Have you ever wanted to wake up with kangaroos grazing a few metres from your door? That happened to us on our second morning in the Grampians, and it’s why I now tell friends to look past the Great Ocean Road when they plan a road trip out of Melbourne.
In This Guide
I’ve already written about the Great Ocean Road, and I’d drive it again tomorrow. This time, though, Dan and I wanted quieter roads and bigger hikes, so the three of us rented a campervan and drove a loop from Melbourne west to the Grampians National Park, then back across and down to Wilsons Promontory. Each park sits roughly three hours from the city, so no single driving day ran long enough to wear out a small kid’s patience.
Hiring a campervan in Melbourne
We collected our van from Travellers Autobarn, whose depot in Tullamarine sits about 10 minutes from the airport, so you can land and be on the road out of the city the same day. The depot is at 5 Assembly Drive, which made the transfer from our flight short and painless. With the three of us, the Hitop made the most sense: it sleeps two to three with a double and a single bed, and at about 2 metres tall inside, Dan and I could stand up to make coffee on cold mornings in the Grampians.
Cooking and sleeping gear came with the van, so the only stop we made before leaving town was a grocery run. If it’s your first time hiring a van, our top 10 motorhome rental tips for beginners cover what to check at pick-up and how to settle in on your first night.
Melbourne’s CityLink and EastLink tolls are charged automatically to the card you book with, which meant we didn’t have to sort out a toll pass before getting on the freeway. Tullamarine is on the northwest side of the city, too, so you’re already pointed towards the Western Highway and the Grampians when you pull out of the depot.
Melbourne to the Grampians
The drive west runs along the Western Highway past Ballarat, and the last stretch into Halls Gap is where the sandstone ranges start to rise beside the road. You’ll see the park signed as both the Grampians and Gariwerd, its Aboriginal name. Halls Gap is the town almost everyone uses as a base, and it has a supermarket and a few cafes within walking distance of the
caravan parks.
Best things to see in the Grampians
The Pinnacle
This is the walk most people come for. We started from the Wonderland car park, the shorter approach, and squeezed through the rock passages of the Grand Canyon and Silent Street on the way up. Our kid rode in the carrier for most of it. From the top you look straight down over Halls Gap and Lake Bellfield, and on a clear day the view runs a long way north.
MacKenzie Falls
MacKenzie Falls flows year round, and after winter rain it’s loud. The track to the base is steep, with a lot of steps, so we took the climb back up slowly with the little one on Dan’s back. If that sounds like too much, the Broken Falls lookout near the car park is a flat, easy walk with a view over the top of the falls.
Reed Lookout and The Balconies
For views without a big hike, Reed Lookout is a short stroll from the car. We went late in the afternoon and walked the extra stretch to The Balconies, a pair of rock ledges hanging out over the Victoria Valley. Boroka Lookout is another easy one if you only have time for a quick stop.
Kangaroos in Halls Gap
You don’t need to go looking. In the early evening, mobs graze the open grassy areas around town, and we watched one from the van’s doorway with our dinner in hand.
From the Grampians to Wilsons Promontory
There’s no shortcut across, so the drive to the Prom takes you back around Melbourne and out southeast on the South Gippsland Highway. It’s most of a day behind the wheel. We broke it with a long lunch stop and a restock, and this was the leg where not having to think about the city tolls paid off.
Wilsons Promontory is the southern tip of mainland Australia, and it feels different from the Grampians straight away. White beaches sit between granite headlands, and the water is a shade of turquoise I didn’t expect in Victoria.
Best things to see at Wilsons Promontory
Squeaky Beach
The sand here is fine, rounded quartz, and it does squeak when you walk on it. Our kid spent a solid hour stomping around to make it happen, while Dan and I sat on the orange-streaked granite boulders at the end of the beach. It’s a short walk from the car park, so it works even on a tired day.
Mount Oberon summit
The Mount Oberon walk starts at the Telegraph Saddle car park and climbs on a wide, steady track to a rocky summit with views over Tidal River and the islands offshore. It’s uphill the whole way. During the busy summer months a shuttle bus runs to the start, but outside those periods you can usually drive up yourself, which is one more point in favour of a cooler-season visit.
I didn’t make it to the lighthouse at the southern end of the park. That’s an overnight hike, and with a toddler it wasn’t happening on this trip.
Where to park the van overnight
In the Grampians, we split our nights between a caravan park in Halls Gap with a powered site and a basic national park campground that cost less and had no power. If, like us, you’re watching the budget, mixing the two keeps costs down without giving up a hot shower every few days. For more ways to stretch your budget around the country, see our guide on how to save money when travelling in Australia.
At the Prom, Tidal River is the campground you can drive to inside the park, and it’s where you’ll want to be. Sites are booked through Parks Victoria. After dark, wombats wander between the vans. Keep your food locked inside, because the ravens and crimson rosellas are bold about stealing anything left on a table, and please don’t feed any of the wildlife.
When to go
We went in winter, and I’d recommend it for a budget family trip. May to September is Victoria’s low season, so van hire and caravan park rates tend to come down, and Tidal River is far easier to book than over summer and Easter, when sites fill up months ahead.
The trade-off is the cold. Nights in the Grampians can drop close to freezing, so pack thermals and a proper beanie for any little ones. Days are short as well, with the sun setting a little after 5pm in midwinter, and kangaroos and wallabies are most active on the roads at dusk. We planned every drive to finish before dark, and I’d tell you to do the same.
There’s an upside to the rain, too: the waterfalls are at their best, and by late August the first wildflowers start showing up in the Grampians. Some mornings the summits sat in cloud, and we had one full day of drizzle at the Prom that we spent playing cards in the van.
If you’ve already done the Great Ocean Road, this loop gives you mountains and kangaroos at one end and granite beaches and wombats at the other. Keep the drives short and the layers warm, and it’s one of the easiest family road trips we’ve done in Australia.
Thanks for taking the time to read this article. I hope this post has given you the information you need. If you have any recommendations, tips or advice, I would love for you to share them in the comment section below!
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