Great Ocean Road.....

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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Tiberius
Posts: 799
Joined: 31 Dec 2014, 8:45am
Location: North East England

Great Ocean Road.....

Post by Tiberius »

G'Day and all that....

I've been over to OZ a few times ( my sister lives there ) and I've had a look around NZ.

Daughter No2 ( The cheeky one ) has just cycled around Asia and OZ, and has now plonked herself in NZ. She is now wondering if me/her Mum might breeze over to NZ for a visit ( Yup, She's skint....She has a working visa so I say 'get on with it' )

It's an utter b*** ache to get there so I'm keen to make the best of it. I want to cycle the Great Ocean Road.

I'm thinking, hire a bike in Adelaide ( 'bin there before ) and cycle towards Melbourne. THEN, send the bike back when I'm done.

Good idea/Bad idea/Web links/Do this, don't do that ???....I'm not the sort of person that needs my hand holding, but I would appreciate advice from anyone that has done this.

Thank you.....
hamster
Posts: 4131
Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by hamster »

DO IT! I rode it with my wife 15 years ago from Warrnambool to Melbourne. Is was wonderful. I would seriously consider buying and selling a bike for a one way journey, it may be no more costly than renting.
Tiberius
Posts: 799
Joined: 31 Dec 2014, 8:45am
Location: North East England

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by Tiberius »

hamster wrote: I would seriously consider buying and selling a bike for a one way journey, it may be no more costly than renting.


Interesting....Thank you for the reply...... :)
tyreon
Posts: 936
Joined: 4 Oct 2012, 4:39pm

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by tyreon »

Have you looked at prevailing wind direction? And weather at the time of that year? You carrying camping equip or hostel/motel etc. How longer time you got to do it? Maybe crazy,but some folder? You too short of time you could put it on bus,back of car easy. You want the experience to say 'you done it' to be pooped,or do it to drink in the experience,have a cuppa on the way?

On buying s/h. There's always a shortage when you want the bike you're after,and a flood when you're absent. Same when you want to sell: no buyers except those offering scrap prices :cry:
hamster
Posts: 4131
Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by hamster »

West to East (as the OP suggests) is the right way for the prevailing wind.
beardy
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Joined: 23 Feb 2010, 4:10pm

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by beardy »

tyreon wrote:Have you looked at prevailing wind direction? And weather at the time of that year? You carrying camping equip or hostel/motel etc. How longer time you got to do it? Maybe crazy,but some folder? You too short of time you could put it on bus,back of car easy. You want the experience to say 'you done it' to be pooped,or do it to drink in the experience,have a cuppa on the way?

On buying s/h. There's always a shortage when you want the bike you're after,and a flood when you're absent. Same when you want to sell: no buyers except those offering scrap prices :cry:


Australian cars are (were back in the 1990s) much larger than European ones. You can easily put a full size bike in the back of a Holden or Australian Ford.
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RedRaleigh
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Joined: 4 Jan 2009, 9:25pm

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by RedRaleigh »

I rode Adelaide to Melbourne ( as part of a much longer tour ) in late August 2001 and loved every minute of it. I would recommend coming out of Adelaide up the Old Mount Barker Rd ( has a bike track ) and then following the quiet roads through to Strathalbyn and then on to Langhorne Creek through the vineyards and cross the Murray at Wellington on the little ferry. I agree that the road along the Coorong can be a little dull at times, but I really enjoyed the quiet - weekdays in non-school holidays was nearly traffic free. I used a mixture of camping, hostels and pubs. I had a little rain coming down the Coorong, but had generally fine weather except for a deluge when crossing the Otway ranges from Port Campbell to Apollo Bay. My panniers ended up as two 20L water containers. I followed the road from Mt Gambier to Nelson, Port Fairy, Warrnumbool and on to the GOR. I would recommend crossing over to Sorrento on the ferry and coming up the Mornington peninsula rather than heading into Melbourne from the Geelong side, however there may be a bike path/route on that side of the Bay now which would make it an easier end to the journey. I have great memories of that trip - the independant hostel in Apollo Bay with the old record player and the collection of records which included such gems as the Soviet Red Army Band plays Marching Tunes, and the young kid staying there who didn't know how a record player worked. I also remember the other cyclists I met ( Katie from New Mexico and Mick from Batemans Bay - where are you now? ). All the best if you decide to give it a go.
An Adelaidian in Somerset.
Tiberius
Posts: 799
Joined: 31 Dec 2014, 8:45am
Location: North East England

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by Tiberius »

Many thank to everyone for the replies...... :D

Tyreon....'Do it on a folder' ??....Seriously ??....One of my bikes is a Brompton and it never occurred to me to use that. I always travel light ( I've done four trips to OZ with just a 35L rucksack ) Food for thought indeed !!!....

RedRaleigh....Many thanks for the route info'...Brilliant input....Thank you....

Note, this is not a camping trip....I've done plenty ( including NZ ) but this is 'under bricks' all the way. I won't plan any night stops but I will have a (very) rough idea of what I am going to do in my head...I will just stop where I stop.
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by simonhill »

I rode the same routes RedRaliegh and can thoroughly recommend it. Unfortunately the wind was SE, the cold biting one for all the way. I did it in Nov and it should have been westerly, but their winds aren't as predictable as many say.

I managed to stay in hostels and pubs, including a great pub for us winning the rugby world cup.

Like many things Aussie, it is overrated and definitely isn't the greatest ocean road in the world, but pretty good nonetheless.

Avoid their holiday periods as cheap accom fills up and beware schoolies, the last week of term when rampant youth take over large swathes of Eastern end of GOR.

I rode into Geelong for one night for a look see, then also took ferry and rode the Mornington.

Enjoy!!
tyreon
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Joined: 4 Oct 2012, 4:39pm

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by tyreon »

One of the most curious things you might experience on the GOR is the multi sign "things to do" whilst in X place or YH. Herein you will see a indicator post with up to 30 different signs signalling what's on offer to do around your accommodation/place of residence. But hold on,don't get too excited,for the thrill seeker/tourist will be invited to(via the finger-sign)...take a walk,look at the sky,play some cards,toilets,shops,see some cattle... Charming but also unsettling at the same time. Sometimes walking 5 minutes the view remains the same 100+ miles later. You might cycle for several days to get to the advertised must-see,to see it in 3 minutes to be left to think what-now.

At risk of repeating myself,saw Henry Cole(motorcyclist on tv). He wasw extolling some small town on his way to Adelaide/Perth. It was his dream town,he had to live there. he was going to buy a house there,it was...Heaven+++ The next day without explanation he appeared mentally distressed saying he had to get out of here,NOW! He looked/felt trapped. The quiet town had turned into a prison but it was without walls. He had to get to a city to see people,to listen to movement,see...shops,lighting... I think the Big Nothing was intimidating. I don't discredit his experience,maybe others solve it with a 4X! There's no way I could live in one of those bush towns.
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by simonhill »

Just remembered. Not the GOR but between Ad and Me on the routel. The youth hostel in My Gambier then a YHA was in an old prison. A real granite built fort of a place. Rooms in cells with no windows and original doors locks now on inside. I remember it being very hot and humid outside, but decidedly chilly (actually and metaphorically) inside. Stainless steel loo in the corner!

Enjoy.
Tiberius
Posts: 799
Joined: 31 Dec 2014, 8:45am
Location: North East England

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by Tiberius »

simonhill wrote:Just remembered. Not the GOR but between Ad and Me on the routel. The youth hostel in My Gambier then a YHA was in an old prison. A real granite built fort of a place. Rooms in cells with no windows and original doors locks now on inside. I remember it being very hot and humid outside, but decidedly chilly (actually and metaphorically) inside. Stainless steel loo in the corner!

Enjoy.


I will look forward to THAT !!!!!...... :mrgreen:

Again, many thanks for all the replies....Appreciated.
Racingt
Posts: 142
Joined: 23 Oct 2015, 6:45am

Re: Great Ocean Road.....

Post by Racingt »

Spend a night in Koala Cove. You will see lots of wild koalas then you can micturate off Australians telling them about it, and discover that most Aussies have never seen a wild koala :D
We did GOR in a camper, loved it, now have our own VW Cali, but it would make a fantastic ride. Your Brompton could do it!!
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