The Great Ocean Road

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This blog is written with bleary eyes, after a long 15 hour day to the 12 Apostles and back. We woke at 5:30 to get ready for our first tour of our holiday. We booked this tour after discovering a great deal. $99 with morning tea and lunch included through Sightseeing Tours Australia.

Our pickup destination was St Paul's Cathedral on Flinders St. It is about a 10 minute walk from our hotel, so we didn't mind the early morning trip there. When we arrived at 6:55, we spotted a mini bus already waiting. We went over to the driver and asked if this was our bus, but apparently it wasn't. By this time, there were a few people there, but only a few people for that bus.

As time went on, more and more mini buses arrived, but none of them was the right bus for us. We were due to be picked up at 7:15, and it was only 7:05, so we shouldn't have been worrying, but of course we were a bit worried that something may have happened with our booking.

However, about 7:10, our name was finally called out to board a mini bus. The bus held about 20 people, all from different countries - Australia, Japan, China and Italy of what we learnt, though there could have been more nationalities on there as well. We were introduced to our tour guide, Rob, who we quickly learnt was a very humble and kind man, and genuinely loved what he did. He was knowledgeable about the Great Ocean Road, and all stops along the way, which made it even more interesting to listen to the history of Melbourne and Victoria.

The tour company is called Autopia, and we'd definitely travel with them again. Though, it appeared that you could book with any company, and you'd make the same trip, as we constantly met up with other groups at every stop. So, our recommendation - book a 1 day Great Ocean Road tour from Melbourne and you will see everything that we saw today, regardless of the company. For those who don't know, the Great Ocean Road is a road that goes along the bottom of Australia, right on the ocean. It's a gorgeous view on the way, and one of Australia's most popular tourist destinations in summer. The towns are packed with tourists, with the appeal of the beach and the view. Though, it is very windy, and got quite bumpy in the bus at times.

On our way out of Melbourne, Rob told us a lot about the city's history and culture. Things we had never heard before. And then as we drew nearer to the Great Ocean Road, he'd share information about almost every town we passed through.

Our first stop was just at a service station just outside of Geelong. Another 40 minutes of driving and we were by the water and passing through Angelsea. Rob made a short detour to a popular lookout over Bass Strait, but we only managed a few photos before heading back to the bus. Even though it is summer here, the temperature was only about 15 degrees Celsius, and it was rather windy. It reminded us of being in Austria last year - when it was their winter! Definitely not a summery day today.

Our next stop was a short while away from Angelsea - the official start of the Great Ocean Road. There we saw somebody Albert knew in Canberra, which was very much a coincidence, and after a few more pictures, we drove to our morning tea stop at Kennett River.

There isn't much to see at this town apart from a beach, a caravan park and a café. Apparently there is usually a lot of wildlife around this area, including koalas and birds, but they seemed to be rather shy today. We managed to capture one koala in a nearby tree, but it soon became overwhelmed and hid higher in the trees. Morning tea consisted of tea, coffee and Milo, some biscuits, sultanas and a chocolate cake type bar. Many other tour groups had stopped here, and all the guides appeared to know each other - from the same and from different companies. We stopped here for about 45 minutes, and then drove another hour to Apollo Bay, which was our lunch stop.

In 2015, a large bushfire hit the towns here, and we were able to see the areas where regrowth in the bush had started, and other areas where trees were struggling to grow back due to a very hot fire. Many houses were not being rebuilt, due to cost, which left a few towns very bare.

Apollo Bay is one of the larger towns along to road, and this is where we stopped for lunch. As we left, we wrote down our choice of lunch based off a list. The restaurant we ate in was more of a takeaway place, but the roast chicken Ashleigh had, and the Hawaiian pizza for Albert, were both yummy, and covered in the cost of the tour. Many other tour groups were there with us, but luckily we had tables reserved and food was brought out quickly to us.

We had a little bit of time to wander the main street, and Ashleigh bought a few souvenirs to add to her collection. We were back on the road by 1, where our next stop would be a rainforest called Maits Rest. It is only a short walk around part of the rainforest, but it has a long history. They believe it is part of the same forest that was once part of Antarctica when the continents were connected, but when they separated, the part in Antarctica froze over, and this is all that remains. Some of the Eucalyptus trees were massive, and one believed to be older than when the first European Settlers arrived in the late 18th century.

It was a very beautiful walk, albeit cold. It was relaxing and calm, and most animals lived at the top of the trees, or under ground, so nothing jumping out at us unexpectedly. If you're passing through this way, we recommend taking a look. It doesn't take long to get through, and is always cool in there.

Our next stop was supposed to be the 12 Apostles, but due to busy crowds, Rob decided to take us a bit further up to begin with, and then make our way back. We visited a landmark called London Bridge, which is a stand alone rock structure out in the ocean. It has a tunnel running underneath, which is where it gets its name from. Until the 1990s it was connected to the main land, but part of it collapsed and it now stands by itself.

You only need to spend 10-15 minutes here, so we went to our next stop called Loch Ard Gorge. This was Ashleigh's favourite stop, as the view was absolutely stunning. At the top of the lookout, you get a fantastic view of the narrow passage into the gorge, and then you follow the steps down onto the actual beach where you can stand in or by the water of the gorge. They recommend you don't swim there due to no life guards patrolling the beach, but it was too cold for that today anyway. Some people did dip their feet in, though. The water was a beautiful blue, clear colour and it made it wonderful to look at.

It is called Loch Are Gorge due to a ship that sunk in the 1800s (the name of the ship). There were only 2 survivors - a 15 year old boy and an 18 year old girl, who were rescued. Back then the Great Ocean Road was a popular way for European Settlers to arrive by boat.

We had about 45 minutes to spend here, which is plenty of time unless you want to get in the water. There were some interesting rocks to climb nearby. It was about four thirty when we arrived and still packed with visitors, but after arriving at the 12 Apostles by 5:30, most of the crowd had gone home.

We had a helicopter flight booked and pre-paid for, which is an optional addition for an extra $145. It is a 45km flight (approximately 15 minutes) that takes you out to London Bridge and back, past the 12 Apostles.

As two people who hate flying, we were quite nervous about getting on the helicopter. Especially with the overcast weather and wind, but we got on. Ashleigh was terrified the whole fifteen minutes, but Albert relaxed immediately after take off. We'd both definitely do it again if we have the chance. It's an amazing view, and we now know being inside a helicopter does not feel how it looks from the outside. There was a small queue so we watched a few helicopters take off and land, and to the eye they wobbled and swayed from side to side which worried us. However, being on the inside, you don't feel much of that at all. Take off was smooth and landing we didn't even feel a thing.

Now that we know how it feels, we want to go on another ride - without feeling terrified about everything!

That essentially reached the conclusion of our tour. We made one stop inland on the way back to Melbourne in a town called Colac for some dinner. By the time we were dropped off at the cathedral and made the short walk back to our hotel, it was 10pm. So a very long day, but a very enjoyable one! Thank you Rob for the wonderful, insightful tour!

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