We had made no specific plans beforehand to travel while visiting Stephan and Liesl and the grandkids in Sale, Victoria but decided to “play it by ear” once we had a better idea of the area, this being our first visit to Australia. That said, we were keen to see more of Victoria State during our stay and to give the family a “mid-term” break from having us around  for the full 5½ weeks (not that there was any hint of this from their side, but we knew from our own experience with our parents).

After much discussion and studying of maps and info on the attractions, we decided on a 7 day road trip that would take us to Mount Dandenong area outside Melbourne, then to Apollo Bay and the Great Ocean Road, returning to Geelong near Melbourne and on to Philip Island where we would meet up with the family for the weekend.

It did not take long to book a rental car and the various B&B’s that fitted our budget and looked as if they would meet our expectations. Come Monday 6 May 2019, I collected the rental car and we set off, heading out on the Princess Highway towards Melbourne.

The map below shows the route we followed :

Gerda and I love a road trip almost more than any other form of travel – not sure why, though – perhaps because it lets you feel part of the countryside as you move along and you have the freedom of stopping on a whim, whenever and wherever you please. So we were both in a state of mild excitement, but also a touch of anxiety at the prospect of driving unknown roads – thank goodness I had activated my old I-phone with a prepaid Australian sim and enough data to work the navigation app for the full duration of our trip!

And what a pleasure driving on roads where other vehicles, large and small, are doing pretty much the same speed and in a predictable fashion! I did not see a single guy in a sleek sedan slicing through the traffic to show how amazingly superior he is (oops, my prejudices are showing again)

Towns in this part of Victoria are surprisingly close together, something I did not foresee, and we passed through several and bypassed others on our way to Melbourne – it’s worth mentioning some of the names just because they are so curious – Rosedale (OK that one’s ordinary) a pretty little town, Traralgon (try saying that quickly), Moe, Warragul and my favourite – Nar Nar Goon, followed closely by Narre Warren.

At the latter town we left the highway and the rolling landscape soon changed to hills that became higher and the roads steeper and narrower. Passing through Belgrave we soon found ourselves on the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road, a steep, winding road that had me slowing down even more as we passed through tall forests on both sides that almost touched high overhead and formed a majestic tunnel, lined with enormous ferns at ground level.

We found the tiny village of Sassafras, our chosen overnight destination, after some agonising about whether it actually existed and even stopping to ask directions in a particularly weak moment. Relieved at eventually finding it, we enjoyed a late lunch at Miss Marples Tea Room in a proper “Ye Olde Englishe” cottage in the main road, accompanied by a room full of other tourists (sans selfie sticks thank goodness)

After lunch we strolled around the village, popping into a few of the interesting shops – we were on the lookout for something to enjoy that evening in-room rather than go out to dinner and peered into the only shop that looked promising – a deli kind of place. The owner saw us and beckoned us closer and proceeded to feed us samples of just about every delicacy in the shop while keeping up a chatter and assuring us we were just the best people to have visited his shop – what a salesman! Needless to say we left with a bag full of salmon paté, Wensleydale cheese, crisps, a superb fig and quince jam and a punnet of organic strawberries, all of which became a yummy supper later on.

Our accommodation – Belle le Vie, just outside the village – turned out to be exotically furnished, very comfortable and well appointed, set in lush gardens. A Laughing Kookaburra made its presence known with a solid demonstration of why it got that name – a cackling sound like no other.

There was just time for a walk before dusk, so I walked back up the road leading to the B&B and found an ANZAC memorial on the edge of more forest with even more massive trees towering above, making me feel quite insignificant.

Bird life was scarce the whole day, but I was thrilled at being able to get up-close photos of the Crimson Rosellas after seeing another tourist pointing his cellphone at a tree in the middle of Sassafras village and finding a pair of them showing off their vivid colours.

Next morning we made a brief detour before heading towards our next destination, to have a peek at a flower farm that Gerda had read about somewhere – it was worth the trouble!

A promising start to our road trip indeed!