Why this ride
From Point Cook it runs 741 km to Epping; allow about 13 h 06 of riding. It goes by way of Sunshine West, Scenic stretch near Mickleham and near Wallan. The climbs: near Wyndham Vale and in Knoxfield.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Otways Rainforest Roads + Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 741 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 13 h 06
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Point Cook
Point Cook sits on the western shore of Port Phillip Bay, a fast-growing suburb on flat basalt plains between Werribee and Altona. The land here is open and windswept, with long views across the water to the city skyline. It is not a destination for twisty roads, but it has some surprising history.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Point Cook write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Otways Rainforest Roads is where the day begins. Next is High point near Wyndham Vale.
2. High point near Wyndham Vale
Wyndham Vale is one of the new suburbs on Melbourne's western fringe, where housing estates spread across the basalt plains towards Geelong. The landscape is flat, open and often windswept, with stone walls built by early settlers from the volcanic rock and low volcanic hills such as Mount Cottrell rising from the grassland. It is not the most scenic place on its own, but it is where the city releases you towards the coast and the Otways.
Read the complete High point near Wyndham Vale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Otways Rainforest Roads checkpoint 8.
3. Near Sunshine West
The suburb of Sunshine took its name from a harvester. In the early twentieth century, H. V. McKay built a huge factory here to manufacture the Sunshine Harvester, a machine that revolutionised wheat farming in Australia, and the suburb grew up around the works. In 1907, a court case involving McKay's company, known as the Harvester Judgment, established the principle of a basic wage, enough to support a worker and his family in reasonable comfort, a landmark in Australian labour history.
Read the complete Near Sunshine West write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 659 km. Next is Scenic stretch near Mickleham.
4. Scenic stretch near Mickleham
North of Melbourne, the Hume Freeway runs up a long corridor of basalt plain, and Mickleham sits just off it, where old farming land is rapidly turning into new housing estates. Look past the roofs, though, and the older landscape is still there: stony paddocks, dry-stone walls built by early settlers, scattered red gums and the low volcanic cones that punctuate the plains.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Mickleham write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Mickleham, early in the day. Next is Photo stop near Wallan.
5. Photo stop near Wallan
When the explorers Hume and Hovell pushed south in 1824, they climbed a forested peak north-east of here hoping to glimpse Port Phillip Bay, saw nothing but trees, and named it Mount Disappointment. The name stuck, and the ranges that rise east of Wallan still carry it. Wallan itself is a growing town on the Hume Freeway, the main road from Melbourne to Sydney, and the meeting point of new housing estates and old farmland.
Read the complete Photo stop near Wallan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop near Wallan sits at 176 km, early in the day. Next is Melbourne / Victoria return.
6. Near Gembrook, on the way back
Gembrook sits on the eastern edge of the Dandenong Ranges, at the far end of the line of Puffing Billy, the narrow-gauge steam railway that winds through the forests from Belgrave, carrying tourists on wooden carriages with their legs dangling out of the windows. Just south of the town, near Pakenham Upper, the country opens into a landscape of rolling hills, orchards, forests and small farms, between the ranges and the plains of the south-east.
Read the complete Near Gembrook, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Melbourne / Victoria return comes up 220 km in. Next is Food stop near Clyde North.
7. Food stop near Clyde North
Clyde North is about as new as a Melbourne suburb gets. Not long ago this was flat farmland south-east of Berwick; now it is a sea of fresh rooftops, wide boulevards and shopping centres built almost overnight. As a place to end a ride, it has one big advantage: it is easy. Plenty of food options, ample parking, and a short run to the Monash Freeway and the South Gippsland Highway.
Read the complete Food stop near Clyde North write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is Back to Otways Rainforest.
8. Back to Otways Rainforest
Werribee South and Point Cook lie on the western shore of Port Phillip Bay, at the point where Melbourne's urban sprawl runs out onto the flat, windy plain toward Geelong. It is an unglamorous end to a ride that began in the damp green of the Otway Ranges, but it has its own odd charm. The land here is flat as paper, divided into market gardens that produce much of the lettuce and cauliflower Melburnians eat, and the sky is huge.
Read the complete Otways Rainforest write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Otways Rainforest. That is the ride. Next is Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles.
9. Fuel stop in Epping
Planning note
Next is Scenic stretch near Eltham North.
10. Scenic stretch near Eltham North
Planning note
Scenic stretch near Eltham North comes up 395 km in. Next is High point in Knoxfield.
11. High point in Knoxfield
Planning note
High point in Knoxfield is the summit of this stretch. Next is Great Ocean photo pull-off.
12. Bonbeach
Planning note
Great Ocean photo pull-off, late in the day. Next is Great Ocean checkpoint 8.
13. Near Hampton
Port Phillip Bay is so large that from its northern shore you cannot see the other side, and the stop is right on that shore, along the beaches between Elwood and Brighton, a few kilometres south of Melbourne's centre. As a base for setting out and coming home it works well: the city is close, but the bay gives a sense of space, and on a summer evening, with the light going gold over the water and people swimming and walking their dogs along the sand, it is hard to feel stressed.
Read the complete Near Hampton write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Great Ocean checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Food stop near Wyndham Vale.
14. Food stop near Wyndham Vale
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete High point near Wyndham Vale write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food stop near Wyndham Vale is where this day stops to eat.
15. Near Gisborne, on the way back
Planning note
615 km in you reach Melbourne / Victoria return. Next is Back to Great Ocean.
16. Back to Great Ocean
It is a suburb on Melbourne's northern edge, sitting beside Plenty Road and the Hume corridor, with big shopping centres, industrial estates and housing built over the old volcanic plains. A ride that has come back from the Great Ocean Road and the Otways has plenty of better places to end, but cities need ways in, and this is one of them.
Read the complete Great Ocean write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Great Ocean closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Point Cook to High point near Wyndham Vale
Fuel stop near Point Cook → High point near Wyndham Vale is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Wyndham Vale to Near Sunshine West
High point near Wyndham Vale → Near Sunshine West is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Mickleham to Photo stop near Wallan
Scenic stretch near Mickleham → Photo stop near Wallan is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop near Wallan to Near Gembrook, on the way back
Photo stop near Wallan → Near Gembrook, on the way back is 98 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Clyde North to Back to Otways Rainforest
Food stop near Clyde North → Back to Otways Rainforest is 74 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Back to Otways Rainforest to Fuel stop in Epping
Back to Otways Rainforest → Fuel stop in Epping is 56 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Fuel stop in Epping to Scenic stretch near Eltham North
Fuel stop in Epping → Scenic stretch near Eltham North is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Scenic stretch near Eltham North to High point in Knoxfield
Scenic stretch near Eltham North → High point in Knoxfield is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point in Knoxfield to Bonbeach
High point in Knoxfield → Bonbeach is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Food stop near Wyndham Vale to Near Gisborne, on the way back
Food stop near Wyndham Vale → Near Gisborne, on the way back is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
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- Otways Rainforest Roads · part 1 · 151 km
- Great Ocean Road and Twelve Apostles · 300 km