A guide to the locations used in Mad Max.

Due to being filmed around the city of Melbourne, the locations used in the first Mad Max are more identifiable, and therefore this is the most detailed locations list of the films.  Mad Max 2 and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome were mostly filmed in remote outback locations, and with less different unique locations used, there aren't as many identifiable locations to list.

All locations are in Victoria (Australia), and Melways references given where available - a Melways should cost you $30, and is pretty mandatory if you want to find things properly.  If any references seem wrong let me know, I don't know if some of these maps change pages between different Melways editions. For some locations off the Melways, you can buy topographical maps, try a good map place like Map Land, 372 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, phone (03) 9670 4383. The maps I've used are: You Yangs 7722-2-2; Manor 7822-3-3; Lara 7721-1 NE; and Kirk Point 7821-4-4.

Note that the list of locations provided below is guide for a day tour. If you wanted to visit the maximum number of locations in one day, then try visiting them in the order shown below. If you want to see the list of locations in the order in which they appeared in the film, please see the main location listing. The tour assumes a start from the Melbourne CBD.

The underground garage at MFP quarters is the southern car park at Melbourne University.

The interior shots of MFP HQ aren't actually at the pumping station (look outside when Goose is blocking the door, trying to attack Johnny the boy). They were filmed at the old Port Melbourne gas works, some of which has now been extensively renovated, and the rest of it demolished. The "Halls Of Justice" gates and background buildings were part of the gas works also, you can see some comparison shots in the sub-page.

If anyone knows where I might obtain some pictures of the old gas works buildings as they were, please contact me.

When the Goose does a burnout down a straight street, with buildings on either side, this street is Claremont Street, South Yarra. Melways Reference 58 E2 / E3. Please note that this is a one way street. (Thanks to Robert Kelly!)

The nightclub scene was actually filmed in the Warehouse Nightclub (Claremont Street again), although the interior is most probably completely changed now. Goose originally met the singer when he stopped to help her with her car which had broken down. The scene was filmed, but was never included in any version of the final film.

The night time scene is actually on the West Gate freeway (the film was made just prior to the opening of the bridge). Melways reference 28 J12 (well, approximately anyway!)

MFP headquarters (exterior) is the Spotswood MMBW Pumping Station, on Douglas Parade, Spotswood (behind Science Works).  Melways reference 56 B1.

Note that Science Works opens at 10am most days.

  Back on the Westgate freeway, get off at the Grieve Parade exit (40 H11), turn left, then at the roundabout turn right into Doherty's Road. Continue along until 40 C12, where you turn left into Cherry Lane.

The scene where the MFP cars destroy vans, crash through caravans, roll over, and cause general destruction is Cherry Lane, Laverton North.  The cars enter from the north end, and the warehouse the bongo van rolls out of is still there (western side of the north end), but is now painted white. The phone box which gets knocked over was at the corner of James St - you can briefly make out the road sign in the scene itself.  Melways reference 53 K2.

  Follow Cherry Lane to the end, turn left onto Fitzgerald Road (53 G4), left again onto Kororoit Creek Road (53 G4).

"Christ, they're headed for population!" Goose tears down Kororoit Creek Road on his bike, travelling east towards the Hoechst chemical factory. Melways reference 53 H4. This location is just south of Cherry Lane (see next location).

This overpass is due for modification sometime in 2001

  Do a U-Turn after passing the chemical factory, come back to the Princess Freeway and get back on, heading south towards Geelong.

Johhny the boy makes his phone call from an overpass on the Princess Freeway. The approximate location is Melways reference 53 F9 - look for the railway line going underneath, and the city of Melbourne off in the distance.

  Follow the Princess Highway through Werribee 206 K2 (if you miss the first off road, get off at the Duncans Road exit 206 E11). Make your way through town onto Geelong Road 205 G9. Head down to the entrance of New Farm Road, 205 E11.
NB. Werribee is probably a good food / fuel stop at this point as well.

When Max starts chasing down Toecutter's gang, he is on Farm Road. You will need to travel down New Farm Road to get there, the start of which is at Melways reference 205 E11. Don't start on Farm Road itself, it's now a closed road further down. You'll need to travel down the road a fair way (past the Princess Highway) to get to the right spot. Please be careful on this road, every time I've been down there so far they have been hearding sheep up and down it!

  Once done on Farm Road, U-Turn and get back onto Geelong Road, turning left. You will reach the entrance to the Princess Highway again.

Max is seen standing on the Maltby Bypass when the bikie gang ride underneath. Melways key map page 11, just below maps 204/205.

This overpass was demolished in late 1999.

  For map help on the next 3 locations, use the "Lara 7721-1 NE" and "Kirk Point 7821-4-4" maps mentioned above.

Head down the freeway, and get off at the Point Wilson Road turnoff. The road on which Goose takes his wild ride on is Point Wilson Road, this is the same location as the ammo bunker which Roop is sitting on in the opening scene. As Goose makes his first approach, look to the right, and you will see one of the bunkers. You will also see that a shot from this ride has been used in the opening chase sequence, just after Goose leaves the roadhouse.

The gate that Big Bopper slides through onto the main road can be found on Point Wilson Road, just before the first bend. Note that the wooden gates are now replaced with steel ones.

The bunker Roop is sitting on is actually an old ammo bunker, and can be found on Point Wilson Road, southeast of Little River, on the other side of the freeway.

  Do a U-Turn, and head back up Point Wilson Road to the crossroads (where the warning signs were), and turn left. Go back out to the highway, left again towards Geelong. Get off at the Avalon Road turnoff 222 J7. Head south down this road to Avalon Beach.

The beach Jessie goes to for the ice cream is Avalon Beach. This is south of Melways map 222, just follow Avalon Road to the beach.

  Do a U-Turn, back up Avalon Road towards the highway, and over the overpass towards Lara 222 J6. Once over the Princess Highway, turn right and head towards Old Melbourne Road 222 J5.
NB. You can stop off in Lara for fuel / food. Go left on McClelland Road, and drive into Lara itself. Over the railway line there are shops for food, fuel, etc. Once done in Lara, head back out McClelland Road towards Old Melbourne Road.

You are off the Melways maps here for a while, so for maps try using the "You Yangs 7722-2-2" and "Manor 7822-3-3" maps mentioned above.

The Toecutter goes under a truck on Old Melbourne Road, southwest of Little River. Again, no landmarks to help find this easily (yet), but it's the only point in the road that goes over a crest like this. If you look carefully, there are actually two hills, with a small dip down in the middle. If you start at the southwest end of the road and head northeast, you should find this one pretty easily.

  Keep heading down Old Melbourne road until you reach the house ruins on your left.

Max and Goose are talking with the two people on the trike just southwest of Rothwell Bridge, Little River. The house ruins are still there. Melways reference 200 E9.

The cut scene where Max cleans his knee is just over Rothwell Bridge from the House Ruins (see above). If you leave the house ruins and travel across the bridge, the river bank and tree are down to your left.
  Keep heading down Old Melbourne Road, towards the intersection with Little River Road.

The intersection where March Hare, Big Bopper and the Nightrider hit the brakes and cars slide everywhere is the intersection of Little River Road and Old Melbourne Road. Melways reference 200 J6. Please note that the intersection has been modified from when it was used in the film - don't go down the wrong side of the road!

  Turn left onto Little River road, and head in towards Little River.

The pub the Toecutter's gang is drinking at is the old Little River Hotel. It's still there, but looks radically different (no longer on a vacant block of land, the new pub is next to it, trees, grass, etc). Melways Reference 200 C5.

  Head out of Little River on Edgars Road, heading north. Turn left at Kirk's Bridge road.

   

Max continues his chase, and Johnny falls off the bike, on Kirks Bridge Road, heading east towards Edgars Road (again, all to the north of Little River). Looking towards Edgars Road, look for the tree line at the top of the hill, on the left hand side of the road only.

  Keep going west down Kirk's Bridge Road. Look out for Turner's Road on your right, just before the road dips down.

   

The side road where Max's Yellow Interceptor is parked is the intersection of Kirks Bridge Road and Turner Road. When Mel turns out onto the main road, the dip in the road to the right is where Kirk's Bridge is. Kirks Bridge Road is north of Little River, see the Melways key map on page 11.

  Turn right out of Turner Road, Kirk's Bridge is in the dip in front of you.

Max wipes out the 4 bikers at Kirks Bridge, two off the north side of the bridge, and two on the bridge itself. If you look at the bridge closely you can still see the white cross that can be seen on the pillars when the bikers go over the side.

NB. In the film, bikes approach bridge from east, interceptor approaches from west.

  Keep heading west, turn left at Little River - Ripley road.
The scene were Max is ambushed and his knee is shot is on the Little River - Ripley Road, about half way between Kirk's Bridge Road and the Chevy wreck. I'd recommend taking an image with you from the film, all you really need to do is line up the road with the You Yangs (there are no other markers to this location).

The Chevy gets wrecked on the Little River Ripley road, about half way up, heading out of Lara on the way to Kirk's Bridge, on the right hand side. Just look for all the obvious markings, the stone wall, the trees and logs, and the gate and fence.

For all the locations that you can visit together, the list above is pretty much it. Obviously there are still some locations left, which I'll present below, but most of the remaining locations aren't too near the locations listed above, and aren't even necessarily too near each other. The first three locations are Exford Road, Dogtrap Road and Gellies Road - these are all over the place.

  FROM THE DAY TOUR ABOVE: U-Turn, and head north up the Little River - Ripley road. Follow it around to the left, heading west. When you reach the Geelong - Bacchus Marsh road, turn right, heading north. Turn right when you reach Exford Road, keep going until you reach the 2 bridges.
FROM THE CITY: Head out of town on the Western Freeway, until you reach the Station Road turn off 115 A11. Head south down this road until you reach the Exford Road intersection with 2 bridges.

The Toecutter's gang steals petrol from the tanker at the two bridges near the intersection of Exford Road and Greigs Road, Exford. This is just south of Melways Map 117, see the key map on page 7. (Thanks to Hamish MacLeod for this elusive location!)

  The next location is out of the way of pretty much everything, take a look at the distance on the Melways before committing to visiting this one. I wouldn't say it's that significant either - for the die hards only.
Max chases the bikers up a narrow road, and has trouble getting around a large truck. This is McCormack Road (formerly Dogtrap Road), melways reference 219 A6. (Thanks to Graeme Row for this one!)
  The next location though is one of the bigger scenes in the film, definitely worth visiting this if you can...

The final scene with Max, Johnny, and the hacksaw is Gellies Road, Sunbury. The bridge is Emu Creek Bridge. Melways reference 383 C5 / D5.

The next few locations are all up off the Hume Highway, a little less scattered, but still much further apart from each other than the locations from the first Day Trip.

  Head up the Hume Highway north out of Melbourne. At Craigieburn, look for the Note Printing works on the left - you want to turn RIGHT into the estate directly opposite.

The auto wreckers used was Craigieburn Auto Wreckers, Melways reference 180 E2. The building was still there until mid-2000, but the area is now fenced in on private property. See the sub-page for more info.

As of sometime 2000, the building has been demolished

The Goose rolls the ute on Bridge Inn road Mernda, Melways reference 244 C9. Note that this location is now somewhat different to what it was when the film was made, see the sub-page for more info.

May Swaisey's farm house is now a private residence. If you happen to find this for yourself well done, but please respect the privacy of the people there.

  Keep heading up the Hume Hwy, take the Wallan turn off.

The roadhouse where Goose is eating is Pretty Sally Roadhouse, on the Northern Highway, just north of Wallan. Just head north up Pretty Sally Hill, and at about the top you'll see a scenic lookout point on the right, with a Great Dividing Range sign standing on it, and just a little further down on the left is a truck stop. The truck stop is where the roadhouse (now disused) still stands. This is now private property, and please be aware of the guard dogs! I'd not recommend going any further than the truck stop itself. Wallan is map 249 in the Melways, although Pretty Sally Hill is off the map to the north. Be careful not to miss the Wallan turnoff from the Hume, Wallan itself is only mentioned on one of the exit signs. If you get to Seymour, you've gone too far.

That's it! What? There's still some locations left over? Well, yes, there are. The following locations are nowhere near any of the above locations, and nowhere near each other. Apart from St George's Hospital, which is 30 to 40 minutes from the Melbourne CBD, the other locations listed below are all at least an hour or two drive from Melbourne. I haven't even visitied some of these yet, they're that far away. If you want to visit these it would probably take you a couple of days alone, you'll need to spend 2 to 4 hours in the car to travel to and from each location.

Max's house is in Fairhaven (near Lorne), and was sold to new owners in January 1997, for approximately $650,000 (see The Age, property section, 19th January 1997).  The address given in the article is 310 Great Ocean Road. Check out www.maxsbeachhouse.com for some more info.

The town which is invaded by Toecutter's gang is Clunes, in North Western Victoria, about 20 minutes north of Ballarat.  The shop that the bikies throw a towns-person out of is now a respectable cafe. The wide streets are still much the same as seen in the film. The railway station is also at the same location. (Thanks to David Bowker for this info!)

The beach where Toecutter's gang are hanging out, with the uptured car and where they shoot the mannequin, is Seaford Beach.  (Thanks to Luke Turley for this!)

After Goose is burned, Max is seen driving up out the front of St George's Hospital.  This is in Cotham Road, Kew.  Melways reference 45 H7. The interior hospital shots were also shot here, although I have no idea exactly where inside the hospital (and it has probably been remodeled inside by now anyway).

The beach scene with Jessie and the dog is Red Bluff, immediately north of Black Rock. The camera is facing south, and the wreck of the Cerberus is either hidden by the rock or out of shot to the right. Melways reference 85 H1 (Thanks to Murray Price and Anthony Willey for this one)

Note: Some locations I have discovered are privately owned, and for that reason are not listed. Additionally, I have noticed evidence at some other locations that people have been hooning around in their cars. DON'T let this be you. It's rather childish, and spoils it for everyone else when I'm forced to remove locations from the list as a result. Thanks.

If you have any further additions, please just contact me

 

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