The magnificient Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia

The Great Ocean Road (B100) is one the most scenic coastal roads in Australia and in the world, a place that just driving it IS the experience with beautiful places to see in between. This road begins in Torquay and finishes in Allansford, the whole drive is about 664 km, although the actual coastal road where you can find most of the attractions is less than that.

Along the way you see amazing cliffs, beaches, wildlife and beautiful scenery all along. It is so magnificent that you can spend literally days travelling along the Great Ocean Road to visit different parks, go hiking, stay in cute little towns in between and so on. I was not even sure what it meant before travelling as I was being super spoiled again by my dear friend Desiree, that I just knew we had an entire day planned to drive in the famous Great Ocean Road.

We planned a one-day trip from Melbourne (a very long day indeed 😉) We covered the major part of the route and the most iconic places via the famous Great Ocean Road ending in Port Campbell.

I remember in the beginning I wanted to stop everywhere for photos! Rooky mistake as the best was yet to come! but I think this is normal when you are the type of person who truly enjoys the landscape! There were just a million “perfect frames”.. those that can be captured in one second or very specific angle. But they were there again and again 🙂

On the way to the major attractions, we stopped a couple of times including the Split Point Lighthouse. Ocean views are literally everywhere, so it´s more a matter of how much time you have to stop in the many designated places for it. At this time of the day we still had pretty good weather and I could enjoy even more the beautiful green / blue color of the water. The first bakcgrounds with huge limestone formations were worth the pictures, and this was just having a little taste of what was coming 😉

Below more picutres in an area with a very interesting geography where nature creates a small bay right next to the open sea. It may or not be a highlight of the road, but I found this combination and the view extremely beautiful to capture.

More panoramic views from this stop, a huge fan of the mirror effect and the combination of elements

12 apostles

After a long drive and changing weather.. These rock formations are located approximately 275 west of Melbourne. They were caused by the erosion and strong winds of the mainland coast’s limestone cliffs that happened 10 to 20 million years ago. Due to this, caves were formed in the cliffs and the caves became arches over time. Eventually they collapsed and limestone rocks up to 45 meters high were isolated from the shore. As a result we see the famous 12 apostles proudly standing on the southern ocean. In photos they can look tiny but in person it´s a magnificient sight with the company of the wild sound of the clashing waves!

I love the picture below, it looks almost as if the limestone rocks were placed there by photoshop 😉 but nope… The contrast and the location so close to the shore but so tall at the same time is very impressive!

Not surprisingly, the infrastructure of the park is according to the Australian first world expectations. It´s very easy to walk around and see the 12 apostles from different angles.

Loch Ard Gorge

Just a couple of minutes away from the 12 apostles we find Loch Ard Gorge, a bay flanked by two yellow-washed cliffs. The name comes from a real shipping disaster in 1878 in this so called Shipwreck coast. The Loch Ard crashed into Mutton Bird Island with only 2 survivors who dragged themselves to the sandy beach

This is literally a coastal park, it is possible to walk and go down to the beach in many places. However the tide is something to consider to decide if it´s safe to go down to the beach.

Short video to share how “loud” this place is, the wave crashing sound is just incredible. A gentle reminder of how alive this place is and how tiny we are sometimes compared to that.

London Arch (aka London Bridge)

The London Arch, formerly known as the London Bridge, is also a popular sight. The arch was once connected to the mainland but collapsed in 1990. The view points are located in short walking distances from the parking area. The “violence” of the waves alone is a highlight. On top of everyhing we had a very windy day, with such huge formations, you can imagine the result.

What is funny but a very serious topic at the same time is how many warnings you see when walking in the park. I´m sure even with so many signs, accidents happen but it does give you this feeling of.. “we told you” 😉 So it is beautiful but in certain areas it can also be a bit dangerous. My favorite part, obviously.. was the friendly Snake warning 😉 😉 😉 I´m here writing this so.. it went fine 😉

Advice?

If you travelled already ALL THE WAY to Australia, and you like nature but you are also short on time, I would still advice to spend 2 days for the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne, or plan it so that you stay in Port Campbell and you can spend more quality time in 12 apostoles and all the places nearby. Just for enjoying and photography there are many paths and possibilities to see the cliffs from closer distance, also more things to do in the park. And while I always repeat this “it´s subjective”, now I would have spent one more day here and one day less in Sydney, but again that is absolutely personal.

Travel Map

A reminder to myself about the journey (thank you Google!), we started the day in the outskirts of Melbourne, we drove to the coast to reach the Great Ocean Road until Port Campbell, on the way back we traveled the shorter way until Melbourne city center 😉 The plan was for me to spend the night in downtown already so the next day I would be visiting the city from early morning, all well planned 😉

BONUS PIC: This sign is not unique to this road but it is just the place where I took this picture 😉 I needed to have this at some point in Australia! The not so fan part is that I did see a dead kangaroo on the road ;( so these signs are there for a real reason.