Surf Coast to 12 Apostles

---

---

Our initial stop and where we picked up the Great Ocean Road was in Torquay. Torquay is home to Surf World, the world's largest surf museum. It was worth visiting, and we spent just over an hour there. It is open 9-5 everyday, so our 8:57am arrival was perfect. It was empty and we were able to peruse through the various surfboards and videos at our leisure. At the end of the SurfWorld tour, there is an information stand. The old lady there couldn't wait to give us the run down on what to do on the Great Ocean Road (GOR). So even if you wind up doing the drive spare of the moment and have no idea what it entails, the sweet old ladies there will fill you in. She was actually very draining and it was hard to say ok thanks we'll just see what's on it...she was telling us all the places we HAD to see...and it turned out we had a great drive, but didn't hit half the places she wanted us to. After being polite we heard her out and got a few maps.

The first stop would be Bell's Beach outside of Torquay. This is a world famous surfing beach and probably the highlight of the surf coast! As we did not head all the way down to the beach, a scenic overlook provided us with some good views of the hundred or so surfers down below. The waves and swell did not seem extraordinary by any means, however it was pretty cool seeing surfers at a world-renowned site.

We continued on towards Lorne as the road twisted and turned over cliffs giving us postcard views of the beautiful ocean blue meeting the calm sands of beaches. Some of the turns were pretty sharp and surely cause many accidents. It is hard to pass, or take-over as they call it Down Under, other cars and sometimes you would get stuck by a very slow driver. As the road winded up cliffs I wondered how long and difficult the task was completing the road. I later learned that the GOR was built by WWI returned servicemen. They used only picks and shovels, and now the road is actually the world's longest War Memorial, dedicated to those veterans who completed it after serving in WWI. We stopped in Lorne for lunch, and not much else. It was a quaint little town with artsy shops and antiques...my mother would have loved it, however we had our sights set on the 12 Apostles!!

---

Photos

Surf World
world's largest surfing musuem