Australia’s Great Ocean Road

January 24, 2014

“The Great Ocean Road” is a well-travelled tourist route along the south of Australia. It is renowned for its scenic coastline, featuring the famous “12 Apostles”.

The road was built by WWI returned service men in memoration to those who were killed by their sides. The road itself is 243km in length.

Some tourists travel the great ocean road in one day, which is possible, but I imagine it would be a bit rushed. My trip lasted for three days. We stopped off in three different towns to stay over night. That way it didn’t feel too rushed and it was nice to take in the views for all it was worth.

Here’s a detailed description of my journey.

Day One: We left Melbourne early on the 2^nd of January. The first stop was Torquay. A very busy little town, or “Surf City” as it was titled. The beach was full of people bathing and taking part in water sports. The centre of the town was literally full of surfing shops, it was good if you were a surfer or into that kind of style!

We then drove through the “Great Ocean Road Arch” which is pictured above. Originally there were three arches along the road. One Collapsed and the other was taken down because the council needed to widen the road. Long live the last remaining iconic arch!!

Next we stopped at Aireys Inlet and the Split Point Lighthouse. Some people may recognise this lighthouse from the popular children’s television series “Around The Twist”.

After that we drove through Lorne to Erskine Falls. Erskine Falls is a beautiful waterfall well worth the 10km drive inland. Easy to find from Lorne and great to be in the forest instead of out on the coast for a change of scenery. The view points for the waterfall are lovely and you can walk right down to the base of Erskine too. The steps down are very steep so be sure to wear suitable footwear!!

Our final stop on day one was Apollo Bay. This town is your typical coastal town. Theres a beautiful beach, carnival rides, fish and chips galore and little souvenir shops all along the main road. We went swimming in the ocean and kicked around a football on the beach. We stayed in a tiny hostel called Apollo Bay Backpackers. The evening went quickly here and in no time we were asleep waiting to take off to our next destination the day after.

Day Two: For the second night of our road trip, our resting point was Port Campbell. In between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell were the Famous “12 Apostles”. We left Apollo Bay early that morning and went along the windy roads, a warning for anyone who gets travel sickness, the roads are really really windy!! The views along the road were spectacular. to the right were towering cliffs and to the left, the beautiful coastline. We stopped off at a few look out points for pictures and to stretch our legs. The road then took us a little inland and gave us beautiful sights of the green countryside.

The 12 Apostles were approaching quite quickly, but we decided to drive straight to Port Campbell to fill up on petrol to make sure we got through the day. It actually all worked out for the better as the 12 Apostles viewpoint was left to the very last. We stopped off at the nearest view points from Port Campbell which included Loch Ard Gorge and Thunder Cave.

Leaving the best until last, the breathtaking 12 Apostles. My words of descriptions wont do the 12 Apostles any justice as it was so remarkable, actually, my pictures don’t really do it justice either. That is why everyone needs to experience these things for themselves!

All that viewing at spectacularness made us hungry, we decided to drive around the 12 Apostles Food Trail! We stopped off in Gorge Chocolates, Apostle Whey Cheese and Timboon Distillery. There was a very easy map to follow of all the local factories. There were complimentary tasting in all three places. There were more places like Berry World and a Snail Farm but we decided to go back to Port Campbell and get checked into the hostel instead. The hostel we stayed in was really nice it was called “Port Campbell Hostel”. We went for dinner and watched the sun set. Port Campbell is a very blustery spot. Be sure to bring enough clothes with you to wrap up all along the coastal road.

Day Three: On the third day we set sail for Warrnambool. We stopped to look at London Bridge, well, whats left of it! It used to be connected up until 1990. Today it is an Arch and its cool!

We kept driving and stopping at look outs until we got to Logan Beach where you can go whale watching! Unfortunately it is not whale season in January so we didn’t see any whales :(

Then onto Warrnambool! We checked into our hostel “Warrnambool Beach Backpackers” where there were loads of amenities. We played pool for a bit and then went for a walk to the beach. After that we had a go at the driving range and then went for a drive into the town centre. There was lots of things to do in Warrnambool! We packed in a great evening, mini-golf where I got a hole in one (yeah!), and then bowling! and we went to a lovely restaurant called Club Warrnambool which I would highly recommend! After that we went back to the hostel, here we had a few drinks because the hostel had its own bar! The cheapest drinks I’ve paid for since I got to Australia! So this was a great day trip. We went to sleep then all ready to head home to Melbourne. But the journey doesn’t finish there…

Day Four: We were homeward bound back to Melbourne today. We took a detour and went home via Ballarat.Ballarat is famous as it used to be a gold mine town years ago. They have a place called Sovereign Hill where they have remade the whole entire gold mine set in Australian 1850’s!! It’s amazing what they have done. Entry was $47 for adult which I thought was a little steep as there was a tour inside you had to pay extra for again! With your ticket you get free entry into the Gold Museum which was interesting too. It was a good experience though, we spent a good few hours looking around and going in and out of all the shops and there were demonstrations on how the gold was manufactured back in the day. People were dressed in 1850’s attire which was also a nice touch. It was a great way to end the trip.

We were back to Melbourne and back to normality by that evening. We were all so tired but the trip was worth it. If you ever get a chance to take off down The Great Ocean Road take it! Its spectacular, words really can’t describe the lands beauty and the mysterious curves of the coastline. They do say that it is one of the most breathtaking roads in the world!

Let me know if you decide to go along this route, or if you have done it before! I’d love to know where others stopped and what they thought. I would recommend doing the road trip in two days as opposed to three. It was a little drawn out but I got to relax a little at least.