Firstly I wish to thak the NSW club for including us on their cruise. We had a wonderful time in Apollo Bay. Putting faces to the names on the forum has been great.

A special mention to Keith and Ray, you made it so easy to join in and we felt most welcome.

It was great to have 4 states come together (NSW, Vic, Tas, SA). I have never seen 27 Cruisers in one place before. Wow. It was great.



Safe Cruisin' to all. We will do this again.

wow precision PARKING !! ... 27 pts ... plus the ones that merged & de merged .. that makes for an UNBELIEVABLE number of PTS!! I'd say CRUISE well done KEITH & the NSW pts ... safe trip back more north .. Thanks, gangstergiz, doc & seeker & every one for sharing on the topic .. makes us all at least feal part of this great event .. looking forward to more pics .

Well what a great weekend we had !!!! Patricia and I arrived home about 5pm Monday all safe and well but very tired, it was great to meet all the interstaters on the cruise. And thanks to our entertaining girls from SA they sure made Sundays dinner a rememberable one and to Steve I contacted the Vic Dept of Roads and they will reword those signs for you to read BEFORE TAKING A POWER NAP FIRST YOU MUST STOP !!! . We look forward to maybe catching with you all on a future cruise.

Tuesday

Not a lot to report from me - you'll have to wait for the others to make their reports... Travel from Bendigo to Hay, not a lot to see or do on the road here:


was last out of town and after a morning tea stop a couple of towns up, seemed to miss everyone on the way through in all towns - no cars seen - no radios - arrived in Hay first at 1:30pm, so explored Hay, had lunch and went to the old Gaol museum...

The old Gaol has had a few different uses:
Established in 1878 as a gaol until July 1915, a maternity hospital, lock hospital for the insane, compound for prisoners of war during WWII (Japanese and Italian) and finally as a maximum security institute for girls under child welfare (the girls that were too naughty at Parramatta Girls home) and officially ceased all operations June 1974 and is now a museum.



The old van the girls were transported from the station to the gaol in... Not from Hay station, but the next station up the line - with no windows or seats - to disorient them on the way...


The old Fire Station - now used as a book shop or community centre:


The old local Cobb & Co. Coach:




Wednesday

Went to the "Shearing Outback" display for the new shearing hall of fame and museum/gallery, and a sheering show and explanation - really good!






Plus the old cart that was used in the Sydney 2000 Olympics that the mowers etc came out of
(they're not quite sure why it was given to them, but it's here anyway!


Most went to the Gaol which we'd been to yesterday, so we went to the museum at the old railway station - which is also the studio for the local radio station...



This station is no longer used - tracks taken up except for immediately in front of the station for the museum carriages

All formed up about 2pm for the cruise via the old Cobb & Co horse change stop




... and on to the Booligal Pub for 3pm arrival and drinks,


music quiz results and awards presentation for

the bent dipstick - Tonya -


and the music quiz - Jo, Graeme and Ellie - well done!!


A great BBQ and spread was put on - thanks!!


Heading off before it gets too dark and close to 'dusk' to avoid the 'roos etc...
Quick stop at "Sunset" where the council have placed some nice seating - we were told it's a great spot to sit and watch the sunset... maybe next time? lol

The last of the SA PTers have now returned from our Great Ocean road Cruise & as the previous photos & stories tell it was a great to meet with our eastern fellow PTers. Having all those cars parked in the motel carpark was a sight to behold, & where ever you travelled over the weekend you came across PTs. Special thanks to Keith, Ray & all the other members for making us all welcome, that night of pizzas, new friends, singing & dancing will be remembered for years to come.
Thanks for organising that rewording of the signs Dennis, you will be happy to know i managed to keep all 4 wheels on the black stuff on the way home.

Thursday

We all met for our 8:30am departure (not 9am Brian!) and headed out around 9 on the road to Young... A couple of quick stops along the way... including the licorice and chocolate factory...

Brian and Robyn went ahead to spend some time in Cootamundra (Brian's Birthplace - not just Bradman's Birthplace) and others cruised through in groups also... Got into Young and settled in for the rest of the afternoon with drinks in the hotel garden, some going shopping or a walk around town...
Dinner was at the Bowling Club - great mixed roast YUM! Thanks to Jo and Graeme for organising the club meal for us as our last "Communal Meal" for the GORC


Friday

Some meeting early this morning for a Maccas brekkie,


then back at the hotel for 9am meet and departure...
Drive home safe everyone!


From anytime tonight you should see some reports from others appear and lots of photos coming... Don't forget you can view mine at deano.net/gallery/GORC ... I'll update this post with photos as well over the weekend as I get the chance between washing and unpacking the car! lol


Thanks everyone for a great trip

Thank YOU dean for your efforts ... U were supposed to be crusin & on hols but still made time for reports .. WELL done !! .. BEN thanks for puttin up with IT TOO !!! .... safe cruise home all .. I am sure we will all get to live the GORC even more when every one gets back & on pooters .. !! . it will be info overload .. ALL good .. !

An excellent job Dean. Look forward to all the pics. \ \

Hello everyone.
Yes we are back (well the majority anyway).
Keith & Kim extended their trip and went to Bathurst along with Luise, Peta & Emma to Cowra and all should arrive home today. Ken, Lisa & Lyndl should arrive at Coffs Harbour tonight.

Well what a successful journey and many thanks to Keith & Kim in the way they orchastrated the whole event, which was a 2 year operation.
And of course many thanks to our sponsors - Chrysler NSW, NRMA, Meguiar's, Darrell Lea and of course Arnott's.

Where do i start!
Well i cant wait to load my pics on the PC and see them enlarged. We had great weather the whole time bar about 2 days of rain.
The changes of scenery we all experienced was just awesome and certainly very memorable. The South Coast was beautiful & the Great Ocean Road so Grand, with the vastness of the country part quite an experience to see.
This was a great time to get to know each participent and the friendships made was great to see. I was particularly impressed how everyone looked out & looked after each other during this time.
It was great to catch up to the Victorians at Mopar Motors and a huge thanks to Sam & Gerorgina & family for such a great evening. They certainly run a very professional business there which was great to see. Even I bought plenty of "bling".
Then we caught up to the SA Club. Steve many thanks for organising your members to pop over the fence for a visit with us. You have a great crowd although concerned about 2 ladies inparticular.....lol. Their a party on their own ah! You guys were great and the merchandise you brought along was good to see and we purchased some of that.
My next memorable section would have to be going to Boolagool Hotel 80k's north of Hay. Unbelievable country side and Anne-Marie put on a great lunch/tea for us there.
Our last night at Young was a great way to finish off with many having a go at Lawn Bowls. Thanks Jo for organising the Young section.

Ok from here I have asked everyone that attended when they finish unpacking and cleaning up to pop onto the forum and express what they gained from this trip and to share some pics.... if they can load them!
So after having over 12,000 viewings of the preparation of the Great Ocean Road (3)posts this will certainly be a long thread.
Hope you all enjoy what follows from here and like the Tassie trip could be a post that may run a couple of years.

Nice to be back everyone and I look forward to catching up on our calendar events.

- Ray

There is no point in me describing this fabulous experience as this has been done in fine detail already.

Even though the cruise was " full on " most of the time and we covered a huge area, there was still plenty of time for every one to socialise, have a laugh or two and get to know one another.

The group was made up of so many different / interesting personalities ( lovely people ) and that added to the fun.

Thanks Keith and Ray for making this cruise such a great success.

I over-looked thanking Dean for the reports which he has so kindly put together

Thanks Dean

I over-looked thanking Dean for the reports which he has so kindly put together

Thanks Dean
haha
no worries

Remember folks - this is only "MY point of view" and "what I experienced" - many people did other things each day, so please post your own reports (and photos) of what you experienced...

Just done a few quick calculations...

3,882kms
318.9L
$526.74

$1.65 per L
$0.14 per km

= 8.2L/100kms

Best: 7.4L/100kms (510kms to Anglesea)

This is on an '04 2.0L with 79,274kms on the clock

Thank you to the cruisers from all 4 state that made this such a memorable 2 weeks. Thank you to the off the cuff organizers & to all the forth coming reports, to Dean for the day to day reporting, Georgina & Sam of Mopar Motor for there hospitality, Ann- Marie at Booligal Hotel.

A big thank to the hilarious miss adventures of Nigel, who will I hope become more apparent over the upcoming reports.

An finally the big thank you to the sponsors Chrysler, Meguiars, Darrell Lea, Chrysler Penrith and Arnott's.

Thank you to everyone

P.S. to anyone following my Avg/100Km I did get down to 9.1/100km but finished in the driveway at 9.4/100km and 3415.7km later Thank you one and all for a fabulous 2 weeks.

What a fantastic cruise! Many thanks to Keith and Kim, the sponsors and to the great people who were on the cruise or joined the cruise at various stages. It was wonderful renewing old friendships and making new ones.

Dean has done a great job with his reports, I’ve really enjoyed reading … no, re-living the trip. (Oh, and thanks for letting me use your internet to check my e-mails – or spam to be more accurate!)

There were so many enjoyable days throughout the trip that it’s hard to single out highlights, but Robyn and I both agree that meeting up with all the interstaters was tremendous. We really enjoyed that mob from SA – thanks for joining in the fun.

The scenery was unbelievable – from the green canopies of the Great Ocean Road to the flat, treeless plains of Hay – every day gave us a new view and experience.

But above all it was the smiling faces, laughter and camaraderie that made the trip so special, thank you from both Robyn and me.

Brian