Came across this site – its a short but really comprehensive video. Enjoy

Australia, the continent down under, is known for many great things. Although it is the smallest continent, it is the only one that is its own country. It is an island nation with nearly 22,000 miles of coastline, it hosts one of the greatest deserts and the great divide delineates the arid west from the tropical eastern coast. The indigenous people of Australia are separated by over 200 different languages and for the visitor to this great and diverse country, there are two attractions that should not be missed; the Great Ocean Road and the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Ocean Road stretches for 150 miles along the southeastern coast of Australia between the towns of Torquay and Warmambool and hosts some of the country’s most beautiful scenery and geologic wonders. Much of the road hugs the coast, traversing the rain forest and offers the visitor sweeping vistas of white sand beaches and limestone cliffs. The Twelve Apostles are a collection of rock spires, rising out of the shallows at Port Campbell National Park and have become a world-class tourist attraction. Besides the breathtaking scenery, the Great Ocean Road offers quaint holiday retreats, fine dining and extensive vineyards.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living thing on the planet and is made up of nearly 3000 separate reefs, 900 islands and 400 species of coral. The Great Barrier Reef supports a diversity of marine life that is unrivaled anywhere on the planet with over 1500 species of fish including giant grouper, snapper, coral trout and a plethora of neon colored tropicals that is unmatched. Sea turtles are represented by six different species, there are seventeen types of sea snakes and a variety of sharks that can only be found within the reef system. For greatness, the reef cannot be beat.

Infographic produced by Paradise Bay Whitsunday Resort

Victoria’s Great Ocean Road is one of the most interesting and beautiful destinations in Australia. Most travel to the nine towns found along the road to experience the breathtaking views and scenery. Its coast is a haven of bays, rainforests and cliffs. Your Great Ocean Road travel guide for the best holiday begins here.

Explore the Coast

Driving along the expansive coastline presents many chances to explore Australia. Great Ocean Road is famously known for its enormous cliffs and ocean views. The 12 Apostles make exceptional sights. They protrude out of the water and overlook the coast like ancient giants. Rainforest teeming with life are also explored by guided tours.

Australia is a country of great mystery. It’s one of the best destinations to experience wildlife, the vast ocean wonders and natural adventures. You can find many of these features along Great Ocean Road. The Road is ideally located near a great number of wildlife refuges and national parks.

One place of interest is the Tower Hill State Game Reserve. Native koala bear and kangaroo live in this vast reserve. You can also see marine life in the waters near Warrnambool.

Wine Country

On both ends of Great Ocean Road lie two distinct wine regions. The vineyards and wineries in this region provide some of the country’s most delicate wine varietals. The lush green countryside and serenity of the bays make visiting these areas exciting and adventurous.

Dining

Dining options are numerous in the region. Finding a place to dine on your holiday won’t be a problem. The quaint cafes and elegant restaurants that line the bay provide freshly caught seafood, international cuisine and regionally prepared dishes. Contemporary choices at restaurants such as the Pettavel Winery and Restaurant in Waurn Ponds make great dining options. If you prefer to cook your own meals fresh produce, breads and seafood are found near the coastal markets.

Festivals and Celebrations

The Great Ocean Road leads to annual festivals and celebrations throughout the year. Geelong is known for its Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Wallington hosts an annual strawberry festival at one of its schools. Air shows bring excitement in Geelong. The road is a gateway to many Australian celebrations.

Great Ocean Road provides both action-filled adventures and quiet holiday retreats for you and thousands of other guests. Getting to Australia’s vibrant coast means looking for great travel deals. You can get a head start at Flight Centre and Student Flights. They offer cheap domestic flights for your travel plans.

Thanks Martin

Just back from my trip to Oz. I decided to fly to Melbourne and do trips from there so I could see the city as well. I loved the city, much more compact than Sydney. Saw the penguin parade which was lovely, shame I couldn’t bring one back. I took a coach trip to see The Great Ocean Rd which was good, quite spectacular but I think I would have enjoyed it more driving myself, as per original plan! It seemed very rushed to fit in a day in a big group. Still, there’s always next time.

Many thanks for your ideas and advice, regards,

Eileen

From: Tim Kottek

Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 10:48 PM

To: Eileen Hall

Subject: Re: June — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road contact form

Dear Eileen,

Booking after you arrive in Sydney makes absolute sense.  There is good reason to book online, so arriving in Melbourne or Avalon on the 21st and leaving from there on the 24 – late in the day leads to this possible itinerary

21st

Torquay, or Lorne, or if arriving later in the day Geelong Maroo Park Cottages – Just off the Great Ocean Road on the way to Anglesea.  Look at http://www.roamfree.com/AccommodationProviderDetails.aspx?cID=405&rID=373309&lID=390658&apID=103437&Duration=4&adu=2&WebID=14767

22nd and 23rd Apollo Bay from where you can visit the Apostles and drive into the hinterland Look at http://www.roamfree.com/Results.aspx?cID=405&rID=373309&lID=345116&sDate=22-Jun-2010&Duration=2&curID=1&WebID=14767

Enjoy your trip

Cheers

Tim

On 18/05/2010, at 6:36 AM, Eileen Hall wrote:

Dear Tim,

I am thinking of 21st June to 24th to do my Ocean Rd drive but will not book anything until I arrive in Sydney on 6th in case the volcanic ash delays my flight from the U.K. Suggestions re. accommodation would be very helpful and then I might sound a bit knowledgeable if I go to a travel agent in Sydney.

Many thanks, Eileen

————————————————–

From: “Tim Kottek” <tim@experiencetorquay.com.au>

Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 10:48 PM

To: “Eileen Hall” <eileen.hall@sky.com>

Subject: Re: June — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road contact form

Dear Eileen,

Short answer is yes.

Risks are:-

The driver as the spectacular parts require attention, BUT there are plenty of photo stops.

I would pre book accommodation, if you let me know how long you intend to spend in the area I can suggest some towns. On the site you will see buttons to book the popular towns.

Regards

Tim

On 10/05/2010, at 8:24 PM, Eileen Hall wrote:

Hi, Thank you for your answers. Sorry to be a pain, is this a safe road for a 60 something traveling alone?

————————————————–

From: “Tim Kottek” <tim@experiencetorquay.com.au>

Sent: Monday, May 10, 2010 12:20 AM

To: “Eileen Hall” <eileen.hall@sky.com>

Subject: Re: June — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road contact form

Yes to both. Check out the hire car situation at Avalon with your favourite provider. Winter walks on the beach and hinterland are terrific.

Cheers

Tim

On 10/05/2010, at 6:08 AM, Eileen Hall wrote:

Is this a good road to drive in June? Is it possible to fly from Sydney to

Avalon? Thank you.

It is by Ryan Reynolds and dated June 10th, 2010

A RADICAL new golf tournament is set to bring thousands of tourists and millions of dollars to the Surf Coast.

The Surf Coast Knockout, likened to golf’s version of Twenty20 cricket, will be played at The Sands Torquay from January 20-23 next year.

The hybrid tournament will take on a traditional format during the opening three days, before 32 qualifiers are thrust into a series of cut-throat six-hole matches.

“It really doesn’t get any better then this,” he said. “Geelong is the sporting capital of the world. It is hard to quantify just how much money the tournament brings in, but it will be in the millions. People who follow the golf tours generally stay for a while and spend money. This tournament will be huge for the area.”

Tournament director Andrew Langford-Jones said the tour was like a travelling circus.

“I don’t think anyone has the full appreciation of just how big this will be economically in all areas,” he said.

“The tour is a travelling circus there are 130-odd players, 130-odd caddies, wives, kids, spectators, and television crews. It is good all round for the region.”

The Torquay area will be exposed to a worldwide audience, with OneHD showing the tournament live in prime time as well as beaming coverage into Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Britain and Ireland.

Torquay Commerce and Tourism Association president Martin Duke said the event would become one of the major attractions in the area.

“We hope to see this as a long-term event,” he said. “It is a really good pick-up.

“We have to open our doors up and say, ‘Welcome, come to the start of the Great Ocean Road and have a look at what we have got’.”

He said the tournament would drive a lot of golf tourists to the Surf Coast.

“We believe that it will bring people back after the tournament is finished,” he said.

South Barwon MP Michael Crutchfield said the tournament would create full and part-time jobs.

“They will be staying at hotels and they employ people, the golf courses employ people … greater activity around those areas means more jobs,” he said.

Come and enjoy

Cheers

Tim

Look at the original at http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2010/06/10/180861_echo_news.html

Sculpture by the sea

I am looking forward to viewing work of artists along the way by using the Self Guided Sculpture Trail kit available on site but you can attend conversations with artists or take a booked guided tour. To discover more about this thoroughly enjoyable artistic event go to

http://www.lornesculpture.com

Melbourne Cup weekend (31st October to Cup day 3rd November this year) is our traditional date to visit Lorne and the sculpture exhibition. See you there. And for our previous visit  see this link

http://greatoceanroad-torquay.com.au/blog/art-on-the-great-ocean-road

Images

With varying food requirements we were all catered for without any fuss. Our new baby settled easily in her pram and the 2 older children had space to draw and read.

We wished Tim a happy birthday and may there be many more.

Organised through a consortium of three of Torquay’s highly respected galleries – Bell Street Gallery & Printworks, Watermarks Gallery and Tigerfish – the exhibition will be officially opened by Surf Coast Shire Mayor Libby Mears and Julie Dyer, Surf Coast Shire Arts Development Officer, at a special preview on Friday April 3 at 6.30 pm.

On display, will be images by some of Australia’s leading surf, ocean and beachscape photographers, including Steve Ryan, Scott Wintle, pioneer surf photographer Barrie Sutherland and award-winning photographer Matthew Stevenson. The exhibition comprises images of surf, sand and sea by many renowned photographers who will each exhibit two works and all images are for sale.

The photographers are (in alphabetical order), Alison Aprhys, Bill Beath, Tom Caddaye Darryl Fowler, Cormac Hanrahan, Eric Holt, Rodney Hyett, Peter Kirkhouse , Wendy Mitchell, Darren Noyes-Brown, Steve Ryan, Kyle Simpson, Matthew Stevenson, Barrie Sutherland, Kevan Way and Scott Wintle.

The Great Ocean Road Photography Exhibition represents a great opportunity for those who love this part of the world to view and obtain works by some of the best photographers the Geelong Region and Surf Coast has to offer. The Surf Coast Photographers provides a forum for showcasing existing and emerging photographers from the Victorian West Coast & Geelong regions.

Details
· Exhibition open between April 3rd – 20th, 2009
· Opening night – Free event, 6 pm for 6.30 pm Friday April 3, 2009
· Venue – Crowne Plaza, The Esplanade, Torquay
· RSVP – Matthew Stevenson at Bell Street Gallery & Print Works on 5264 7199
· The exhibition is free and will be open daily throughout the Easter and School holidays.

For more information contact either:
· Matthew Stevenson at Bell Street Gallery & Print Works on 5264 7199, or
· Barrie Sutherland at WaterMarks Photo Gallery on 5264 7232.

Hi Tim,

We’ve just returned on Saturday from the grand adventure and had a fabulous time! As everyone has said the weather sure is unpredictable, but overall we were pretty lucky with hardly any rain during the whole two weeks.

We first drove to Melbourne and had 3 nights there and did the touristy things like the new observation wheel and Eureka Tower, both being a great experience. Then we went on to Geelong and stayed the night there, would have stayed at Torquay but accommodation there was very expensive compared with Geelong. The morning of  5th Jan was pretty cold and as we drove into Torquay it certainly didn’t feel like summer! A quick stop at the surf shops and then we went to have a look at the beaches and stopped at the Nocturnal Donkey for lunch (crazy name for a café, but very memorable and excellent coffee there)!

I have to say Bells beach was a bit of a disappointment, I thought it was more developed and had shops and cafes along the road, but I guess its not a bad thing that its not very commercialised but the thing is that it was totally flat, there was barely a ripple! I spoke to one of the surfies there and he said that he’d been surfing there every day the past week and that was the flattest he’s seen it in a long time!

But the Great Ocean Road in general was amazing, certainly the most stunning scenery I’ve ever seen on any drive. From Torquay to Apollo Bay we were at times stopping every few hundred meters to take photos and enjoy the views. I went for a swim at Point Addis and was surprised at how warm the water was, better than in Sydney! We did the Otway Fly tree top walk, which was pretty nice, but that day was terribly cold, it was only 9C around the tree top area, amazingly cold and then later at Cape Otway lighthouse it was extremely cold, especially on top of the lighthouse where we experienced some of the strongest winds ever, certainly an experience! We also spotted koalas in the trees on the way to Cape Otway which was really amazing to see them in the wild.

Later in the afternoon when we arrived at the Apostles we had glimpses of sun and also strong wind, disappointingly in the evening it got more cloudy and we didn’t get to see the Apostles at sunset, likewise the following morning was very cloudy and we didn’t get to see a sunrise either, however the day warmed up beautifully and cleared, so later we went back and saw the Apostles on a lovely sunny day and the wind from the previous day was almost gone, and in its place the flies we’d been warned about were everywhere!!

The only thing that would have made the journey even better would have been
more time, if we had 2 nights at each stop to give us more time to relax
would have been great, but doing the GOR in 3 days 1 way is not too bad, we
stopped a lot and went to places along the way like the Apostle Whey Cheese
Factory and GORGE Chocolates which are absolutely amazing! We brought back
cheese and chocolate which survived the trip through SA and back to Sydney
via Mildura and still tastes just as good as when we tried it there.

This is certainly a drive that I will do again in the future, I think it’s a
road that you could never get sick of, without a doubt one of the most
amazing parts of our country.

Thanks for all your help. I am sorting through all our photos, if there are
any parts that you’d like to see please let me know and I’d be happy to send
you some, otherwise I’ll see if I can upload them to Flickr or something
similar and will be sure to send you a link.

Thanks again,
Mark

—–Original Message—–
From: Tim Kottek [mailto:tim@experiencetorquay.com.au]
Sent: Thursday, 8 January 2009 10:19 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Great Ocean Road Information — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road
contact form

Looking forward to hearing how your trip went. You may like to consider
leaving Melbourne towards the EAST and getting the Sorrento Queenscliff
Ferry on your way to Torquay.
Regards
YvonneHunter & TimKottek
Experience Torquay
03 5261 9354; 0409 707 780

—–Original Message—–
From: Mark
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 8:08 PM
To: Tim Kottek
Subject: Re: Great Ocean Road Information — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road
contact form

Hi Tim,

Thank you for those ideas, that’s a great list, I just hope we have some
nice weather to enjoy the trip. I’ll let you know how we go.

Thanks again for your help.

Mark

—–Original Message—–
From: “Tim Kottek”
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 15:37:03
To: Mark
Subject: RE: Great Ocean Road Information — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road
contact form

Hi Mark,
The Great Ocean Road is well signed for photo opportunities,
Between Torquay and Apollo Bay I’d recommend:-
o A quick look at Bells Beach,
o Walking into the indigenous interpreted walk off the Point Addis Road
(after leaving Bells)
o Split Point Lighthouse at Aires Inlet – a very short detour.
o Teddy’s Look out in Lorne. Depending on your interests Erskine Falls is a
pleasant walk not too far from Lorne.
o An indulgent lunch at Chris’ Beacon Point Restaurant (for the view as well
as the food).
In Port Campbell see if you can book into Shearwater Haven which has
capacity later this month
o Cape Otway is a worthwhile visit – between Apollo Bay and Port Campbell
unless Split Point fills your need for Lighthouses.
o The tree top walk out of Apollo Bay may be of interest to you, loved by
some, seen as a bit commercial by others.
Let us know if there is more we can do for you
Regards
YvonneHunter & TimKottek
Experience Torquay
03 5261 9354; 0409 707 780

—–Original Message—–
From: Mark
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2009 2:03 AM
To: ‘Tim Kottek’
Subject: RE: Great Ocean Road Information — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road
contact form

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your quick reply and sorry I wasn’t very specific initially with
details. Basically I am interested in sightseeing, lookouts and open to
exploring any other interesting attractions along the way.

I would also like to see some of the national parks along the way and
hopefully some wildlife as well as the coastline, in general to get a feel
for the area. Basically places to visit or things to do that would take a
couple of hours to half a day or so would be ideal, so any recommendations
are appreciated.

We have adjusted our plans and agree that spending a night at
Geelong/Torquay is a good idea and will give us more time to explore and
make the trip less rushed.

I have looked into Bruce’s tours, it seems he specialises more in longer
tours of several days, so perhaps we’ll leave this for another time when we
have more time to spend in the area, but certainly seems like his tours
would be very interesting.

Thanks again for your help.

Mark

—–Original Message—–
From: Tim Kottek [mailto:tim@experiencetorquay.com.au]
Sent: Monday, 5 January 2009 5:34 PM
To: Mark
Subject: RE: Great Ocean Road Information — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road
contact form

Hi Mark,
I’d be able to give you better reply if I had a handle on your interests.
One way for you to come to grips with what’s available is to get the Torquay
to Apostles set of CD’s mentioned at

http://greatoceanroad-torquay.com.au/blog/audio-guided-tour-of-the-great-oce
an-road/ - they have good information.
A possible small change is to have night in Torquay rather than starting our
trip from Melbourne, it can make for a more relaxed drive from there to
Apollo Bay.
You can find accommodation for Torquay, Apollo Bay, Port Campbell, as well
as points beyond at
http://greatoceanroad-torquay.com.au/find-a-room-on-the-great-oceanroad/ .
For a different experience make contact with Bruce at
http://greatoceanroad-torquay.com.au/blog/otway-eco-tours-a-hidden-jewel/ -
we have met Bruce but haven’t found time ourselves to take the tour but
would love to hear of your experience.
A really important note – January is very busy so for a hassle free trip pre
bok your accommodation.
Regards
YvonneHunter & TimKottek
Experience Torquay
03 5261 9354; 0409 707 780

—–Original Message—–
From: Mark
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2009 12:04 PM
To: tim@experiencetorquay.com.au
Subject: Great Ocean Road Information — Torquay on the Great Ocean Road
contact form

Hi Yvonne and Tim,

I came across your website while looking for things to do along the Great
Ocean Road. We are planning a drive down from Sydney to Melbourne and along
the Great Ocean road to Adelaide and I am wondering what are the main
attractions and things to do along the way.

Some local knowledge would be of great assistance so we don’t miss any
great spots or attractions. Also what would be the best towns to stay at
along the way, I was considering 1 night in Apollo Bay and 1 night in Port
Campbell, so that we could see the 12 Apostles both at sunset and sunrise
the next morning because from what I’ve read they are most spectacular
during these times.

Let me know what you’d suggest, we are planning on leaving in about a week
or so, so hopefully you will get my email before then.

Thanks in advance for your help, looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Mark