James takes the ultimate grand tourer, the 2022 Maserati MC20, to Victoria's picturesque Grand Ridge. Here's how to get there...
Drive screens on Channel 9 at 10 am each Sunday. The full episode will be available to video on 9Now after it airs.
Our Grand Ridge grand tour starts with the town of Mirboo North about 2-hours south-east of Melbourne.
To get there, take the M1 Freeway out of town, toward Warragul. This is an easy road, albeit not a particularly exciting one, with fuel and food stops along the way.
The M1 Freeway becomes the Princess Highway in Yarragon. Continue to the next town, Trafalgar, and make a right on the C469. Here you'll climb the aptly-named Mount Speed, but watch the signs as the road has some rough patches - and when it suggests slowing to 40km/h, you'll need to do so!
This takes you on an enjoyable run through Thorpdale and past the site of the 'tallest tree in the world', which ah... someone cut down. There's an intersection with the Strezlecki Highway (B460), turn right here and follow the road into Mirboo North.
The Grand Ridge Road itself runs the whole way across the top of the Strezlecki Ranges, and given many sections are unsealed, it wasn't really suitable for our $700,000 Maserati, so we got creative.
Throughout this region, there is a spiderweb of excellent touring roads that can be explored as a loop, or as a more meandering path.
As an example, our drive loop heads south from Mirboo North along the C455 to the intersection of Farmer's Road in Dumbalk North.
We turned left to follow Farmer's Road until it turns left (to the north) and becomes Mirboo Road.
At the intersection of the C457 - the Grand Ridge Road - we turned right, as left is a shortcut back to Mirboo North.
The C457 becomes the C458 as it heads north again into Boolara. This is one of the prettiest sections of the run.
From Boolara, head back west to Mirboo North on the C456, but be mindful that this is a much tighter and more technical section with blind corners and some patchy surfaces.
Arriving back into Mirboo North you can map out another route over a coffee and keep exploring this fantastic part of Victoria!
Google maps link for this route (From Melbourne)
The Grand Ridge Road (Wikipedia page with lots of details)
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