The Great Ocean is a stretch of road about 240km in total that starts from Torquay to Allansford. It is a two lanes road (one in each direction) and is covered by a speed limit changing between 50 kilometers per hour to 100 kilometers per hour. It’s a scenic drive that runs along the coastline. At Eastern View, keep a lookout for this Memorial Arch. There is a small car park at the side, you can stop for a while to take pictures.
There are many ways to complete the Great Ocean Road. You can drive a car or camper van, which most of us do. You can also ride a bicycle. Some adventurous people actually do the Great Ocean Walk that starts from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles. For those with a much higher budget, you can choose to fly in a chartered helicopter and look down from above.
A flock of cockatoos came to rest outside our unit. They started flying away as they saw us. This is what I love about Australia, you get to come in contact with a lot of wildlife.
Our first stop along the route is Castle Cove Lookout. It was super windy there, you can feel as though you were about to be blown away by the strong wind.
Next, we stopped by Gibson Steps. It was equally windy there, so make sure you are dressed warmly. It requires some effort to be able to take a nice picture without the hair blowing across your face.
Not far from here is the most iconic landmark, the Twelve Apostles. There is a parking area with rest room and a small cafe there. You can take a break before you take a short walk to the actual site across the road. Walking platforms are available for picture taking.
For those who are more observant, you will notice that it’s actually less than 12 Apostles. Mother nature is at work. Soon, it will be lesser and lesser.
After all these photo taking, we are getting hungry. So we headed to Port Cambell and went into this restaurant called Twelve Rocky.
We ordered Pulled-Lamp Burger and calamari as mains.
Dessert is a slice of chocolate cake.
And we wash it down with Hot chocolate. Yes, this is the life I’ve always wanted.
There is not many pump station along the way, so you should take the opportunity to fill up your tank before you go anywhere else.
With a full belly, let’s do more walking. We headed east for about 10 minutes and arrived at Loch Ard Gorge.
After that is Apostle Whey Cheese.
We paid AUD1 per person for tasting 12 different types of cheese.
Some are nice, some not to my taste. The saleswoman will explain the characteristics of each cheese she was serving us.
A short 5 minutes drive away is G.O.R.G.E. Chocolates. Our real objective is not the chocolates but the ……
There are several baby alpacas on site. They are just so cute. By the way, they are for sale, is anyone interested?
The place sells chocolate, cakes, cookies, honey, and drinks. Take your pick.
By now it was getting late, so we headed back to our Airbnb.
Overall, there are many more lookouts and sites you can visit if you have the time. You can even do some simple trekking at recommended tracks. You should take at least 2 days to do all these.
The next stop on our list is Philip Island.
