Motorhome tour of The Great Ocean Road

With five girlfriends I rented a motorhome in Melbourne to drive along the Great Ocean Road. Because we were with six girls we needed a large motorhome, the choice fell on the 6 person Hercules from Star RV from the rental company Apollo. A beautiful vehicle and fully equipped. At first we were a bit shocked by the size of this vehicle, it is not exactly small.... But it certainly didn't turn out too bad for me. The roads in Australia are spacious there was plenty of room for a large camper like our Hercules. Also, the camper had a reversing camera, but then when I had to drive backwards I briefly put a traveling companion out of the camper. She functioned as a reversing camera :-).

Yara: "We were shocked by the dimensions of a 6-person camper. But it wasn't too bad, the roads in Australia are spacious!"

We started our first day quietly with a nice cup of coffee, choice enough in Melbourne. There are an awful lot of nice coffee shops. That also makes Melbourne one of my favorite cities in Australia: the cute little streets with eateries and coffee shops. Very cozy! In addition, the city has a lot of graffiti and street art which gives Melboune a nice look.

The depot is easy to reach by cab or uber. The latter is quite cheap and reliable. After picking up the motorhome at the Star RV/Apollo depot, we started our road trip.

And then of course to the supermarket for good food, because yes, that is also part of a great trip. Enjoying and eating together. Especially in Australia where there are BBQs everywhere.... The parking lots in Australia are fortunately very large, so we could easily park with the campervan.

On our way to the Great Ocean Road! From Melbourne we drove via Geelong to Torqay. Since it was lunch time by now, we made a stop for a sandwich. Then we went for a little walk, we were lucky: we immediately came across a couple of kangaroos! There is nothing like Australia...

Just before the town of Lorne there is a very big sign: the Great Ocean Road! Here is the official start of the route. The "unofficial" part before it is also beautiful.

There are a number of must-sees along the Great Ocean Road. For starters, The Twelve Apostles. During the day it can be very crowded with tourists at these impressive rocks. We had parked our Hercules at a campground nearby. This was a campground in Princeville which, to our delight, was also completely full of kangaroos. With the sunrise we went to the "12". What an experience that was! The rock formations colored along with the sky, from pink to purple and finally blue. Thanks to the early hour, we were all alone!

Other sights worth mentioning are The London Bridge & Loch Ard Gorge but don't skip the lesser known Grotto. Cape Otway National Park is also highly recommended. In season it is easy to spot whales from the lighthouse. We were not so lucky here and only saw a fin, very far away....

But the Great Ocean Road has more to offer than the widely known, beautiful coastal route. For example, there is an awful lot of wildlife to see. For example, near the town of Kennett River. Here there are colorful birds and koalas in the trees. Another place where a lot of wildlife can be found is in Warrnambool. This is because here is the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. This old volcano is home to an enormous amount of wildlife, making it the perfect place to go on your own safari.

The great thing about traveling by motorhome is that you can make your own daily schedule. There are plenty of campsites and even parking lots where you can spend the night. Therefore, while driving, there is no rush to reach the next accommodation on time. The Great Ocean Road can be driven with 2 overnight stays, but I would still recommend taking longer for this beautiful route.

Tip from Yara:

"Take longer den 2 overnight stays for The Great Ocean Road."