We had a great day touring the Great Ocean Road with Stuart. His local knowledge was impressive and... read more
We had a great day touring the Great Ocean Road with Stuart. His local knowledge was impressive and... read more
The tour is just great, you see a lots of great things! And Stuart is just a great Tour guide with... read more
Kudos to Stuart. What an impressive tour guide for my wife, our 12-year old son, and me. Initially I resisted the idea of hiring a tour guide, but -- I rarely say this -- my wife was right. After a few hours in the car, I felt like had known him for 30 years or so. Here are the highlights:
DAY ONE -- Stuart picked us up at The Langham, the perfect place to stay whilst you are sightseeing in Melbourne. We immediately headed off to the Healesville Sanctuary. Our 12-year old son loved getting to hold a carpet python. From there, we went to Dominique Portet Winery. Stuart was so well connected that Dominique himself came out to greet us. That night we stayed at the Yering George Cottage, which was a very nice cottage style accommodation. Kangaroos were feeding all around us. Stuart capped off the evening by taking us to Balgownie Estate for some fine dining and tasty wine.
DAY TWO -- We checked out of our cottage and headed to the Werribee Open Range Zoo. Stuart arrange "backstage passes" to see a training session for the alpha male of the Western Lowland Gorillas. We were five feet away from a silverback. The safari tour through the quasi-savanna was magnificent. From there, Shadowfax Winery literally was next door. The charcuterie and cheese plate was a perfect capstone to the afternoon. Next stop was the Mansion Hotel & Spa at Werribee Park, again right in the same neighborhood as the zoo and the winery. The Mansion was a former seminary that had been remodeled into a luxurious boutique hotel. We ate a casual meal from the restaurant in the Library of the Mansion. It was a relaxing way to finish a full day.
DAY THREE -- We headed out for the Great Ocean Road. First stop, Anglesea where we sampled the meat pies at a local bakery. We also tried a "snot block" for desert, also known as a vanilla slice. From there, it was a short drive to the Memorial Arch, which marked the official start of the Great Ocean Road. My wife and son spent the afternoon at Live Wire, a zip line and tree top obstacle course park. Rather than pay the "observation" fee to watch, Stuart took me to Erskine Falls for a short hike and then to Lorne where I had a coffee and enjoyed the view of ocean from the patio. We made it as far as Chris's Beacon Point Restaurant & Villas. Our room offered a lovely view of Apollo Bay. We had a fantastic dinner at the restaurant.
DAY FOUR -- The day started with a lovely breakfast at the same restaurant where we had dinner the night before. We did a bit of bird watching while we had brekky. Stuart pointed out a beautiful white Kookaburra in the tree just outside the window. It was a short drive to Mail's Rest where we took a hike through a rainforest. It was our day for bird watching as we say an orange chested King Parrot. Onto the Great Ocean Road where we stopped at the lookout for the Twelve Apostles, hiked down to Lock Ard George. We diverted to Timboon for a delicious lunch at the Timboon Railway Shed Distillery followed ice cream at the nearby Timboon Ice Creamery. The last stop of the day was at the London Bridge, a portion of which Stuart told us collapsed in 1990. We drove every kilometer of the 277-kilometer memorial to the Great War. We drove on to Warrnambool where where stayed in a house that Stuart found on airbnb. It was the perfect choice -- we picked up takeaway food and watched a movie.
DAY FIVE -- We packed up our clean and mostly dry laundry and had our best breakfast of the trip at Patloch Lane Café & Bar. Be sure to try the smashed avo and poached egg over toast. Then, we looked for whales at Logan's Beach. Alas, it was now a four-hour drive back to Melbourne. Stuart found another gem for lunch in Colac, which happened to be his home town. We at a Fusion, which combined Asian style cuisine with local produce. Finally, Stuart returned us to The Langham. It was a tearful goodbye, but Stuart regained his composure after we promised to come back before too long.
What a fantastic trip! Thank you Stuart.
Thank you BriangLeoDragon
What a wonderful tour! Nature, food, wine and laughter! I love showing people my little corner of the world. Every time I go down the Great Ocean Road and 12 Apostles it is different but always beautiful and exciting.
That close up encounter with the stinky silverback gorilla at Werribee Zoo was a highlight for me. A truly majestic and powerful being. The intelligence and emotions in his face were amazing.
Speaking of emotions, it is always sad to say goodbye but I hope to see you all again very soon. I shall bring you a few bottles of my WildLife Pinot Noir 2019 and we can compare it the Zinfandel from your estate in California. Good luck with this year's vintage.
Hope to see you soon
Stuart
We had an amazing experience with Stuart, our tour guide. He helped me plan our family tour which included my 12yo son who gets bored easily.
Started off in Melbourne at the Langham hotel, which was a great place to start as it was close to everything we wanted to see in the city. We went to the Melbourne Art Mueum and saw an amazing exhibit with Terra Cotta Warriors and the modern art of Cai Guo Qiang. We also hit the Aquarium which was pretty nice.
After that we were on the road. Stuart did a great job providing a balance between adult and kid activities. Healesville Sanctuary and Werribbee zoo were pretty amazing, especially watching the gorillas up close and personal working with the zoo keepers. All kinds of animals we had never encountered up close before. My son even had birds eating worms out of his hand.
During our travels, we had some visits to lovely wineries that provided a delicious lunch in addition to the wine tasting, Dominique Portet and Shadowfax were terrific. Had really lovely meals. My son was introduced to meat pies, which he was a big fan of. Loved taking the side trip to Timboon. What a cute little town. loved the ice creamery and the distillery. What nice and welcoming people.
Stuart also added a treetop obstacle course during the middle of our trip along the Great Ocean Road for my son.
Stuart also guided us to accommodations, which were spot on. Loved staying at the Yering Gorge cottages where you see kangaroos running around all around you and beautiful birds coming to our deck in the morning. Mansion Hotel and Chris's Restaurant and Villas were also really lovely with different vibes.
Of course the 12 Apostles were spectacular to see.
Stuart did an amazing job making sure we saw A LOT but also broke it up so we wouldn't be sitting in a car all day. Did short little hikes and activities. We stayed in 5 star hotels/ accommodations and had great meals, both of which was very important to me.
Kudos to Stuart and Go Roam Tours for making our trip to Australia so memorable.
Thanks Jane
I"m glad you and your family enjoyed our week together cruising around Victoria.
I love showing people the beautiful places where I live; Great Ocean Road, Yarra Valley, 12 Apostles, London Bridge, Werribee Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary.
The animals are always a highlight for me. Platypus, Koalas, Kangaroos, Echidnas, Whales, Snakes, Cockatoos and up close with Gorillas! Amazing! And a bit stinky!
We were very lucky with the lovely sunny weather.
I hope to see you again soon.
Take care
Stuart
Great tasting
Great amount of time at each place
Passionate people about their produce product and service
Awesome quality thankyou
Thanks for coming.
I learn something new every day.
A big thanks to Stuart who seamlessly coordinated a tour of the Bellarine wineries for our staff Christmas function. Stuart was very friendly and professional providing us an enjoyable wine tour and lunch. He was flexible and patient and we highly recommend Go Roam Tours! From the team at Pivot Homes!
Thanks Hayley. I hope you had a good break over Xmas and New year.
We chose Go Roam for a vacation to Phillip Island for the amazing fairy penguin display then a couple of days on the Great Ocean Road. Stuart, our guide, was like a long lost cousin - he had many wonderful itinerary suggestions based on out timing and interests and really looked after us - he even baked cookies for the trip! He ensured that we left in time to miss the crowds each day and chose really fun, local dining spots which we thoroughly enjoyed.I don't know any other company or guide who would have delivered a carefree vacation, filled with everything that we asked for, including a night hike to see glow worms (which we did!). We saw the entire Great Ocean Road without the stress of driving and Stuart made great wildlife stops for the Americans. All along, Stewart told stories that were informative and entertaining. We just had a ball!!
I should point out that we were two couples, very different in ages but all of whom do not like "tours", but Stewart just made everyone's wish list come true! Can't wait to go on another Go Roam adventure! Don't choose another company or read more reviews, this is definitely the way to go!
Thanks Janine. I hope we see you again soon.
Stuart was absolutely fantastic. A very knowledgeable guide who went above and beyond to accommodate some extra requests we had like going at night to see glow worms near Apollo Bay. I can't recommend him enough.
Thanks Jon. Glad you enjoyed the trip.