• By: Riyanka
• Apr 04, 2020
• (1) Comments

The Great Ocean Road: Experiencing Australia’s Most Scenic Drive

We’ve all grown up seeing photographs of the Twelve Apostles – magnificent rock stacks that rise majestically from the Southern Ocean on Victoria’s dramatic coastline, and reading about them in school textbooks (about their Biblical significance). However, when I was there last summer, I realized that nothing prepares you for the real thing.

The Great Ocean Road, famous not just in Australia but around the world, offers one of the best road trips on the planet with breathtaking rugged scenery, some of the Earth’s tallest trees, incredible National Parks where koalas and wombats reside, sea stacks of towering rock, and surfer enjoying the time of their lives!

[The Great Ocean Road starts at Torquay, 100 kilometers from Melbourne via Geelong, and finishes at Allansford -10 minutes from Warrnambool.]

I was in Melbourne for just three days and had no option but to go on a day’s road trip along the Great Ocean Road. However, if I have another chance to return there, I’m sure that I’ll go slow, enjoy more stops, and soak in the beauty of nature that this place beholds.

Sightseeing Australia offers this amazing all-encompassing road trip (which I opted for) which starts and ends in Melbourne and takes about 14 hours for the entire journey.

The Journey Along The Great Ocean Road

We started from Melbourne at around 7:15 AM. Our driver-cum-guide briefly told us about the journey, how long it would take, and where we’d be stopping on the way. Our first stop was the coastal town of Anglesea for morning tea with a view.

Refreshed after a small snack & tea, we embarked towards the Memorial Arch – built in honor of the 3,000 returned soldiers who worked on the road and its creation. We all hopped off the bus to click some photographs, standing next to the sculpture of two returned soldiers working on the Great Ocean Road.

Our guide told us about the history of road construction and what happened during it. The heritage-listed archway marks the start of the Great Ocean Road, the world’s longest (and most beautiful) war memorial. [Keep reading till the end, to know more about the history of the Great Ocean Road.]

As we continued on the journey, the highway swooped past beaches and hugged the cliffs and green gullies that lead to Lorne—a beautiful coastal town with a laidback vibe that is undoubtedly a paradise for surfers. While we were hoping to take a walk down the sandy stretch, the sky suddenly became covered with clouds, and it started to drizzle. Holding on to the wish, we got back on the bus and moved ahead to Apollo Bay.

This gorgeous town was our stop for lunch, and our guide encouraged us to eat like a local in one of the quaint cafes along the main street. I grabbed a picnic box of fish and chips to eat on the sand, following the true Aussie traditions!

There are a series of souvenir shops in Apollo Bay, from where I picked up some lovely postcards and fridge magnets. Once everyone was done with their lunch, we moved on to our next stop—the Great Otway National Park.

Covering an area of approximately 103,000 hectares of rainforests, beaches, waterfalls, and heathlands, one can’t just skip over Great Otway National Park on their Great Ocean Road adventure. As we hopped off the bus and walked through this centuries-old rainforest, I couldn’t stop marveling at the ancient eucalyptus trees and listening to our guide’s stories, like a spellbound kid! There wasn’t any moment of silence because whenever he stopped speaking, I could hear the chirping of different kinds of birds. But sadly, couldn’t spot any koalas here!

As we got back on the bus, we were all super-excited to know that our next stop was the iconic Twelve Apostles—and needless to say, no trip down this Great Ocean Road would ever be complete without witnessing the beauty of nature’s miracles!

Attracting over 1.2 million visitors annually, these towering limestone stacks offer a truly breathtaking view as the waves smash against them, forming fluffy white sea foam that dances across the water’s surface. Visiting this place during sunset added a different dimension to the viewing experience. I stood there, mesmerized by the picture-perfect scenery that unfolded right in front of my eyes.

It is said that these limestone pillars would have been part of the mainland as far back as 10-20 million years ago, making their tenacity in the face of Victoria’s unrelenting ocean remarkable. However, currently, only 8 of the 12 Apostles are there, while the 9th one, which was supposedly the tallest, collapsed in early July 2005.

Note – Helicopter rides are available here, in case you wish to get a bird’s eye view of the entire area & see the Apostles from high above! But I didn’t have much time, so I couldn’t go for it. Also, I’d suggest that if you plan to do the chopper ride, it’s better to book it online because the on-spot booking scene was extremely crowded, with more than 100 people standing in the queue for their number to come.

We walked from there and reached the dramatic Loch Ard Gorge, named after the ship, Loch Ard, which tragically ran aground in 1878. Our guide put on his story-telling shoes and told us that the ship was coming to the end of a three-month voyage from England to Melbourne and of all those onboard only two survived, Tom and Eva. Since then, the two unconnected rock pillars here have been officially named after them.

We walked down the cliff to the beach, where a few of my travel mates opted for a swim while I found a nice spot to sit and gaze at the Island Archway.

Once everyone was up and about, we started for the next stop – London Arch, located about 15 kilometers or so past the Twelve Apostles, off the shore of Port Campbell National Park. Formerly known as London Bridge until the section closest to the mainland collapsed in 1990, London Arch is one of Victoria’s most popular natural wonders. Before the collapse, visitors could walk across the bridge, but now, we can only appreciate the beauty from a distance.

A minute’s drive from the London Arch, we reached the Grotto, a cavity that is the most overlooked and underrated of all the natural attractions along the coast on the Great Ocean Road.

Part blowhole, part archway, part cave – it offers a peaceful place to enjoy the sea views and soak in the wonderful things nature is capable of. Standing about halfway up the cliff from the sea level, the geological formation is reachable via a decked staircase that leads down from the viewing platform at the top. You can view the wonder from above or head down and explore it at eye level.

Inside, the Grotto is filled with smooth boulders and serene rock pools carved out of limestone. For the best view, we went to the lower viewing platform, from which we could see the horizon, the pools, and the jutting rock formations in one go.

Once the picturesque views had soothed our hearts, we hopped back onto the bus and started our journey back. We stopped at the town of Colac for a snack break, and it was around 9 PM when we finally reached Melbourne. Although this trip was quite fulfilling in itself and I believe there’s no better way to experience this beautiful stretch other than a road trip down the Great Ocean Road, I’d love to head back once again, to pause at places for a longer duration, spend more time at each of the spots and to know more stories that they have to offer.

The World’s Longest War Memorial – Looking Back At The History!

When Australia was trying to recover from the national trauma of the First World War, it employed many of its demobilized soldiers on various public projects. The grandest of these was the creation of the Great Ocean Road, which was initially named the South Coast Road.

Nearly 3,000 returned soldiers worked on the Great Ocean Road’s construction for over 13 years (1919-1932), hacking through thick forests, carving their way along the most precarious sea cliffs, and creating one of the world’s most spectacular drives.

As I’ve already mentioned, not only does the Great Ocean Road offer one jaw-dropping view after another, but it’s also known to be ‘The Longest War Memorial’ in the world (approx 243 KM) and a true example of the tenacity of the soldiers who built it, as a memorial to all those who were killed in the war.

[Also, if you’re visiting Melbourne, make sure to take a day trip to Cape Schanck – a hidden gem that you’ll surely fall in love with!]

Scrolling Through Some Of The Postcard-Perfect Photographs Of That Day!