Australians get Good Friday off, Easter Monday off, and Anzac Day off (which happened to fall on the Friday after Easter this year)...so we thought hey, let's take 3 days off work and reallyyyy get 10 days off! We wanted to go somewhere new... but we also wanted to take Rudy...so roadtripping was the obvious answer. We have been wanting to travel The Great Ocean Road.. so we recruited our friends Ashleigh and Josh, rented a campervan, and off we went.
*note: all of the good pictures below were taken by josh and ashleigh and their really nice camera*
Apparently, everyone and their brother rents campervans during Easter holiday... so our only option for our transportation/kitchen/home was this bad boy...
We rented it through a company called Wicked-- all of their vans/campers have crazy graffiti and sayings on the outside (and inside) of the van.. which is quite an attention grabber :) But! It had 4 wheels.. AC... a CD player (oh yes)... a "kitchen"... and best of all- a STAGE!
The backseats laid down to create a bed for 2... and the other 2 slept in a tent on top.
We started on our journey.. driving 5 hours and then stopping about halfway to our destination. Most of middle Australia looks a lot like middle America.. which I found kind of comforting.
We had a little sing-along...
And gazed at the most stars I've ever seen in my entire life
Sunday: We woke up to a very BRISK Easter morning.. and headed back out on the road.
We drove allll day and made it to Warrnambool-- near the beginning of the Great Ocean Road-- around sunset. We parked on the grounds of a hostel, paid a few bucks a person, and were able to use their facilities and bar ;) We cooked a traditional Easter dinner... spaghetti and beer :)
Monday: We made it to our destination bright and early!
We spent the day driving and hopping out to check out the views along the way...
We spent the night in Apollo Bay-- right beside the beach.
And landed in Melbourne for a late lunch. Ashleigh read about this restaurant-- 400 Gradi. The head chef had just won the award for the World's Best Margherita Pizza. For realz! Check it out here
It was deeeeelicious! I mean, I love all the pizzas from all the chefs, but this one was pretty darn good! We finished the day at a vineyard in the Yarra Valley
The man at the vineyard told us about a quiet place to camp...so we set up and spent the night there. But first, Rudy asked me to take his picture.
Wednesday: We headed further toward the coast...driving through the countryside until we got to the town of Orbost. We met a kind man named Jack Nicholson ("not as handsome or rich as the actor") and he told us about a good place to camp for the night. It was about a 10 minute drive off the main road.. and for a split second, I thought Mr. Nicholson was going to show back up and murder us all. But he didn't!
We made dinner, had some whiskey, and played some music...
Thursday: We started our drive up the east coast..stopping in a couple of sleepy beach towns along the way...
We picked up some fresh fish & chips for dinner and found a really cool spot to spend the night in Tathra-- amazing views!
Friday: We continued our trek north.. visiting Hyams Beach and Jervis Bay...
Saw some kangas in the parking lot of Jervis Bay National Park
We spent the night in the park and got up Saturday morning to head back
to Sydney. But first we stopped to see the Kiama Blowhole
Overall, the trip was great! We visited heaps of new places.. saw some stunning views.. and had a lottt of fun. However I was veryyyy excited to be out of the car and take a shower after being on the road for a week. Also, we probably should have split this trip into 2 trips.. we spent a lot of time driving and not as much time as we wanted playing and exploring. But hey! We covered a lot of ground and and saw a lot of places. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.
We also celebrated 6 months of living in Australia on this trip! If you asked me a year ago if I'd be going on a 7 day road trip with a couple I've only known for a few months, without any set plans or agenda.. the answer would have probably been no :)
This move has rocked our world in the best possible way and we are enjoying the ride!
So we live in our old van
Travel all across this land
Me and you
We'll end up hand in hand
Somewhere down on the sand
Just me and you
Just as free
Free as we'll ever be
Just as free
Free as we'll ever be
-Zac Brown Band "Free"
That picture of the whole fam on the cliff is AMAZING!!!!!!
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