The Great Ocean Road

Hey,

We're writing this from a very wet and miserable Port Macquarie (mac-kw-are-ey) which is about 5 hours drive North East of Sydney (up the coast). We're waiting for the coach to take us on up to Coffs Harbour later today. The last couple of weeks have absolutely flown by so it's about time we told you all about them. Lets start with the Great Ocean Road.

It took us about 2 hours to drive from Melbourne down to Torquay (our first stopover). The most difficult part of the journey was getting out of Melbourne CBD but from then on it was a case of cruising at 100Kph (about 60mph - the maximum speed limit in Victoria). We just had to be wary of other drivers, who can legally under-take other cars on roads of three lanes or more. It puts you in the odd position of being both over and under-taken at the same time.

Torquay is the entrance to the Great Ocean road and we arrived at our hostel (the newly rennovated and EXTREMELY comfortable Home@BellsBeach) at about lunch time. The town itself seemed to be a haven for surfers, entirely relaxed and laid back with gorgeous beaches and multiple surf-ware outlets (what do you expect from the town where Rip-Curl was founded). Moreover, about 5 miles up the road is one of the most famous beaches in the world - Bells beach. We headed straight there, hoping to catch the afternoon's heats for the Rip-Curl Pro event at the beach and see some of the best surfers in the World. We weren't disappointed; despite it only being the second round we saw some great action. We wished we had longer in Torquay and debated trying to surf there but as we only had one night and lots of things to see we figured that we'd get a chance further down the road.

The next day was absolutely beautiful, perfect weather for a coastal drive along windy cliff roads. Not far out of Torquay was our first stop at Anglesea - a picturesque little town with a lovely beach and a river (it very much set the pattern for the day). Whilst we only stopped briefly, Anglesea made a lovely place for a mid-morning walk.

Split Point lighthouse was next up. Whilst the lighthouse itself was fairly standard as lighthouses go, it warranted a stop due to its starring roles on TV and film including Mad Max 2 and 90's children's TV show Round the Twist (which is how we both knew it). The detour did have an extra bonus too; the views from the headland were spectacular.

About half way from Torquay to Apollo Bay (where we were staying) is Lorne. Lorne is one of the bigger towns along the Great Ocean road and is a common stop amongst travellers due to its golden beach with waves that are normally powerful enough to surf, but not so strong as to make the water exclusively for pros. Unfortunately for us, the weather was so nice that there wasn't even enough surf for the most amateur of surfers. Still, there was no detracting from the beach and it was nice just to be out in that weather.

A small detour to the north of Lorne took us to Erskine Falls. This was our first venture into the rainforest of the Otway National Park and provided us with a different scene from the coastal road that we had been following.

The next 50 miles of driving were probably the most varied, interesting and fun of the whole journey. Winding along cliffs and through forests, up and down steep inclines where rivers cut in land and leaving the car in a low enough gear to feel the acceleration on the tight corners was fantastic. Along with the flexibility it provides, this part of the trip fully validated hiring a car rather than joining a coach tour. A car also gave us the opportunity to stop in many of the well placed lay-bys to take in the simply stunning views of the surrounding coastline.

We arrived in Apollo Bay with just about enough time to check into our hostel, buy some fish and chips (which were really good) and find the beach before sunset. A perfect way to end a sunny day by the sea.

Our final day on the Great Ocean road started with another detour into the rainforest, this time to the raised treetop walk of the Otway Fly. Whilst we had hoped to see more wildlife on our walk (the forests are renowned for being extremely biodiverse) we think that the sheer number of people were keeping most of the animals in hiding. All we saw was a solitary tiger snake. However, the board-walk was 25metres above the ground and the tower climbed up to a hight of nearly 50metres, giving us the opportunity to look out onto the rest of the rainforest before we hit the coast one last time.

The last part of the Great Ocean road is probably the most famous. Over a very short distance the road passes some of the most spectacular coastal formations and cliffs that can be seen anywhere. It all starts at the Twelve Apostles (a group of stacks, now only 6 in number as the rest have been eroded away) and ends at London Bridge (now a large arch sitting just off-shore after the original 'bridge' connecting it to the land fell away). The formations really live up to their name and despite the wind and rain (unfortunately for us the weather had turned by the time we got there) they make an extremely impressive end to the coastal road.

A further hours drive took us to windswept Warrnambool where we were staying that night before taking the (much shorter and faster) Princes Highway back to Melbourne and flying to Sydney.

This is where we'll stop for now and we'll pick up the story in Sydney next time we get internet.

Lots of love

Leah and Mat