Practical Example of planning a Great Ocean Road Trip

This started on December 20^th with a request from Arun in Hong Kong for accommodation at Wattle Court Retreat for two nights on 28^th of December.

Christmas, New Year and all of January is High Season. You can read the whole e-mail exchange, needless to say Wattle Court was not available. We pointed Arun at Find a room on the Great Ocean Road.

A telephone conversation followed and we responded to Arun with a three night four day itinerary.

• “Day one is a short drive from Melbourne airport to Queenscliff - a quaint holiday village on the Bellarine Peninsula.
• Day two is about 300 km to Warrnambool, but as you will be coming back you could do the Great Ocean Road in each direction, on the way down think of Lunch in Apollo Bay, then the Apostles and on to Warrnambool.
• Day three - take a trip to Port Fairy, Tower Hill if there is time and the Warrnambool waterfront is interesting in it’s own right.
• Day four, your return to Melbourne for New Year’s eve, focus on the Great Ocean Road between Apollo Bay and Torquay, if you can fit it in lunch at Chris’ Beacon Point Restaurant. It will be a long but great start to New Year’s Eve.”

By December 22^nd Arun had confirmed bookings in Queenscliff and near Port Campbell.Debriefing after the trip Arun confirmed that:-

• “…we enjoyed the great nature experience of this beautiful area, the only distraction was a big traffic jam before we got into Torquay, as there was no escape route ;
• Booking - after your guidance - was convenient
• The properties had been fine, except the difficulty to get them during the high season”

We invite your questions and will do what we can to ensure that your experience lives up to your expectation.

And remember - weekends, even off season are often fully booked two weeks or longer in advance.

We have been asked by a number of travellers how best to plan their trip along the Great Ocean Road. So we have put together some tips to make your trip easier.

TIP#1 – Distances

The Great Ocean Road fringes the coast of Victoria, which is the most southern mainland state of Australia. To give you an idea of size and distance, Australia could fit over the entire USA, and the State of Victoria is the same size as Great Britain.

When you are looking for accommodation, food or petrol, it is also important to keep in mind that there is a relatively sparse population outside of Melbourne and large towns such as Geelong.

The Great Ocean Road itself is 263 km long with steep inclines, blind hairpin bends and a quite narrow single lane each way. The views are spectacular and distracting if you are the driver. So you will be travelling slower than on a main road or freeway and you need to make allowances for the extra time.

TIP#2 – Choosing when to Travel

Any time is the best time to travel the road, especially before and after the long summer school holiday break (late December till end January). Our summers are long with daylight saving until the end of March, making travel into April extremely pleasant. Our winters are extremely mild by Northern Hemisphere standards and driving is easier because there is less traffic.

The famous Bells Beach professional surfing competition is always held at Easter for those keen on seeing the best surfers at work.

April the 25^th is ANZAC day, the day Australia stops to remember those killed in war. Point Danger at Torquay is the biggest rally outside of the capital cities providing a moving and memorable tribute as the lone bugle plays at sunrise. Everyone is welcome to join with the locals at a traditional sausage sizzle for breakfast.

TIP#3 - Safety on the Road

Driving the road is an exciting and spectacular experience. You will be able to stop frequently at designated spots to take photos while soaking up the views.

If you find yourself so besotted by the views that you want to drive slowly there are pull-out points to allow other drivers to pass. This is a great convenience on this narrow road for all travellers.

You will notice signs reminding drivers to keep to the left, and the speed limit is 80 kph (50 mph) along many stretches and during the summer additional speed restrictions apply.

TIP#4 - The Sun

The Australian sun can seem intense to visitors from the Northern Hemisphere, so remember your hat and sunscreen whenever you are outside.

When in England, we walked for a whole sunny day without sunscreen without getting sunburnt – here, an hour without sunscreen will be enough to leave your skin reddened and more could lead to a painful burn.

The late afternoon Western sun can also be a hazard if you are driving into it. Best to plan to be on a beach or in a café at this time of day.

TIP#5 - Book Ahead

Our peak summer period between Christmas and the end of January needs to be booked well ahead. And very few places have single nights available because holidaymakers book for longer periods at this time.

Being desperate for accommodation late on a hot day with the possibility of the nearest room being 200 km away is not pleasant when you have come all this way to see the Apostles.

We hope these tips will help you with your next trip to the Great Ocean Road.

The second of our two-day Great Ocean Road return trip sees us leave the Twelve Apostles after a morning of photo stops, followed by an hour’s delay while we search fruitlessly for a lost earring!

So by the time we drive back to Apollo Bay and up into the hills to Forrest, it’s a late lunch for us. What we do know now is that in winter the one place you can grab a warm bite to eat after 2pm is La Bimba.

We have arranged to chat with Bruce Jackson at Otway Eco Tours on our way home. I have seen platypus at Healesville Sanctuary in the Dandenongs on the other side of Melbourne, but never in the wild.

So, here we are sitting on Bruce’s porch in Forrest, chatting about the wonderful wildlife that he regularly shows people in the area around his home.

Bruce and his family moved from Melbourne via Torquay – as a keen surfer he still visits Torquay often. He has a degree in biological science and chooses to utilise his knowledge by showing people the secret lives of our native animals.

While we’re with Bruce, we get to see both a male and female bowerbird – a thrill for me as I am mad about birds and didn’t even know that bowerbirds are common in the Otways. Bruce says we were particularly lucky to see the male as he is quite shy and there are fewer males around.

We make plans to return to Forrest with our family in the summer to paddle along Lake Elizabeth and see the platypus.

Around 4pm we’re on the road again, in an attempt to reach Birregurra before the shops close. There are two shops I particularly want to visit: Chez Georgie and Mr Ted and The Birregurra Bower. Don’t worry boys, there is a good café and a bookshop too!

This is real country driving and it’s essential to follow the map and the signs carefully. This tiny town once had one of the most famous country restaurants run by George Biron at Sunnybrae – one of our favourite haunts. George only runs occasional events now, and we always try to book because his style of cooking relates so strongly to place, so the food is always fresh and beautifully presented. Get in touch with us for more information if this sounds like your kind of thing.

An hour and a half of clothes and handbag shopping later, I am very happy and Tim has been engagingly entertained by another George, the dress shop owner’s husband, with good coffee and chat.

Our final leg home is in the dark and takes us another 45 minutes.

Along with some special purchases, we have brought back to Torquay a fresh appreciation of the wonderful area we are privileged to live in. This is why we have chosen to devote ourselves to showing visitors the real experience of the Great Ocean Road, not just a fleeting view of the sights from the window of a bus.

While this is a great two-day tour, it really isn’t long enough. If you are coming a long distance to see this wonderful region, we advise staying an extra day or two. Start out with us in Torquay and take your time exploring the region with day trips out of Torquay, or a 2-4-day tour of the road, returning to Torquay for a few more days of R&R at the end.

If you can spare no more than a day, you could drive from Torquay to Apollo Bay and fly over the Apostles before driving back. But staying a while is far more preferable. We can help with bookings for accommodation, meals and tours - just get in touch to discuss your requirements with us.

Well, we made it from Torquay to the official “end of the road” (Allansford) in a day, and now we’re driving back thinking about where we might stay the night. Port Campbell is the obvious choice.

This is the point where we learn that, even in the off-season, it’s a good idea to book ahead as Port Campbell is quite isolated – two hours’ drive either way to Apollo Bay one way or to Warrnambool or Port Fairy the other.

We call Chris at Shearwater Haven who is unfortunately booked out but graciously invites us to view the lovingly built B and B that she and her husband, Hans, have now run for eight years.

We would love to have stayed at this comfortable place with its picturesque views of the valley where birds can be seen quite close up in the splendid native garden.

The place recommended by Chris and Hans is fully booked too (we’re talking a Thursday night mid-winter!), but we finally find a self-contained apartment and eat at the pub.

The pub is reasonable value at $20 for a generous meal. While breakfasting the next morning at Waves, we figure we would have preferred their menu to pub food for dinner too, but it depends on your taste and budget.

Our second day brings Southern Ocean wind and cold rain showers. The weather seems most appropriate for the Shipwreck Coast, where so many old sailing ships perished in the ferocious gales this coast is known for – much worse than we are encountering today.

The rock formations along this coast that are responsible for the wrecks are nevertheless a dream for photographers.

These are the famous formations by name:

The Arch
The Grotto
Bay of Islands
Bay of Martyrs
London Bridge
Loch Ard Gorge
The Apostles

This time we don’t visit the Loch Ard Gorge – where the two sole survivors of a famous shipwreck were found. It is an inhospitable place, and a truly remarkable story – worth absorbing, especially on a stormy day, to allow your imagination run riot with sheer melodrama.

Instead, we pause at the Twelve Apostles and London Bridge for some misty yet atmospheric photos and lots of beautiful fresh air! On a clearer day we would have taken a flip over the view with 12 Apostles Helicopters ($90 for 10 mins and $195 for 30 mins).

Next post: Back to Torquay via The Otways

Still on the first of our two-day trip along the Great Ocean Road, we’re an hour out of Lorne driving west.

The most wonderful vistas have continually begged us to stop and take yet another photo of the most fabulous beaches, but we have pressed on to our lunch destination.

We have a very soft spot for the brilliant fresh food served in the spectacular Chris’s Beacon Point Restaurant up the hill at Skenes Creek. Impossible to drive past here without sampling something – and the view is to die for too.

Today I have blue eye fillet on mash with red wine jus. Mmmmmm! Tim has calamari with blue cheese and walnut dressing and a Greek salad.

This restaurant was rebuilt after being totally destroyed by a bushfire four years ago. The refurbishment has ensured that every diner has access to that spectacular view, yet they have managed to maintain the warm feeling of a Greek taverna that it has always had.

Chris is 70 now, having migrated from Greece as a young man, and he still pops into the restaurant every day. The next party of diners arrives as we leave. Any weekend and all summer this place is packed to the rafters day and night.

There are cottages right outside the door if you don’t want to drive after your delicious meal. (Contact us for more information.) We, however, are on a mission and must press on – without dessert.

Skene’s Creek is only 6 km from Apollo Bay, which we slip through today, but is worth a stop for the beach, the pub and La Bimba – a warmly welcoming café. And if you have very little time, this is where you can catch a plane for “flightseeing” over the Twelve Apostles with Apollo Bay Aviation.

We want to see how far we can comfortably travel today. Can we get to the end of the road, or even to Warrnambool or Port Fairy?

By the way, if you’re intending to drive to Warrnambool in winter, call ahead (1800 637 725) to find out if the southern right whales are swimming off Logan’s Beach. You can often see them just 100 metres offshore – a real treat.

Our drive now covers the wettest area of the state of Victoria, where rainfall is normally measured in feet rather than inches! And yes, it’s raining – and everything is green. Cows graze in the valleys, and eucalypts, ferns, beech and wattle line the roads, which are single lane with double lines frequently reminding us not to pass. There are plenty of rest stops so you can pull in and appreciate the scenery.

We pass signs for Mait’s Rest Forest Walk, which gives you easy access to wonderful temperate rainforest, Cape Otway Lighthouse and Johanna Beach (often used as an alternative to Bells Beach for the Easter Surf Pro Competition). These would all be worthwhile diversions with time to spare. Not for us today.

Pine plantations surround us as we head over the hills to Port Campbell. Gibson’s Steps provide our first opportunity to view the rocky outcrops that this coast is famous for – the Twelve Apostles – and it’s easy to see why everyone gets excited about them. Their naturally sculpted beauty is magnetic.

But once again, because of our mission, we decide to savour the Apostles on the way back, and instead we cruise past each outcrop to the “end of the road” at Allansford, and Cheese World – a free museum devoted to the dairy industry!

It takes us an extra hour of driving, including a stop to allow milking cows to cross the road, and it’s really only worth doing this last stretch if you have a particular interest in dairying or want to buy some delicious cheeses and chocolates for the return journey – as we do!

Next post: Overnight stop and The Twelve Apostles

Well, here we are driving our beloved Great Ocean Road once again. We are testing a two-day itinerary from our home in Torquay – at the start of the road – and we’re interested to see how far along we can get, comfortably.

Along the way, we’ll bring a few tips for places to stop, admire, photograph, shop, dine or sleep.

This first post sees us leave Torquay and make our way along the road (the B100) to the seaside township of Lorne - a stretch known as the Surf Coast.

Naturally we start by paying homage to the famous Bells Beach where a dozen or so keen surfers in thick winter wetsuits are making the most of some reliable waves.

The first tourist bus of the day has already departed ahead of us as we join the winding road through the Great Otway Park. It’s a quiet stretch, and we have to work hard to remember that some folks might need the other side of the road to come the opposite way. Luckily, regular signs remind us to keep to the left!

Most of the road is now limited to 80 kilometres per hour, and in many places we drive slower due to the curves and switchbacks. These are what make the road beloved by motorbike riders, who come in their hundreds at weekends. Their favourite haunt is the Arab Café in Lorne, where you will see every kind of bike lined up as the riders drink coffee and compare notes.

Today we slip past Point Addis and the Ironbark Forest Koori Walk, which we already know to have a spectacular cliff-top view over glorious beaches – worth a stop and an uphill walk on a fine day.

Anglesea, sitting at the join of the Anglesea River and the sea, is a big favourite with Melbourne holidaymakers. The heath-covered slopes provide a backdrop on one side of the road to the ocean on the other.

Today we are lucky to have few fellow travellers. The grey day is contrasted with the bright yellow of the first wattles heralding spring just around the corner. It has been a long, cold winter and we’re looking forward to some warm sunshine. The temperature today is predicted to reach about 14C.

We pass by Aireys Inlet Lighthouse as we have been there before. We used to holiday in this town prior to our move from Melbourne to Torquay, so we’re already familiar with the lovely view from the lighthouse down the coast to Lorne.

Instead, we stop in a parking bay to take pictures of the new Memorial Arch sculpture completed this year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the building of the Great Ocean Road by soldiers returned from World War 1.

There are a number of smaller commemorative plaques along the road. We stop to photograph one about a white man named Buckley who lived for many years with the Wathaurung Aboriginal people of this area.

I love the way the view of Lorne peeps out and then hides as we weave our way around the bends – this is one of my favourite views because we are right against a cliff face on one side with the swirling ocean on our other side. Awaiting us ahead are Lorne’s horseshoe shaped Louttit Bay, accessible sands and groovy shops.

The Visitor Information Centre is just round the corner after you cross the little bridge at the entrance to the town and is well worth a visit. We buy some souvenirs to take when we visit Canada later this year – a platypus, koala and kangaroo. Maps, DVDs, books and other information about the Great Ocean Road are available here too. And there’s a toilet.

Next, we climb up the VERY steep back streets of Lorne to visit Teddy’s Lookout (follow the signs and keep going to the end of the road). This is a lovely surprise - we stand as if hovering like birds viewing the winding road to the west (the photo at the top of this post is taken from the Lookout). Viewing platforms and tables for morning tea make this a delightful detour.

Next post: stopping for lunch and continuing on to Allansford.

We have decided to explore once again beyond our wonderful Torquay home, to refresh our knowledge of this famous neighbourhood.

We thought a 2-day trip staying at either Port Campbell or Port Fairy would be easy and pleasurable. No great rush – just an easy drive indulging in views, cafes and some of the gorgeous sights along the Great Ocean Road.

Now this is just a drive – it is winter here now so we’re not stripping down to surf! We don’t really do that anyway, but if you’re a surfer, look out for forthcoming blog posts where we will be chatting with Grayme (Gally) and Christian from Torquay Surfing Academy, who know all the secrets of surfing the best breaks as well as the famous ones.

So long as you are prepared to put on your wetsuit and brave the elements the Surf Coast is surfable all year round. The mad surfer husband of one of my artist friends was out during our coldest and wettest winter day this year - 21st July - because “they were the best waves”.

We’ll also be blogging our itinerary as we go, so if it’s a drive holiday you’re into, come along for the ride and we’ll keep you up-to-date on our wonderful Great Ocean Road region. We’re also available online for enquiries and bookings - you could say this is a busman’s holiday for us - but we’re not complaining!