The Great Ocean Road

And it really is GREAT!! My only reason for coming to Melbourne, initially at least – loved Melbourne it turned out 🙂 Even though 16 hours passed by from leaving till coming back to town (picked up outside St. Paul’s Cathedral at 5 a.m.), it was time very well spent. Would not have been without this amazing experience! The day trip took us all the way from the city to London Arch, formerly known as London Bridge, as it has fallen down 😉 , out in Port Campbell National Park.

We did make a few stops on the way, some a lot more interesting than others. We enjoyed a cup of morning tea while overlooking Bells Beach, a world-famous surfing destination. Unfortunately no surfers riding the waves in the cold wind. A photo op at Memorial Arch, kind of the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. We also stopped for a walk on the beach. However mostly it was driving down the costal road taking in the waves rolling in at the miles of sandy beaches below the cliffs, and passing through and stopping for lunch in small costal villages like the popular seaside resort towns of Lorne and Anglesea, and Apollo Bay.

The highlights are as you can imagine the Twelve Apostles and London Arch at Port Campbell National Park, and the wildlife, mainly koalas, at Kenneth River Holiday Park, of all places. Who would have thought a camp site would be the place to see koalas in the wild. The adorable creatures were all very sleepy, but really cool still! And a check for me 🙂 Super cute birds flying around as well. The Twelve Apostles were, I guess, what we all had come for, and it was not just us on the tour bus, an insane amount of people out on the viewing platform greeted us as we came down from the visitor centre. But I do understand why, the limestone stacks are marvellous! The only drawback was caused by a Brazilian couple, who “forgot” to show up for our departure from the Twelve Apostles making us late and missing the sunset at London Arch. It was basically too dark to see much when we finally arrived. Did anyone say respect for other people’s time…?

We also made stops at the rock formation Loch Ard Gorge, where you can see the Island Archway, the Razorback, and the Dumpling Pots, and at the rainforest at the Great Otway National Park, for the Maits Rest Rainforest Walk (a short walk). Both these stops were nice, but it wouldn’t have been a crime if we had skipped them either…

High point on the way back was an unplanned stop at a roadside McDonald’s late at night. Never have a McFeast tasted this good 🙂

Unfortunately I can not recall the name of the tour company, but I think we all will remember the driver 🙂 A newbie who talked constantly, telling us things we’d like to know, and more “personal” things we didn’t need to know – like all about his allergies… Also he turned out not to know exactly where to go, so we did make a few wrong turns and had to backtrack. Hopefully experience will makes things go better 🙂

Website: visitgreatoceanroad.org.au

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