Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia

February 2015

Nothing clears your head like a good road trip. The Great Ocean Road is a stunning coastal drive which starts in Geelong about an hour and a half drive outside of Melbourne.

Stay

My first stop was at Torquay, which was a great place to base myself for the evening. I stayed at the White Beach Guesthouse, which was in a quiet spot just outside of town.

My second stop was at Warrambool. While the accommodation at The Gallery Apartments was great, if I redid this trip I would stay at Port Fairy instead.

Do
Geelong
An hour from Melbourne and Victoria's second largest city, Geelong is a great waterfront town to start your Great Ocean Road trip.

Queenscliff

Another seaside town, with  Victorian-Era architecture.

Torquay
The official start of the Great Ocean Road, popular with weekenders from Melbourne and home to the famous Bells Beach. There are heaps of cafes and eating spots along the foreshore, or grab takeaway and sit on a park bench enjoying this view.

Bells Beach
My idea had been to grab a coffee and sit on Bells Beach for a while. I unfortunately needed to have gotten my coffee in Torquay. Never the less, Bells Beach was a great place to stop, enjoy the early morning sun, the surfers getting ready and acknowledge that this is only for the experienced surfers.

Lorne
I wasn't overally impressed with Lorne itself, but there was two spots above the town that made it worthwhile. The Erskine Falls and Teddy's Lookout.

Cape Otway
I was disappointed here, becuase it was 1 hour out of the way (return) from the main road, and you had to pay a significant amount to get close to the lighthouse, which I didn't have the time to make worthwhile.

Port Fairy
I found Port Fairy to be a picturesque town, and the furthest west I went on the Great Ocean Road.

Bay of Martyrs
I don't think the photos do it justice, but it was an impressive site while driving along the coast.

London Arch
Known as the London Bridge until erosion caused parts of it to collapse in 1990, its still worth the quick stop.

The 12 Apostles (or the main attraction)
I stopped here twice. One was mid afternoon, when it was crowded, noisy and I was tired after a long day of driving. The next was early the next morning, when the buses hadn't arrived, you could hear the waves and there were four other people in the whole area. Two totally different experiences, both worth the stop.

Colac
Instead of taking the same road back to Melbourne, I went via Colac (mainly for the next stop), but its actually the largest town in the district, with a rich farming history.

Winchelsea
The legend of the rabbits. Because that's what you want your legacy to be, the town that set the rabbits free and led to the overpopulation and eco-issue we have today (the legend is also not quite the truth, but us Australians never let that get in the way of a good story).

Spicers, Hunter Valley

July 2013

For a girls weekend away my sister, mother and I stayed at Spicers Vineyards Estate in the Hunter Valley. The service was great, the food was fantastic and it was a great place just to relax.

There was three of us in the same room, and with the pull out bed there was more than enough room.

The bathroom was also spacious, with the spa bath ready and waiting....

 Breakfast was included, and was full of variety and scrumptious.

Weekend in the Hunter, NSW, Australia

July 2013

This was a girls weekend, with me, my sister and my mum leaving Sydney early afternoon of the Friday. The weather held out all weekend and although it was fresh (cool), it was sunny, allowing us to make the most of the outdoors. There's always plenty to do and it was hard to narrow it down, especially with the Chocolate festival on....


Stay
Spicers Vineyard - highly recommended, great service and a great atmosphere for a quiet get away, breakfast was an added bonus.

Eat
Botanica - the onsite restaurant for Spicers had fabulous food, fresh, tasty and just the right portion sizes

Emersons - another favourite in the Hunter, and the degustation menu seemed to be popular (we didn't have it)

We also had lunch at Taste of the Country in the Hunter Valley Gardens Village. Mum and I shared the cheese platter for 2, and it could have easily feed all three of us.

Do
Hunter Valley Gardens - the chocolate festival was on this weekend for an added bonus

Peppers Creek Antiques

Tempus Two Cellar Door

Hunter Valley Cheese Shop

Pukara Estate Olive Tasting Room

Run down Hermitage Road, the weather was perfect for a nice 13Km from the hotel, just watch out for cars as there's not a lot of room on the side of the road

Peats Bite, Hawkesbury, NSW

February 2012

I'm a bit late with this review, but if you've been following our posts we've had a busy start to 2012 travel wise.

We visited Peats Bite on the Hawkesbury river as our 5 year wedding  anniversary weekend. We drove to the boat pick up point at Brooklyn before  catching a boat to Peats Bite. We were seated and ordered drinks before the food started flowing. It's a degustation menu and it was a  lovely afternoon just to sit back and be fed.

It wasn't a full house on the Saturday afternoon we visited but  enjoyed a vibrant afternoon surrounded by others doing the same thing.

At around 5 pm once the seaplane had left back to Sydney and those on  boats had left we went to the room and enjoyed the sun and the water  relaxing on the balcony, drinking and eating the small snacks we'd  brought with us.

The next morning was another beautiful day and while staff set up for  the Sunday lunch arrivals we enjoyed a hearty cooked breakfast.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we caught the  boat back to the Pier before our drive home

Stay
Peats Bite

Eat
Peats Bite

Do
Besides eat? Watch the water and enjoy the view