The Great Ocean Road section of Australia is all about admiring the spectacular scenery and enjoying the surroundings, so we didn’t get up to any of our usual daft antics… oh wait…

We had said goodbye to Luke and Lisa, but gained a couple of road trippers in Anna and Laura. Toby decided to give the Interceptor a few days rest so we headed off in the van and the girls’ rental car.

We drove almost to our furthest point along the road on the first day, intending to drive back one stop at a time. This meant setting up camp in Port Campbell. A nice little town with a beautiful little beach. Nothing much happened there though, and I even went for a run to see some of the amazing coast line that I had heard so much about. The views did not disappoint, and there were some stunning places to stop and catch my breath along the cliff top.

After that Anna and Laura showed their road-tripping inexperience, or perhaps it was a higher set of morals? As the caravan park owner continued to hassle us about why there were more people than we had payed for. I think it’s fair to say they hated the situation and suggested paying full price or even the extra people booking into a hostel. At one point they even thought the police had come to lock us up. Carolyn showed no such morals and quickly jumped in with well articulated lie whenever we were questioned. She tried to convince us that she was normally an innocent and honest girl, but the ease with with which she deceived the park owner suggested otherwise.

Eager to avoid being caught, the girls were up and out of the campsite before I was even awake and we headed off early to begin seeing the spectacular sights. This did mean breakfast on the side of the road for the vano’s, but it was all worth it. Although the boardwalks and designated lookouts had somehow managed to turn the expanse of natural beauty into a tourist attraction. Miles and miles of coastline, but the vano’s, backpackers and Japanese tourists were rounded up on one wooden walkway, all taking exactly the same pictures. Driving the van along the Great Ocean Road was a pleasure though. Passing through towns such as Yuulong, Petticoat Creek, Sugarloaf, Grey River, and Separation Creek, we eventually decided to spend the night in Lorne.

It was fairly late when we arrived in Lorne, but it was still light enough for me to see my first wild koala bear, and have a quick skim board. While Ash and I hit the beach, everyone else did a pretty sweet job of finding a free campsite.

The first part of the road trip had been a fairly sedate affair, no stupid antics, nothing unsafe or against the law. However, when the local teenage revelers told us they were going to break into the trampoline park and go for a jump around, our eyes lit up! When they asked if we wanted to join them, there was only one answer. We scaled the fence and acted like the teenagers we were accompanying. The best moment of the night happened when the lookout shouted:

“RANGER!!!”

Everyone, including us, shot back over the fence and tried to walk on looking as calm as possible. Everyone apart from one, rather rotund, intoxicated girl. The poor lass couldn’t make it back over the tall metal fence, and petrified of being caught by the ranger she was screaming for someone to come help her. I jumped the fence right next to her but was only looking out for number one, plus I was in stitches laughing at her. Luckily some lad came back and managed to push her over, and the Ranger drove on by happy not to have to get out of his car.

Lorne was a pretty relaxed place and because of the beach showers, free campsite and free BBQ’s it suited our van life. We decided to stay another night, but had a more mature second evening. We watched some live music at the local bar and then hung around in the beach car park with the local vano’s. They other van bums entertained us with traveling stories, bongo’s, magic tricks and poi. We didn’t even bother with the campsite, as the car park had all we needed. Four in a van was bit cramped though and Toby had the worst of it, sleeping across the front seats with a handbrake in his back and steering wheel in his face.

The last sight to see on the way home was a light house. Apparently Cape Otway Light Station is Australia’s most significant lighthouse, and the oldest, surviving lighthouse in mainland Australia. We decided it was more important to visit the light house from the kids TV show Round the Twist and Aussie film Mad Max. Split Point Light House, surprisingly, was well worth the visit.

After swinging by Torquay for a little shopping and revisiting Bells Beach, the Great Ocean Road Trip came to an end back in Melbourne.

Trampolining pics: There a few good ones but I’ll have to get them of Toby. Watch this space!