Adelaide to Warrnambool

We had packed the car and the van the night before, hoping for an early start. I generally sit on between 80 – 90 km/h when towing the van, I believe this speed keeps the fuel consumption to an acceptable level, and less wear and tear on the vehicle and van.

We were originally going to stop along the way for a night, but decided only days before leaving to travel the 600 odd kilometres to Warrnambool in one day, and get it over and done with.

We ended up leaving Adelaide at about 6.30 a.m. getting to our breakfast stop just after 7.30 a.m. Breakfast was in at one of the truck stops at Tailem Bend. After a quick stop to eat we were back on the road again heading for the Dukes Hwy.

We have done this trip many times in the past and have always gone via Mount Gambier, but this trip we decided to bypass the Mount, and head over to Victoria after passing through Penola.

Our next stop was a couple of hundred kilometres away, at Padthaway. There we stopped to stretch the legs, and let the kids burn off a bit of energy at the local skate park, Apex Park.

Lunch Stop

Lunch was the next stop, Casterton, Victoria. We stopped at a parking bay on the banks of the Glenelg River, which was a nice place to stop, and plenty of room to park the van up to make lunch.

Important bit:

After leaving Casterton we noticed we were low-ish on fuel. Never mind we had plenty of towns ahead. Or so we thought. Town after town, no fuel, no nothing in any of them. We realised that we were between a rock and a hard place. We had gone to far to turn back, and the GPS was showing the closest fuel to be 50km away in Heywood. By this stage the fuel gauge had hit the bottom and couldn’t go any further. We had no mobile coverage, and there were very little farms/houses around. To cap it off we had to contend with empty logging trucks flying down the road in the opposite direction spraying us with stones.

To our relief and amazement we made it. With about 3 litres left in the tank. After giving the car a much needed drink of diesel, we headed off for the final stretch to Warrnambool, via Port Fairy.

Arriving in Warrnambool at about 3.30 p.m. to a beautiful still, sunny afternoon.

Time to set up camp, check out the caravan park, and head over the road to the Adventure Playground. The first of many trips to the park.