Melbourne Roadtrip (Part 2) - The Great Ocean Road
8:31 PMAs the name suggests, the Great Ocean Road drive is one of the most beautiful coastal roadtrips, with many mini stops of attractions such as the Twelve Apostles, beaches and waterfalls that are more than just picture-worthy!!
Before we decided on visiting Melbourne, we were Googling the best roadtrips that could be completed within a couple of days, and GOR came up as the top few on many lists.
Since Han prefers western countries and I wanted to experience Melbourne's cafe scene that is so often enthused about, we narrowed down to a few choices and eventually decided on the GOR for our first roadtrip together!
The GOR took us two full days to complete. In that two days, we spent a night camping out (in our car) in a nature reserve park. The whole GOR drive was 600km thereabouts, but we made some detours and went Canola field hunting (LOL yes it was my idea) so the whole distance we covered on our roadtrip was about 700km.
The GOR is breathtaking. If you're a beginner to roadtrips, I think GOR is quite friendly. You won't really find yourself getting lost while on the road cause the highways are pretty straightforward. As newbies to roadtripping, we did make a few wrong turns sometimes and chanced upon quaint towns or interesting rest stops. And we got back on the main road just as easily. So, get yourself off the beaten track if you can. It'll be rewarding.
We started our road trip after a 9am breakfast in a cafe in the city. We also got a couple of snacks and drinks to keep us filled for the first part of the ride!
Bells Beach
The first stop to our Great Ocean Road trip! We went on a relatively cold day so we didn't get to see any surfers, but I heard that you could get tours or have a go at surfing here.
Not too far from Bells Beach, there should've been the pretty Split Point Lighthouse too, but I think we missed it or decided to give it a pass...
There was also the famous Memorial Arch that basically welcomes you to the start of your GOR trip, but we didn't stop to take a picture of that.
Anglesea
Before stoppping at Lorne (the next main stopover for the GOR) we stopped by Anglesea for a break and found ourselves in a quaint little surf town. They are known for their water activities, golf clubs and wildlife and fauna. But since we stopped at the heart of the town, we only took a couple of photos at their lake!
I think we might have drove pass the Anglesea beaches too.
Urquhart Bluff
It's another mini stop along the GOR, not the main few attractions but we got a pretty good view. And being as excited as we were for the start of the trip, we went on and ventured deeper a little to get some pictures.
Devil's Elbow
And right before we reached Lorne town, we were karaoking (probably to Guns n Roses) when we chanced upon this stunning coast!!! It's actually blocked off the highways, so I suppose it's not a spot for tourists or anyone to linger but we pulled our car to the side of the road, grabbed our phones, camera and gopro and went ahead anyways.It was a steep slope down but when you have an infantry trained boyfriend... I guess it wasn't too bad LOL. I suffered a few ugly cuts from the thorns and bushes while traipsing down. But it was super worth it cause the pictures and the view was amazing!!!
While it may seem easy to get all the way to the end of the coastal rocks, it wasn't. I believe what we were on was known as a fringing reef, so it was kind of slippery with holes of water which our shoes can misstep into.
We spent about an hour or so here just taking pictures, taking videos and exploring the coast. I believe this is also the spot I got ridiculously sunburnt. You could feel the warm sun rays despite the cooling 16 degree celcius weather.
Initially, I wasn't too sure where this place was cause we didn't have phone service, and neither were there any boards around other than the Devil's Elbow a few kilometres behind. But looking at Google Maps now, I'm think it's along the Lorne - Queenscliff Coastal Reserve.
Lorne
We made a stop at Lorne to stock up on groceries and whatever we needed that night since we were going to be camping out in our car.Initially we had plans to get a tent and camp out in the wilds, but since we were spending the rest of our nights in the city, the costs of getting the relevant equipment wasn't exactly worth it. But still, Han was pretty enthusiastic about it. He was telling me how he was going to bring his SAF issued mass tin to prepare our meals if we camp out. Or that if we can't find a shower, we can always use soap sponge or powder bath. I guess all the NS outfields prepared him well...
En route to Lorne Waterfalls.
Phantom Waterfalls
By the time we were done, it was about 6pm. Luckily for us, the sun only began to set at 9pm since we were there in summer so their days were considerably long.We made a stop at the Lorne Waterfalls but only visited one of the three - Phantom Falls.
We also missed Apollo Bay, one of the main stops with Cape Otway Light Station. If you have more time to spare, you shouldn't miss them. Especially not Apollo Bay ):
Princetown Recreational Reserve
We settled down at Port Campbell for the night, with plans to cover the remaining of the GOR the next morning! There were actually many other places we could've stayed for the night, such as Apollo Bay itself (then we could have explored it the next morning), but we had already made a reservation at the Princetown Recreational Reserve since it was during the holiday season.Princetown Recreational Reserve has BBQ, shower and laundry facilities and they basically provide you an empty space for you to park your car, set up your tent and what not.
For two people, we paid $25 for our space including power supply. If you do not need to charge up your devices, then it would be $20 for two people, and an additional $5 per person thereafter.
I think the best part about the reserve was that we got to be really close with kangaroos!! As night fell, while Han and I was chilling outside our car, the wild and gentle kangeroos would just hang around our car haha.
As we drank hot seafood stew and sipped on some fine moscato in the boot of our car, the cool wind and quiet night sky were all that surrounded us. It was also that tranquil night that we had this moment of epiphany as we pondered about how we made this roadtrip happen.
That night was one of the most revitalising nights ever.
Gibson Steps
The next morning, we got up a little later since Han needed more rest after the long drive from the day before. But it took us less than an hour to arrive at our next stop!This was one of the prettiest spots throughout the whole GOR ever!! And luckily for us, Twelve Apostles and the rest of the sights weren't too far away so we had more time to capture pictures and footages.
Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles really lived up to its name. Intitally, I thought it was going to be somewhat similar to Kalbarri, from the Perth roadtrip I went to in July but nope. Though there's a resemblance, it is still a breathtaking sight.
Living life on the edge :')
Loch Ard Gorge
I wanted to Photoshop this dude out from this otherwise perfect shot, but because he tried so hard to stay in my shot (I believe it was a few minutes), I shall give him the liberty to show off his body :')
That and because I had enough of Photoshop from work lol.
Port Campbell
After a morning of exploring the most scenic sights of the GOR, we made a stop at Port Campbell to top up on petrol, stock up on some light snacks and to have lunch! Port Campbell is another peaceful little coastal village that's famous for its fishing shores.It's a nice place for you to just slow down after the jam packed drive.
Their fish and chips was amazing!!
Fake Lalang Field (lol)
As we failed on our hunt to find the Canola fields, we settled for this lalang field lookalike, only to realise it's actually ripened rice fields upon closer inspection LOL.I think we missed the Canola fields by a month? I knew that they were in full bloom sometime in late October, but I guess by the time we arrived in mid December, they must have already withered or something... ):
Anyhow, I'm not complaining. Han still took super pretty photos!! Thank you for willingly driving a little off course and for including field hunting into our itinerary :')
So yes, that's pretty much it for our Great Ocean Road trip! A summary of our initial itinerary, and what we missed or happened to chance upon:
1. Bells Beach
3. Memorial Arch
4. Anglesea (added)
5. Urquhart Bluff (added)
6. Devil's Elbow (added)
7. Lorne
8. Phantom Waterfall
12. Princetown Recreational Reserve
13. Gibson Steps
14. Twelve Apostles
15. Loch ard Gorge
16. Port Campbell
17.
A total of approximately 700km covered on the road. I'm sure we visited a few other small stops along the way, but it's been two months since so I can't quite remember what were their names without pictures backing my memory up...
Petrol was kind of expensive. So was food. To save costs, cook your own meals! Shops generally close about 5pm - 7pm, so make your purchases early.
Since we wanted to try Melbourne's cafes, we did put aside some sum of money for them. The cafes outside and in Melbourne city all generally close about 4pm, so we (or rather Han) would usually make our own $10 budget dinner heh.
Hopefully our Great Ocean Road trip itinerary and its visuals were helpful! I haven't even started on editing my travel video for Melbourne yet, but I can't wait!! There were quite a number of scenic footages we caught on the gopro.
Anyway, I'll be covering on our day trip to Yarra in my next post! Melbourne is really full of beautiful places to share.
So till then, here's wishing everyone an advanced happy Lunar New Year!! I just got a beautiful lace maxi from Ohvola and I can't wait to wear it LOL ok bimbo moment over bye.
Check out my other posts on Melbourne:
▶ 7 Things you need to know if you're planning a Melbourne Roadtrip
▶ Melbourne Roadtrip (part 1) - Melbourne City
▶ Melbourne Roadtrip (part 2) - Great Ocean Road
▶ Melbourne Roadtrip (part 3) - Yaara & Healesville Sanctuary
▶ 5 Cafes in Melbourne to feed your camera and tastebuds
▶ Melbourne Roadtrip - Great Ocean Road (Video)
0 Comments