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Hey Oz Gurus,
I'm doing the Great Ocean Road in my Christmas Holidays this year. As I'm planning the trip now is there anything I should pay attention to in terms of sightseeing or good driving? A friend has told me that they have "made it better by straightening out most of the windy bits"...God love her she drives a Ford not a BMW!
There is a stretch of road that takes you from one end of the Great Ocean Road to the other in a sort of straight line -- but naturally that isn't as enjoyable.
You will be arriving in summer, but given the history of weather in Victoria around Christmas, don't fully expect sunny days. If you do get a chance to go on the GOR on a sunny day, it would be awesome with the sunroof down.
Yes, I said "would", since I never have actually driven the road before :( Maybe one day when I'm not so busy!
Anyway, there's only really two things to look out for. One is traffic -- every old man and his jalopee would be driving on the GOR, especially during the Christmas season, and the second is speed cameras -- don't forget that Victoria is one of, if not the most stringent states when it comes to "speed kills". We have unmarked mobile speed cameras here, and they would be out in full force over the Christmas break.
Another road that is absolutely awesome to travel on is the Black Spur -- this is a stretch of the Maroondah Highway just outside Marysville as you're heading towards Healesville. Absolutely gorgeous stretch of road, with more twisties than you can count. More information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Spur
The great thing about the Black Spur is that BMW Australia had at one stage many years ago filmed and took pictures of the latest 3 series at the time at the Black Spur -- I remember the ad somewhat well, it was angled above the sunroof so you could see in the cabin, yet still see outside with the forest canopy. Absolutely gorgeous.
Have fun in VIC, and remember, speed cameras are everywhere here!