The Great Ocean Road

It is recommended to do the iconic Great Ocean Roadtrip for several days and really take time to enjoy everything. If it was up to me, I would totally be up for that but I only get weekends off so we did on Sunday. It was actually a public holiday on 26.1 but it wasn’t as crowded as it could be apparently.

Although we “overslept” we were already on the road a bit after 8. There is not really much to say about the trip – it is basically spending a lot of hours in the car and stopping on the way to take in everything nature has to offer.

- Bells beach -

those tiny black dots on the picture are actually surfers

This was our first stop and it’s one of the most popular surfing destinations around Melbourne. The swell is amazing and it's definitely not for beginners. It was amazing seeing so many surfers – they usually come with a van (where they can sleep, eat and store surfboard) and spend 2-3 days on the beach (because its quite far from the city – around 90 min). Sounds like a well spend weekend to me!

- The great ocean road -

GOR is a 243-km stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia built by returned soldiers after World war one. An advanced survey team progressed through the dense wilderness at approx. 3 km (!!) per moth and construction was done by hand (!!!) (Wikipedia) – which in my opinion makes it even more memorable

- Apollo Bay -

We stopped here for coffee and I think I haven’t waited for a latte this long (except in the zoo.. that's a whole new level). Frank needed to order a second cider because for some reason it took them forever to make coffee. But unlike that coffee in the Zoo, it was (luckily) a good one – as it should be in Australia

Most of the time while driving I was holding a phone in my hand and trying to take a picture from the car. We also did many quick stops on the road to enjoy the amazing views.

- The Gibson steps -

The tide was high so you couldn’t actually walk all the way down to the cliffs but it was still great. I remember coming here 15 years ago and it was really magnificent standing on the beach under those cliffs… Well, maybe next time

- Twelve apostles -

7 of the original 8 stacks remain because one collapse in 2005 – so there was never twelve of them (lol). Apostles were formed by erosion and because of the harsh and extreme weather conditions from Southern Ocean (it is soooo windy!!).

- Loch Ard Gorge -

Many ships were wrecked because of the weather conditions when people were migrating to Australia. Most of them died because even though they made it to the shore they could climb up the cliffs. So they would starve and die. This site was named after clipper ship Loch Ard which ran aground on a nearby island – of the 54 passengers and crew, only 2 survived.

- The Arch -

Naturally sculpted arch stands 8 meters high and power of the ocean crashing the arch makes it even more amazing

- The Grotto -

A sinkhole like geological formation. It is really amazing when you stop and think this was done because of water and weather.

- London Arch -

This is an offshore natural arch formation in the National Park and it was formed by gradual process of erosion. In 1990 the stack formed a complete double-span natural bridge.

After many hours in the car and a lot of amazing views, we headed back to Melbourne around 6pm.

Side story

When we were visiting Loch Ard Gorge I found a phone on the sand in the middle of the beach. I picked it up and tried to call from that number, but of course, phone was locked (I mean seriously, what can you do nowadays when you find a lost phone). We kept hanging around hoping someone would come back searching for it – but nobody did. I really wanted to give it back because I think for the first time in my life I found a phone (and not lose it myself). So (unfortunately) I knew the struggles and stress that person was going through probably. Luckily, as we were walking back someone called on the number and we managed to schedule a meetup to give the phone back (and I was genuinely so happy! Because I knew how happy would that make me) - but they were on the bus tour so they couldn't wait for us anywhere. Oh and also – the woman who picked the phone the same day (at 10 pm when we came home) said that she was flying back to India the next morning – I guess she is really lucky that someone brought it back the same day =) Little kindness goes a long way!