Good to hear you made it.
.... still have to figure out whether I drive up North or down South but I do know I wanna see some whales and explore some of the coastline as I've somehow skipped both the last time I was here (besides the mandatory trip along Great Ocean Road).....
Either way is worth the effort.
GOR isn't one of my favourite areas(I'm only an hour or two from it's start point). Some nice places .. wayyyy too much traffic(for my likes).
The further end is OK tho.
I have to say tho that I'm more of a desert traveller(I may have been a Bedouin in a previous life!
) I prefer the interior of the country.
Whale watching (I think!!) is more along the south of the coast from Sydney. Jervis Bay/Batemans Bay and further south.
There's some nice coast(about the only coast area I actually enjoy visiting) between Mallacoota(far east of Victoria) and approximately Bairnsdale(east Vic). A small town named Marlo is a nice visit. A small, quite hamlet I like to visit sometimes.
My personal preference of the interior includes mountain areas.
As an alternative to the coast route for the entire trip, I think one of country's best drives(actual physical road) is the Snowy Highway across the roof of Great Dividing Range.
Obviously winter here now, and this trip is best done at about Spring time tho. It's still a nice drive in winter too tho.
Victorian weather at the moment is just windy, more than anything else. Not unusual, but there's been more of it this year than I remember recently.
Average temps seem to be in the 13-16°C range.
ps. if you do come close to Melbourne over the next few days, let me know. I work Mon-Wed regularly, Thu/Fri are my 'days off'.
As for the GOR, like I said earlier I avoid it. It's very slow, we recently had it shut down due to a landslide. It's been a constant issue for the past few years(due to the parade of buses) and recent fires, etc.
ATM tho(according to the VicRoads website, it looks fully open) To do most of it's length you may need about 6+ hrs(with a few short rest breaks).
If you're like me and spend an hour or more any any particular site for photography, then it'll be a 10-12 hr journey.
The only section of the GOR that I enjoy is the section west of a town called Apollo Bay. Nice enough town, very touristy, and subsequently very expensive!
From there is an inland section. Nice waterfalls, some temperate rainforest.
The specific area of the GOR I do like tho is from Port Cambell, where the road finally opens up(and you can pass the 20km/h tourist buses).
This is quite the popular area due to the actual coastline with the sanstone formations and coves and suchlike.
Warnambool/Portland is where the really popular whale watching operators run out of. 3-4hrs west of Melb along the inland drive.
I'd estimate that if you took the inland route to a town called Colac(or Camperdown) then south(ish) to the GOR where it meets up with the coast again and on to Warnambool, this would take about 5 hrs with a rest break, but not including any photo time.
And this is where the real photo opportunities slow you down with the coastal formations.
Hope that helps, and again if you do decide the cooler south is more to your liking and you pass through Melbourne, give me a holler.
