Hi all,

We have just got back from our trip along the Great Ocean Road and up to the Grampian Mountains! We decided to do this trip with a couple of our new friends we made in Melbourne, Ste and Ste, who are both from Liverpool. We rented a car (a Mitsubishi Lancer) and decided to drive it, and it was the most scenic drive i will probably ever do! (Also, it was so much cheaper than paying to do a tour!)

We set off on Tuesday afternoon and made our way to Lorne. We stopped off in Torquay to visit Surf City, which is a retail park.. the home of Rip Curl and Quiksilver. Obviously, some spending was done. We then headed to Bells Beach, which is the beach where they hold the Rip Curl Surf Pro every year, so one of the most famous beaches in the world for surfing. After this we headed to Lorne and made our way to the campsite. We were staying in tents which we had bought in Melbourne.. we got a 2 man tent, 2 sleeping bags and 2 roll mats for $70.. which is about 40 quid! Bargain!

On Wednesday morning we got up and made our way back on the road towards Port Campbell. This was the part that i drove. All the way down the road it was winding left and right, with really dramatic coastlines all the way out of the left window.. we stopped on so many beaches and had them all to ourselves, which is amazing considering how touristy the Great Ocean Road is. On one of the beaches we took some sausages, bacon, bread and ketchup and made sandwiches on our portable gas stove (another bargain at $20!) Towards the end of the day we visited the major sights on the GOR, the Twelve Apostles, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, The Arch etc. and then made our way to our campsite at Port Campbell.

On Thursday we got up early to start the drive from Port Campbell to Halls Gap, a small village in the North of the Grampian Mountains. As we got in to the Mountains we worked our way uphill untill we got to a cap park which had a "walk" to the landmark "Pinnacle." However, i would say it was more of a mountain climb than a walk, as we were literally climbing the side of the mountain to reach the top.. though it was worth it as the views were amazing! 3000 feet up with a view over the mountain ranges! After another hour (the decent), we got back in the car and made our way to McKenzie Falls, and then on to our final campsite in Halls Gap, which was covered with Kangaroo's (and Kangaroo poo!).

We made the drive back on Friday morning, and got the car back without a scratch (Thank God!).