Great Ocean Road and the Grampians

When we landed in Melbourne, it was in the middle of the night. Since we didn't want to spend money on a hostel for the few hours, we decided to sleep in a hallway at the airport (there were already a few people lying there when we joined). That didn't go very well... When I woke up the next morning, I was the only person still lying there and was looked at strangely by the passing people. So I quickly packed my things and off to the city!

In Melbourne, we only booked a hostel for one night because we were planning to go to the famous Great Ocean Road and the Grampians National Park the next day.

After picking up our rental car, we were on our way. The car was the cheapest we could find. But it was also really dirty (just like all the dishes - our predecessors must have forgotten to wash them...) and the handbrake didn't really work. But oh well...

The weather was a bit mixed, but it didn't detract from the beautiful coastal route. The road winds through small coastal towns, occasionally going inland. Along the way, we stopped and admired the view. The most famous spot on the GOR are the 'Twelve Apostles', up to 60 m high limestone rocks standing in the sea. They used to be called 'The Sow and Pigs', and the new name came about in the 1950s (although back then there were only 9 rock columns; today, due to the collapse of one of the columns, there are only eight).

As expected, we were not alone here. The Twelve Apostles are the most photographed attraction in Australia after Uluru. But not even there have I seen soooo many Asians! In retrospect, we wondered where they were hiding on the rest of the GOR. ;-)

After two days, we arrived at the Grampians National Park. Here we did some shorter hikes and enjoyed the magnificent views.

It was freezing cold at night and we usually woke up absolutely freezing in the morning. But the rooftop tent was absolutely fantastic, set up or dismantled in two minutes.

On our last day in the Grampians, we saw that there are also some wineries there. So we got to enjoy two wine tastings again! :-)

After five days on the road and a brief stopover in Ballarat, we headed back to Melbourne on Friday. Here we had dinner together for the last time before Silvia continued to New Zealand the next day.