The Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s great drives (2 million visitors a year!).  It is comparable to Big Sur in California with coastal views, winding roads, and many, many scenic viewpoints.  For many people, the Great Ocean Road is a highlight when visiting Australia. It definintly was an amazing experince for us. I reccomend renting a car (or borrowing your sisters like Alex did!). They offer bus tours but the best part of this trip is jumping in and out of the car for photo ops which you can't do on a bus tour. Not to mention blasting your favorite music and littering the car in snacks!

Don't forget that in Australia, they drive on the left, the British way. If this makes you scared or on edge then find a British boyfriend to drive for you (like I did LOL)

The Great Ocean Road is a road 243km long, or 151 miles, that starts in Torquay and ends in Allansford, a small town between Port Campbell, the major village closed to the London Bridge and the 12 Apostles, and Warrnambool. You don't have to go the entire stretch and I believe we only did about half. Driving the whole thing will be a pretty exhausting day but its def doable.

The GOR is the world’s biggest war memorial. It was built by the returning soldiers, between 1918 and 1932, and dedicated to the many soldiers killed during the WWI. You may want to stop at the memorial arch, between Lorne and Aireys Inlet, however, this should not be confused with the official start! Many people think it is.

The GOR War Memorial

Alex in his element. Behind the wheel on a winding road

The views are of the ocean are unreal

The coastline is awesome.  Sandstone cliffs plunging into the ocean, pillars of hardened sandstone sitting just offshore, all of this being pounded by some serious waves.  

Jumping in and out of the car for snaps

We stopped for a cheeky beach walk

Where else can you get views like this! This was at another vantage point on the side of the road

Our main reason for the drive was to get the the 12 Apostles. They are a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park. Their proximity to one another has made the site a popular tourist attraction. We had a little guide book (I'm a huge history buff!) and got to learn ow these massive formations came to be.

Apparently Over twenty million years ago the powerful waves and the salt of the Southern Ocean started to erode the rugged limestone cliffs along Victoria’s Coastline. The constant wind and water carved out caves in the soft rock. As time went by the caves became large arches framing the sea. But the waves and heavy storms were relentless and eventually the arches collapsed to make towering stacks that soared up to 45 meters in the sky and isolated from the cliffs.

The waves are still erratic and fierce so the apostles unfortunetly no longer all stand. There are eight Apostles left, the ninth having collapsed dramatically in July 2005. I thoroughly recommend seeing them before they all collapse! It was one of the best things I had ever seen :)

The main attraction! The 12 Apostles