The extreme hot and dry weather caused issues for Victoria as we made our way out of Melbourne. We were lucky and the fires were contained before we needed to go through an area under warnings. We enjoyed many coastal views such as the iconic Twelve Apostles and some artisan food shops as we followed the southern Coast into South Australia and the end of this first road trip: Adelaide.
Starting along the Great Ocean Road
Upon leaving Melbourne in the 100F+ weather (38C) we started to hear about bush fires starting around the state of Victoria. Most of them seemed farther inland and we were to drive along the coast on the Great Ocean Road starting in Torquay, so we weren’t too worried. We enjoyed some beautiful coastal views for the first bit of our drive that morning with bright water, tall cliffs and lovely looking beaches.
When we arrived in the town of Lorne, there was so much smoke in the air! There was a surf competition going on and it was too busy to stop anywhere but Mr. Wander found a tasty pizza place instead. It would normally have a really cool view as it was up on the hill but it was still smokey and the color a bit off, so it felt mildly creepy.
We continued down the coast until just outside Apollo Bay to check into our accommodation. It was more like a camp with shared shower and kitchen facilities across separate buildings. They did have a lovely view of the coast and here the wind was coming from the South so it wasn’t as smoky. They also had a few llamas and Highland cows, aka hairy coos!
There was a nice walk down to the beach where we watched what looked like storms coming in across the water, just fun clouds and waves. In the morning we made our way to the town of Apollo bay. There was a really nice outlook over the city and then we parked near the shore to walk a loop onto the beach. Mr. Wander captured a few interesting birds that I do not remember the name of at the moment, any ornithologists please comment below and I can update the captions. After our walk we had to get a lovely Sunday Roast at the southernmost pub in mainland Australia.
In the afternoon we relaxed back at our accommodation and made our own dinner in the kitchen. We kept an eye on a few fires and tried to make backup plans since there was one small fire right next to the Great Ocean Road that had closed it for the day prior, but several more farther north. Thankfully they had it contained by the time we woke up in the morning and were able to continue on our way.
The Twelve Apostles and their Artisan Food Trail
The next morning after getting through the fire area we made it to Twelve Apostles National Park. You may have seen this image of Australia before, it’s quite popular and this whole section of the road can be done in just a day trip from Melbourne, but it’s a lot of time on the bus to only see a few sights.
We arrived relatively early in the morning and it was busy but you could sneak into get the shot you wanted, and people were so nice about taking pictures for us and we returned the favor. The apostles are these standing pillars of rock in the ocean that have been carved from the cliffs by erosion of the wind and waves. They eat into the rock, create an archway which eventually collapses, and then these posts are separated from the mainland.
We drove to another spot, in this area there were 5-6 spots in about a 20 mile stretch for various photo ops such as a blowhole. The blowhole didn’t really blow but it wasn’t exactly high tide either so it might be better other times of day.
We arrived into Port Campbell too early to check in so we went to the Sow and Piglet brewery for some pizza and local brew. While there we learned about this whole artisan food trail and since we had the time we drove to the Apostle Whey Cheese Shop that had amazing locally made ice cream, G.O.R.G.E chocolate shop with fun shapes like Legos or wrenches, and The Timboon Railway Shed Distillery that had an entire wall of craft spirits made just from Australia. I thought that was such a cool way to celebrate locally made products. Mr. Wander did a whiskey flight all made by that distillery and I played it safe with a mocktail as the driver. Pleasantly full we made our way to our hotel to check in.
Bridges, Ramps, and Wallabies
In the morning we continued the sights along the coast to more arches and rock features carved by nature. Here one well known of those bridges was named London Bridge probably because it had collapsed. Not far from there was a place called the Grotto where we could hike down to an archway that hasn’t yet collapsed.
We pulled off along the road at several bays and in Petersborough to see more sights until we reached the Bay of Islands and the Steepest Boat Ramp in the world (and the longest)! I had to climb down just so you can get some perspective between Mr. Wander and myself at just how far down you have to back your boat! Just as we were leaving someone decided to drive their truck down to see for themselves, even though they didn’t have a boat to launch.
I wouldn’t want too large of a boat to take down this ramp for sure! We headed into Port Fairy for another pie lunch and some tasty treats. I had to try the caramel slice that is the closest thing to millionaire shortbread you can find south of the Equator but not quite the right kind of caramel based on those I had in Scotland. Still delicious.
There was a walk around a little island in the town where many shearwaters tend to nest. We tried to find them but they were well hidden in the brush. There were several other cool birds and our first Wallabies! These are a marsupial and look like a small kangaroo, but perhaps a little cuter. Talking with people on the trail they pointed out a few others that were hiding in the shade but we managed a few pictures.
We had a few hours left to drive to Mount Gambier so we made our way directly to our hotel for the night.
Many Sights between Mount Gambier and Robe
We had a few nights in Mount Gambier to give me a break from driving and we started to learn about another popular takeout in Australia: Loaded baked potatoes! Here there was a food truck called the Spud Train so we of course had to try it.
There was a cool feature right in the town: The Umpherston Sinkhole. It just looks like a normal city park area when you drive by, then you walk on the spiral path pathway into the hole and you almost forget you’re in a town! There’s a cave on one side but it was hard to get a good look inside.
To fuel us for a few sights on the way out of town, we started our day with Scroll Queen. What we know as cinnamon rolls are called scrolls in Australia, but here you can find many other flavors, like Biscoff and pistachio, or even savory ones like pizza or ham and cheese. We tried the standard cinnamon with icing, a cinnamon apple, and a few savory ones for a snack later. They were pretty good but they didn’t stand out beyond their clever flavor combinations.
Our first stop was to a blue lake that varies in color depending on the sun position.
It wasn’t super bright for us since it was pretty foggy but it was a very lovely shade regardless. We also found an outlook over another lake nearby.
Since it was starting to rain pretty good we decided to cancel the hike that morning and instead make our way to Robe. We stopped in Beachport to do a little walk instead since it was nice and sunny by the time we arrived. There was a jetty nearly a quarter mile long, so we walked to the very end and back. Several people were fishing along it and they had some handy measuring stations with the limits for various fish.
We played a little gas tank chicken so we didn’t make any detours
We made our way out of Beachport and to our last stop along this road trip: a town called Robe. As we left we didn’t look at the fuel gauge and ended up playing a bit of gas tank chicken but ultimately won and made it before we were on empty. For lunch we were excited to find a Mexican restaurant that was a local version of a Chipotle or Qdoba where you pick a bowl or burrito and put whatever you want inside, but even more delicious. There were tasty margaritas as well. We made it to the brewery nearby and really just had a great time together tasting so many delicious beers. The bartenders were either bad influences or good salespeople convincing us to try even more options.
As we spent time in Robe we explored a nice outlook outside of town where they used hay bales to help prevent sand from creating dunes on the road. In town we did a hike along the coast with interesting rock formations and an old gaol, which is essentially a jail. We walked to what was called an obelisk but it looked something like a lighthouse. Their actual lighthouse looked really modern and we could see it from the obelisk, it was the strangest looking lighthouse I have ever seen.
Culinary Delights of Adelaide
On the last stretch of driving for this trip we finally saw our first of Australia’s iconic “big” things you can find all over the country. At the time we didn’t know how iconic these actually are, but no worries we will see a bunch more on our second road trip! This one is in Kingston in South Australia and I think there is actually a lobster shack here as well. We found a bakery for one last meat pie for awhile.
We made it into Adelaide and dropped off our car at the airport and took an Uber to the hotel for a few days in the city. Mr. Wander found us a fun brewery just a block away so we headed there for dinner. We mostly ate our way across the city between tasty burgers, delicious cocktails, and a fancy breakfast place that had croffles – croissant waffles! Mr. Wander did head to a nearby park one of the days to get some steps in while I was trying to finish some of our Africa posts!
Soon it was time to head to the airport to make our way back to Asia for the first time since 2024.
Next Time
We leave Australia and make our way to Singapore to visit a few places we had missed the first time we were there two years ago. Then we head back to Bangkok to visit Mr. Wander’s Aunt & Uncle, experience a little preventative medical tourism, and finally take a Thai Cooking class. See you next Wednesday for all the fun details and food pictures!
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