Today is road-trip day! Before coming on this trip to Melbourne, I knew visiting the Great Ocean Road is a definite MUST. But the question was do we join a tour? Or self-drive?
Couldn't find much substantial experiences online to make a decision, because on one hand, people who took the tourbus thought it was a convenient way, as a skilled driver would bring them through the twists and turns on the narrow roads, so they need not do the long drive themselves. Yet some said they didn't like the fact that couldn't do things on their own time, and it was really touch and go. From my own experience I feel happy with my decision to go at it ourselves, after all it's part of the adventure! I would recommend a two day trip to really absorb everything.
There are plenty stops along the Great Ocean Road which hugs the coast line. So depending on the time frame you have you should just pick and choose the attractions that strike your fancy. I wanted to plan a 1.5 day trip, with an overnight stay at Port Campbell. Considering it was still somewhat end of winter, the sun sets at 5pm-ish, leaving us with less daylight hours. So 1.5 days or even 2 days would have been perfect. But due to itinerary issues, we only had 1 day to spare. But one day is also very doable!
Got up in the morning as early as we could to make it in time for the opening of the rental car office at 8am. After getting our ride, off we go!
Weather looks so far so good. But Aussie weather is super unpredictable, so it's best to be prepared for all kinds of weather changes!
First stop was the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch & bronze digger statue. This is definitely a must-do even just for a quick 5 minute stop to take some pictures. After all, it's a good introduction to the Great Ocean Road.
The story of the Great Ocean Road.
One good thing about driving on your own is that you can stop over anywhere you want. There's plenty look-out stops along GOR that we found ourselves taking a break just to admire the view.
The next stop was this place called Grey River Road that was about 1 hour away from the Memorial Arch. Apparently this is a really good spot for wild koala spotting, and if you took a tourbus, some of the guides will stopover here to let you watch koalas in the wild. I did not do enough research and we actually overshot the koala area and ended up in a super ulu forested area :/
We were quite disappointed to realize it only after getting back on the GOR. Because we had no reception in the forest to do search the internet on the actual koala location. One con of self-driving if you do not do ample research! :(
However, if you look at the center of the picture, you can spot a wallaby staring straight at us! That was the only wildlife we saw on Grey River Road. And it was our first time seeing a wallaby (haha noobs) and we were already quite excited. Little did we know we will see plenty a few days later in Tasmania. lol.
The next stopover was for lunch at Apollo Bay. I read a blog previously about this seafood cafe. Where the blogger raved about the seafood here. So we had this place in mind for lunch.
Chose the seafood platter that had shrimp, fish, scallop and squid if I remember correctly.
I requested the lobster burger also.
Big chunk of lobster.
Verdict: the meal was rather disappointing. Joel thought the batter could have been tastier, and it did not do the fresh seafood any justice. We left quite unsatisfied, especially thinking that for a town by the sea, the seafood should have been done better!
A couple doors down, we stumbled upon a bakery and was drawn in by the sign that read "SCALLOP PIE". I lovvvvve scallop!
It looks so normal and unassuming but I'm telling you - MIND BLOWN. It was so so so good. We should have skipped the seafood cafe and have 10 of these.
Decided to walk around the beach opposite the stretch of Apollo Bay shops and restaurants.
Look at how he stands in the middle of nowhere demolishing his scallop pie haha.
With food in our tummies, we were ready to head to our next destination, not too far away from Apollo Bay - Mariner's Lookout!
The ground was quite muddy due to rain which I reckon was moving in the same direction and ahead of us. (Reiterating the point that Aussie weather is super unpredictable). We caught up to the rain later that day. D:
Almost to the top!
We made it!!!!!
The view was gorgeous! It was well worth the stopover here. From what I know, tour groups do not come here. Anyway, besides the two people we passed by on the way up who were heading down, we were the only ones there. Super windy!!!
Love this shot! Posted it to Instagram. Pictures just don't do justice to how amazing the view was.
Back to the car and finding our way back to the GOR, we met a bunch of sheep by the roadside. Joel insisted on stopping and was really excited to see sheep (lol?) which explains his cute pose. :P
After about an hour plus of driving, we reached the Twelve Apostles! IT WAS POURING CATS AND DOGS. We hang around the visitor center/gift shop while waiting for the rain to stop. It was so bad and we somehow forgot to bring umbrellas. I was seriously contemplating spending AUD30 on a raincoat for the each of us. But lo and behold, I muttered a prayer under my breath and the rain stopped immediately! Divine intervention? Possibly. Haha. Thank you Jesus!
Overcast skies, but these beauties made up for it. Again, pictures don't do justice to this view, and everyone who has been there agrees as well. This visit should definitely be on your bucket list! The long drive from Melbourne is worth it.
There aren't 12 rock formations (caused by erosion), but only 8 that you can find there. I'm not sure what happened to the rest but in this picture, those rock crumbles closest to us was actually the 9th rock that collapsed in 2005.
Walk further down and you can see a few more of them.
Second last stop, and about 13 minutes away from the 12 Apostles is Loch Ard Gorge. This gorge was named after the ship Loch Ard that shipwrecked nearby in 1878, washing ashore the only two teenage survivors into the gorge.
Yeah it doesn't look like it but it was so cold I had to wear gloves.
The Grotto, behind Joel.
And last but not least, London Bridge. The formation was actually joined, but the part on top collapsed, leaving two tourists on the isolated part. And they had to be rescued by airlift.
This was the last stop on our GOR trip, and by then it was already past 5pm. The GOR actually goes on much further (we probably only covered half the distance in one day). But as a tourist with limited time, one day was sufficient to cover the highlights. It was certainly a memorable experience I will recommend!
As we drove back towards Melbourne, we took the inland road (Princes highway), stopping at Geelong for a quick dinner at Maccas. It was the first time we drove in "pitch darkness" because the rural roads do not have street lamps. So extra caution is needed especially for us city-dwellers who do not have experience driving in such places. But when nearing the city it's much better because there are street lamps!
Next up - Brighton Beach and more of Melbourne city! (:
xx
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