The Nomadic Explorers | Australian Travel Blog

Imagine 38 kilometres of breathtaking coastal imagery. The Great Ocean Drive near Esperance, Western Australia is what dreams are made of. The circular loop captures some of Western Australia’s most spectacular views. Separating each fascinating landmark are captivating views of the coastal scenery; where snow-white sand meets the sapphire blue body of the ocean. Although this road is much shorter that Great Ocean Road in Victoria, it has sheltered, pristine beaches with their crystal clear waters and snow-white sands, beautiful lookouts and lots of places to sit down and relax by doing nothing.

Sadly, we had only couple of hours to spend on the Great Ocean Drive. So plan ahead and book at least half of the day to explore this beautiful part of Western Australia.

The highest mountain in Victoria, Mt Bogong, was in our list to climb for a long time. We wished to get to its summit almost since that moment when we heard about it. Our main concern was that has our son enough strength to get there? A year ago one of the experienced hikers and good friend of us advised that it would be probably be hard for our 8y.o. boy to get to the summit in one day, so we simply waited until Yegor grows up and gets ready for a walk.

Finally after successful hikes to Mount Kosciuszko in 2013, Mount Feathertop and Bluff Knot (WA) last year and number of long bike rides with him we decided that he is ready and it is time to go.

Mount Bogong, here we come.

With its lush gullies, giant mountain ash trees and tree ferns, Tarra Bulga National Park is one of only four major areas of cool temperate rainforest in the Victoria. We’ve been in this park earlier this year in winter and were amazed with its beauty, undisturbed fern gully communities, Mountain Ash and Myrtle Beech forests.

There are different ways to get to the park. You can either get there from the north via Princess Highway or, if you travel from Wilsons Promontory, via Tarra Bulga Road (as we did). Bear in mind that Tarra Bulga Road is very twisty narrow roads but worth every kilometer. Be very careful and consider to drive slowly than usual.

Despite of the road condition, this park is certainly a jewel. There are many beautiful walks along tree fern covered tracks, lovely flowing creeks and rivers, waterfalls and towering Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon), hazel pomaderris (Pomaderris aspera), Myrtle Beech (Nothofagus cunninghamii) and tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica and Cyathea australis).

If you love bushwalking and wildlife then the "Prom", is the place to go.

Wilsons Promontory National Park or the 'Prom' as the locals call it, is the southernmost tip of the Australian mainland. It is a three hour drive from Melbourne and Victoria's oldest, and number one National Park. The park covers over 50,000 hectares and includes pristine beaches, rain forests, huge granite mountains and rugged offshore islands. There a numerous walking tracks, which take anywhere from a short walk to a 4 -5 day hike.

As the Prom is located not far away from Melbourne, we’ve never visited it. Yes, we were everywhere except this park :)