We knew we were to expect a beautiful drive, lovely beaches and the 12 Apostles. What we didn’t know is how mind blowing the trip would actually be. The Great Ocean Road is by far the prettiest road trip we’ve ever done.
TO DO:
Rent a car and enjoy the most scenic road trip in the world. We started off at a car rental in Melbourne at 9am (we had booked online in advance). This was easy enough- it took all of 30 mins from when we entered the outlet till we were on our way. We mapped our drive and knew it would be 2 and a half hours till our first stop.
The first hour and a half were regular city sightings. The second hour was when the beauty started. Driving into Anglesea was the first breathtaking view of blue water and white sands. This continued through the rest of the drive. After this, any stop we made was a treat for the camera, every angle postcard ready.
The lovely salty air greeted us as we made our first stop in the little sea side town of Lorne. We had decided to have lunch, check into our hotel here before continuing on our way for the rest of our drive. I’d highly recommend the Lorne stop over- for the lovely beach you can go swim in, the excellent fish and chips, and the highly intelligent cockatoos who have figured out how to hold and eat french fries.
After our lunch break we continued driving down the exquisite road. Throughout the road we noticed tiny walkways and paths through forests and down to the beach. We stopped by at one and trekked through a forest for half an hour where saw some unique vegetation before returning to the road.
The drive was gorgeous; we kept stopping for pictures along the way, until we finally reached the 12 Apostles. We’d been on the road for hours, but one look at the beautiful sight in front of us, and our tiredness disappeared. All around us was perfection- beautiful limestone stacks emerging from the lovely white waves. In spite of only 8 limestone formations, the name ‘12 Apostles’ has stuck for this remarkable wonder of nature. We spent over an hour here walking from end to end and stopping by at the visitors center.
On the drive back, we made only one stop – a lovely little petting zoo, where we fed kangaroos & wallabies and pet koala bears. This was far better than a regular zoo, because we got to interact with the animals rather than just see them.
The following day, we had a quick swim in the beach at Lorne, and headed back to Melbourne. It was a perfect 2 day vacation.
TO STAY:
We treated ourselves to a lovely sea view room at the Cumberland Lorne Resort. The room was huge, with a large tub for a bath and a nice large balcony frequented by cockatoos. It was the perfect location – right on the Great Ocean Road overlooking the ocean, and a street of restaurants all along the road.
TO KNOW:
Night driving here is really dangerous because of kangaroos that cross the road at any time. Make sure you leave early morning if you want to go to 12 Apostles and back in the same day.
TO SPEND:
Car rental costs were standard at INR 8,000 per day for a luxury car plus fuel. The hotel was INR 10,000 per night for a basic room, and INR 16,000 for an ocean view room.
nutterbugg 