the front lawns are normal, but for us it was a special occasion and we just couldn’t get enough pictures.
The next morning we hiked the nearby hill. The views were good, but not something to compare with Alpine peaks. We also visited the Aboriginal cultural centre where we were reminded about the cruel history of the aboriginal people of Australia. After that we had lunch in a dormant volcano (Tower Hill), the main attraction of the place were »wild« koalas. Writing wild koala is just weird, because koalas living in captivity are just as active/lazy as the wild ones. 🙂
Then it was finally time for the Great ocean road. The road was built by servicemen returning from WWI. The road follows a spectacular limestone coastline. The highlights of the road: Bay of Martrys, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge and the world famous twelve Apostles. We have to admit that this part of the road made a huge impression on us, because here you can really see how powerful the ocean is and how fragile the coastline is. At the twelve Apostles we watched an amazing sunset and our German friends were even »lucky« enough and saw a Tiger snake. 🙂
The next day we didn’t have much of a sunset (or not at all to be exact), but the following activities were cool. The best was the walk through Otway National Park, with one of the oldest temperate rainforests. Afterwards we continued towards Melbourne with stops on the way in: Apollo Bay, Lorne and lunch at Split Point where there is a nice lighthouse. We continued through Bells Beach, where surfers show off their skills. And made a shopping stop in Torquay, the home of surf outlets Rip Curl and Quicksilver.
We arrived in Melbourne full of impressions in the late afternoon ready for new adventures.
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