Day 1 – April 2 – Sydney -> Bookham
After spending all morning finalising the packing of the motorhome and cleaning the house in readiness for Claire (our housesitter), we finally set off at lunchtime on our big adventure. Bruce – still being paranoid about hitting an overhead bridge or a kerb or anything else – was very careful and very uncommunicative. When we were still on Military Road in Neutral bay, five minutes from home, Ben said ‘When are we going to get there?’… Bruce said ‘3 and a half months’.
Lots of driving on the M2 and M7 to clear Sydney (the quicker the better), and we made it as far as Bookham (just south of Yass) at a rest stop. First night out about 20 meters from the freeway and next to a toilet! At least we know our priorities… The boys insisted on doing homework after dinner. Then took them 2 hours to get to sleep, but you can’t blame them for being excited. Very cold overnight…. hope we brought enough winter woollies!
Day 2 – April 3 – Bookham -> Seymour
Slept in! Woke up after eight.. Saw the dog on the Tuckerbox at Gundagai on the highway. Very sad story (just a poem really) – about a man with a team of bullocks and a dog called ‘Lady’. When the dray broke an axle in a swamp, the man went for help and gave the dog instructions to ‘sit on the tuckerbox’ until he returned. The man never returned.. and when Lady was found by passers by she never left the tuckerbox.
Stopped in at Holbrook and played on the submarine – and visited the museum. Very interesting, there was a hologram story about the submarine commander in World War I which the town is named after. Also had a mock submarine control room including periscope and captain’s cabin. Excellent.
Drove into Victoria (2nd state of the trip!) and stopped in at Glenrowan. Saw Ned Kelly’s last stand, a dramatic sound and light show with moving mannequins and a spooky story. I have two words to describe it – expensive and lame!
Stopped in at our second rest stop, just south of Seymour – still cold..
Day 3 – April 4 – Seymour -> Johanna Beach
Finally got off the freeway – has been great to get used to driving the motorhome (Ben wants to call it ‘Crazy’ – because he has listened to his favourite song ‘Crazy Frog’ a million times on his iPod already..) on the freeway but time to get off.
First stop Bells Beach at Torquay, where we caught the annual Rip Curl International Surfing contest. Thousands of people… Not a very nice beach but the surf looked good. First person who spoke to us was a steward who saw Luke’s cap and told us he was a Swans supporter! Luke had a good chat about who isn’t playing for the Swans this year…
Then started driving on the Great Ocean Road (GOR for short). Interesting driving a huge Winnebago on the winding roads.. Bruce hasn’t concentrated so hard for years! We drove past Lorne and Apollo Bay – very nice but packed with Victorian holiday makers, it is the Easter long weekend after all. We kept going and made it to a campground at Johanna Beach, which had beautiful (and free!) camp sites behind the sand dunes. A great beach – which is apparently used as an alternative site for the Bells Beach classic – but is advertised as too dangerous to swim. Sure enough, the surf looked great but very rough. That night (wouldn’t you know it) the family next to us decided to expose us to their music tastes – listening to ‘Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ for the third time was enough for us to explode..
Day 4 – April 5 – Johanna Beach -> Princetown
This is what we came on the AA trip for!! A great day. Woke up early and we all went for a walk on the beach before breakfast – beautiful. Kids ran around and used up some energy, Ben found too many shells, the kids explored a cave, etc. Luke and Erin played kick to kick back at the motorhome while we prepared breakfast, which we enjoyed while overlooking a beautiful pasture and backdrop.
We have started a routine of keeping the kids off their iPods first thing in the morning, so have compensated by playing word games in the motorhome. Favourite at the moment is a game called ‘Lightning’ where each person in turn has to say a word starting with a particular letter. Erin is the champion, has won every game so far…
Went to Otway lightstation – touted as the most important lighthouse in Australia. As usual there were wonderful views, and a beautifully restored group of buildings including the lighthouse. Lots of interesting information about the shipwrecks (over a 100!) off the coast .We were lucky to see a re-enactment of the daily rituals of some nineteenth century infantrymen, who regaled us with stories of the ‘militia men’ who spent their own free time defending Victoria against the Russians in the Eighteen sixties and seventies. We even heard about when the United States almost went to war with Victoria! Saw a koala in the wild on our way back to the main road.
We then went to the ‘Otway Fly’, a Treetops walk over the Victorian rain forest. Another great destination, this time a raised walkway through the canopy and over the trees. One of the towers is 47 meters high! Needless to say Michelle didn’t go up and made a hasty exit to the end..
Stayed the night at Princetown campground – have splashed out and spent $25 on a powered site. Right next to a footy field (Luke’s in heaven..) But millions of flies – spent an hour killing a hundred flies that got into the motorhome before we wised up and shut the windows..
After spending all morning finalising the packing of the motorhome and cleaning the house in readiness for Claire (our housesitter), we finally set off at lunchtime on our big adventure. Bruce – still being paranoid about hitting an overhead bridge or a kerb or anything else – was very careful and very uncommunicative. When we were still on Military Road in Neutral bay, five minutes from home, Ben said ‘When are we going to get there?’… Bruce said ‘3 and a half months’.
Lots of driving on the M2 and M7 to clear Sydney (the quicker the better), and we made it as far as Bookham (just south of Yass) at a rest stop. First night out about 20 meters from the freeway and next to a toilet! At least we know our priorities… The boys insisted on doing homework after dinner. Then took them 2 hours to get to sleep, but you can’t blame them for being excited. Very cold overnight…. hope we brought enough winter woollies!
Day 2 – April 3 – Bookham -> Seymour
Slept in! Woke up after eight.. Saw the dog on the Tuckerbox at Gundagai on the highway. Very sad story (just a poem really) – about a man with a team of bullocks and a dog called ‘Lady’. When the dray broke an axle in a swamp, the man went for help and gave the dog instructions to ‘sit on the tuckerbox’ until he returned. The man never returned.. and when Lady was found by passers by she never left the tuckerbox.
Stopped in at Holbrook and played on the submarine – and visited the museum. Very interesting, there was a hologram story about the submarine commander in World War I which the town is named after. Also had a mock submarine control room including periscope and captain’s cabin. Excellent.
Drove into Victoria (2nd state of the trip!) and stopped in at Glenrowan. Saw Ned Kelly’s last stand, a dramatic sound and light show with moving mannequins and a spooky story. I have two words to describe it – expensive and lame!
Stopped in at our second rest stop, just south of Seymour – still cold..
Day 3 – April 4 – Seymour -> Johanna Beach
Finally got off the freeway – has been great to get used to driving the motorhome (Ben wants to call it ‘Crazy’ – because he has listened to his favourite song ‘Crazy Frog’ a million times on his iPod already..) on the freeway but time to get off.
First stop Bells Beach at Torquay, where we caught the annual Rip Curl International Surfing contest. Thousands of people… Not a very nice beach but the surf looked good. First person who spoke to us was a steward who saw Luke’s cap and told us he was a Swans supporter! Luke had a good chat about who isn’t playing for the Swans this year…
Then started driving on the Great Ocean Road (GOR for short). Interesting driving a huge Winnebago on the winding roads.. Bruce hasn’t concentrated so hard for years! We drove past Lorne and Apollo Bay – very nice but packed with Victorian holiday makers, it is the Easter long weekend after all. We kept going and made it to a campground at Johanna Beach, which had beautiful (and free!) camp sites behind the sand dunes. A great beach – which is apparently used as an alternative site for the Bells Beach classic – but is advertised as too dangerous to swim. Sure enough, the surf looked great but very rough. That night (wouldn’t you know it) the family next to us decided to expose us to their music tastes – listening to ‘Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ for the third time was enough for us to explode..
Day 4 – April 5 – Johanna Beach -> Princetown
This is what we came on the AA trip for!! A great day. Woke up early and we all went for a walk on the beach before breakfast – beautiful. Kids ran around and used up some energy, Ben found too many shells, the kids explored a cave, etc. Luke and Erin played kick to kick back at the motorhome while we prepared breakfast, which we enjoyed while overlooking a beautiful pasture and backdrop.
We have started a routine of keeping the kids off their iPods first thing in the morning, so have compensated by playing word games in the motorhome. Favourite at the moment is a game called ‘Lightning’ where each person in turn has to say a word starting with a particular letter. Erin is the champion, has won every game so far…
Went to Otway lightstation – touted as the most important lighthouse in Australia. As usual there were wonderful views, and a beautifully restored group of buildings including the lighthouse. Lots of interesting information about the shipwrecks (over a 100!) off the coast .We were lucky to see a re-enactment of the daily rituals of some nineteenth century infantrymen, who regaled us with stories of the ‘militia men’ who spent their own free time defending Victoria against the Russians in the Eighteen sixties and seventies. We even heard about when the United States almost went to war with Victoria! Saw a koala in the wild on our way back to the main road.
We then went to the ‘Otway Fly’, a Treetops walk over the Victorian rain forest. Another great destination, this time a raised walkway through the canopy and over the trees. One of the towers is 47 meters high! Needless to say Michelle didn’t go up and made a hasty exit to the end..
Stayed the night at Princetown campground – have splashed out and spent $25 on a powered site. Right next to a footy field (Luke’s in heaven..) But millions of flies – spent an hour killing a hundred flies that got into the motorhome before we wised up and shut the windows..
can't find the 2nd installment. What must I do? Gma x
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