5 Days on the Great Ocean Road: A Board Game Designer's Road Trip Journal

The night before departure, I spread a map of Victoria on the bed in my Melbourne accommodation and highlighted waypoints with a marker. It felt like setting up a Euro game. The resources were rental car fuel and snacks, action points called "schedule," and a limited budget. I had to allocate all of this across 5 rounds (5 days). I loaded an esky into the boot and packed it with six apples, two bottles of water, and a tub of hummus from the supermarket. More than enough food resources for the early rounds.

Day 1: Melbourne to Torquay

Departed at 7:30 in the morning. It took about an hour and a half from downtown Melbourne to Torquay, the official starting point of the Great Ocean Road. Once we passed Geelong, pastures opened up on both sides of the road, and when I rolled down the window, the smell of grass hit me before any hint of the sea.

First thing I did in Torquay was park in front of the Surf Museum and walk along the beach. The waves were big, and watching the surfers filing in one after another, I decided pretty quickly, "That's not my game." In board game design terms, it's an action where the risk-to-return ratio just doesn't add up. I dipped my feet in and had a flat white ($5.50) at a nearby café.

Lunch was fish and chips at a shop in downtown Torquay. Hot take on Australian beach town fish and chips: the shabbier the exterior, the better the frying. This rule holds everywhere. Near Sydney, down here, anywhere.

In the afternoon, I headed to Bells Beach. The colour of the sea from the cliffside lookout was impossibly deep, the kind of colour photographs can never capture. Like a worker placement game, viewpoint spots were limited, so you had to time it right to claim a good position. I sat there in a daze for about 20 minutes before the wind picked up too much and I retreated.

First night at a caravan park on the outskirts of Torquay. I hadn't brought a tent, so I booked a cabin. It came with a small kitchen, so I boiled penne with store-bought pasta sauce. The key to resource management is saving on dining out in the early game and concentrating the budget on the truly great meals.

Day 2: Lorne to Apollo Bay

This was the highlight round of the trip. The stretch of coastal road from Torquay to Lorne is, honestly, terrifying to drive. Cliffs on the left, ocean on the right, and the road curves endlessly. If I'd been in the passenger seat, I could have leisurely enjoyed the scenery, but gripping the steering wheel, every bend was pure tension.

The moment I arrived in Lorne, I ducked into a café on the main street and ordered two beer-battered fish tacos and a glass of local pale ale. The tacos were decent; the ale was good. One more hot take on craft beer: small coastal-town breweries in Australia almost without exception make at least one solid pale ale. I could have gone with an IPA, but drinking an IPA in the middle of the day would interfere with afternoon driving, so I opted for the lower ABV. That's resource management too.

On the way from Lorne to Apollo Bay, I threw in a push-your-luck detour. A turnoff to Erskine Falls that I'd spotted by chance on Google Maps. I had to descend a long flight of stairs from the car park to the falls, and my legs ached, but the space at the base, filled with humid air and the sound of water, was reward enough. Like taking a risk in a board game and earning a bonus tile.

I reached Apollo Bay around sunset. At a small restaurant near the harbour, I had a scallop dish. Their style was to dip bread in butter and garlic sauce. The price was about $28 for a main. Expensive for a backpacker, but my strategy was to concentrate the dining-out budget for the entire five-day trip into this one meal. No regrets.

I stayed at a backpacker hostel in Apollo Bay that night instead of a cabin. $45 for a dorm bed. I chatted briefly about board games with a German traveller in the next bed over; he said he liked Catan. Catan is an excellent gateway game, but I've been into heavier stuff lately, so the conversation didn't go very deep.

Day 3: Otway Rainforest and the Twelve Apostles

In the morning, I entered Great Otway National Park. The moment you leave the coastal road and head inland, the scenery transforms completely. Eucalyptus forest thickens, ferns form tunnels along both sides of the road, and light slants in through the canopy. I briefly considered doing the Otway Fly Treetop Walk, but decided to save my time action points. I couldn't afford to have the sun set before reaching the Twelve Apostles.

And then, in the afternoon, the Twelve Apostles. I have a lot to say about this place. The car park is spacious, tour buses line up in rows, and the path to the lookout is neatly paved. But the moment you actually see the rock formations, the thought that this is just a tourist attraction briefly vanishes. The limestone pillars standing there, carved by waves, are like a well-designed game board. Each element has a reason for its position, and the overall composition is dramatic. The wind was so strong I had to hold my hat down with my hand.

Hot take: the Twelve Apostles are better at sunrise than sunset. When I visited in the late afternoon, the rocks were backlit and appeared as silhouettes. If I come again, I'll come in the morning. The angle of light hitting the front face of the rocks would be far better.

That night I stayed at a motel in Port Campbell. The town itself is small, so there weren't many dinner options. I went into a pub and ordered a chicken parma ($22) and a glass of Carlton Draught. Chicken parma is the quintessential Australian pub meal, and this place did it by the book.

Day 4: Port Campbell to Warrnambool

I deliberately took the fourth day slow. Even in Euro games, there are rounds for adjusting tempo. If you play at maximum efficiency every turn, burnout sets in. Travel works the same way.

In the morning, I walked Loch Ard Gorge near Port Campbell. It's not as famous as the Twelve Apostles, but the overwhelming scale of the cliffs viewed from inside the narrow gorge was actually more impressive. Far fewer people, too. Just as placing a worker on an action space nobody else goes for lets you collect resources without competition, seeking out lesser-known spots always comes with a reward.

It took less than two hours driving at a leisurely pace to reach Warrnambool. Warrnambool was the westernmost point of my trip, where I planned to make a U-turn and head back. The town's vibe was unexpectedly pleasant. The beachside walking path was well maintained, and I spent the afternoon at a local craft beer bar with a glass of stout ($12). Stout is the best beer style when drunk in a beach town with an autumn breeze blowing. This is beyond debate.

Day 5: Warrnambool Back to Melbourne

The last day, heading back to Melbourne via the inland highway. Unlike the coastal road, the interior is monotonous. Endless pastures, occasional flocks of sheep, a battle against drowsiness. Midway, I stopped for a coffee break in a small town called Colac. The café owner asked where I was from, and when I said Sydney, he asked, "Why don't you live in Melbourne?" The city rivalry between Melburnians and Sydneysiders is eternal.

I arrived in downtown Melbourne around 4 PM. After returning the rental car, I checked the driving log for the five days. Total distance driven: roughly 700 kilometres. Fuel costs came to about $110 combined (for a compact car). Adding up rental car fees, accommodation, and food, the five days came to roughly $900. Not bad for a solo trip. Going with someone else would have been much more efficient, splitting accommodation and fuel, but the advantage of solo travel is moving at your own pace. In board game terms, that's exactly the appeal of solo mode. No need to wait for other players' turns.

Before heading to Melbourne Airport, I had one last dim sum meal at a place downtown on a laneway. On the plane back to Sydney, I pulled out my notebook and organised the mechanics of this trip. Resource management (fuel, budget, stamina), worker placement (lookout spots, accommodation choices), push your luck (unplanned detours). These three are the core mechanics of the Great Ocean Road trip. I'm seriously considering putting a road trip theme into my next game prototype.