Melbourne, VIC

Discovery Parks Melbourne

The far end of the drive south, and New Year in a city holiday park — a base for Melbourne, with the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles as the day out.

Where: Melbourne, VIC
Stayed: 30 December 2023 – 3 January 2024
In: Tent
Day out: The Twelve Apostles

The record

New Year, 2023 into 2024

The far end of the drive south — a city holiday park as a base, and the Great Ocean Road for a day out. Most of the photographs are after dark, which is about right for that week.

The canvas tent pitched on grass at night, lit from one side, with a shade shelter behind and a floodlight through the trees — Pitched, late *— 30 December 2023, 23:47*

The car, trailer and bikes beside the tent in the dark, cabins and vans of the park behind — Everything parked up *— 23:46*

The trailer with a jerry can and roof box, bikes on the rack, in low evening light with vans lined up behind — Evening on the site *— 31 December, 21:25*

A red helicopter on the grass with its door open and a group walking towards it across the field — The helicopter at the Twelve Apostles *— 31 December, 15:12*

The same helicopter sitting on its pad with coastal paddocks and the sea behind — Waiting for the next lot *— 15:37*

The shade shelter and tent at dusk with the table set underneath and a purple sky above the trees — Last evening *— 2 January 2024, 21:22*

The same camp a moment later from further back, bikes and trailer alongside, vans on the neighbouring sites — Same minute, stepped back *— 21:22*

The Twelve Apostles limestone stacks standing off a cliffed coastline under a clear sky, seen from the viewing platform — The Twelve Apostles *— 31 December, 14:07*

A grassed overflow car park on a clifftop full of parked cars, with silver gulls standing about on the grass and the sea on the horizon — Gulls in the visitor car park *— 15:44*

The dining room of an Indian restaurant, empty tables laid with white cloths, a carved stone wheel and framed certificates on the wall — Indian Star, Moonee Ponds *— 2 January 2024, 16:23*

A large carved and inlaid wooden panel mounted on the restaurant wall above a bench seat — The carved panel on the back wall *— 16:23*

More to come. Using a city holiday park as a base for Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road is a particular kind of trip, and how well it works goes in the written guide.

Getting there

How far it is, and how to get there without a car

One map, and one question: how far south, north or inland is this actually? Then, if you are not driving, what runs — and what does not.

880 km by road · about 9 hours driving — the line is straight-line distance, not the route

Train, the long way

The New South Wales (NSW) TrainLink XPT runs twice a day each way, Sydney Central to Melbourne Southern Cross, about ten hours fifty. The day train leaves around 07:40 and gets in about 18:30; the overnight leaves about 20:42 and arrives about 07:30. Then Metro trains on the Sunbury line.

Fly

Sydney to Melbourne Airport, then SkyBus or Metro to Southern Cross and out on the Sunbury line. About three hours door to door.

The last leg. Car-free, but call it a walk rather than walking distance.

Tottenham station is about 1.5 km, roughly twenty minutes south along Ashley Street — flat and footpathed, but Ashley Street is a busy arterial and Tottenham is a stopping-trains-only station.

Fine with a backpack, unpleasant with a suitcase.

West Footscray is 1.9 km.

The bus is closer: Ballarat Road is about 350 metres away, on route 410 between Sunshine and Footscray.

No tram reaches Braybrook.

Checked September 2026 Check before you book.

Every service above was checked against the operator’s own timetable rather than a travel site, but timetables change and some operators publish no frequency at all — where that is so, we have said so instead of guessing.

Confirm on transportnsw.info or with the operator before you rely on a connection.

If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

Worth the drive

What there is to do

Using a city holiday park as a base swaps the thing a coastal park gives you — a beach at the end of the site — for something less obvious: cheap, frequent transport into a capital city, and the ability to leave the car parked all day.

Braybrook is a suburban, industrial-edged part of Melbourne’s west with no view and no beach; the site is the accommodation, not the attraction.

The transport maths is the surprise, and in 2026 it is unusually good: Victorian fares are half price for everyone until 1 January 2027, capping a full-fare adult day at $5.70, while every child under 18 travels free and city trams cost nothing at all.

The second surprise, coming from New South Wales, is that children 16 and under are free at Scienceworks and Melbourne Museum, and the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and the State Library charge nothing for general entry.

Getting into the cityTottenham station sits on the same street as the park, on the Sunbury line, and routes 216 and 220 run from Ballarat Road at the northern end of Ashley Street straight into the city.The park says thirty minutes to the central business district (CBD).Once you are in town, trams inside the Free Tram Zone cost nothing — but if you tap on and fail to tap off inside the zone you are charged a two-hour fare.We have not printed a walking time to the station because no primary source publishes one.Adult 2-hour $2.85 · daily $5.70 · weekend cap $4 · under 18 free
Scienceworks, SpotswoodThe closest major child-focused attraction, at 2 Booker Street — train to Spotswood on the Werribee or Williamstown line, then ten to fifteen minutes on foot.Daily 10 to 4:30.Children 16 and under free; concession free; adult $15.The Lightning Theatre, with a Tesla coil throwing three-metre bolts, is not recommended under about five.Planetarium shows are ticketed separately in an $8–$25 range.Adult $15 · children 16 and under free
Melbourne Museum and the Children’s Gallery11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, daily 9 to 5.Children 16 and under free, adult $18.The Pauline Gandel Children’s Gallery is aimed at babies to five-year-olds — fossil digging, a discovery garden, a camouflage disco — and it is included with admission but needs a separate free timed booking, fifty-minute sessions, one per visit.Without pre-booking online you may not get in.Adult $18 · children 16 and under free
The free galleries — NGV, ACMI and the State LibraryThree genuinely free indoor options within walking distance of each other, which is what you want when it rains.NGV International on St Kilda Road and NGV Australia at Fed Square, daily 10 to 5.ACMI at Fed Square, whose permanent exhibition on film, television and videogames is free.And the State Library’s Pauline Gandel Children’s Quarter, daily 10 to 6, a purpose-built free space for children up to twelve with over four thousand books.Free — special exhibitions ticketed
Queen Victoria MarketInside the free tram zone, so it costs nothing to reach from the CBD.Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and Sunday from 9 — closed Monday and Wednesday.That closure is the single most common trip-planning mistake here.Specialty shopping opens at 9 on market days.Free entry
Werribee Open Range Zoo and Werribee ParkAbout thirty-five kilometres west.The zoo opens 9 to 5 every day of the year, last entry 3:30, and the safari bus through the savannah is included.Children 4–15 are free at weekends, Victorian public holidays and Victorian school holidays — $29 on an ordinary weekday. Adult $58.Next door, Werribee Park Mansion is $12.60 adult and $9.10 child, and the gardens and the Victoria State Rose Garden are free with free parking.The roses are out October to May.Adult $58 · children free at weekends and school holidays
Williamstown — the beach, Gem Pier and HMAS CastlemaineWilliamstown Beach is about ten minutes’ walk from Williamstown Beach station, with summer lifeguards, toilets, showers and sealed paths, and free beach wheelchair hire on summer weekends.HMAS Castlemaine, a 1941 minesweeper, is permanently docked at Gem Pier and opens weekends and public holidays 11 to 4 — and typically daily from Boxing Day to the second Sunday of January, which is exactly the New Year window.A ferry runs from Gem Pier to Southbank in about an hour, but it is not a myki service, so the half-price fares and free under-18 travel do not apply.Beach free · Castlemaine adult $10, child $5, family $25
Royal Botanic Gardens and the Children’s GardenFree, via Observatory Gate on Birdwood Avenue.The Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden opens Wednesday to Sunday ordinarily, and every day during Victorian school and public holidays — so a New Year visit gets full access.It closes for winter maintenance, most recently from mid-July to early September, which is worth checking at other times of year.Free
Local to the park — the river, Brimbank Park and a playgroundThere is river access near the park though not adjacent: a 1.9 km walk from Solomon’s Ford along the Maribyrnong past Cranwell Park, joining the wider 25 km river trail.Further upstream, Brimbank Park at Keilor East has over ten kilometres of tracks, an all-abilities playscape, free gas barbecues, shelters and a cafe, with free entry and parking, open from 6 am.For something closer, Hansen Reserve in West Footscray has a quarry-themed playground with a four-metre enclosed slide, trampolines and a sand pit with an accessible digger.Free
The Great Ocean Road — the honest answerThe Twelve Apostles are 275 kilometres from Melbourne, about four hours along the coast road, and that is one way before you stop anywhere.The regional tourism body itself advises allowing two or three days.From Braybrook a day trip is eight hours of driving before a single photograph — it is doable, and we did it, but it is honestly an overnight with children.Coming back inland via Colac is faster than retracing the coast.The lookouts are open dawn to dusk with free parking, though a booking and fee model is due when the new visitor centre opens.Free, for now
Twelve Apostles helicopter flightsFrom the helipad at 20 Booringa Road, Princetown, beside the Twelve Apostles precinct.Seven days, 9 to an hour before sunset in winter and 10 to 5 in summer.Sixteen minutes over five landmarks is $195 a head, twenty-five minutes over nine is $295, and an hour over seventeen is $795.Minimum numbers and any child pricing are not published.$195 · $295 · $795 per person

Checked September 2026 Check before you go.

Fees, opening hours and seasonal closures change, and we have not been to all of these.

Distances are approximate — put the name in your maps app rather than trusting our figure.

If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

Local, for us

Groceries, mandirs and where to eat

Every other park on this site asks the same question in reverse: is there anything at all? Braybrook asks which one.

Inside about twenty minutes you have a Tamil temple at Sunshine North, the west’s main gurudwara at Tarneit, pure-vegetarian kitchens through Truganina and Werribee, and on the Ballarat Road strip a kilometre and a half away a South Indian dosa house, a Sri Lankan rice-and-curry shop and a Lahori grill almost shoulder to shoulder.

And — uniquely on this site — there is a South Asian kitchen you can walk to.

The catch is that abundance is not the same as suitability: the close options nearly all cook meat, so a family keeping strict vegetarian is still getting in the car and heading west.

Indian grocery

Bharat Traders International580 Barkly Street, West Footscray — about four kilometres, under ten minutes, and near West Footscray station on the Sunbury line.Open 10 to 8:30 seven days, 11 to 8:30 on public holidays.A long-established general Indian superstore: spices, flours, rice, oils, pickles, fresh and frozen lines, kitchenware, pooja items and packaged sweets. (03) 9687 6071.
Nothing within walking distanceThe shops on Ashley Street are mainstream supermarkets.There are more Indian and Sri Lankan grocers along Barkly Street, Hampshire Road in Sunshine and Main Road in St Albans, but several appear in directories with conflicting addresses, so we would rather send you to the one we have confirmed.

Mandirs and gurudwaras

Melbourne Murugan Temple17–19 Knight Avenue, Sunshine North — about ten minutes, and by a wide margin the nearest Hindu temple to the park.Open daily 8 to 12, with pooja at 9, and 5 to 8:15 with pooja at 7.A Tamil Saiva temple with a resident priest; a Maha Kumbabhishekam was held in February 2026.Their own site warns that on-site parking is limited, with street parking nearby. (03) 9367 3080.
Gurduara Sahib Tarneit560 Davis Road, Tarneit — about twenty-five minutes, and the nearest gurudwara to the park; the sangat describes itself as serving Melbourne’s west.Morning diwan from 5:15, evening programmes generally between about 6:45 and 8:30 depending on the day.Langar serving times are not published, so ring 0404 582 435 first.Their own visitor page sets out what to expect: shoes off, hands and feet washed, head covered, and in langar everyone sits together on the floor as equals.
Kundrathu Kumaran Temple14 Vel Street, Deanside — about twenty to twenty-five minutes out the Western Freeway.Weekdays 9 to 12 and 5:30 to 9, weekends 9 to 12:30 and 5:30 to 9, with poojas through the day and bhajans on Friday evenings.Note the address: plenty of directories still give Gray Court, Rockbank. The temple has moved; use Deanside.Its canteen has reopened and is listed under vegetarian food below.

Pure vegetarian — any cuisine

Laddu Gopal, TruganinaShop 11, 211 Leakes Road — about twenty-five minutes, and the strongest pure-veg option in the west.Their own site states no meat and no eggs, with extensive no-onion-no-garlic options right through the menu and Jain and Swaminarayan menus for events.Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 10; Friday to Sunday 11:30 to 4 and 5 to 10; closed Monday and Tuesday.One caution: a widely-read listicle gives a Sayers Road, Tarneit address — use Leakes Road, which is what they publish. 0499 299 528.
Sri Dwaraka, Werribee2/1–13 Watton Street — about twenty-five to thirty minutes.Their own site states 100 per cent pure vegetarian. South and North Indian: thalis, dosas, rice plates, chaat, samosas.Watton Street is Werribee’s main strip, so parking is metered and tight at weekends.They publish no opening hours at all — ring (03) 8652 9277.
The Kumaran Temple canteen, DeansideIf you are driving out for darshan anyway, eat there. Vegetarian by definition and inexpensive.Monday, Tuesday and Friday to Sunday evenings 6 to 9, and Saturday and Sunday mornings 10 to 12:30. Closed Wednesday and Thursday.
Om Vegetarian, in the city227 Collins Street, in the Wales Arcade — not the west, but a train into town is a realistic evening from Braybrook.Pure vegetarian Indian with vegan options, seven days 11 to 8.Their own site says only the Collins Street shop is trading; an ordering link for a Tarneit branch appears with no address attached and we could not confirm it exists.

Indian restaurants — vegetarian and non-vegetarian

The Everest Momo — the walkable oneUnit 1, 77–79 Ashley Street — about 600 m from the gate, ten minutes on foot, and the only South Asian kitchen you can walk to from any park on this site.Nepalese, open daily 5 to 10, takeaway-focused.Momos, noodle plates and pani puri alongside chicken, lamb, goat and seafood curries — so a vegetarian section, but not a vegetarian kitchen. (03) 9689 2233.If you find an older listing for Akshaya at this address, that closed years ago; the momo shop took over the unit and the phone number.
Chai N Dosa310 Ballarat Road — about four minutes, and the pick of the strip.South Indian: masala dosa, idli, upma, punugulu, masala chai.Seven days, 8 to 2 and 6 to midnight, which is a genuinely late kitchen for the suburbs.It grew out of a food truck; there is on-site parking and self-order machines that children enjoy.Butter chicken sits beside butter paneer, so not pure veg.Worth knowing: almost everything contains peanuts and cashews.
Hop & Spice284 Ballarat Road — about four minutes.Sri Lankan: rice and curry packs, kottu roti, hoppers, biryani, seafood, with a good vegetarian and vegan sub-menu out of a kitchen that also handles meat and fish.Roughly 11:30 to 9:45, though those hours come from a delivery platform rather than the restaurant. (03) 9310 2000.
Top Khana308 Ballarat Road, immediately next to Chai N Dosa.Lahori Pakistani — charcoal and karahi cooking rather than the standard curry-house list.Evenings only, roughly 5 to 1, closed Tuesdays.We have not linked it: its own domain no longer resolves even though the directory entries behind it are still live, which on this site is a warning sign.The restaurant may well be trading; ring before you walk over.

Checked September 2026 Please check before you drive.

These were verified online, not by us in person, and small businesses close, move and change names without updating their listings.

Distances and times are rough — put the address in your maps app rather than trusting our figure.

If something here is wrong or has closed, tell us and we will fix it.

Where next

Other places in the record

Distances are straight-line from this park to that one, which is enough to tell you whether two trips could be one.

220 kmNRMA BrightVictorian Alpsthe same Christmas road trip, four days earlier 370 kmThe Snowy MountainsSnowy Mountains, NSWa different stretch of coast, and a separate trip 390 kmRainbow Pines, Old AdaminabySnowy Mountains, NSWa different stretch of coast, and a separate trip 460 kmBIG4 Merimbula LakeSapphire Coast, NSWthe far end of the record

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