Travel Diary – Trip along the Great Ocean Drive, Regional Victoria, and Toowoomba – By Ravihansa Rajapakse & Chinthika Ranasinghe
Source : Qld Sri Lankan Newsletter – Dæhæna – January 2023
We were living in Melbourne at the time when we had to move to Brisbane for Chinthika’s studies and my work.
The Christmas holidays were looming large, and so we took the opportunity to do a ‘mega’ 12-day road trip from
Melbourne to Brisbane. The plan was to first travel West along the Great Ocean Road before turning North towards Queensland. We thought of making stops at Ballarat, Bendigo, Canberra, Sydney, Blue Mountains, Newcastle, and Byron Bay, before reaching Brisbane. We started the trip early morning on the 17th of December and our first stop was Werribee Zoo. Although not overly enthusiastic about zoos, we decided to pay a visit to this zoo as it follows a different structure of open space for animals. The animals have a vast land to wonder around, and the visitors can walk in the protected corridors and walkways. We also took a safari ride within the zoo which is included in the $42 adult ticket. Our next stop was the Victoria State Rose Garden in Werribee South.
This garden displays a quite impressive collection of roses with a plenty of spaces to relax, and the entry is free of
charge. We then continued along the picturesque Great Ocean Road, which – to me – is a must-do tourist drive in
Australia. It winds along the ocean with some breathtaking views along the way. We paid a visit to the Split Point
Lighthouse – famously known as the ‘Round the Twist’ lighthouse – as a must-do along the route. We camped for
the day in Lorne but did not forget to pay a visit to the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery for a treat of candy and melted chocolate.
Our journey continued along the Great Ocean Road until we took a slight diversion to Otway Fly Treetop Adventures in Weeaproinah. The slow stroll on the raised platform above the trees was a truly refreshing experience which was worthwhile for a $23.40 online adult ticket. We then decided to do a short beach walk at Gibson Steps. Although the sun was beaming bright, the waves and the shadows of the beach rock formations kept us cool. Our next stop was the unmissable Twelve Apostles that offered us a magnificent view towards the latter part of the afternoon. We stayed our night in a little farmhouse in Elingamite North, which was a new experience for us. We had the chance to wake up to farm fresh eggs and a small spider in our bedstand!
Now we have started treading towards the north of the country, with Ballarat being our next stop. Our main target
was to visit Sovereign Hill, which is a replica of a gold mining town with costumed actors, a mine tour, coach rides
and other attractions. While the $49 adult ticket was on the expensive side, we enjoyed every dollar touring this facility. We drove to Bendigo for the night, when we came across the dreaded news of possible closure of Queensland state border due to COVID-19 outbreak. We had to abandon our initial plan to drive to Canberra the next day and 
sought to reach Queensland as quickly as possible. We decided to take the Newell Highway via Dubbo because possible traffic ques on the Pacific Motorway via Albury. Regardless, we still managed to tour around Bendigo, which we felt a picturesque big town. We took the old Bendigo Tram to visit the Central Deborah Gold Mine. This gold mine tour was quite adventurous and informative for its online adult ticket price of $35. We also visited the Golden Dragon Museum for a mere $12 ticket, which had a vast collection of items demonstrating the Chinese
heritage around the Gold Rush in Australia in the mid1800s. By the end of the day, we realised that it is difficult
to reach Brisbane in a single drive, and so stopped in West Wyalong for the night.
The next day saw us driving nearly 1000kms, and while on the way we instinctively decided to explore the Central
Queensland city of Toowoomba, which is known for its display of flowers. We spent two nights in Toowoomba and thought of relaxing a bit after a little tedious drive. We visited the Japanese Garden maintained by the University
of Southern Queensland, which was followed by a soothing spa treatment. The Toowoomba Art Gallery housed a
vibrant collection of local pieces of arts. When we drove to Brisbane on the 23rd of December, we were refreshed and relaxed, despite the unexpected change of plans which cut our 12-day trip to 7 days. This adventurous trip was one of the memorable journeys we have taken and will remain that way for the years to come.
Ravihansa Rajapakse & Chinthika Ranasinghe
Ravihansa works as a lecturer and a tutor and his wife Chinthika works as
an apprentice aircraft engineer in Brisbane. Ravihansa and Chinthika are
avid travellers who love exploring nature and diverse cultures.
