Great Ocean Road

Recently my husband and I went down the Great Ocean Road for our anniversary. We don't live too far from this area so have tended to overlook it as a weekend destination. We must be crazy... It is one of the most beautiful locations around.

We went there at the end of May which is really off season. The weather was quite cool and surfers were few and far between. I always think off season is the best time to see a place because there are far fewer people to share the trip with.

The official Great Ocean Road arch is just past Anglesea and a new sculpture of the 'diggers' who built the road adorn the side area.

Three thousand returned soldiers and sailors from World War One built the road as a memorial to their fallen comrades. It was also a way of giving them a meaningful occupation during the post war period when jobs were hard to find.

We bought fish and chips for lunch and drove on past Anglesea to a stop at one of the many stopping areas along the coast. I've been around the world three times and no one does fish and chips better than a real Australian Fish and Chip shop. Flake is the only fish I like - Flake being shark. The seagulls love the chips too.... mmmm... But I digress.. There are places along the Great Ocean Road where you can stop and there will be absolutely no one around - just you, the beach and the ocean... Hard to believe when it's such a popular destination.

Past Anglesea the next main town is Lorne. Lorne used to be a sleepy little seaside town when I was growing up but not any more. Like most coastal towns in this area Lorne has become the place to be and the place to have a holiday house for cashed up 'city slickers'. The road from Melbourne (the nearest capital city) to these towns is chock-a-block going to them on Friday night and the same going back to Melbourne on Sunday night.

Regardless of this it is still a very pretty town with an magnificent location. Lorne is situated on a natural arc with a safe sandy beach - popular with families - and a pier at the far end of town (towards Apollo Bay) which is very popular with serious and holiday fishermen. There are a number of older hotels and pubs which add character to the town.

Just past the Lorne pier around a couple of corners is a stopping place where you can leave the car and go for a walk into the Angahook-Lorne State Park. Look for a sign to Swallow Cave. This is a really unusual rock structure where the rocks appear to be cascading down like a waterfall. An actual waterfall flows over the rocks on occasion and is spectacular.

Back in the car we wound our way down the coast past a number of smaller towns to our accommodation at a place 13 kilometers before the town of Apollo Bay. Apollo Bay is at the end of the Great Ocean Road.

Our accommodation was at a place called 'Whitecrest' at Wongarra (middle left of the picture above). We used a web site called 'wotif' (wotif.com.au) to book our accommodation. I often use this site for travel within Australia and have used it overseas as well. The range of available accommodation is extensive and you can book up to four weeks before your trip. The site format is simple and easy to use and you can roll your mouse over the prices to see what deal is on offer. As with many 'last minute' accommodation sites, the price is often a fraction of the regular advertised price.

The view from our one bedroom studio apartment was just beautiful. Everything you could possible want was available to us. e.g. books, DVDs, CDs, a personal BBQ (one at each unit) and the list goes on. As the place was out of town we took our own BBQ provisions, wine, chocolates etc. and had a lovely evening.

Waking up to a breakfast on our private balcony. Can't get much better than this!

Apollo Bay, like Lorne, was originally a fishing village. The tourists have moved in to some extent but it is still the home of many professional fishing and cray boats. A large man made harbour protects these boats from the ocean and behind Apollo Bay the hills from the Otway Range provide a stunning backdrop.

On our return journey we decided to travel inland for a change. It was also a much quicker route. From Geelong to Apollo Bay is only 114 kilometers but because of the winding nature of the road and the number of attractions to be seen, it does take some time to navigate.

We left the coast and travelled inland for about 12 kilometers through the Otway National Park and took a turnoff to the Cape Otway Lighthouse. You have to pay to enter the lighthouse compound/area and at approximately $30.00 for the both of us we decided against it. You can actually go up in the lighthouse so if that interests you then you may have found it worthwhile. Instead we took a walk along part of the 'Great Ocean Walk'. A trail which takes you along quite a length of coastline. Great for walkers but as that's not our usual mode of transport, we went for an hour long 'stroll'. Although I enjoyed the walk (my legs didn't) my main concern was that for an 'ocean' walk, you didn't actually see much of the ocean at all. the walk was mainly between bushes and small coastal trees.

Back in the car we drove down a couple of tracks in the area and to my delight spotted 31 koalas! Now if you don't come from Australia you may not realise that koalas tend to keep to themselves. You wont find a tree full of koalas. Generally they like to have a tree all to themselves, or a whole group of trees to themselves. So to see so many was a great treat. We even saw one koala chasing another one up a Gum tree - a rare sight indeed! I love koalas and usually never tire of trying to spot them.. but on this day at first it was 'look! A koala!!' and we'd stop and ogle it. Towards the end it was '28... 29... ' as we drove past without even slowing.

Before heading for home we made one last stop at a place called Melba Gully (near Lavers Hill). It was raining lightly and the daylight was starting to go but we figured while we were in the area we may as well go and have a look. I'd often heard about Melba Gully but had never been there. This is an area of rainforest in a relatively natural state (except for walk ways, bridges etc.) and was really well worth the trip.

Loads of native flora. Huge trees and tree ferns. Because of the weather and the time of season we had the place to ourselves. This would be a fantastic place for a day out with lots of space for BBQs and picnics.

We travelled the inland route on our way home. Not the same as the Great Ocean Road but still quite attractive countryside.

If you're thinking of making the trip to this part of the world I can tell you its a fantastic experience - well worth it. Two thumbs up!!!