Melbourne · Victoria
Melbourne: The Great Ocean Road begins here
Melbourne is where the Great Ocean Road starts, which is reason enough to collect a vehicle here. The road begins at Torquay and follows the coast west through Anglesea, Lorne and Apollo Bay before turning inland near Princetown for Warrnambool.
The city sits at the head of Port Phillip Bay, so the choices fan out three ways: the surf coast south-west, the bay and its island south-east, and wine country north. Most trips take two.
Where this depot puts you
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The Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles
The road is the attraction as much as the destination: cut into the hillside above the water for long stretches, surf below and rainforest gullies running down to it. The Twelve Apostles are limestone stacks offshore near Port Campbell, seen from clifftop lookouts, best late in the day. The Shipwreck Coast beyond is bleaker and far quieter.
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The Otway Ranges and Cape Otway
Behind Apollo Bay the road climbs into the Otways: tall wet forest, tree ferns and waterfalls, then Cape Otway, where the lighthouse stands above the Southern Ocean. The inland route is narrow, winding and slower than it looks.
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Phillip Island
East of the city, Phillip Island is reached by bridge at San Remo: ocean surf one side, sheltered bay beaches the other, little penguins coming ashore at dusk. The evening viewing is ticketed and it is the busy session. The Nobbies boardwalk and quiet back roads fill the rest of a day.
Worth knowing before you book
- The depot is at Ringwood, east of the city, so the westbound start runs against the morning traffic heading into town.
- The coast road is slow in summer, a tourist road with towns strung along it; the inland return through Colac is faster.
- Winter is cold and wet on the southern coast, wind straight off the Southern Ocean, and the Otways take the worst of it.
- Wildlife moves at dusk on the coast road, so be off it by then or drive well below the limit.
What you can drive
Every depot is stocked from the same national fleet — campervans, 4WD campers and a five-seat car. What is actually available on your dates is confirmed by the search, not assumed from a list.
The full fleet, with specifications · All pickup locations
Melbourne is one of the network's pickups — the locations page lists every depot, and Hervey Bay is not one of them.
Keep planning
The rest of this site is about the Fraser Coast — the drive up from Brisbane, getting onto K'gari and when the whales are in the bay. There are 11 guides.