AUSTRALIA – Memories in the making

Flying to Australia for the first time. When my family asked whether or not I would like to join them to Melbourne for a road trip, I hesitated. Don’t get me wrong, I do love to visit Australia at some point of my life but I did not consider it to be in my top bucketlist. Nonetheless, upon researching more about Melbourne and knowing that we will be travelling with a motor-home, I agreed upon this adventure! It turned out to be the best decision ever – just because I am not the driver! Haha, just kidding. We were travelling with 2 caravans, hence we communicated with each other via walkie talkie and I had to be the commander for the trip; leading the way in case our GPS was not working well. So yeah, that was “fun“.

The idea of travelling via a caravan is so exciting yet in actual fact, it can be ultra exhausting. First, you need to plan where you will be parking your caravan for the night and it is of course not free! Secondly, you have to be in charge of the battery – making sure that your caravan is connected to the power for the night! Thirdly, you need to clean your toilet everyday – topping up water and throwing waste away. Next, you also have to top up your kitchen gas if you do cook frequently. Also most importantly, like any other vehicle, do not forget to top up your petrol too! Another thing to be cautious of when travelling on a caravan is making sure that all your items are not left on the counter because …it can get messy when you are driving on the road. Hence, you MUST lock all the drawers before driving off. Mind you, sometimes the drawer may still get out of hand even when you have already locked them – this usually happens when you are driving at a sharp turn junction. Alright, enough of the Dos and Don’ts, let’s get on the itinerary.

Singapore ➡ Melbourne

I flew to Melbourne with Emirates at noon Singapore time and had arrived in Melbourne at Midnight. The best seats to choose on the flight at this timing was to definitely sit on the right side, which I did not. A blunder, I know. I did get to see a peek of the gorgeous sunset though! Since our flight landed late at night, it was a little too late to collect our motor home hence we checked in at the Park Royal Hotel to rest for the night.

Day 1 – Collecting our Motorhome

It took us about 2 hours to go through the check in process. It was so busy when we arrived at the Britz office. The rental cost us $1633.35 for 6 days with Britz Inclusive package. For more information, you can visit Britz website.

Address: Central West Business Park, 9 Ashley St, Braybrook VIC 3019, Australia

Stocking up the pantry

📍 324/328 Hampshire Rd, Sunshine VIC 3020, Australia

Head to Sunshine Plaza to stock up on your halal meats and other kitchen necessities. Make sure to stock up enough meats for the road trip because finding halal meats outside of the city may not be easy. It was not easy for us at the very least.

Parking at Discovery Holiday Park Melbourne

📍 129 Ashley St, Braybrook VIC 3019, Australia
Cost per night for Powered Site: $80 (3 pax) / $125.24 (6 pax)

Day 2 – The start of Great Ocean Road

Melbourne City ➡ Bells Beach, Torquay (104 km)

📍 Bells Beach, Victoria 3228, Australia
🕒 About 1 hr mins drive

Bells Beach, Torquay ➡ Memorial Arch at Eastern View (27.8 km)

📍 689/721 Great Ocean Rd, Eastern View VIC 3231, Australia
🕒 About 30 mins drive

Memorial Arch at Eastern View ➡ Marriner’s Lookout (57.6 km)

📍 155 Marriners Lookout Rd, Apollo Bay VIC 3233, Australia
🕒 About 1 hr 10 mins drive

Marriner’s Lookout ➡ Apollo Recreation Reserve (4.8 km)

📍 Bells Beach, Victoria 3228, Australia
🕒 About 11 mins drive
Cost per night for Powered Site: $47 (3 pax) / $94 (6 pax)

Day 3 – Finishing off Great Ocean Road

Meeting Koala on route to Cape Otway

Apollo Recreation Reserve ➡ Cape Otway (31.9 km)

📍 Otway Lighthouse Rd, Cape Otway VIC 3233, Australia
🕒 About 35 mins drive
Ticket price: $30 (Adult)

Cape Otway ➡ Twelve Apostles (77.2 km)

📍 Great Ocean Rd, Princetown VIC 3269, Australia
🕒 About 1hr 15 mins drive

Twelve Apostles ➡ Loch Ard Gorge (4.2 km)

📍 Great Ocean Road Port, Campbell VIC 3269, Australia
🕒 About 10 mins drive

Loch Ard Gorge ➡ London Bridge (15 km)

📍 Great Ocean Rd, Peterborough VIC 3270, Australia
🕒 About 15 mins drive

London Bridge ➡ Bay of Islands (11.3 km)

📍 Bay Of Islands, Peterborough VIC 3270, Australia
🕒 About 13 mins drive

Bay of Islands ➡ Big4 Port Fairy Holiday Park (74.5 km)

📍 115 Princes Hwy, Port Fairy VIC 3284, Australia
🕒 About 1 hr drive
Cost per night for Powered Site: $55 (3 pax) / $88 (6 pax)

Day 4 – Exploring Grampians

Port Fairy Holiday Park ➡ Reed Lookout/The Balconies (164 km)

📍 Glenelg River Rd, Victoria, Australia
🕒 About 2 hr drive

⚠️ We wanted to drive to Mackenzie Waterfalls which is 7 km away but was not sure if the road was caravan friendly. Do check out at your own risk! Do let me know if it is safe to drive with caravan.

Reed Lookout ➡ Pyrenees Caravan Park (62.1 km)

📍 6003 Pyrenees Hwy, Ararat VIC 3377, Australia
🕒 About 1 hr drive
Cost per night for Powered Site: $35 (3 pax) / $65 (6 pax)

Day 5 – Ballarat Zoo and back to Melbourne City

Pyrenees Caravan Park ➡ Ballarat Wildlife Park (98.2 km)

📍 Ballarat Wildlife Park, 250 Fussell St, Ballarat East VIC 3350
🕒 About 1 hr drive
Ticket: $35 (Adult) / $30 on Groupon

Ballarat Wildlife Park ➡ Brighton Bathing Boxes (122 km)

📍 Brighton Bathing Boxes, Esplanade, Brighton VIC 3186, Australia
🕒 About 1 hr 30 mins drive

Brighton Beach ➡ Big4 Melbourne Holiday Park (24.8 km)

📍 265 Elizabeth St, Coburg VIC 3058, Australia
🕒 About 35 mins drive
Cost for 2 nights – Powered Site: $144 (3 pax) / $180 (6 pax)

Big4 Melbourne Holiday Park ➡ Eureka Skydeck (19.6 km)

📍 7 Riverside Quay, Southbank VIC 3006, Australia
🕒 About 30 mins drive
Ticket: $12.80 (Adult) on ChangiRecommends

⚠️ We took Uber back to the city as it was not convenient to travel in the city with Caravan. There are a lot of low bridges resulting us to detour which will eventually takes a longer time to reach destination.