VICTORIA: Great Ocean Road and Surf Roadtrip

For all those who are into Surf, the Sea, Nature, Animals and want to enjoy the epic landscape of Victoria. Get all your staff and hurry up to the Great Ocean Road! It would takes around 1 Week to do the Trip by car (Torquay-Warrnambool).

(on the Great Ocean Road with Bear)

But Max and me, who I met in Melbs before, we continued our trip to Adelaide and returned through the Grampians Nationalpark. All in all it took us 12 days to do it. 

(Map of www.australia.com)

How I describe our trip: it was 

EPIC, INCREDIBLE, BEAUTIFUL, MAGIC and it was WORTH 

to drive all these kilometers. So glad I could shared the moments with Max.

My notes I made before the trip:

Some Details of the Route:

1. Melbourne (Start)

2. Torquay (Surfing, Surf Museum, Rip Curl Outlet)

3. Anglesea (Surfboard Shop, Surfing at Fairhaven Beach)

4. Lorne (Surfing, Koalas and Parrots at Otway NP)

5. Kenneth River (Cockatoo, Koalas, Parrots)

6. Cape Otway (Kangaroos & Koalas Great Ocean Walk)

7. Port Campell/12 Apostels 

8. Warrnambool (Surfing, Fishing)

9. Port Nelson, (Surfing-but there were no waves, hiking to see the Seals)

10. Beachport, SA (Surfing-but no Waves again, fishing)

11. Coorong NP, SA (Kangaroos, Rabbits and Pelican, Bush)

12. Christies Beach (Surfing-it was totally flat, Beach)

13. Glenelg (Exclusive place to be)

14. Adelaide (Central Market)

15. On the way to the Grampians NP, at the border of SA and VIC (Camping in the Bush, in the middle of nowhere)

16. The Grampians NP (beautiful Panorama, Waterfall)

17. Back to the Great Ocean Road to Princetown (Wildlifepark, Kangaroos, Dingos)

18. Lorne (Camping at Otways NP again)

19. Torquay (Checking out Bells Beach, Surfing at Torquay Surf Beach)

20. Back to Melbourne 

Moments of our trip:

(Torquay, bought a new wetsuit)

(Anglesea, my new board 6'8)

(Torquay)

(Lorne, Otway NP)

(Lorne, Otway NP)

(Cape Otway)

(On the way to the 12 Apostels with Max)

(Port Campell, 12 Apostels)

(Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve, Emus)

(Tower Hill Wild Life Reserve, Koala)

(Warrnambool, Beachwalk and Selfie)

(Cape Nelson)

(Christies Beach, Sunset)

(On the Road from SA to VIC)

(beautiful road in the middle of VIC)

(this is the bush)

(Halls Gap, Grampians NP)

(Halls Gap, Grampians NP)

(Grampians NP, Waterfall with Rainbow)

(Grampians NP, Balconies)

(A Kangoroo in Princetown)

(Princetown, cuddling with Dingo Puppies)

A big hug and lots of thanks to Bear, the van from Max. He was suffering a lot of the heat but at the end, it was an unforgettable trip and I am happy to have been a part of this journey. 

And thanks Max, to let me joining the unforgettable trip.

10 Things to do in Bali

(Sunset at Single Fin, Photo taken by Akash Ranjith)

Bali is a small indonesian hindu island. Nevertheless, you can actually do a lot of things. It depends what you really want to do e.g. Surfing, Yoga, party hard, shopping and dining, beachside, snorkeling or diving. 

The Capital of the Island is Denpasar. The next most touristy place is Kuta which located next to Denpasar in the west. 

Transport:

1. You can getting around Bali by scooter where you can rent it everywhere.

Price: 50.000IDR/Day. For long term rental, you can go down to 30.0000-20.000IDR/Day. 

2. Instead of hiring a scooter, there are possibilities to get a private driver who drives you around the Island. Here you have to bargain the price. 

3. A very good alternative is to use the UBER App. Here you order a drive by the App without paying cash (paid by credit card or PayPal). 

4. Grab Taxi App is the same, but paying with cash. 

5. Go-Jec App: Scooter lift around Kuta. It always costs 15.000IDR/ride.

6. Blue Bird Taxi: Taxi Metre

10 Things to do in Bali:

1. Tanah Lot Temple

The temple you only reach if it's low tide. It is located on a small island around 30-40min (north) from Kuta. 

Entrance fee: 30.000 IDR per Person, 2.000IDR for scooter parking

(Tanah Lot Temple)

2. Ubud

From Kuta you drive around 1h to get there. Staying in a Home Stay, you can walk around this Village and discover lots of unique cafes and shops. I stayed at Suastika Lodge which I really recommend (via air.bnb, breakfast included). One of the big attractions is the monkey forest, Tegalalang Rice Terrace and the Tegenungan Waterfall. 

Suastika Lodge: https://www.airbnb.de/rooms/895289

(Tegalalang Rice Terrace)

(Tegalalang Rice Terrace)

(Monkey Forest)

(Monkey Peace) 

(Monkey Forest) 

(Hindu Ceremony Parade)

3. Kuta/Legian/Seminyak/Canggu

These are very touristy places for people who are looking for some party, busy places, shopping and the beachside. This is the southwest coast. Also lots of surfer come here to get some beach breaks.

(Bewara Beach, Changgu)

4. Bukit Peninsula: Surfing 

If you really want to surf, go to the south. 

Sunrise recommendation: Surfing at 5am in Padang Padang or Eastcoast

Popular Spots: 

• Greenball (Green Bowl)
• Shipwreck
• Sri Lanka
• Mushroom
• Gegea
• Uluwatu
• Padang Padang
• Impossibles
• Bingin
• Dreamland  
• Balangan
• Dreamland

(Surfing in Balangan)

(View from Bingin to Dreamland)

(Balangan)

(Bingin)

(Dreamland)

Party at Bukit:

• Wednesday: Single Fin Party
• Thursday: Cashew Tree
• Saturday: Padang Beach Party
• Sunday: Single Fin Party

(Single Fin) Before and after, meet people and hanging around at Padang Market or S market and drinking one or more Bintang. 

(Sunset at Single Fin) Sunset recommendation: around 5-6pm at Single Fin (Uluwatu)

5. Breakfast at Kelly's Warung in Binging

Having a super nice Breakfast, sitting in the Warung at the beach and watching the surf

(View from Kelly's Warung at Bingin beach) 

6. Uluwatu Temple. This is one of the six key temples in Bali.

7. Waterfalls:

Girgit Waterfall, Sekumpul Waterfall, Aling Aling Waterfall, Tegenungan Waterfall....and more (all located in the north part of Bali)

(Tegenungan Waterfall)

(Tegenungan Waterfall)

8. Diving in Ahmed

http://www.ameddivecenter.com 

PADI/SSI

9. Going to Gilli T and Gilli Air 

Drinking special Shakes, Relax, Party and Diving

10. Kuta

Party hard at Alleycats, Skygarden and La Favela 

Java Part III (Bromo)

My last trip in Java was awesome! I went to the Bromo Vulcan, which is located in the east part of Java. It's a long bus drive from Yogyakarta but in the end, you would be happy to see the panorama at sunrise. 

(Bintang Beer)

You have 2 choices to do the Bromo:

1. By yourself with public transport 

2. A tour from Yogyakarta or any other town in the east

For the first choice you need a plenty of time. The traffic in Indonesia is chaotic. There are trains, you can take to Surabaya (4h). From there by bus to Malang and then to Probolinggo. But please note: these busses are not scheduled! From Probolinggo there are Cars going up to the Bromo Nationalpark, where there is an entrance fee about 220.000IDR. You can find both basic and luxury accommodations up there. 

If you book a tour at the reception of your home stay or Hotel (there are also many travel agency's around the corner). They will pick you up with the minibus directly to Probolinggo and to the Hotel at the Bromo Nationalpark. It takes around 12h. You can book a tour where the entry is already included. 

In general, you arrive the Bromo National Park in the evening. There are 4x4 cars going up to the Sunrise View point at 3:30 in the morning. After that you go to the Bromo Krater around 6:00AM. This morning trip is also not included if you travel by yourself. But it's possible to book it for 100.000IDR. In some tour packages it's included.

(4x4 Landcruiser, Toyota)

There is another possibility to see the Bromo Krater without paying anything. You can hike from your Hotel to the Krater and it will take about 1h to reach there. It's pretty tiring because the ground is very sandy (looks like ash). 

(sunrise at View Point)

(Bromo)

One more thing to note for the Beomo trip: it's fucking cold in the morning! About 5-10 degrees!! But worth it!

(Warm clothes!)

(Bromo Krater)

(Landscape)