Great Ocean Road Drive in Australia

The Great Ocean Road drive in Australia, is unarguably, one of the most beautiful drives of the world. It romances the south-eastern coast of Australia. Starting from Melbourne city and going up to Warrnambool in the state of Victoria, this is almost a drive of 360 kms along the stunning south-east coast, interspersed by gorgeous bays, picturesque country-side towns, meadows, national parks and of course the Twelve Apostles.

You can, of course, do it all over a day, but won’t that be so hurried and touch-and-go? We wanted the romance to spread out over two days…be in no hurry, stop by every cliff, bay, town that caught our fancy, and thus have a love affair that would give us a deeper experience. We thus charted it out this way:

• Day One – Drive from Melbourne to Apollo Bay via Geelong, Torquay and Lorne.
• Day Two – Drive from Apollo Bay to Warrnambool via Great Otway National Park, the Twelve Apostles and Port Campbell.

Day One: Drive from Melbourne to Apollo Bay via Geelong, Torquay and Lorne

We drove out of Melbourne very early, after a quick breakfast at Victoria Market and with a bag full of cherries, plums and nectarines from the fruit-shops there. Although just about 200 kms away that should take about 3 hours, we stopped by every other bay and inlet to marvel at the views and take photographs. Take the Princess Highway to Geelong from which head on to the Great Ocean Road.

• A stunning drive all the way from Torquay to Apollo Bay! You get the view of the ocean just as you hit Torquay. It is famous for its surfing beach. We climbed down from the car for a glimpse of the breath-taking ocean. There onwards, we stopped by Anglesea and Aireys Inlet to simply stand and gaze at the ocean munching the nectarines. At Lorne, we stopped for lunch – a fitting sea-food platter it had to be.

• Staying over at Apollo Bay – We reached Apollo Bay by 3pm. We were booked for the night at the Sandpiper motel – a clean, basic place just about 2min walk from the town center and yet, very quiet. And so, both for dinner that night and breakfast next morning, we walked down to the slew of restaurants at the town center. But then, we also went for a walk towards the hills and then onto the beach for a quick run early the next morning in our greed to devour the small-town experience.

Day Two – Drive from Apollo Bay to Warrnambool via Great Otway National Park, the Twelve Apostles and Port Campbell.

Apollo Bay to Warrnambool is only 160kms away, but plan for the long day ahead since there is so much to see along the way.

• Otway National Park – is a big highlight for, this is where we saw our first koala. We drove much into the national park in the hope of spotting our first kangaroos and also to see the lighthouse it is famous for, but, both we didn’t.  The lighthouse entry is not free, not even to its grounds. The drive, however, took us past large areas of dramatic dead trees with the sealine playing hide and seek at certain points.

• Stunning landscapes of Lavers Hill: Out of the Otway Park, you go somewhat inland. Suddenly the seashores are gone, and you are greeted by rolling, seemingly endless meadows. You find telling yourself that the drive simply gets better with every kilometre.

• Romancing the Twelve Apostles – Ah! The wait is finally over, you murmur.
  • Gog and Magog offshore stacks come first – this is the only place you can walk up to the beach.
  • Then comes the 12 Apostels – remember four of them have crashed over the years, so only eight are visible now. It is about a kilometer’s walk, and can be quite daunting in the strong January sun.
  • Loch Ard Gorge and London Bridge follow on the same route. For the Loch Ard Gorge, you need to walk down some 50-60 steps – it is worth every bit the climb.

With all of these, lunch tends to get somewhat delayed. The obvious choice is Port Campbell since this is the town that comes next. And hence, be prepared for crowded restaurants.

Staying over at Warrnambool – Another of those little beach towns of Australia, Warrnambool is otherwise famous for whales. We saw none of them as they appear only between May and September. We stayed at the Elm Tree motel, another of those basic, very clean motels. We dined at the Pippies by the Bay – a lovely stylish place to unwind after the stunning drive of the last two days.

Information that can help plan your Great Ocean Road drive better:

1. Always better to self-drive as you can stop and drive as per your whim and fancy :-D. Plus, the roads have such good signages, that navigation is just not a problem. You simply need to have an international driver’s license.
2. Driving in Australia is on the left side of the road, like India. And hence, we had no trouble driving in the city or in the country sides.
3. Renting cars from Melbourne is easy. We took a Nissan Qashqai from Hertz for AUD 130 a day, and had a super comfortable drive. From Warrnambool, we took the Hamilton Highway back to Melbourne and dropped of the car at the Hertz drop-off station at Melbourne airport. Absolutely hassle-free, and so convenient.

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Read our complete Australia story at — Ring In The New Year With A Holiday in Australia