One of the weekend trips I’ve been on this month is a road/camping trip down the coast of Victoria along the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is a narrow highway that hugs the southern coast of Australia and rivals the Sea to Sky in terms a sheer beauty. It's one of Australia's biggest attractions, right up there with the Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock.
On Friday afternoon a small group of us packed up two cars and left Melbourne with no real itinerary or idea of where we were going to stay for the nights that we were on the road. The Great Ocean Road stretches about 250 kilometers and has lots of small surf and beach towns scattered along the way. Just as an interesting side note, the road was built by returning soldiers of the First World War providing them with employment, and now serves as a memorial to these soldiers. The main attraction of the road is by far the Twelve Apostles, which was really the only destination that we all wanted to see.
After stopping to take a bunch of photos at multiple lookout points along the way we began to search for a suitable campground the set up base camp for the two nights. We ended up staying just outside a town called Apollo Bay, a sleepy beach town about midway along the road. The campground we stayed was called Skenes Creek. It was on the beach and there were hardly any other camper there making it seems as though we had a private stretch of coast to ourselves. We set up camp pretty quick because it was overcast and we didn’t want to get caught in the rain. Fire, Dinner, Laughing, Bed, that is a quick summary of the evening.
In the morning we got up and went into town for some breakfast then headed out for the Twelve Apostles. The second day of the trip the weather was perfect.
It was cool and the sun was out, optimal driving conditions. After a couple hours of driving down the most magnificent road I have ever driven down we got to our destination. The Twelve Apostles are giant limestone stacks that jut out into the ocean formed over thousands of years of waves smashing into the coast and eroding away the land. They aren’t actually twelve towers anymore since they are constantly being eroded day after day. Regardless, they are absolutely spectacular, especially on a sunny day, and I found myself taking the same photo over and over again.After the Apostle we drove just a few more minutes down the road to check out Loch Ard Gorge and some other coastal viewpoints of the Apostles. Loch Ard Gorge is a small bay enclosed by towering cliffs that can be accessed by tourists.
At the entrance of the bay is narrow gorge, no more that 30 metres wide that channels massive amounts of water into the bay creating a suction-like force. We all hung out at the beach for a couple hours and explored the cliffs and caves in the area and went for a swim. Probably not the safest place to swim, but I’m still here, and when else am I going to get the chance to go back the Great Ocean Road, maybe never.It’s difficult to describe the Ocean Road, as it’s a sensory experience that one must actually physically do to understand. For me, the Great Ocean Road is what I expected Australia to be like. You have the sun, surf and sand. I suppose pictures do a better job at describing than I do.
Getting away for the weekend and driving down the Great Ocean Road was relaxing time to get away from the demands of school, and I couldn’t have asked to go with better group of people than I did. I definitely looking forward to more trips like these, and I’ll try and do a better job at keep the blog up to date.
