Great Ocean Road

A few weeks ago I finally went to the Great Ocean Road. It was one of the first things I read about in the Melbourne guide books, and one of my family's favorite parts of Australia (after seeing me of course). I knew it was somewhere I wanted to go, but I didn't get there until 2 weeks before I go home. My friend Jess also had never been to the Great Ocean Road, although she has lived in Melbourne her whole life. Jess had heard of a way to go on public transport so we wouldn't have to book an expensive tour. I was too busy studying (aka going to Tasmania), so I let Jess plan the whole thing. Our plan was to take the bus from Melbourne to Warrambool (the end of the road), spend the night in Warrambool, and catch the train back to Melbourne the next day. I was worried that we wouldn't see much of the road on public transport, but she ensured me that we would see all the main sights. I took her word and met her at the bus station Wednesday morning. Jess was there waiting for me with presents, promotion guide books about the Great Ocean Road to make up for our lack of tour guide! The first leg of the trip was a train from Melbourne to Geelong. Jess had recently taking a walking tour of Geelong, so she acted as tour guide and explained the history for me. I don't remember anything other than the fact that the football team won the AFL championship last year. At Geelong we caught the bus to Apollo Bay, the first half of the Great Ocean Road. The ride was absolutely stunning! We followed along with our guide book and learned the road was built by soldiers when they returned from World War I as a memorial to their fallen comrades. In a way, the Great Ocean Road is the largest war memorial in the world. We passed under the gateway to the road, but unlike the tour buses, we didn't stop. I was worried this would be one of many sights I would want to stop at, but wasn't able to. That was about the only disappointment in this leg of the road. The cliffs were beautiful with the rolling waves below. My family had told me that their bus had pulled over to see koalas, so when I saw a tour bus pulled over to the side of the road when nothing seemed to be around, I looked up in the trees. Sure enough, I saw a wild koala! Again, I didn't get to stop to take a picture, but I still got to see it. It was the last wild Australian animal on my wish list, so I was very very happy! At Apollo Bay we had time to walk on the beach before the next bus. It was nice and refreshing to walk in the cool ocean breeze. I was in a sweatshirt and coat, but I only had the coat on so I wouldn't have to carry it. Jess, on the other hand was in long underwear, three sweaters, a coat, and hat and was still freezing! She would die in a Minnesota or Wisconsin winter.

Views on the Great Ocean Road

Jess at Apollo Beach

The bus pulled up to the stop in Apollo Bay about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. We were the only two waiting at the bus stop, but we figured a few more would show up. No one did. We had our own private tour of the Great Ocean Road! This bus was different than the one from Geelong to Apollo Bay because it was for tourist not locals. The bus driver explained to us that we would make 4 look out stops along the way. The first stop was the Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles are what you see on all the Great Ocean Road advertisements, so there were tons of tourist buses there when we showed up. There actually aren't 12 rocks there, and there never has been. Now you can only see about 7, but there used to be up to 11. The light sandstone along the Great Ocean Road is constantly being worn away by waves, so the remaining apostles are being eaten away and may soon fall. At the same time, more new apostles are being formed. We had 30 minutes at this stop, so we had plenty of time to go to all the lookouts. It was amazing to see them in person when I had seen them numerous times in pictures. There were almost too many people there though to really appreciate it.

The 12 Apostles (at least a few of them). If you ever watched the Australian Open (that's you, Amy) and they had pictures of the coast, this is what they would've showed.

I like to think of myself as one of the twelve Apostles

I thought this sign was funny

The next stop was about 10 minutes away at the Loch-Ard Gorge. There was only one mini tour bus there (most turn around at the Twelve Apostles to make it back to Melbourne), so it was a lot more peaceful. Jess and I both agreed that this was much prettier than the Twelve Apostles. There were really cool caves on one side, and a beautiful gorge on the other.

Cave at Loch-Ard Gorge

Loch-Ard Gorge

Our third stop was the London Bridge. You used to be able to walk out on the "bridge," but in 1990 it fell over stranding 2 tourists on the newly formed island. Although it was no longer connected, it was still amazing. The waves were pounding on the remaining arch, so I can see why the first arch fell over.

London Bridge has fallen down.
The right "island" is where the hikers where the couple was stranded when the arch connecting it fell into the water.

The last stop was the Bay of Islands, my favorite stop. It reminded me of the Twelve Apostles, but they had a red tint to them. By this point we were literally the only people at the lookout since almost no one makes it this far, so it was so refreshing to be in the peaceful ocean breeze.

Bay of Islands

My favorite sign in Australia so far. They had one of these signs about every 10 minutes. Pretty scary when you think how many tourists must drive on the wrong side if they have to post it that often.

We got back on the bus and made the rest of the 45 minute drive to Warrambol. We got into Warrambol around 5:00 and had to walk 1 km to the hotel. We had booked a single queen room without a TV (the cheapest room), but one we got there, we were put in a two bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room. It could easily have slept 5 or 6, but Jess and I had it to ourselves for the same price! We walked into town and had dinner at a pub which was really more like a supper club. They had all you could eat soup, salad, pasta, and dessert for $15, a steal for Australia! It was actually extremely good and all homemade. I ate way too much. Warrambol is a pretty small town, so by the time we finished dinner at 7 there was nothing to do but go back to the hotel.

Warrambol beach-those surfers sure were brave. Not even I would've gone into that cold water

Thursday we got up early and walked down to the beach before the train. It was a beautiful surfing beach, and despite the cold, there were quite a few surfers. After the beach we had to get to the train station to catch our train to Melbourne. It took about 3 and a half hours, and was through dairy country. I felt at home with all the cows, and I taught Jess "My Cows." It is my personal mission to spread "My Cows" around the world. So far, it has gone from coast to coast in the US, Africa, and now Australia. It is only a matter of time before it takes over everywhere!

The view overlooking Warrambol

Our whole trip on the Great Ocean Road, including transport, food, and lodging cost us less than the cost of a tour and we got two days instead of one!