Video Transcript
Welcome to a brand new episode of Wout of the World.
And in this video, you’ll see us at the south coast of Australia, near Melbourne.
In Wilsons Promontory, to be precise. This National Park, also known as the Prom, is on a pure and rugged peninsula full of beautiful nature and wild animals.
And in this episode, we again drive around in a beautiful 4×4 camper van of WA Experts. But my colleague, the giant seagull over here, will show you. You want some more bread?
So if you just walk with me, I’ll show you the vehicle. Thanks, dear colleague.
With this fabulous holiday villa on wheels, we make the big lap around Australia. From Darwin, we drove it the Northern Territory. Then it took us to the coast of Queensland, and we explored the Great Barrier Reef. We found the elusive cassowary bird in the jungle of Mission Beach. We went koala spotting on Magnetic Island.
And the highlight was for sure the bounty paradise of Whitsundays.
And from cozy Rockhampton, we drove to Hervey Bay, the entrance gate to K’gari or Fraser Island.
Now the road trip continues south.
Bye-bye, Queensland. Hello, New South Wales.
We enjoy the beautiful countryside of New South Wales, full of historical buildings.
Good morning. The sun is shining again.
And by the way, this is the best free campsite that we ever had driving around Australia.
You have to see this.
At the Royal Hotel in Murrurundi. We stay for free in the backyard. Next to a free hot shower, a little open air museum, and a good morning coffee, this place even had a playground.
Drinking a wild Yuk in Yark.
That’s Victoria, by the way. Good.
After some more stops in New South Wales, we crossed the border into Victoria at last. And on the app WIKI Camps, we keep finding the best free campsites all over.
We skip Melbourne for now and drive straight to the next nature wonder.
And just north of the National Park is a great little campsite overlooking the Bay called Corner Inlet.
From Melbourne, we drove for about 2 hours to the southeast to get to the beautiful nature.
This here is Wilsons Promontory National Park, also known as Wilsons Prom. We just got to the campsite. We got three days here to see the beautiful nature, some wildlife, spectacular views, beaches, and the lush forest. I already like it here.
Jens is already loving this place called Yanakie Caravan Park. And so is the rest of the family. When I explore the campsite with the kids, I already see the lush nature all around. This place is truly a hidden gem, just a short drive out of Melbourne.
There’s already some wildlife to be spotted on our little afternoon walk.
Oh, wow. We really had to get used to sleeping in the cold again because up north, it was around 25-30 degrees even in the morning with the burning sun. And now down south, near Melbourne, it’s chilly. It’s about four or five degrees in the morning and it’s 12 during the day. But now the sun is shining and it’s time to explore the area.
The cape over there is also called Duck Point, and it’s a quiet area with not much else than our campsite. From here, it’s only a 10-minute drive to the entry gate of the Prom.
Suus. Do you want to go to the prom with me?
Yes, of course.
Yay. Oh, we’re almost there.
We don’t have to We wait very long to see animals on our south coast safari.
So we’re off to a good start. We just entered the Prom and we already saw some wallabies and emus. I guess the wildlife here is abundant.
With only 500 square kilometres, the Prom is not too big, and the scenic drive to most of the sites is only about half an hour. The views are already incredible from the roadside, and the chance of spotting wildlife here is bigger than anywhere else in Victoria.
The Wilsons Promontory National Park is about 150 kilometres from the big city of Melbourne in the Gippsland region, and it will surprise you how wild this nature is. There’s subtropical rainforest in a beautiful mountain landscape near the incredible white beaches on this green peninsula. So we’re going to spot the wildlife, we can do some walks, and we can drive around to the viewing points. So we’re going to do a bit of both today with the kids.
We start off with this colourful Crimson rosella.
And soon we spot several koalas too.
In the Prom, there is a river called the Tidal River, and this is the centre of all the most beautiful sites. You can walk around it, cross a bridge in the middle. There are some mountains, beautiful beaches. You can have some nice walks to viewpoints, and of course, I’m going to see it from above with the drone.
The Tidal River Village is the main area to start or to stay the night. And there’s an excellent beach called Norman Beach. But another beach has caught our interest, and we drive there for a short but breathtaking little hike.
Without a doubt, the most popular beach you can find in the Prom is Squeaky Beach, which is named after the squeaky sound it makes when you walk here with your shoes on.
And above all, it’s beautiful. What’s even more striking is that we are completely alone here when we arrive.
And this is what Squeaky Beach sounds like.
For now, I’ll I’ll just shut up and let you enjoy the view. Wow.
In 2024, this beach was declared the best beach in all of the country by Tourism Australia.
Driving along the scenic road, we see another Swamp wallaby with its beautiful red and brown fur.
We drive on to two more beautiful highlights of the park, which are Whisky Bay and Picnic Bay. We can see those with a drone, or we could have a picnic with some whiskey. I think I take the second choice. Before I forget, it’s just a small walk every time from the car parks to the beautiful beach areas. So 4-500 metres, but the walks are beautiful.
Our last stop of the day will be the Prom Wildlife Walk. And just before we leave the park, there’s this patch of grass, and behind that, there’s a little walk, which is our best chance to spot Wombats.
You want to see a Wombat, Hein, Jens? Yeah. High five.
Let’s go.
We walk along many Emus, but no Wombats yet. But no worries, Jens. Here comes one out of the bushes.
Isn’t the Wombet just the cutest little Teddy bear? We also spot this little fella, the Superb ferrywren.
That’s it for Wilsons Prom. And we love the wildlife. We saw everything we wanted to see.
So now on to Melbourne.
We did see all of those animals, and pretty satisfied, we continue to the big city.
We have dinner and say goodbye to the lovely campsite of Yanakie Park. Drive for about three hours and experience quite a change of scenery.
Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria, and it’s the second most populous city in all of Australia after Sydney.
The Metropolitan area is known as Greater Melbourne and has about 5.2 million people. It’s also known as the cultural capital of Australia, so there are many beautiful sites to see, and we begin at the Shrine of Remembrance.
This Greek-style monument was built in 1934 to honour the the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I. But it now functions as a memorial to all Australians who have served in any war.
This city is a combination of stunning modern architecture and a vibrant arts scene.
It’s also the event, capital of Australia, with over 8,000 exhibitions and festivals every year.
Melbourne was founded in 1835 by early settlers coming from Tasmania.
It’s the most Southern city of the world with more than a million people.
It is also nicknamed the Garden City because of all the parks. We drive into the city and enjoy art and great architecture everywhere we look.
And did you know that Melbourne has been crowned the most livable city in the world for seven years in a row. I want to live here.
Melbourne has been home to some of Australia’s most famous writers, and is therefore a designated UNESCO city of literature.
We arrive in the Arts Precinct with all the cultural sites, and just outside of the National Gallery of Victoria, we already get soaked in Melbourne culture.
Next, we cross the Princess Bridge into the central business district and look out over the Yarra River. Just across we also find world famous Flinders Street train station.
Melbourne is a city that’s also famous for the lively street art, and you will find it in a place called Hosier Lane, but also in the rest of the city.
Everywhere you look, you can find beautiful paintings on the walls.
These streets are incredible. You don’t know what you see when you walk around here.
From the busiest train station south of the equator, we see Saint Paul’s Cathedral and many other famous buildings of Melbourne.
For me, personally, the most beautiful building of the city is the Forum of Melbourne.
We passed the old treasury building and see the famous old trams all around.
Another great place for street art is Mayor’s Place, where you feel right down in the rainforest.
This part of the city reminds us a bit of New York, with iconic skyscrapers like the Manchester Unity Building and other historical buildings blending in with modern business towers.
And of course, there’s also good shopping in Melbourne. You can do so here in the Royal Arcade. Quite the experience.
At the entrance, we see mythical giants, Gog and Magog, who seriously remind me of Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. At last, we passed the Mission of Seafarers building and leave the centre to find a nice camping spot.
What an adventure in the big city of Melbourne. We had to look for a campsite, but it wasn’t that hard because we found one in one of the 31 municipalities. Because this big city has actually smaller municipalities that are all spread around Melbourne. And one of them is here in Berwick. And this campsite is only $35, which is about $20 US bucks. And now we just have to wait for the sun before we move on with the camper van.
We find plenty of sun and decide to see the area. After some sports and play time, we find one of the most adventurous city parks that has more wild nature than I expected.
How cool is this?
We’re in Melbourne, in the suburbs, and there’s a park here, Cardinia Street Park, which actually has the Platypus. It lives here.
There’s a river, so I’m looking for it.
Hey. Oh, no, it’s just a duck. And I spot Eastern rosellas.
Only in Australia. I’m looking for that Platypus in a park that actually has playgrounds for the kids, and I stumble upon a Red-bellied black snake, which is highly venomous. They can be fatal, actually, in a city park. Moving on.
After many other birds, we spot Kookaburas, too.
And this cute little Possum. In a place too high. Before we drive our holiday home on wheels out of Melbourne along the south coast.
That’s it unfortunately, for this episode in the Melbourne area.
But we’re moving on going down south to the Great Ocean Road, one of the nicest highways to drive in all of Australia.
And first, we’re going to have some chicken now. See you next time.
Real Australia chicken. Now we drive on West to find more natural wonders along the single best road trip destination in the world. So sit back, relax, and let’s continue.
You’re still joining me on epic road trip on the east and south coast of Australia, where we are now exactly in the middle. We just left Melbourne, and this is the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.
The epic Great Ocean Road stretches for about 243 kilometres all the way from a little place called Torquay over to Warrnambool on the other side of Victoria.
So the place where we start is called Torquay. It’s a nice little surfing town, and there’s a nice beach as well. I’m I’m going to fly over this with a drone because it’s beautiful. We’re going to hang around here for a bit before we start to the epic Great Ocean Road.
The shirt I’m wearing is very appropriate, by the way, because the brand Quicksilver is from Torquay. Other surfing brands like Rip Curl too, because this is without a doubt, the surfing capital of Australia.
This beach between the town and the cliffs of Rocky Point is swamped with surfers and kids learning how to surf because this is the best beginner spot, and it has a surfing school.
On the west side of Rocky Point are the more advanced surfing beaches that even host famous World Championship competitions.
We use this relaxed little town to stack up our camper van and hit the road.
Once you start your trip on the Great Ocean Road, you will see that there are many viewpoints. Of course, you cannot stop at all of them, but some of them are so beautiful, like the first one here at Anglesea, where we got a 360 view over the ocean.
What a beautiful panoramic picture this is.
A little bit further down the road, you can also go down to the beach. And over there, we can see one of the next sites on the horizon over there. That’s Cape Otway with the beautiful the lighthouse, and I cannot understand that there’s nobody on these beaches. Well, it’s so beautiful. Look at this.
The eastern section of the Great Ocean Road connects the one incredible bay with the next, and it mainly has the best beaches.
But as we drive on, the coast gets rockier and more adventurous by the minute.
Even though we started in Torquay, this will be the symbolic beginning of our trip because this is the Memorial Arch, the beautiful sign of the Great Ocean Road. And from here, we get the most beautiful sights on the ocean. I promise you that.
The Great Ocean Road was built by soldiers coming back from World War I, and the entire road is therefore often called the biggest war memorial in the world. It took the soldiers 13 hard years between 1919 and 1932, with only picks, shovels, and explosives. Well nowadays, 2 million visitors drive this road every year.
After one of the most entertaining parts of the Great Ocean Road, we end up in a town called Lorne. Over here, we get some great views of the ocean and also the highest viewpoint that you can find along the coast.
Lorne is the liveliest town on the Great Ocean Road, with plenty of restaurants and pups, and the best view.
This is it, the highest and the most beautiful viewpoint you can get on the Great Ocean Road.
It’s called Teddy’s Lookout.
From above, we can see even better how the cars down there drive the road trip of a lifetime. It’s like driving through a beautiful painting over here. We now drive on to Kennett River.
So on the Internet, I read a tip about spotting koalas on the Great Ocean Road. One of the best places would be at Kennett River, just across from the Caravan Park, right over there.
And we already find some other beautiful animals, or actually, they found us.
And it’s a royal visit because these are Australian king parrots. Up there in the tree is a Koala.
Oh, yes, by the way, Koalas sleep up to 20 hours a day.
What a life.
Don’t you just love it when your wife yells, Koala, there in the tree, and it’s awake, and it turns out to be a branch, just a normal branch.
Is the branch awake, though? No, it isn’t. Koala.
Sorry.
We see some other ones sleeping as well until suddenly… One seems to have an itch.
Or is he flipping us the finger?
And back to sleep.
So the last hour or so, we drove through the dense rainforest of the Great Otway National Park to end up at a beautiful campsite where we’re going to spend the night. Tomorrow, I’m going to fly here with a drone And we’re camping just outside a beautiful waterfall that we’re going to see tomorrow. But guys, the Great Ocean Road so far, perfect.
This must be one of the best camping spots of Victoria, and the best one that we had in Australia in general. It’s quiet, it’s right in the middle of nature, and it’s completely free. And we like that.
Now, let me show you where we are exactly with the drone. Wow.
As I mentioned, we slept quite close to a beautiful waterfall. It’s called the Beauchamp Waterfall. It’s only a two-hour walk, but for the kids, it’s a little bit steep and rough, so I’m going alone. It’s early in the morning, so it’s quite chilly. But I’m looking forward to the waterfall.
On my path, I meet many Crimson rosellas who are just having breakfast before I enter the incredibly lush rainforest.
Completely alone, I find my way through tall redwoods and giant ferns.
The path wasn’t too bad, so I did it in like half an hour, maybe 45 minutes. At the end, there are some steps, a lot of them, and it’s quite steep. But after that, you get this as a reward, the beautiful waterfall, Beauchamp.
So for the second time now, I heard noises in the bushes and I saw something big jumping away. It was a little bit dark, but it looked like a Kangaroo, so I think it was a Swamp wallaby. I might see them later.
I’m glad I did, so now I can show you what I mean.
Walking down to the river, I get an even better view of the Beauchamp Waterfall.
And because I’m all alone, this is a private moment of true happiness that I will never forget.
This little bird is the Superb fairywren. And along many more Rosellas, I also see a Flame robin.
So I did this hike for 2 hours, climbing stairs, climbing rocks, climbing waterfalls. And then I get back, the sun is shining, and my family is finally awake. So it’s time to continue on the Great Ocean Road.
But first, time for… Coffee.
A little to the west, we’ll find some of the most famous landmarks in all of Australia.
So we’re driving along the Great Ocean Road again, along the ocean, and over there, we find the most famous site on this entire route, which is the Twelve Apostles. There are not actually twelve, only eight. They have never been twelve, but it was just a very nice name because of the Bible. Sometimes one collapses and then there’s one less. But look at this, guys. Amazing.
It’s beautiful and sad at the same time that this natural piece of art is ever-changing. Sculptures collapse, but new ones are also created over time.
We’re moving on to the next incredibly beautiful site. This here is the Lock Ard Gorge. It used to be able to go down there, but right now it’s all closed. But it’s beautiful from here, too.
The last time we were here in 2016, and we stood down there on the beach, but they are renovating the stairs right now.
The Gorge is named after Loch Ard, a ship that sank here during foggy weather in 1878, after a three-month journey out of England. Only two of the 54 passengers survived and climbed ashore on the Coast that would later be known as the Shipwreck Coast.
And along that impressive Coast, we drive on through the Port Campbell National Park.
Right in the middle of the Port Campbell National Park, we find the little town of Port Campbell. And I can tell you, it’s a pretty little town with a nice view over the ocean.
The next place that we stop is quite beautiful also. It’s called the London Bridge, but it used to be even more beautiful when it was a double natural bridge. Now, one part, unfortunately, has collapsed, so we got one part of the London Bridge left, but it’s still amazing.
London Bridge had fallen down, which happened in 1990. I think this is still one of the best views that we get on the Great Ocean Road.
Quite close, we find the grotto, which is the most colourful of all the rock formations. Leave it up to nature to create a peaceful natural pool right next to the roughest ocean.
We arrived at the final stop before we go all the way to the end of Great Ocean Road in Warrnambool, near a little town called Peterborough. We’re standing at this view called the Bay of Islands. It’s a really pretty sight to conclude this episode, and I’ll see you soon driving the south coast of Australia all the way to Perth.
In the Bay of Islands Coastal Park, there are several viewpoints that are worth a stop. On the east side, we see the Bay of Martyrs.
And more west is the Bay of Islands with beautiful sculptures. This here is Tiramisu Rock, and you see what they mean.
Here on the Great Ocean Road, I’ve been warned several times now for snakes. Here on the parking lot, walking towards the viewpoint, I saw one. It was crawling on the parking lot into the bushes, and it was a Tiger snake with stripes. It looked very awesome, but supposedly it’s very venomous.
If you remember the beginning this episode, I was standing on this little beach.
It’s actually in Warrnambool at the end of the Great Ocean Road, and I wanted to show you this because it’s pretty nice. This is symbolic because this is where the rest of our South Australia road trip begins. All the way to Perth.
I said, let’s go. Because the road trip is far from over.
In the state of South Australia, we discover new hidden treasures. And go for a city safari in Adelaide.
Subscribe and we’ll see you there. Ciao.
Wout of the World
Online travel show in Dutch and English with World traveler and actor Wout of the World. In dozens of episodes Wout takes you out for adventure all over the world, always in the most budget-friendly way. Enjoy over 120 countries from your couch, phone or the computer.