It was Monday 11th October and we were on our way from Melbourne to Torquay to pick up the famous Great Ocean Road all the way to Adelaide. It was about 8pm when we arrived in Torquay and decided that it was best to stay in this seaside town for the night and make a long journey early the next day.

After feeling like kerb-crawlers as we did multiple slow circuits of Torquay town centre in the hired Toyota Auris, we stopped at a Motel which is part of the Golden Chain. Lisa jumped out and with some tough negotiating and a bit of eyelash fluttering she managed to a good price and also managed to get a few freebies thrown in including a 10% discount card off future Golden Chain Motels! We stayed at this motel for the night in a double room with a TV and fridge......what luxury! It was too late to get dinner so we ended up getting a takeaway McDonalds!!

The following morning we spent 30 mins walking through the small town of Torquay before heading to Bells Beach which is famous for its worldwide Easter surf contest.

We then continued driving through a small seaside town called Anglesea which is known for its fishing before hitting the amazingly scenic Great Ocean Road. We had 3 full days to get to Adelaide in the hire car giving us enough time for photo stops and activities on the way.

We stopped off at Aireys Inlet Point Lighthouse where we stretched our legs and got caught in a lot of annoying flies that just wouldn't leave us alone. Wherever we walked they would follow. They kept going for the nose and mouth which was really irritating. Mark was start to get the hump.....more so when he swallowed one! Tasty!!

We had lunch in Lorne (not flies but proper food this time) which is another seaside town set on a picturesque bay. It is a popular seaside retreat for Melbourners. We found a great tea house where we ate lunch before driving to Erskine Falls (a pretty waterfall set in lush woods). We took a walk through a rainforest to see the falls which were amazing followed by a place called Teddys lookout for great views across the ocean.

We then drove through the Otway (mountain) Ranges onto Apollo Bay, another little fishing village and onto Cape Otway lighthouse where we took a walk up to the top. Upon reaching the final step we were greeted by some guy who works there. We swear he had the most boring and slow voice in the world! We couldn't get away quick enough. Had he carried on for much longer we may have contemplated launching ourselves from the top to the rocks below. Thankfully we chose to take the stairs back down instead. We had driven only a couple of kilometres down the road when we saw loads of koalas asleep in the trees. Handbrake on, engine off, camera out, a raft of photos and we continued onwards.

From here we headed to Princetown to see the famous 12 Apostles - giant rock stacks that rise from the Southern Ocean - before settling down for the night in Port Campbell.

The apostles were amazing to see but unfortunately some of them have now broke due to the weather and the ocean waves.

The stay in Port Campbell proved to be a nightmare as we couldn't find any hotel or backpacker accommodation available so instead we ended up in a cabin in a holiday park! It really was the last resort after trying 8 others. It was just about ok for a night's stay. It was about 9pm by the time we checked in here and too late again for dinner! We ended up driving around town for food and came back with 2 bags of crisps!! In fairness, they were different flavours. Nothing was open in town except two bars. What an absolute joke!

We awoke in the morning and drove down the road towards Peterborough to see the sites of Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge (the arch which did link the bridge has since fallen down), the Grotto which leads to a beautiful rock formation and the Bay of Martyrs (a large sea stack. We have loads of photos (probably too many).

We then decided to detour off the Great Ocean Road heading north to a small town called Timboon for some breakfast at a whisky distillery. We had scrambled eggs and toast and couldn't wait quick enough to eat it after having no dinner the prior night!

We then continued onto Warrnambol passing through the town and various lookouts (Cannon Hill, Breakers Point, Stingray Bay and Thunder Point). We also visited Tower Hill which is a dormant volcano followed by the Hopkins Waterfalls. The falls weren't well signposted so we took a few wrong turns. Our perseverence paid off though as they were stunning.

Afterwards, we continued through to Port Fairy harbour stopping off to look around the harbour. We hoped to stop off for a coffee at a cafe that was recommended but unfortunately it was closed. Instead we headed to the Crags with views of Lady Julia Percy Island, and the Yambuk river.

We passed through the town of Portland and onto Cape Bridgewater to look at the blow holes (where the ocean crashes against the rocks) and the lakes.

At this point, Lisa felt lightheaded so stayed in the car whilst Mark took a look and captured some photos. Whilst leaving the car park we saw a skink walk across the road so we drove close to it to take a photo. It looks pretty cool against a backdrop of the bright red dirt track.

We drove through Nelson and onto Mount Gambier where we stayed the night in a Best Western Hotel as all other hostels and motels were booked up. This was a nice hotel with a luxury room and even had a bath!

We dumped our stuff and drove to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Unlike the previous night's dinner, we were lucky to find this one still open! To be honest it was only because the time zone is different by 30 minutes otherwise we would have been too late....again.

The next day we got up early so we could fit the last few sites into our day. As Mount Gambier is known for it's Blue Lake. It is the only lake in the world to change colour each year with the season. We took a look at this first and then the smaller Crater Lakes that were less impressive.

We followed the lakes with Umpherston Sinkhole which was originally a cave formed through the dissolution of limestone. The sinkhole was formed when the top of the cave fell to the floor creating terraces which have been turned into a beautiful garden. This is one of the most amazing things we have seen on our travels.

We had enough time to visit the Engelbrecht limestone caves with a guided tour before jumping back in the car and heading to Adelaide. The cave network runs below the town and is gradually eroding.

We stopped off at the Murray River to get petrol and to take a photo of the bridge before continuing our journey to Adelaide.

Before we reached Adelaide we saw a sign for the Old Tailem town village. Its a pioneer village with memories of 12 streets with 90 buildings which consisted of hospital, dentist, post office, hotel, bank, barbers, etc. It depicts the past with displays in its original form. We were here for a while as we found it to be very interesting. All the buildings are original and were reassembled over many years to form this impressive attraction.

Just before Adelaide we drove through a small historic town called Hahndorf. Unfortunately we didn't have time to stop here but it looked pretty nice with it's quaint shops and cafes. Strangely, it has a strong German feel given the nationality of the original settlers in the area.

We finally made it to Adelaide in time to return the car to Avis having covered 1,400km (most of which by Mark driving at breakneck speed for three days). It was a great trip and one we definately recommend.