petesmedia

Download the video – 28mb

David and I went down the coast for the weekend. I wanted to test out my camera in the surf, it’s a bit shaky but after reviewing this initial footage I’m sure I can improve on this. It has been ages since I’ve been in the surf and we had a great day for it. The water was still cold, hence why we’re wearing wetsuits but it was a lot of fun.

Download this video – 19mb

This video shows the ATC2K mounted in different locations on my bike riding The Oaks firetrail from Woodford to Glenbrook.

This video shows how the traffic control has the ability to jam all radio frequencies and broadcast their own traffic management messages. Pretty nifty.

Friday: South Durras to Blaxland – 300km

Finally a sleep in! We arose to the heat of a 40 degree day around 10am. It was too hot for a walk to the cave and the water was too cold for a swim. Instead we had a look at the sites that South Durras had to offer. The wind had kicked up making the ocean quite choppy. Not the best for photos but it definitely cooled us down.

The highlight of today was supposed to be Kangaroo Valley Bakery. After cleaning and packing everything we didn’t get moving till 2:30pm. This led us to Kangaroo Valley at about 4:30pm to find that they had closed

Final Thoughts

The Great Ocean Roadtrip has come to an end. Although we didn’t complete the entire Great Ocean Road we still managed to see plenty of what Australia has to offer.

The highlights of the trip include:

• The Big Ram – Goulburn
• The Big Bridge – Gundagai
• The City of Melbourne and Taco Bill
• Pancakes @ Torquay
• The Big Jetty – Lorne
• Split Point Lighthouse – Aireys Inlet
• Koalas in the Wild – Cape Otway
• 12 Apostles – Port Campbell
• Loch & Gorge – Port Campbell
• The Cold Night of Camping – Port Campbell
• The Lookout – Lakes Entrance
• The Wildlife – Durras
• The best company you can ask for with the most awesome mates.

The size of Australia became a shock to all of us, even after talking to people and reading the maps, it was only until we attempted to drive a portion of it that it became apparent how big this country really is. The Commodore clocked up 2625 kilometres over 5.5 days, that is basically driving around Tasmania twice.

A total spend of $208 on fuel, with about 90% of the trip running LPG. It was frustrating seeing the cost of LPG vary from 44.9c to 80c per litre. This is something that gets on Petes nerves. We were travelling on major highways and if there was a 46% difference in the cost of petrol there would be a war.

I’m absolutely kicking myself after looking at trackme seeing how close we were to Bells Beach but turned around thinking we were on the wrong road.

We missed a few things along the way, but there are no regrets. We set out to see the 12 Apostles and at that we succeeded. There were so many sights along the way that added to this spectacular journey where in the end, we just ran out of time to see them all. It was just a matter of compromise where those other things will just have to be left “till next time”. It was a fantastic roadtrip and a great way to start the holiday season.