| Directions to Dereel |
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Our address is:
Greg and Yvonne Lehey
29 Stones Road
Dereel VIC 3352
Australia
| GPS coordinates: | 37.80024° S, 143.75095° E | |
| Telephone: | 03-5309-0418 | |
| Greg mobile: | 0490-494-038 (usually not attended) | |
| Yvonne mobile: | 0417-397-062 (usually not in use) | |
Outside Australia, replace the leading 0 of the phone number with the international access code of the country you're in, followed by 61 (the country code for Australia).
We moved to Stones Road on 7 May 2015. Before that we lived a few kilometres away in Kleins Road.
Dereel now has mobile phone coverage, but we don't use mobile phones much. If you call us on the mobile phones, it may be days before we find any message. The same goes for SMS.
Dereel is located in Golden Plains Shire, 100 km west of Melbourne. If you're coming from the north or west, it's a pretty safe bet to come via Ballarat, though there are usually better ways. Since the completion of the Geelong ring road, the best way from Melbourne is via Geelong. The following sections tell you how to get here from different directions:
| From Ballarat | Google maps directions |
Dereel is about 33 km from Ballarat. Leave Ballarat heading south on the Midland Highway (A300), which goes through the middle of Ballarat and is signposted to Geelong. After leaving Sebastopol (southern suburb of Ballarat), turn right on the Colac-Ballarat Road (C146) to Napoleons, Enfield,_Victoria and Dereel:
7.8 km after passing through Enfield you'll see a turnoff to the left to Mount Mercer. Don't turn into it, but continue on the main road. 800 m after this point, turn right into Grassy Gully Road:
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Drive through to the T junction at the end, about 1.1 km:
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The house is visible to the right as shown (the bluish roof). Turn right and immediately left into the driveway, about 50 m.
| From Adelaide and the west | Google maps directions |
From just about anywhere in the west, you'll come down the Western Highway. You can continue into Ballarat, leaving at the first Ballarat exit off the freeway. This will take you straight down Sturt St; in the middle of town you reach the Midland Highway (A300). Then continue as described above.
A faster way is via Skipton, as shown in the Google map above.
I'm doing this partially from memory and partially with the dubious help of Google Maps. If you take this way, please make notes about the accuracy and let me know.
In Beaufort, just before exiting town to the east, leave the Western Highway and turn right to Skipton (about 30 km).
In Skipton, you come down a steep hill to a T junction at the Glenelg Highway. Turn left.
Go up a hill, still in Skipton. After 1 km, turn right onto the Rokewood-Skipton Road.
Drive 26.8 km. Shortly before this distance you'll see a well-signposted turnoff to the left to Cape Clear and Ballarat. Drive on another 1.5 km, where you'll see a badly signposted turnoff to the left to Illabarook (the signpost is on the right side of the road). Take it.
If you miss this turnoff, don't bother turning back. Continue to Rokewood (about another 10 km) and then continue on the Colac-Ballarat road as described in the next section. It's also a good idea to go straight on if you're towing a trailer.
Drive 3.3 km to the Cape-Clear Rokewood Road. Just before the junction you cross a small bridge.
Turn right and drive 3.6 km through Rokewood Junction (about 10 houses). If you look very carefully, you might see the town sign, which is mounted parallel to the road, on the left side.
Leaving Rokewood Junction, turn left into the Dereel-Rokewood Junction Road and drive 8.7 km to the T junction with the A300, Colac-Ballarat Road.
Turn left and drive 1.1 km. Turn left into Grassy Gully Road.
Drive through to the T junction at the end, another 1.1 km. Turn right and immediately left, after about 50 m.
There's also a shorter way (1.6 km shorter) via Harrisons Road, which is unmade but passable:
In Beaufort, just before exiting town to the east, leave the Western Highway and turn right to Skipton (about 30 km).
In Skipton, you come down a steep hill to a T junction at the Glenelg Highway. Turn left.
Go up a hill, still in Skipton. After 1 km, turn right onto the Rokewood-Skipton Road.
Drive 26.8 km. Shortly before this distance you'll see a well-signposted turnoff to the left to Cape Clear and Ballarat. Drive on another 1.5 km, where you'll see a badly signposted turnoff to the left to Illabarook (the signpost is on the right side of the road). Take it.
If you miss this turnoff, don't bother turning back. Continue to Rokewood (about another 10 km) and then continue on the Colac-Ballarat road as described in the next section. It's also a good idea to go straight on if you're towing a trailer.
Drive 3.3 km to the Cape-Clear Rokewood Road. Just before the junction you cross a small bridge.
Turn right and drive 3.6 km through Rokewood Junction (about 10 houses). If you look very carefully, you might see the town sign, which is mounted parallel to the road, on the left side.
Leaving Rokewood Junction, turn left into the Dereel-Rokewood Junction Road and drive 7.3 km to the junction with Kleins Road and Snowgum Road. Turn left into Snowgum Road.
Drive 350 m and turn left into Harrisons Road (unsigned).
Drive 1.45 km, crossing Tantaus Road. The road turns to the left a couple of times. Note that the street names in Google Maps are wrong.
Turn right into Stones Road. Drive 300 m. The house is on the left.
| From Melbourne or from Avalon airport | Google maps directions |
The best way to get to Dereel from most parts of Melbourne is not via Ballarat, since it's more difficult to get out of Melbourne in that direction, though things have improved. It's also marginally shorter via Geelong.
Take the Princes Freeway to Geelong. If you're coming from Avalon airport, this is the freeway you hit on exit. Stay on the freeway as it bypasses Geelong (“Ring Road”). Leave at the Midland Highway exit (A300), which I think is the third exit, and turn right, heading away from Geelong towards Ballarat.
Continue on the A300 to Bannockburn, about 16 km.
Take the first exit on the roundabout pointing to Bannockburn. Go through town (left turn before the level crossing) and continue on the C143 to Rokewood (may be signposted to Skipton), about 45 km.
Turn right towards Ballarat on the Colac-Ballarat road, C146.
Continue through Dereel (about 10 km) and out the other side. There's not much to see, but there is an 80 km/h speed limit. After the end of speed limit, continue another 1.4 km. The road veers to the right, and there's a hard-to-see slip road on the left. Take the slip road (Grassy Gully Road). If you see a turnoff to Mount Mercer on the right, you have overshot by about 800 m. The good news is that on the way back the turnoff is much easier to recognize:
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The house is visible to the right as shown (the bluish roof). Turn right and immediately left into the driveway, about 50 m.
A much shorter way from Melbourne only is via the Brisbane Ranges. It's a rougher road, but it's also more scenic, and it's 10 km shorter.
| Getting back to Melbourne | Google maps directions |
This is the reverse of the previous map.
| From Geelong | Google maps directions |
Take the Midland Highway out of Geelong and proceed past the Ring Road, then go through Bannockburn and Rokewood to Dereel as described above for From Melbourne.
This route is obsolete. Now that the freeway is complete, take the freeway from Tullamarine to Ballarat, and then continue as from Ballarat.
Tullamarine airport is far enough away from Melbourne to make the directions above inappropriate. I have two different ones, avoiding most or all of Melbourne.
This is my preferred way to get from Melbourne airport to Dereel. It bypasses nearly all traffic. The second part of this itinerary, from Bacchus Marsh on (step 12 on the map) it shows a good way round Ballarat which you can also use if you come from Melbourne on the Western Freeway.
This is an alternative route from the airport that is somewhat more built-up. If you suffer from agoraphobia, this might be for you (but Dereel might not be).
The way from Bacchus Marsh to Dereel is the same as in the preceeding route, so the same considerations apply. For some reason Google Maps hasn't included any detail of the last part, so you'll probably want to refer to the previous map anyway.
| From Sydney and the north | Google maps directions |
Coming down the east coast, Google Maps takes you via Melbourne. The connection with the Western Freeway has got a lot better, but there are a couple of deep gorges to slow you down, and of course there's the danger of congestion on the freeways. My personal experience is that it's better to go cross country from Violet Town, Heathcote and Kyneton, but I haven't tried that route for a few years now.
| From Melbourne or Avalon via Lara (passable but obsolete) | Google maps directions |
Previously I had described a route via Lara to Bannockburn. That enabled me to avoid Geelong traffic. Since the completion of the part of the Geelong Ring Road between the Princes Freeway and the Midland Highway, this is no longer necessary, but since the description is here and still works, I haven't removed it. It's also somewhat scenic, but it's no longer the fastest option.
Take the Princes Highway towards Geelong, and leave at the Lara exit.
Drive through Lara (straight on at the first roundabout, left at the second roundabout, straight on at the third roundabout). You'll be leaving on Patullos Road.
After about 1.5 km, the road turns slightly left and becomes Elcho Road. Patullos Road continues straight on, but you'll have to turn right into it. If you miss it, don't worry; it's only a few hundred metres shorter.
Either way, after about 2 km more you hit the C704 (Bacchus Marsh Road). Turn right and take Staceys Road, the next left (400 metres from Patullos Road).
Drive 6.1 km to the Geelong-Ballan Road (next crossroads) and turn left.
Drive 1.8 km and turn right into Robbs Road (next crossroads).
Drive 5.4 km to Steiglitz Road (next crossroads) and turn right.
Drive 2.3 km and turn left into Parker Road. This is at the top of a hill hidden behind a row of trees, and is relatively easy to miss. If you do, you must go back to it: there's no good alternative.
Drive 4.3 km to Clyde Hill Road and turn “left” (it's on a curve, and your direction really goes straight ahead, while the other goes right).
Drive 1.4 km to the Midland Highway (A300) and straight across (slight left) into Clyde Road.
Drive 1.8 km into Bannockburn, arriving just before the level crossing.
Turn right onto High Street, Bannockburn, and continue straight ahead out of town and on to Rokewood, about 55 km.
On leaving Rokewood, turn right on the Colac-Ballarat Road (C146).
Drive 10.5 km into Dereel, and turn left at Swamp Road (first road after Swanson Road).
Drive 1.4 km. Swamp Road turns into Kleins Road, and we're the only house on the right.
If you miss Swamp Road, or you don't like unpaved roads, continue on to Dereel-Rokewood Junction road and continue as described under the route from Ballarat above.
Note that the Google Maps directions in the links are very inaccurate in the area of Lara. They don't show the right turn half way down Patullos Road, so you could easily end up getting to Bacchus Marsh Road via Elcho Road. The current VicRoads directory has it right.
Ballarat is located on the Western Highway, about 120 km WNW of Melbourne. There are a number of ways to get there:
From Melbourne by train: There are direct services from Spencer Street (“Southern Cross”) railway station. I think there are trains from Flinders Street (which doesn't have a buzzword name yet) as well.
From Melbourne by car: fight your way out to the Western Freeway and follow your nose. It's about 120 km, or 90 minutes. But that's not usually the best way to get here: see From Melbourne above.
From Adelaide: take the South-Eastern freeway and the Duke's highway towards Melbourne. It's about 600 km or 6 hours. Note that to get to our place, you don't need to go through Ballarat.
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