Melbourne #2 - The Great Ocean Road

Southwest of Melbourne, past the city of Geelong, lies a stretch of road named the Great Ocean Road.  It was built following World War I by returned soldiers, and stands as a monument to those soldiers who fought in the war.  As such, it is the largest war memorial in the world.  It is also a spectacular drive along the coast, with some amazing scenery and features.  It's a must-do if you're traveling to Melbourne!

Again, after doing our research, we decided on a two-day tour with Ride Tours.  Great decision!
As we boarded our bus, and made a quick trip around the city to collect the rest of our group, we realized we were in for a great time.  Our driver and guide Jude introduced everybody on board by name.  And nationality.  We were joined by a Canadian couple, several German students, an Italian woman on holiday, a French woman and her German friend, and two Chinese couples.  And one Aussie!
A great eclectic group, and they were all very friendly and easy-going.
We set off west, and started the trip with a long drive through rolling pastures of grazing cattle and sheep.  Our first stop was for morning tea, and then we continued on.

We made a brief stop for lunch, then on to Logan's Beach.  It's a beautiful beach where we stopped for a few photos before our next stop, Tower Hill.  This is a sunken volcano that has become a home to local wildlife, and we got our first glimpse of wild koalas and emus.  Will even spotted a wallaby.  On we went.


Logans Beach



Sunken volcano

Can you spot the koala?



Bay of Islands

The highlight of the road are magnificent views of the limestone stacks of the coast.  As the sea erodes into the coastline, stacks of limestone rocks are cut off from the mainland.  These form the most dramatic features of the area.  We spent the remainder of the first day stopping at each feature to view the Bay of Islands, the Bay of Martyrs, the Grotto, and London Arch.  We learned about the local wildlife, and about the history of tragic shipwrecks in the area.  Aboriginal culture and history was highlighted along the road as well.  It really amazed me that this is such a changing landscape, as the sea continues to erode the land.  Occasionally the stacks are overwhelmed and crash into the sea, all while new stacks are forming.  All from this never-ending barrage of waves that come all the way from Antarctica.  Amazing!




The Grotto



London Arch



London Arch

The peak of the trip came as we viewed the sunset behind the Twelve Apostles.  This famous group of stacks has made many postcards and galleries, and it did not disappoint.

For the night, we came back down the road to Port Campbell and stayed in a hostel there. 
Now, if you, like us, have never stayed in a hostel, you need to.  At least once.  It was a lot of fun!
Because there were five of us, we had a family room, so beds for all of us, and a private bathroom. 
This isn't really the typical hostel way to stay, but it worked for us and the kids.  Most of the group stayed in large rooms of bunk beds and shared communal bathrooms.
There was a large living space and kitchen, and our tour group pitched in cooking and cleaning.  We ate together a traditional Aussie barbecue meal of steak, sausage, chicken, veggie burger for grace, salad, bread, pasta.  I was definitely stuffed.  Again, all pitched in to clean up, and then off to bed.  I'm sure the younger ones in our group stayed up later, but not us oldies!

Hanging at the hostel



Our ride

The next morning was a quick "backpacker's" breakfast, and then back on the road.
For day 2 we saw more of the stacks, stopping at Loch Ard Gorge (famous for the shipwreck of the Loch Ard), and back to the Twelve Apostles in the daylight.  We went to Gibson's Steps, where we walked down to the beach at the base of some of the apostles.   The pictures say it all.



Hi Grace!  Base of the Loch Ard Gorge.



Gibson's steps - and yes, we climbed those.

Despite the amazing scenery, Will and Tricia's favorite spot was when we stopped at a caravan park on the way back.  We fed parrots and corellas, and walked around spotting koalas in the trees.  Priceless!

Always naptime!

Also a stop on the road was a rainforest area.  A walk through the rainforest was refreshing and inspiring.

We rounded out our trip with a stop at a lighthouse.  Apparently featured on some TV show we Americans don't know about, it was quite special for some of our group.  For us, just some good views.

Back home that night in the big city, we were exhausted!  We hit the bed hard that night, with visions of nature's grandeur flowing in our minds.  What a great two days!

Up next, the Mornington Peninsula and Phillip Island.
-Peter