Australia’s West Coast & Outback: Melbourne to Adelaide

Contents of this post16 chapters

• 1Off to Australia in 2018
• 2Melbourne
• 3Apollo – Our Little Speedster
• 4Road trip
• 5Apollo Bay
• 6Heading Toward Adelaide
• 7The Last Stop
• 8My Conclusion
• 9Next Blogpost: Australia Part 2
• 10Australia's West Coast: Road trip route from Perth to Broome
• 11Australia's east coast or west coast for a road trip?
• 12Planning an Australian road trip: Route through the Outback
• 13Great Ocean Road: Route from Melbourne towards Adelaide
• 14Australia road trip costs as a guideline
• 15Relevant travel reports
• 16Frequently Asked Questions

Off to Australia in 2018

Australia. Australia had always been a dream of mine. As a kid, I always watched animal documentaries on Animal Planet. “When I grow up, I’m going to be an animal researcher too!”Well, that didn't really work out. But I still made it to the other side of the world & got to experience incredible things on my adventures. Many people know it's not that easy to just take a trip to Australia. If you're lucky, you might get 3 weeks of vacation in a row at most. That sucks, right? But that's just how life is & you simply have to live with it. NOPE. I don't have to! A dream should come true at some point & why not make the absolute most of it? After going through 1000 different options & watching 1000 YouTube videos by random travelers – I finally decided to do a Work & Travel. Well, in any case, that decision was one of the best & has turned my life completely upside down to this day.

As I already told you in my Thailand blogpost, at first I traveled around with my travel companion (and now good friend) Jessi. Our first stop was Melbourne. One thing I really don't miss is the jet lag! This time we had real trouble falling asleep in the evening, but you should always make the best of it. So we right away bought ourselves a little sparkling wine & a few beers. Of course we didn't drink them in the hostel room against the rules. Or did we?

Melbourne

Melbourne is one of Australia's largest cities and the capital of the state of Victoria. We were in the suburb of St. Kilda and checked out the St. Kilda Botanical Garden & a few sights like Luna Park. The absolute coolest thing, though, was that at the end of the St. Kilda Pier you could see penguins between the rocks! How cuuuuuute is that?

Apollo – Our Little Speedster

After just one week, we decided to buy a car. We got our Apollo at an insanely good price and paid only 4200 dollars (about 2600 euros at the time). We were a little lucky because the sellers were backpackers who had to fly to Thailand the very next day.An absolutely great car… It really had everything a backpacker's heart desires. There was a rooftop tent on top, we had plenty of space for all our stuff, a lot of camping gear & if we were ever too lazy to set up the tent, there was even the option of sleeping in the car. Today I still mourn our beautiful Apollo… More on that later…

Road trip

We didn't waste any time & got our car ready to go. Registering the car went quickly & without any problems. Then we drove along the Great Ocean Road. One of my favorite routes in Australia and really worth recommending! At the 12 Apostles we almost got blown away, it was so windy & in the parking lot we saw a fox. That was cool!

Apollo Bay

You simply have to see this place! I have never, ever, ever seen such baby-blue water before! In Apollo Bay we made friends & even started our first job, as cleaners. Our task was to wash and iron the laundry & clean the rooms. What a hard job! Believe me! Anyone who has never worked as a real cleaner can hardly imagine it. After just 4 days, my fingernails had split about 4 times. Everything hurt. My back… My hands… Awful! As if that hadn't been enough, we also had a really strange boss. He liked to take someone by the hand when he wanted to show something. Okay? On top of that, he even wanted to skip cheerfully arm in arm across the grounds. We will never forget the shrill voice when he called at break time:„ It’s Tea – Time“. Well, so it was time to go. Definitely. But we learned one thing: cleaners really deserve respect (and tips)!

Except for a tree that had fallen over on the road, we never had any real problems on our drive. Oops, actually I almost forgot about that. When we set off and had only been on the road for about 1 hour, a kangaroo suddenly jumped out of the bushes, right onto the car!„That's a great start“, I thought to myself at that moment. My heart was pounding like crazy. Luckily I wasn't driving too fast (about 50 km/h) & the cute kangaroo survived the impact. At first it lay on the ground for a moment, but when we got out, it hopped off into the distance. You can surely imagine how scared I was that another one might jump out of the bushes. And yes… my fears were confirmed. It wasn't the only kangaroo that crossed our path. Good to know: kangaroos are really everywhere & love to jump across the roads! Some backpackers told me that they didn't see a single one on their travels. How is that possible? I still wonder about that to this day… They were probably trapped under the spell of the big cities too often. Oh, and if you're in Apollo Bay, don't forget to check out the eucalyptus forest! You'll see really lots of koalas there. During lunch, one was once hanging 2 meters above us in a tree. Unbelievable…

Heading Toward Adelaide

On the way to Adelaide we saw beautiful, deserted beaches. The sand sometimes looked like powdered sugar and sometimes it was jet black. The sea was baby-blue once again. This is exactly how I always imagined the beaches in Australia! And believe me – I've been disappointed more than once! On Google images almost everything always looks much more enchanting than in reality. But I can say one thing: in Australia & New Zealand it's even more beautiful in real life!

Our trip to Admirals Arch was also great. There we were able to see sea lions in the wild. Simply awesome!

Next, we headed to Warnambool, where we rode along the beach for the first time. Here we were allowed to park our car in the garden of a hostel & only had to pay half.On another day we visited Grampians National Park (highly recommended!) & went on a lovely hike there.

If you love waterfalls, don't forget to visit Mc Kenzie Falls & Fish Falls!

The Last Stop

Another highlight was the Hot Springs in Mornington Peninsula! The hot springs are located in the middle of nature & one pool was even up on the mountain, with an insanely great view! As we continued on to Phillip Island, we saw a penguin parade for the first time. In total, 1904 little penguins walked from the sea to their nests. It was suuuper cute. The penguins walk one behind the other, and every now and then one falls over. You can imagine it a bit like the old domino blocks back in the day.

My conclusion:

On our road trip we saw a lot of nature. Looking back, it was a really good decision to buy the car right at the beginning. It made us much more mobile & made us feel a little bit more independent. Besides, we could speed through the streets with loud music & admire the landscape while doing it. The best part, I thought, was that we could stay wherever we wanted. On our road trip we met some wonderful people & had our first job experiences (W&T Jobs: https://janetsworld3.de/2019/06/14/worktravel-jobs/). Besides, a wonderful friendship developed with Jessi, for which I am very grateful. When you spend days on end 24/7 with one person, you get to know that person in a hundred different ways & I can tell you one thing, we got on each other's nerves quite a bit at times, but if there's anyone I can trust, it's Jessi. On a trip like this, things come at you that you can't plan. You constantly face new challenges that can throw you off. But hey, that's how life never gets boring & always stays exciting! In my next blogpost about Australia, I'll tell you why I still mourn our car Apollo & how my trip continued all alone, without Jessi. See you soon!

Next Blogpost: Australia Part 2

Australia's West Coast: Road trip route from Perth to Broome

The West Coast route from Perth to Broome covers approximately 2,400 kilometers. A minimum of two weeks is recommended; four weeks allows more time for the long stretches. Some highlights are separated by more than 500 kilometers of desert. Public buses are scarce, so a rental car is essential. The route connects Perth, Rottnest Island, the Pinnacles Desert, Shark Bay, the Ningaloo Reef, Karijini National Park, and Broome.

Australia West Coast Route: Nature stops to Broome

Near Perth, Rottnest Island, with its quokkas, marks the start of the trip. Next come the limestone pillars of the Pinnacles Desert and Shark Bay. In Monkey Mia, wild dolphins swim to the beach in the mornings; Shark Bay also boasts stromatolites. At Ningaloo Reef, snorkeling is possible right from the beach. Between March and July, you can swim with whale sharks there. Further north, red gorges and natural pools characterize Karijini National Park. In Broome, Cable Beach, camels on the beach, red rocks, and turquoise sea complete the experience.

Australia's east coast or west coast for a road trip?

The east coast between Sydney and Cairns is approximately 2,500 kilometers long and relatively easy to travel by bus, train, hostels, and tour bus. Its stops include Byron Bay, the Gold Coast, Fraser Island, the Whitsundays, and Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest. At least three weeks should be planned for the journey from Sydney to Cairns. The west coast between Perth and Broome is similarly long at about 2,400 kilometers, but offers less tourist infrastructure, fewer travelers, and greater distances between stops.

Good to know: If you're looking for the Great Barrier Reef, cities, and opportunities to connect with other travelers, or if you prefer to travel without a rental car, you'll find these conditions more readily on the east coast. The west coast is better suited to a road trip with a rental car, long desert drives, more secluded landscapes, and snorkeling from the beach at Ningaloo Reef. You should plan five to six weeks for both coasts; a domestic flight can connect Cairns and Perth.

Best time to travel to Australia's East and West Coasts

The best time to visit the east coast is from September to November or from March to May. The tropical north around Cairns experiences the monsoon season from December to February. For the west coast, the dry season from April to October is recommended. In the northern part, including Broome and Karijini, temperatures can exceed 45 degrees Celsius in summer, and roads may be closed. For the Red Centre around Uluru, however, November to March is recommended.

Planning an Australian road trip: Route through the Outback

A possible addition to the coastal route is the approximately 1,200-kilometer loop in the Red Centre. It begins in Alice Springs after a flight from Cairns and leads back via Kings Canyon, Uluru, and Kata Tjuta by rental car. A week is allotted for this section. The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is six kilometers long and takes three to four hours. Sunrise and sunset at Uluru can be planned; drone flights are prohibited there.

Tip: Aim for a maximum of 300 to 400 kilometers per day of driving. In the Outback, there can be more than 500 kilometers between two gas stations, so keep your tank full. Avoid driving at night, as kangaroos, wombats, and emus are particularly active at dusk and dawn. Carry ten liters of water per person as a reserve for the West Coast. Offline maps are also recommended for the Outback section.

Great Ocean Road: Route from Melbourne towards Adelaide

The Great Ocean Road stretches for 243 kilometers in Victoria. It officially begins in Torquay, about an hour and a half southwest of Melbourne, and ends in Allansford near Warrnambool. From east to west, the ocean runs directly alongside the road. At least three days, ideally four to five, are recommended for the route. The best time to travel is between November and March; from June to August there are fewer tourists, but the weather is more unpredictable and some walking trails may be closed.

Great Ocean Road route in three stages

• Torquay to Apollo Bay: The 115-kilometer (75-mile) winding route leads via Bells Beach, Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet, Lorne and Kennett River. Erskine Falls is ten minutes from the highway.
• From Apollo Bay to Port Campbell: The road runs for 100 kilometers through the Great Otway National Park. Afterwards come the Twelve Apostles, Gibson Steps, Loch Ard Gorge and London Arch.
• Port Campbell to Allansford: The calmer stretch measures 65 kilometers. Similar rock formations to the Twelve Apostles can be found at the Bay of Islands. Southern right whales can be observed from the shore at Warrnambool from June to September.

The entire Great Ocean Road is paved; a regular compact car is sufficient for the main route. There are very few petrol stations between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, so refueling in Apollo Bay is recommended. The road is toll-free, and the viewpoints are free. At Gibson Steps, check the tide before descending, as the beach can be submerged.

Australia road trip costs as a guideline

As a guideline: A four-day trip on the Great Ocean Road costs between €400 and €700 for a budget trip, or between €1,000 and €2,000 for a more comfortable one. Three weeks on the East Coast are estimated at €2,500 to €4,000, and three weeks on the West Coast at €3,500 to €6,000. A campervan rental costs between AUD 100 and AUD 180 per day. Pitches with electricity in holiday parks cost between AUD 25 and AUD 45 per night, and campsites in national parks cost between AUD 10 and AUD 15 per night. These figures are for guidance only, as prices are subject to change.

For Tourism Boards, I develop content that visually tells the story of Australian routes, landscapes, and travel experiences. More information about productions and collaborations can be found on the page for collaboration.

Relevant travel reports

• Australia's East Coast or West Coast? (on max-haase.com)
• Planning an Australian road trip: route and costs (on max-haase.com)
• Great Ocean Road Roadtrip (on max-haase.com)