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The best road in Oz? Probably.........

From Start of Australian road trip in Great Ocean Road, Australia on Apr 15 '07

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2 Places Visited

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3 Trip Photos

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Itinerary Map

syconn has visited 2 places in Great Ocean Road
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Our second Wicked which was called deluxe Bong. Nice picture of a bong on the side of it?
Our second Wicked which was called deluxe Bong. Nice picture of a bong on the side of it?
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From Melbourne we picked up our second Wicked campervan and headed to the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean road was built by the guys who fought in the 1st world war and is the biggest war memorial in the world. The views as we were driving along were spectacular, and where ever we pulled over.

Our objective was the 12 apostles which is a range of sandstone stacks in the Southern Pacific Ocean before heading back to Sydney. The drive was great and took us about 4 hours to get to from Melbourne. We took it really easy as well pulling into little towns along the way for breaks.

A memorial should make people think. While we were driving along as well as appreciating the fantastic views
Twelve apostles or the piglets
Twelve apostles or the piglets
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Frow the 12 apostles we headed back to Sydney and this took us 3 full days of driving. It was hard going at times as wewere sometimes doing about 500 km a day. We would've like to have stopped at so many places along the way back but we were meeting up with people  back in Sydney and it just wasn't meant to be.

The 2 places we did stop at were Lakes Entrance and Bateman's Bay. Lakes Entrance was the worst/dirtiest/unfriendliest/poorly equipped Big4 we've stayed at in the whole of Oz. There are 2 Big4's lin Lakes Entrance and the one we stayed at was the one with 4 stars. My advice would be to have a look round the campsite before you hand over your hard earned. Because all of the Big4's we've stayed at have been at the very least 'good' we just handed over the cash without checking first. Big mistake! The Big4 at Bateman's Bay however was just as good as any of the Big4's we've stayed at anywhere in Oz. The thing is with the Big4's is that they're a chain and like McDonald's you get the same thing, usually, where ever you stay.

Oooooh look at us there eh/
Oooooh look at us there eh/
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The Great Ocean Road weaves through rain forests and open plains. It took us along the side of mountains and through massive valleys. We followed it along some breathtaking Pacfic costal routes. When we were driving along I found myself thinking ' why didn't they just build it straight?' On reflection I would like to imagine that getting from A to B wasn't a consideration when the guys were designing and building the road. They were thinking about what would look nice and they were thinking about their buddies that fell on the battlefield defending freedom and democracy. A memorial should make people think. While  we were driving along as well as appreciating the fantastic views I tended to think about the blokes who dug the road. All they had at the time was the pick and the shovel to work with. They didn't have the easy access to heavy plant machinery that you see modern roads built with.

Everyone said to us before we set off on the Great Ocean road that it was a brilliant drive and I was of the attitude of 'you've seen one road you've seen em all' . I think now that it is one of the best drives that I've done in my life. I can understand why the word "Great" is in the Great Ocean Road.


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