Forget 'Great' - this Ocean Road's 'spectacular'

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After a rather splendid night's sleep (ie no roomies to annoy the living daylights out of me), I was up and ready to hit the road in the Vauxhall. Today I'm driving the full length of the Great Ocean Road, from just outside Port Fairy through to Torquay, south of Melbourne, and then onto the airport for a night's camping prior to my flight to New Zealand in the morning. It's a shorter drive today, but from memory, the road is that stunning that it was one of the highlights of the trip in 2008, so I'm very much looking forward to it.

I took a quick gander at Port Fairy, but didn't hang around long. It's a very quaint, oldy worldy kind of town, with many an historic building and all set against the backdrop of a beautiful river and, of course, the ocean. I continued onwards to Warrnambool, a much bigger town than its little neighbour, and headed up towards the beach. It's apparently a surfy beach where, in the winter, you can see whales. I got to the car park and it was full - full of surfers and their yutes. Decided I couldn't be bothered suddenly with venturing onto the beach - felt totally under equipped and over dressed without a surfboard but driving a leather-seated Vauxhall - so I hit the road again. Although admittedly, given it's going to be another 30+ degree day behind the wheel, not without stopping for a frozen Coke on the way. I fear frozen Cokes may actually be laced with crack, as I feel the need to fuel my addiction at the sight of a Hungry Jacks or Maccas. Still, surely better for me than fries??

On the road again, and it's not long before I hit the Great Ocean Road. Somewhat disapppointingly, the first few miles are far from 'Great' with no sight of the Ocean whatsoever. Feel a little cheated! However it's not long before the road turns into the most stunning, coastline-grabbing little number, showing off what I think is the best part of Victoria. The first area I get to is called Bay of Islands - funny considering it's only a month before I'll be in the New Zealand place of the same name. This is the pre-cursor to the over-visited 12 Apostles further towards Melbourne - dramatic limestone 'statues', which at one time formed part of the mainland, but which through the years have become separated and now stand proud alone in the deep blue ocean. The contrast between the limestone orange/yellow and the cloudless blue sky and crashing waves of the sea is breathtaking. The fact that I've worn an impractical skirt which, in the coastal winds, is flying up around my armpits is more breathtaking for fellow tourists - and not in a good way. Still, as a ridiculously embarrassed girl once said to a colleague she was particularly enamoured with in a branch of Next on Oxford Street - 'onwards and upwards'...

Next along the coast was the Bay of Martyrs - similarly dramatic to its sibling the Bay of Islands, but another photo opportunity all the same. You find when driving that there's a whole bunch of you that drive along, get out of the car, take copious amounts of photos, get back in the car, drive to the next brown sign that denotes a tourist spot, repeat the process all over again etc etc. It becomes entertaining in its own way. Not so much for the two tourists that were faced with either ploughing into a wallaby or ploughing into a car coming the other way towing a boat. Unfortunately they managed to plough into both, effectively writing off both furry friend and salty sailboat. Fortunately for me, and for the fact I opted out of the 'reduce your excess from $3000 to $0 ' insurance policy, the frequent stops to take photos along the way meant I was 10 minutes behind their accident.

I then stopped at the next brown sign marked 'London Bridge', which was a piece of the coastline that once looked like a double arch, similar to the London landmark. Sadly over the years, the ocean has eroded away at the coast and has now meant that the double arch is just a singular arch, entirely separate from the mainland.

Finally in terms of limestone coastline attractions, I reached the 12 Apostles at Port Campbell, which was the furthest point west that I visited last time on my Aussie adventures. Here, from a tiny peninsular, you get the full 180 degree spectacle of the ocean with multiple free standing pieces of stone which have separated themselves from the mainland over the years. I understand that some that I saw last time have since crumbled into the sea but that others have formed in the meantime. The guidebooks said that there are definitely 12 - although admittedly, I could only find about 8...

I then headed on towards Apollo Bay, cutting inland through the Otway National Park. Remembered as soon as I got to this stretch of road that it was here last time that a suicidal Skippy jumped out in front of our Subaru, narrowly missing the bonnet. Took it steadier in the Vauxhall, but was grateful for the extra power that the car has. It's steep and undulating this road, a bit like driving up through Cheddar Gorge but for 50 miles...Trees line the way, allegedly full of koalas although I didn't see one (eyes on the road at all times of course... ;-) ). Driving through the forest, you couldn't see any sunshine all of a sudden - just trees all around.

When I eventually emerged from the eternal forest, the sun had vanished. Not because it was getting dark but because the clouds had come in and stolen the sky. Going from a cloudless Port Campbell to this wasn't great but onwards to Apollo Bay I went. The road now clung to the oceanside - stunning tall cliffs to my left and crashing waves to my right. But no sun to make taking photos worthwhile sadly.

Into Apollo Bay and it was like all hell had been let loose. The Australia Day celebrations here were still going on - there wasn't a parking space to be had, not an empty restaurant seat in sight, which, seeing as it was now gone 3pm, I was in desperate need of! On to Lorne then, where I'd stopped in 2008 for lunch, and it was worse. Craft fayres, market stalls, mobile massage therapists - the party was in full swing. I drove up and down for a parking space and again, there were none to be had.

Starving, I drove on again, but with still no joy until I got to Torquay, the surfing sister to Melbourne. I'd pretty much gone past the point of food by now so stopped for one last swim on Australian shores. I managed to steal a car parking space because it was still manic down here, and headed onto the golden brown-sanded beach. The water was icy compared to Adelaide but I didn't let it put me off. I just enjoyed the last couple of hours sunning myself before getting back to the airport and leaving the country (yes, the sun came back out as if to say goodbye to me, moments after parking the car up. Happy days!).

I've never been very practical so I didn't necessarily think this one through. Driving straight back to the airport, covered in sand, to camp out and wait for a plane that doesn't leave until 9am tomorrow. Hopeless. I got to the airport, handed the keys to the Vauxhall over (will miss that car - an absolute beauty), and then itched and scratched my way to PJ O'Briens for a glass of wine and my long overdue breakfast/lunch/dinner. More wine and a Skype home later, and I uncovered one of the impracticalities of travelling by yourself and not being able to check in your luggage early.

Toilets. You must not leave your luggage unattended yet you can't take your luggage into the toilet when you're bursting. You must not leave your bags with anyone else in case they plant anything you shouldn't be carrying (bear in mind we're not airside here, it's as open to members of the public to stroll in and out as 24 hour Tescos). Toilets are not designed for the single, airport-camping traveller. For fear of causing a scene at the airport, devious me concocted a plan and moments later I'd been granted access to the disabled facilities, which had plenty of room for all my many bags and the trolley carrying them...

And so I'm now holed up on my bed - a set of 4 iron chairs fused together but conveniently without arm rests so that I can stretch out along the lot. The shops have shut down, and it's now just me and a couple of other hardy souls turning in for the night. But I'm sure I'll sleep well - Liverpool has just knocked Man U out of the FA Cup so I couldn't be happier! Sweeeeeeeeet dreams!

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