Great Ocean Road in Australia

The Great Ocean road is a 243 km stretch between Torquay near Melbourne to Allansford. The winding road passes next to the ocean with several tourist locations all along the way, the most famous being the “12 apostles”. While tours rush through this road in one day, people spend weeks on this stretch of road. We spent about three days and this post explains few sites that we visited on this road.

Bells beach 

Our trip to Great Ocean Road started by visiting Bells beach near Torquay. The strong waves hitting the shore and the steep cliff provided snapshot of the things to expect further on the road. The waves makes it an ideal place for surfers as we can see many people surfing throughout the stretch of this road.

Birds Rock lookout

A nice view point that provides magnificent view of the beach and the shoreline. A trailer to the kind of views that we would see in the ocean road. There are various trails that go along the beach. Being start of the trip, my daughter wanted to try out each and every route and I had to dissuade her by telling that there are many such places to walk!!

 

Our stay was in a beautiful farm away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist places. It was indeed a new experience for us. It was the only place where we saw kangaroos in Australia. Before the trip to Australia, I expected to see Kangaroos like we dogs in India but I was wrong. The Kangaroos were very far and hence I could not photograph.  

Teddy’s lookout

South of Torquay is a small town of Lorne. The Teddy’s lookout provides a stunning view of the ocean and the road that passes on the edge of the sea and mountains. The St. George river joining the ocean provides a beautiful scenery to remember. An amazing scene to watch.

Kennett River Coastal Reserve

Our main main of the visit to Kennett River area was to see Koala, an animal native to Australia. We were told that it is possible to see them on the Grey River road but were pleasantly surprised to see one at the start of the road!! The bad lighting did not allow me to take a good shot to it but we got a chance to look at Koala from short distance.

It is also a good place to see some Australian birds like Australian King parrots, Crimson Rosellas and many other Australia birds. They are so used to feeding by humans that it does take much effort to get near them. In fact, they are so fearless of humans that they come and sit on our head and shoulder!! They do it for free unlike some bird parks where you need to pay!!

Marriner’s lookout, Apollo Bay

A steep road from Apollo Bay took us to the Marriner’s lookout parking lot. A short walk through a private land brought us to the beautiful view point. Words cannot describe the panoramic view of Apollo Bay and the ocean. Superb place to spend a some time!!

Maits Rest Rainforest walk

The road from Apollo Bay moves from the ocean and enters the Great Otway National Park. The Maits Rest Rainforest walk provides a nice experience of the forest. It is just 20 minutes loop through rainforest over a well defined path. The The huge trees and the ferns gives a nice feeling of the forest.  

Gibson steps

The Great Ocean road joins the ocean again at Twelve Apostles Marine National Park. The first place that you see is the Gibson steps, a scenic oceanside beach with cliffs. The steep steps took us down to the beach and the view from the beach is something that blew us out of the water. The sea is so rough that it will be impossible to get down during high tide.

Twelve Apostles

It is the main reason why many people are on great ocean road. It is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore. The southern ocean is extremely rough and brings in huge waves leading to the erosion and creation of cliffs.. The cliffs are not permanent due to continuous erosion. One of them collapsed in 2005.

 

I was wondering the reason the giant waves. The big waves of southern ocean hit the Australian coast as there is no landmass between Antarctica and Australia. I told my family that it gives a glimpse of my Drake passage journey few months ago!!  

Loch Ard gorge

In 1878, the Loch Are ship ran aground near this area where only two out of fifty four people survived. There are several walks and lookouts in this place. Stairs provide access to beach. A nice place to just sit and watch the waves rushing through the gorge. 

Arch

As the name suggests, it is a natural rock arch formed by erosion with waves crashing below. 

London Arch

It was called as London bridge before the bridge connecting to the shoreline collapsed in 1990. Today, only the arch remains which is a major attraction.

Grotto

A naturally formed sinkhole. 

Bay of Islands coastal park

It is a 32 km stretch of coastal reserve. Numerous lookouts provide views of cliff faces, beaches and waters. We visited the lookouts at Bay of Martyrs and Bay of Islands.

Last words

As I mentioned before, we did this trip in 3 days (2.5 to be precise), but people spend weeks visiting various places at leisurely pace while some tours rush in a single day from Melbourne. The great ocean road was the highlight of our trip in Australia. Accommodation is not an issue as there are many small town all along the road. Major places are well marked.