Sydney to Melbourne - 2023

When I first drove from Sydney to Melbourne, in 2021, I did so in one day (9hr drive), sprinting through the motorway and only caught an occasional glimpse of the scenery. The fear of missing out on the beatiful landscapes became more real with each kilometer. However, I was on a time crunch and I told myself I'd do it right one day...

It was not until very recently that Yash, my friend from India, reached out to me. "Hey, I want to visit you and travel Australia. I hear the drive from Sydney to Melbourne is scenic. Any chance we can do that?".

It was time do it right.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

I had a vague idea of what I wanted. I wanted it "all" - seaside towns, national parks, Australia wildlife and long beaches. I longed for a holiday that allowed me to fulfil all my passions. From local cafes and bakeries to draft beers and family owned wineries. From scenic drives along the coast to hikes in the rainforest. From art galleries to historic museums. From takeaway chinese food to cooking in a cottage.

Call me crazy but I did actually pursue it. The drive from Sydney to Melbourne is one that is common among locals and tourists and as such, I thought there must be at least one other maniac who was willing to go overboard. So surely, I can just find an itinerary and use it, right? Well, no. I looked for itineraries on the internet, I asked my colleagues and I spoke to my friends about it but I kept getting signals that this was a challenge I had to take on myself.

After a few weeks of putting my blood, sweat, and tears into it, I think I had what I wanted.

If you are not already packing your bags, here are some reasons you should be!

Highlights

There was not a single moment in this trip that I wouldn't want to write about. But, in the interest of saving your time and mine, I have collected my top picks.

For the equally ambitious, crazy or passionate folks, I love to travel and I love to talk about travel, so if you would like to know more about anything you've seen, please reach out to me on Twitter (@vk2mav) !

Snorkeling with seals in Australia's largest seal colony

As we settled into our accomodation on Day 1, Yash pointed out that we did not have much planned for Day 2 in the morning. This made us both look at each other with confusion and sadness and we started looking up for activities nearby. At first, I was not excited to spend time on an island dreading the thought of a boring tour guide and seas sickness from being in a makeshift boat so I adamantly denied the idea. After a hard sell, I reluctantly agreed to do this purely for the sake of an international tourist. So, why is this a highlight then?

Well, I couldn't be more gratetul that for this truely lifechanging experience. From the moment we set foot on our powerful motorboat, we had great conversations with a group of 12 strangers. We met Ian (Ian becomes important later in this story) - a guy filming for Expedia. I got an opportunity to sit in the cockpit of the boat with Goergia, our captain? For almost the entire duration, she kept trying to convince me that she is Australian but even after making us some coffee and telling me all about her hunting trips, I still think her strong English accent was a dead giveaway (shush!).

When we got off on Montague Island - the largest seal colony of Australia - we were welcomed by two lovely tour guides. They told us stories of the island as they walked us to the top of the lighthouse made with handcut stone, the connection with stories of the indigenous people of the land and about their experiences making homes and maintaining the island for penguins and birds!

Which brings me to, the best part of the tour, the seals! After a tour of the island, we put on our wetsuits and jumped straight into the ocean to swim with the seals, or as I like to call them, playful beasts. At first, it took me a while to re-learn how to breathe through my snorkel but once comfortable, it was unreal to swim with the seals in their natural habitat, watching baby seals tease each other and trying to mimic the big seals doing summersaults.

Spotting Koalas in the wild at Raymond Island

Fun fact: Sloths may be the slowest mammals on earth, but they’re certainly not the laziest! Koalas have them beat in the nap department, clocking in an impressive 18 to 22 hours of rest a day.

With that in mind, now that I look back at it, I think we got pretty lucky to see a Koala jump between tree branches! Near Lakes Entrance, there is a place called Paynesville from where you can take a "ferry", which to me is more like a bridge over a stream, to Raymond Island.

Raymond Island is quite a small island with a few dozen, maybe a few hundred, people living there. It has almost an equally large population of Koalas. In a 3km walk, we were able to spot 13 koalas, many of them awake! We also got coffeee at the only cafe in town where we met Ruby - she earned a special mention by posing brilliantly for our documentary.

Penguin Parade in Phillip Island

Phillip Island is famous for its Penguin Parades. At sunset, penguins parade out of the ocean bringing food back to their family and head to their burrows. This event is enjoyed daily by hundreds of people. It is quite interesting how they stick together in groups and support each other to slowly emerge out of the ocean - if one stays back, the whole group goes back to get it.

If you are attending, I recommend covering your body from head to toe and applying lots of mosquito repellent.

Photos are strictly not allowed so lets just pretend I did not take any.

Catchup with friends, coffee, Lune and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Melb

On Day 2, I woke up early, walked to Lune, queued up (as expected) and finally got some croissants to deliver them to the hotel room. From my very limited experience and research, I do truly think that Lune croissants are arguably some of the best in the world! I tried a variety of savoury and sweet croissants and I loved them all! So much so, I woke up early again on Day 3 and repeated the same process.

At the expense of getting slammed by sommeliers in Sydney, I have to say the whisky bars in Melbourne are (slightly) better! I tried the Whisky Den, where two absolute legends helped to delicious drams from Australia and Scotland. Beneath Driver Lane is another cool underground whisky bar with occasional live jazz music that I really enjoyed.

Same goes for coffee! I tried a few different roasters and they all took me by surprise, even though I set my expectations high. Special shout out to Seven Seeds, Carlton - I enjoyed their BOTTOMLESS FILTER and made the most of my money with the weekly Single Origins. I also got an opportunity to speak with their head barista about filter and pour over coffee. Industry Beans was also pretty good.

Beyond whisky and coffee, I also enjoyed brunch at "Bowery to Williamsburg" - the salmon bagel was epic. The gelato game in Melbourne is also pretty strong. I truly cherished Pidapipó and Piccolina - personally a fan of Pisatachio and Mascarpone but you would not go wrong with anything.

Last but not the least, I was also lucky to be in town for the "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". Having only seen a few shows prior to this, I did not know what to expect but I thoroughly enjoyed the "magic" and I walked out smiling with more appreciation for the art form.

I enjoyed my time in Melbourne, pretending to be a local, happy to skip the touristy-y stuff. I spent a lot of time with my friends and family, which was quite relaxing after 9 days of driving. But, for the tourists, I also created an alternate itinerary (for Yash, you're welcome):

Tilba Tilba - Cutest little town

Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba are two villages that take you back in time among the colonial heritage. Filled with colourful old world shops and surrounded by green landscape, Tilba offers something for everyone - a leather shop, a candle shop, a confectionary, some bakeries and pubs!

Tilba is also the home of Tilba Real Dairy. They make some amazing fusion cheeses and delicious milkshakes! Tilba Dairy is where I (once again) ran into Ian (the Expedia guy). One thing led to another and apparently I am now going to feature in a video on Expedia as a cheese tasting model.

Wilson's Prom sunrise, sunsets, cooking and hiking + Spa Cabins

Staying in Wilson's Promontory at Mark's Cabins was undoubtedly the most relaxing part of this entire trip. We booked a private spa cabin in the rainforest, away from all the city noise. So far away that we had to carry our own drinking water and grocery as there were no convenience stores or restaurants in a 40 minute radius. Surrounded by vast landscapes on all sides, we enjoyed spending our first day by relaxing in the spa, cooking a pasta and going out to watch the sunset. We unexpectedly walked into a colony of soft shell crabs that initially freaked us out until we saw a fisherman walk through them with bare feet.

We woke up to a magical sunrise. A bright orange light emerged above the horizon as we made ourselves some coffee and watched kangaroos playing with each other down in the valley. Unfortunately, it did not hold up to be this way when we drove to the start of our hike but we powered through the cold drizzle and made it to the top of Mt Oberon. After coming back down, we stopped by some lookouts to absorb the fresh breeze and the spray from the sea.

More cooking and reading followed with yet another beautiful sunset to end our second day.

The produce - Cheese, Wine, Chocolate, Beer

From the interactive experience at the Chocolate Factory in Phillip Island to the cheese tasting at Boatshed Cheese, we were treated to delicious local produce throughout our entire road trip. Beyond what I have already covered in my other highlights, I also enjoyed having a pint at the The Servo in Lakes Entrance, cocktails at Dulcie’s Cottage, donuts at Berry Donut Van. Moorooduc Winery (for wine, duh) and the coffee at Alfresco’s Roastery were also among my favourites.

There are many other places that you must visit, some of which I have included in my itinerary above.

Scenic surprises

This whole trip had one pivotal theme - a good view. No matter where we went, we laid eyes on indescribably stunning views - lakes, cliffs, waterfalls, seas and majestic mountains.

"A picture is worth a thousand words" so I did my best to leave some for you.

But more accurately, "your eyes are your lens, your heart is your shutter".

Wait! It's not over yet

After Yash flew back to India, from Melbourne, I still had to drive back to Sydney. Which obviously meant, another Road Trip. You can read all about it in my next blog - Melbourne to Sydney!

P.S: For wildlife photography in this post, All Rights Reserved (Yash Singh).