Before going to the Great Ocean Road, I didn’t know any places to go and places to stay at the area. But I tried to google the place because we were planning on a Great Ocean Road tour with my family. Then I found you could actually stay at Port Campbell for reasonably-priced accommodations.

I didn’t book a place for us to stay at Port Campbell. I just want a stress-free tour. I didn’t want us to be tied in at such places and hurry ourselves up because we already made some bookings.

While we were driving through the Great Ocean Road, my husband and I thought at the same time: Why didn’t we just stay in the car for the night and spend our hotel money for something else? Husband and I do this oftentimes.. think of the same thing at the same time. And so, yes, we agreed on it.

And it was a good decision because when we reached Port Campbell, it was already almost midnight and almost all the accommodations were dimly lit. So we parked at the car at the place we stopped at. We thought it was a dead end already, nowhere for us to go.

We asked our kids if they wanted to stay at the Honda Accord hotel… which they grumbled at first because we told them already we were going to stay in a hotel. But later, after much explanation and such, they agreed. And I am glad coz the next morning when we woke up, both of them happily said it was soo much fun to sleep in the car!

And when we looked around, lo, and behold, we found we were just outside the Caravan’s Park where people bring tents and caravans and vans to just stay there. We were at the right place!

Who says one cannot have a great holiday and not have cheap family holidays at the same time? It was a great experience for us as a family. The next day, we just bought our hot drinks (we brought some bread, by the way) from a nearby coffee shop and it cost us 16 Aus$ just for 4 drinks. But hey, we’re on holiday. So it’s okay!

Here’s a bit of information on Port Campbell:

The coastal village of Port Campbell, ‘Port’ to the locals, is a great place to base yourself when exploring the magnificent region. Part of the Great Ocean Road and Shipwreck Coast scenic drives, the village lies in a horse-shoe shaped bay surrounded by national park that stretches up and down the coast.

It is close to some of the most visited attractions on this scenic drive, with the iconic Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Gibsons Beach and Princetown just to the east. To the west of Port Campbell are The Arch, London Bridge, The Grotto, the Bay of Martyrs and the Bay of Islands. source: www.ausemade.com.au