Off we set from Melbourne to the start of the famous Great Ocean Road, one of the best road trips in the world! The tip is to travel from the Melbourne end so the sea ends up on your left hand side seeing as they drive on the left. We picked the B100 road up from near Torquay which is about 120km from Melbourne. There are so many stop off points, lookouts and places of interest across the whole route so you can easily do this journey over a few days which I did.
The first stop was Bells Beach which was a cute little place with an inlet and estuary which runs by the beach where you can hire kayaks, pedals etc. It was fairly windy the day we went so we chose to walk leisurely around the bay to the beach and back which took about 45mins. The next stop a few miles down the road was a nice small town called Anglesea. Here we headed about a mile inland to the famous golf course where all the Kangaroos hop around the greens. We could see them all from the road sitting under the trees as it was hot. The golf club do tours but sadly we arrived there too late before the last tour so we cheekily took some pics from the fence!
From Angelsea to the Split Point Lighthouse, the road winds in and out with stunning views of the ocean and loads of bays which offer great photo opportunities with tons of ‘lookout’ spots on the way that are easily signposted. We parked up at the Lighthouse and walked about 10 minutes to the top where the view was equally beautiful with bays either side and rock stacks out in the ocean. A bit further on there is a large wooden sign over the road saying ‘Great Ocean Road’, so clearly lots of tourists stopping for that pic!
The next couple of kilometres is the WOW factor in terms of driving….winding roads in and out of the cliffs with the ocean on one side and forest on the other. The fact you can’t see around the corner or over the crest of road adds to the excitement knowing the cliff drop is right next to you! We turned off a short distance later and followed the road up to the Otway National Park to find the Erskine Falls. The road down is very steep but worth seeing the falls. You can park up and walk the short distance to see the top or trek further down to the bottom. We ended the first day at a campsite after about a 220km drive from Melbourne in a place called Apollo Bay. Just before we stopped we were lucky enough to spot a wild koala in the trees, pretty amazing!
The first day would be summed up as spectacular ocean road driving. The second day (today) would be spectacular tourist spots. After Apollo Bay, the scenery becomes flatter and more rocky with lots of beautiful bays and hills in the distance. The first major highlight was the famous Twelve Apostles just a short distance from the town of Princetown . These 12 rock stacks that stick out into the ocean are quite cool to see up close as it’s pretty impressive as they sit just outside of the bay and sandstone cliffs. The walkways that have been created offer great photo opportunities, just be weary of any poisonous snakes as there are signs! Other key sites along this route are the London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, Grotto and the Bay of Islands. All different rock formations that have been eroded to look like a bridge, archway or secret grotto. The grotto was my favourite - you walk down to the beach where the rock has formed a grotto or ‘window’ when you can look out to the sea. I probably haven’t explained it well but the pics will do it justice!
After the Bay of Islands near Peterborough, we headed inland on the recommendation of a friend and headed north towards the Grampians National Park. This took a few hours towards a place called Halls Gap where we had booked a campsite. The drive here was equally spectacular and one of the first spots I had seen where the road is straight for as far as the eye can see with no one around for miles! As you approach the Grampians, it’s a lot different to the other national parks I’d been too, more rocky and ‘canyon’ in terms of it’s look and feel. Halls Gap has a huge lake next to the town called Lake Bellfield which is used a reservoir. Lots of noisy Cockatoos here! Quite a few things to do in this beautiful national park…three of the top ones we did: The Pinnacles, a really good walk for a few hours to one of the highest points through some really good terrain over rocks and canyons. Mackenzie Falls, so worth the walk down to the bottom (about 25mins). You can hear the power of these falls before you see them and when you do, you get to follow the water down to the base. Up close these falls are really impressive and powerful. The third thing and probably the highlight for me was the Boroka Lookout. We had done a few lookouts but the few here was incredible! So high up and you can literally see for miles and miles across the plains of south Australia to Lake Bellfield nestled in the mountains covered with forest. The pics just don’t do the justice through your own eyes.
An awesome few days and a real contrast between Ocean and National Park. A definitely recommended detour on the way from Melbourne to Adelaide.
