Caravan Road Trip in Melbourne 2018 - Part 1

By Kirah - September 24, 2018

I keep thinking back and forth, how do I start my entry this time. In my mind, I had crafted the story arrangement so it will be easily digested by readers. Unfortunately, it is not that easy. When you read this, that's mean I am totally done with my complicated inner thoughts and decided to go by the flow.

Before you read this further, I am letting you know that I am currently working on my vlogs for this trip simultaneously. So please anticipate it and subscribe my YouTube channel to get notified when the videos uploaded. I hope the blog and video I've posted, can be a little help for your future vacation. I can't tell how many parts will up for this trip and same goes to my videos. Definitely I will write and do editing according to my mood and current booster.

I will begin this journey with our pre-vacation where we did the planning and preparation. It was quick. We bought the tickets in mid July which was less than two months from the dates we were about to fly. It was easy in terms of dealing with the mates. Initially it was suggested by Nadira, the mastermind and I said "YES WHY NOT?" then we invited Nadiah to join us. Following with our personalities and tastes, we decided to recruit Ida, Mojo and Nawal. Luckily, it was really fast to have them saying "YES!". Nawal was the easiest. But I think all of us need halt and some peaceful rest to refresh our soul, mind and body.

THE PREPARATION

1. Transportation/Caravan

As I put in the title, this is a caravan trip (70% of our journey in Melbourne). I hope you can find an adequate information in this sharing. We chose an agent from a local company and found them reliable. We did some research and decided to go for Ahmad Caravan. If you are lucky, you will find Ahmad Caravan at annual event like Matta Fair PWTC and they always having promo and deals. We can't wait as our trip was approaching. So I decided to give them direct call and deal with the quotations. There were six of us and in fact, Mojo need to sleep alone, so we must select the spacious and comfortable motorhome for us. We need to consider this caravan will be our home for six days and it should be pleasant for all of us.

This are the pictures of our beloved caravan and you can take a look on detailed specification here.

Let's talk about the price. The price varies depending on seasons and company you deal with. Below is the full quotation of our caravan.

As you can see, the price is inclusive the Express Return Pack and it is optional. We decided to not having the optional pack as we will not use the toilet (of course we don't want to clean the shits and thinking of the hygiene) and return the caravan with full tank on the last day. I think it is more economical and cost saving. The total we have to pay was only 3,444MYR. We were given a long list of rules and regulations to be followed. Basically, it was telling us to take care of the vehicles with extra care and love.

2. Driving license

Can you use a driving license issued in Malaysia to drive a vehicle in Australia? The answer is, Yes, you can with few conditions. Based on Education Malaysia Australia , an oversea driving license holder must obtain translation if the driving license is not in English language. You MUST either carry an English Translation or an International Driving Permit. Where to do the translation? The only thing needed is an official translation. You can use the Authentication of Documents and Notarial Service by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia. Refer here for more info.

However, the new driving license has all the important information such as:

Your name

Nationality

Passport number / identity number

License class

Validity date

Address

The details are printed in both Bahasa Malaysia and English. Even the driving class details at the back of the license are printed in Bahasa Malaysia and English. Hence, no translation required.

3. Visa

The Electronic Travel Authority (or ETA) is the name given to the most commonly used Australian Tourist Visa allows you to stay in Australia for up to 3 months on each arrival within 12 months from the date the visa was granted. I paid for only 20MYR and get the visa done. You can visit here for more info.

4. Items prohibited when entering Australia

Australia is a strict country especially considering their agricultural and dairy product. Australian Customs and Border Protection Services carefully controls what people travelling to Australia bring into the country. For this reason it is illegal to bring certain items (either on your person or in your luggage) into Australia. You will be asked to fill in an Incoming Passenger Card. If there is any item that you bring, you must take these declared items with you to the customs clearance point to be assessed by a customs officer.

Don’t forget to declare everything you are carrying! You won’t be penalized if you declare all your goods, even if some or all of them are prohibited. If you want to know much more about these items, you can check the list here.

5. Holiday Park/ Powered site for caravan

If you are planning to rent a caravan or any kind of motor home, you need to book for a holiday park to recharge and acquire the facilities for you to cook and re-fill the water supply. And you will need power supply too. But you can choose non-powered site too.

There are a lot of sites you can find via online or offline. We searched for the nearest holiday park using an apps called Campermate. However there are tons of sites which are not available on the internet. Then you must walk-in but it will be a bit risky during peak season. We passed through a lot of them on our way. So we kinda feel a bit disappointed because we know we can save more time from a nearer site/park.

Well-known and most popular holiday park is run by BIG4 Caravan Holiday Park. You can make booking with them in advance or make a reservation by direct call. They provide top facilities with magnificent views. Trust me.

THE JOURNEY

Day 1 - Arriving Melbourne, Australia

We touched down at the airport around 8pm and bought the sim card. We chose Optus as our temporary carrier to have internet access. I will say it was expensive compared to what we have in Malaysia. I bought 10 days package with 12gb internet accessibility and unlimited netflix. It costed me 20aud.

Then we ordered Uber to our hotel. Ciloms Airport Lodge located less than 5km from the airport, so we can have nice sleep after long 8 hours flight. This hotel also located 15 mins drive to the city. So we don't need to rush on the next day. Because we were too exhausted, we had instant maggi that I cooked for everyone and called it a day.

Day 2 - Road trippin' Part 1 (Weeribee Open Range Zoo, Apollo Bay Holiday Park)

That morning was the day we need to pick up the caravan. So, we decided only Mojo (main driver), Nadira (back up driver), Nawal and me (who deals with the company) will go to the office. We woke up early and got Uber to drive us to the Central West Business Park, Ashley St. It took less than 20 mins and we arrived at the pick up point. There was a person assisting us and gave quick briefing about the caravan. There was no security deposit required but they will need you to register the credit card as conformation. And we were finally ready to depart. Mojo will be our driver for six days. Ida and Nadiah were getting ready at the hotel. We fetched them up and continued our journey to the zoo.

The flowers were blooming and it signed the spring was finally here. It was in front of the hotel.

We were going to the zoo! We bought the online tickets in advance from Klook. It is a trusted website. I've bought deals when I visited Korea last time. Weeribee Open Range Zoo is an African themed zoo in Werribee, about half an hour from CBD. It was really huge. The zoo has a simulated African village, with educational and entertaining features, including a mock scenario of an African ranger and his adventures tracking lions, and an interactive soundscape walk with simulated lion sounds surrounding the walker. You can also book various 'specialty' tours, including the Off Road Safari, or close encounters with gorillas, servals or giraffe. We had really blast time witnessing many cute, fierce, tall and rare animals. Let the pictures speak for it.

This is the vehicle which brings you for an unforgettable tour to witness the amazing animals. You have to line up and choose your preferred seat to have better views. But if you are opt for closer interaction with the animals, you can buy the other tour package and it will cost you more.

We were done and leaving the zoo at 3.30pm and continued our journey to The Great Ocean Road. Initially, we planned to have our grocery shopping at ALDI Geelong however because of time constraint we headed to our first holiday park at Apollo Bay. We didn't make any advance booking yet and the management office will be closed at 6pm. So we should be there before it closes. The journey to Apollo Bay took at least 2 hours from the zoo.

Apollo Bay Holiday Park is the best holiday park of all sites we have been to (this is only my opinion). We stayed here for 2 nights. Please be noted, there are a lot of holiday park which are available along the way to Great Ocean Road. So you just need to list down your preferences and destinations to make your journey easier.

Usually, they will charge you by how many persons that will stay at the park. For 6 of us, it costed 89aud per night. The facilities were superb and you will have a pleasant stay here. I bet same goes to other holiday park.

That evening we went to the Apollo Food Bay mini supermarket to shop the grocery. We only bought the necessary supply for 2 days then we will buy the rest at ALDI for cheaper price. We had Brahim's with nasi impit that we brought all the way from Malaysia with serunding I guess.

Day 3 - Road trippin' Part 2 (Apollo Bay, Cape Otway, The Twelve Apostle, Loch Ard Gorge)

Me and Ida woke up early around 6.30am. It was 8-10 degree that morning. We decided to have a coastal run because the park was located very near to the Apollo Bay beach. The neighbor areas were super calm and laid-back. I wish I can settle down here. There were people walking their dogs, the folks were taking some fresh air and there were only few cars on the road. We took the jogging trail and completed 3km run. Then we walked to the beach. It was our first time running in Melbourne and accompanied by this enthralling views. I could not help but feeling so peaceful and being grateful to have this opportunity to witness the beauty.

We didn't get to witness the sunrise because we finished running at 7.30am. So we planned to wake up early tomorrow morning. Then, we continued to have 30 mins workout session at the playground. We woke the rest up and prepared our breakfast. We made simple toast with avocado, banana and tuna. Tea without sugar for me.

Working out while breathing the fresh air was a blessing

We started our journey at 10am and headed to Cape Otway Lighthouse. It took only 30 mins from Apollo Bay. We can't help but opened our eyes as big as we can to remember how beautiful the scenery was.

We stopped at a beautiful spot before reaching the lighthouse. I'm not sure where it was but it just 5 mins drive before reaching the destination. It was worth the stop for memories and pretty pictures.

There is an entrance fee that you need to pay at the Cape Otway Lighthouse. It costed us 20aud per adult. I know it is not cheap, that is why we were hesitate at the first place. But we were already there, so why not? For that price, you will be enchanted by the priceless panorama. I will make you believe me by these pictures below.

So how? Have you been witched with the beauty of these landscape? I'm using my mirrorless camera, fujifilm xt20 and there is no single filter applied on these pictures.

This is only the beginning of our ultimate dilemma on which pictures to post on our social media. There are countless beautiful pictures captured.

Around 1.30pm, we exited from the Cape Otway lighthouse and had quick meal as our lunch. Instant noodle/maggi came as savior. We headed to The twelve Apostle. Initially we planned to stopped by at Laver's Hill, however because of the distance and it took another hour to reach The Twelve Apostle, we decided to cancel the Laver's Hill. In fact, it is just a small agriculture town surrounded by the hills. But there is no waste and it is a bonus if you can go there.

20 min before arriving The Twelve Apostle, you will noticed there are few look out points that you can stop over and they are free. You can do that if you want to and have plenty of time. We thought that we should go straight to our main destination because one spot can consume more than 30 mins for us and we can't waste our precious time. So here we go, The amazing Twelve Apostle.

The next spot is Loch Ard Gorge. It was only 5km away from The Twelve Apostle. So you can estimate how many hours you want to spend for each location. Here I am sharing our photos for you to have the eagerness to visit this awesome place.

Before the day became so dark, we headed back to our holiday park. And because of improper meal that we had for lunch, we cooked something more pleasing to keep our hunger away. Nadira and Nadiah prepared for hearty spaghetti. After we showered, Ida and I went to sleep directly. We have to wake up early for a morning jog.

We had so much more to share, that is why I am contemplating either to continue or to halt this post. I am worried if you find it a bit boring or wordy. So let's resume the adventure on next post. I hope you will read and keep the momentum until the end.