Blogs from Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

When you visit Australia, it is said that you must do the three R's: the Reef, the Road, and the Rock (Great Barrier Reef, Great Ocean Road, and Ayers Rock, now known as Uluru). On this day, we did the Road. The Great Ocean Road stretches along the southern coast of Victoria roughly from Geelong to Warrnambool. For all but a short traverse in the Great Otway National Park, it follows right along the coast, offering stunning views of cliffs and sea. When we were here in 2003, there was an arch we photographed. Several years ago, the arch collapsed, stranding some visitors on the seaward end, requiring helicopter rescue. Smaller arches are still around. The other thing that has changed is we did not see kangaroos this trip. We saw several along the road previously. ... read more

Well its time to get back on the road again. This time I'm traveling in Australia. Firstly I will be heading along the great ocean road. Heading westward and stopping off at a few places along the way. You are welcome to enjoy the trip with me as I go. I will try to keep you up to date with info and photos. Those who know me will know my stories will most likely be short. So I will let my Photos do most of the talking for me. I hope you have as much fun as I intend to have.... read more

We check out of our B&B. It has a formidable collection of instruction stickers and it’s a relief to be out of there. Today we head for the Great Ocean Road. But we start with a detour to Geelong. Along the waterfront are 100 wooden bollards, painted by artist Jan Mitchell to resemble people and tell the story of Geelong. We take a tour of most of these rather quirky bollard figures. There are bathers and life savers, sailors, soldiers etc. They add to the character of the very pleasant town of Geelong and I wish we had more time to spend here. We have a picnic which we are forced to share with a super aggressive seagull and move on to the start of the Great Ocean Road. The road hugs the Victorian coast for ... read more

The Great Ocean Road Some days we’ve traveled 500km (300m), so you’d think 259km would be easy! Well this 259km road was the Great Ocean Road. An Australian National Heritage area stretching along the south-eastern coast of Australia between Torquay and Allansford. Built by returning soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks - this stretch of road took us three days! After camping close by we headed to the start of this great road. Unfortunately the end we were started at didn’t lead to the ocean for a while but we were still seeing some amazing country side views. Along the GOR are viewing points, historical points ... read more

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 ... read more