Grampians + Great Ocean Road Trip - Day 4

Day 4 - Koroit - Wreck Beach - Melbourne

Woke up, missed breakfast, thanked the hotel lady for the lovely stay, took her advice not to book through agoda next time, bid farewell, SCREAMED along B100 at break-neck speed limit, we flew past 12 Apostles in less than 45mins or so.... :D

Won't be much sight-seeing today, destination was just a place called Wreck Beach. But honestly I was ready to give this place a miss because I wasn't too sure how to access it (due to limited research) - anyway we drove past this sign for 'Moonlight Head' and decided to check it out... only to be met with a fire truck & police car.. apparently an accident has taken place, Hilux vs Civic.. bashed into each other while negotiating the narrow lanes leading towards Moonlight Head.. ouch, lucky there were no casualties. Officer came to tell us to just wait for 15mins as the emergency team were already packing up... 

Terrible holiday for this family.. well the kids were still taking pics, dad wasn't much in the mood :P

While waiting I took out the phone & tomtom to check how far we were from Wreck Beach - convinced we've missed it by now.. TURNED OUT that Moonlight Head WAS the entrance towards Wreck Beach! haha pure luck i guess.. Overjoyed :)

SO as soon as the emergency units cleared, we set off - slowly as we were entering gravel roads, last thing u want is to get a puncture in the searing heat. Drove past a dead kangaroo & finally got ourselves to Wreck Beach. Few cars were already here..

Anchor from the Marie Gabrille.. slowly roasting in the echoes of time.. 

pretty cool huh

As I explored the beach, couldn't help thinking about the holiday that's about to end, & being by the ocean listening to the waves crashing there definitely was a certain melancholy that affected me too :).. I turned back & saw my wife making her way towards me & for that moment was just very happy she was there!

The crashing waves of Wreck beach reminding me not to take loved ones for granted..:) 

I was reminded of these words I saw on Day 1 again... being amongst the majestic nature seem to put me in these kinda mood!

A nice flight of stairs to climb as we left the beach... 

For the rest of the journey back towards Melbourne, we made minimal stops. Nonethelesss discovered how popular & touristy places llike Apollo Bay, Lorne etc were as we drove past.. beautiful camp sites too, but didn't really stop to explore. I guess our goodbyes were left at Wreck Beach & we were ready to wrap up the journey & just enjoy the rest of the holidays in Melbourne with our friends. Still a long way more to drive before reaching Melbourne..

One last scenic lookout stop along the great ocean road before our long drive back to Melbs.. 

So yea that's it folks, 4D3N of adventure in Dec, in a nutshell for me personally, it was just great to be travelling with the missus again.. the scenes would've been as impressive as it will always be, but to be able to share it with somebody it is always that much more special - I'm learning not to take that for granted. I just hope this will be the start of many more Ozzy adventures with her! :D

Thanks for reading & sharing our adventure folks :)

Just to close off.. quick takeaways from this road trip!

1) Both these places have loads to offer. Plan individual trips if u have the time.
2) The drives are long so make sure you are prepared. eg. know locations of petrol stations, stock up some food in the car, sleep well.. etc.
3) Kitchens can close as early as 5pm in the popular towns/places so make sure u grab dinner early if not self-catering.
4) Make sure your itineraries take into consideration sunrise + sunset times during the diff seasons.
5) Have fun while driving, stay safe, kill some bugs!

Thanks for reading folks. Happy adventures!