A Trip to Great Ocean Road - Victoria

Twelve Apostles

Great Ocean Drive is one of the most sought after Travel Destinations of the world owing to its breadth taking Views running for over 235 km .The journey of Lifetime begins from Victorian Town Torquay to Warrnambool along South Western Coast of Australia linking the most beautiful towns along the coast .

 WHAT BRINGS ME HERE : -
(1) A breath Taking Scenary combined with the pleasure of hastle free drive along The Pacific Ocean.
(2) Natural Wonders such as  The Twelve Apostles .
(3) Australian Wildlife in thier Natural Habitat - Koalas , Kangaroos ,Seals , Whale Watching , Dolphin Watching.
(4)Adventure - Surfing ,Otway Fly treetop Adventures , Scuba Diving , Snorkelling .
(5)Sports - Mountain Biking,Swimming,fishing,Golf .
(6)Sight Seeing such as Waterfalls , Beaches , beautiful Landscapes , Beautiful Light Houses .
(7)Food and Wine .

Bells Beach

MUST WATCH :-
(a) Bells Beach
(b) Erskine Falls
(c) Split Point Light House
(d) Gibson Steps
(e) Apollo Bay
(f)Otway Light House Koala Spotting in thier Natural Habitat on the Road after we turn from Great Ocean Road to Cape Otway Light House
(g) The Twelve Apostles
(h) Loch Ard Gorge :-
     (i)Cover both the Hill Views
     (ii)There are steps leading downstairs where you can find a Calm Bay and Caves .
(i) Port Cambell
(j) London Bridge

BEST TIME TO VISIT  :-
Every season on the trip to Great Ocean Road unfolds a new mystery and creates a new scenary .
However Summer months starting from November to March are best to visit the Great Ocean Drive .
Middle of December uptill Mid of January are the most crowded and expensive .

Starting Point - Great Ocean Road

HOW DO I REACH HERE :-
The nearest metro City which is 1.5hrs drive away from Great Ocean Drive is Melbourne(State : Victoria) .
(1) Personal Car / Hire a Car from Melbourne :-
www.avis.com.au
(2) Hire a Campervan from Melbourne : www.jucy.com.au
(3) There are Several Day Trips and 2 days-1 Night Trips Operating from Melbourne .
http://www.yttours.com/index.php?page=great-ocean-rd-phillip-is
(4)For overseas Travellers on a short Trip , I would recommend to cover the Great Ocean Drive as a Day Trip - http://www.australiasightseeingdaytours.com.au/melbourne-day-tours/
http://www.gowest.com.au/our-tours/great-ocean-road-day-tour
www.melbournetours.com.au

HOW MUCH WOULD IT COST :-
(1-a)We were a group of 4 people driving from Melbourne to London Bridge and return This Cost us 135$/Person .
Costs Include :-
5 seater Car hire for 2 days - $150
Petrol - $80
2 Bed Room - $100-$200(We got it at $165)
Meal Per Person - $12/meal/person
Ticket for Wild Life Park - $10/person

(1-b) On my Second trip we were a Group of 5 from Melbourne to London Bridge and return .This time we went by our Personal Car .This cost us around 100$/person.
2 Bed Room  - $100-$200(We got it at $165)
Meal Per Person - $12/meal/person
Ticket for Cape Otway Light House - $19/person

(2)2 Days 1 Night Packages through Travel Agencies would cost around $180-$250/person

(3)Day Tours through Travel Agencies would cost around $80-$120//person

Split Point LightHouse

HOW WAS THE OVERALL EXPERIECE :-

-It was one of the most memorable drives of my life . We started from Melbourne at around 9:30 a.m .After around 110 kms we reached Bells Beach at 11:00 a.m .Beach is beautiful and ideal for swimming and surfing .We left from the Bells beach at 12:10 p.m

-We stopped at a Scenic View Point after 20 km . Here we saw a Scenic Limestone Formation similar to "The Twelve Apostles" .

Erskine Waterfall

-We drove till Lorne a beautiful town along the Louttit bay . After the Petrol Filling Station we took a right on the Williams Street . This lead to "Erskine Waterfall" .This point our meter reading was 165km .We reached here at 1:10 p.m and left around 2:35 p.m .

- After around 50 km we reached Appollo Bay . This is one of the nice places for beach activities and breaking your day amidst Green Hills and Ocean .We didnot stopped here and drove past Otway National Park and Light Station .

Gibson Steps

- We then stopped at Gibson Steps . This place has an access to beach with 2 of the twelve Apostles . This view point is just 500 metres before the parking of "The Twelve Apostles" .Sea was rough at this place and not ideal for swimming .We enjoyed a lot at this place - playing in water .

Twelve Apostles

- Then we came to our Last Stop of the Day - "The Twelve Apostles" .
Our Motel - "The Twelve Apostles Motel"was just 500 metres away from this place . We made a good choice of staying here.The owners are pretty friendly with a beautiful Restaurant and bar .
The Restaurant closes early around 7:00 p.m .Its quite and nice place .The meter reading showed 317 km at this point .

Loch Ard Gorge

- The next day we started late and stopped at the Loch Ard Gordge . This is also a beautiful place to spend some time .It has 2 sight seeing points - 1 Leads to the a calm and quite small bay and caves . The other leads to the Beautiful View Point .

Port Cambell

-Then we moved towards Port Campell . This was the next best place to stay if you are on a 1 night 1 day trip .A beautiful calm bay alongside a small ,super clean hotels and restaurants .On my second tour , I stayed here in a Motel named "Eastern Reef Cottages" .A pleasant experience here .

London Bridge

-We then stopped at London Bridge which was the best Sight accroding to me with Lush Blue-Green Water around it .The meter struck 345 km at this point .We started our return journey through the same route .There is another shortcut to Melbourne which is not along the coast .But we wanted to drive back along the same way on Great Ocean Road .



Wild Life park

-On our way back we stopped at a WildLife Park . Here we got a chance to Feed Kangaroos with our hands .Also there were deers ,donkey ,ponney ,Koalas in this park .

Otway Light House

 - Our last stop on th trip was Otway Light House . This is best photogenic and beautiful spot i have even seen in my life . We went on top of the light House .An amazing experience- you will be asked to leave you spects ,caps inside because of high speed winds .The best part is on your way to Otway light house you can see a large number of Koalas in thier Natural Habitat . You can even spot Kangaroos and Wallabeys .
Caution - Light house Closes at 5:00 p.m . Please plan your trip such that you reach this place atleast 1 hr before .

In total we drove around 730 km .