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While in Australia I visited Melbourne, recently voted the most liveable city in Australia. Melbourne is the perfect getaway to the Great Ocean Road, a 243-kilometre stretch of dramatic coastline along the southeastern part of Australia all the way to Adelaide.
While I was in Melbourne I had a Surf Camp booked, which I received for my birthday. Unfortunately the Surf tour was cancelled so I couldn’t complete 'Learn to Surf'. But with that surf camp I also received a free 1-day tour of the Great Ocean Road with Bunyip Tours.
The tour started early at 7am so I booked into a hostel that was next door! There were 12 people on our tour, which was good as it wasn’t too crowded. Our first stop was Bell’s Beach near Torquay. The beach was made famous in the film ‘Point Break’ and is also home to the worlds longest-running surf tour – the Ripcurl Pro surf tour. As I was there in September there were only a few surfers as it was still a bit cold! Whilst at the beach the tour guide gave us a cup of tea and some biscuits. Before our next stop at Cape Otway we passed through Lorne and Apollo Bay spotting wild Koala’s up in the Eucalyptus Trees. As we approached Cape Otway National Park we stopped by the roadside to get a close up view of the Koala’s and had the most amazing encounter. One of the koalas climbed down the tree and started walking across the road. Some of us were then able to get a close picture with it.
At Cape Otway we went for a quick rainforest Bush walk before stopping at the Famous Lighthouse. The lighthouse is the oldest, surviving lighthouse in Mainland Australia and has been in continuous operation since 1848. The lighthouse is owned and run by the famous Gadabanud People who cooked us a famous Aussie BBQ and told us stories about their culture.
Our last stop was the main part of the trip and the famous limestone rocks known as the 12 Apostles. We reached the 12 Apostles viewpoint first and some people took a helicopter ride over them. We then visited ‘Loch Ard Gorge’ which was named after a clipper ship Loch Ard that was wrecked on nearby Muttonbird Island after a three-month journey from London to Melbourne. The amazing part was only 2 survivors made it out of the 51 people on board thanks to the gorge that protected them from the very strong and fatal waves.
The last beach we enjoyed was called ‘Gibson Steps Beach’ which had 86 steps in total. Here we had fun on the beach having our pictures taken with ‘Australia’ and our names written in the sand.
Overall it was a fantastic day out and a must do attraction when visiting Melbourne or anywhere on the Southeastern coast of Australia.
Has anyone driven the whole of the Great Ocean Road or part of it????
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