Australia’s Great Ocean Road brings wildlife, rainforest walks and spectacular coastal rock formations.
The kangaroos of Anglesea Golf Course
It’s not the bunkers you have to look out for on the Anglesea Golf Course. Local legend has it that a perplexed golfer once hit a tee shot that landed in a kangaroo’s pouch, before the roo nonchalantly hopped off into the rough.
Arriving at Anglesea, this becomes immediately plausible. The driving range is absolutely teeming with roos, and they seem thoroughly ambivalent about what’s going on around them.
Driving the Great Ocean Road
This marvellously Australian scene is a fitting first stop for a classic Australian road trip. The Great Ocean Road stretches west of Melbourne, throwing in much of what is great about Oz on the way.
First come the beach towns. Lorne and Apollo Bay are pretty, and they know it. The character is part laid-back surfer, part wholesome family, and part bohemian jewellery designer that has decided to leave the big city and head for the coast.
Walking trails along the Great Ocean Road
The backdrop to these towns, though, is lush, relatively untamed eucalypt forest laced with walking trails. What starts out as a hike to one of the many waterfalls hidden inside the bush becomes a wonderful mind-clearer. It’s all birdsong, the distinctive whiff of the oil from the gum leaves in the air, noises of scurrying creatures in the scrub and stepping stones across creeks.
The forest gets thicker, the rain heavier and sense of wildness greater in Great Otway National Park. And if the golf courses and flat paddocks are the best places to spot kangaroos, this is the perfect spot for spying koalas. It doesn’t take too long squelching along the tracks to find a grey ball curled up in a tree. Finding one that’s moving is a trickier task – they spend most of their lives asleep.
The Shipwreck Coast of Victoria
The last leg of the Great Ocean Road is wild in a different way. Along the Shipwreck Coast, the postcard-friendly rock formations – Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge – are reeled out, as the Southern Ocean gives them a brutal pounding. But it’s what’s in the water that’s truly spellbinding.
From the clifftops at Warrnambool, the traditional if not physical end of the Great Ocean Road, a grey lump emerges from the ocean swells. It’s a southern right whale, on her migratory route towards Antarctica. She shoots through her blowhole; a salute from Australia’s natural wonders towards those who have come to see them.
Great Ocean Road Highlights
Bells Beach
Bells Beach is the high temple of the Australian surf scene, as namechecked in Point Break, and playing host to the Rip Curl Pro surf competition every Easter weekend. Close to the global surfing hub town of Torquay – it’s home to Rip Curl, Quiksilver and the Australian National Surfing Museum – the heartening aspect of Bells is that it is left undeveloped and magnificently brooding. A surf – most definitely not for beginners here – feels suitably spiritual.
Sea Kayaking
A noisy, smelly fur seal colony hangs out around Apollo Bay, and the best way to go and see them is by kayak. Apollo Bay Surf and Kayak runs two hour paddling tours, with a rather adventurous beginning and end getting through the surf.
The benefit of arriving by kayak is that you can get much closer to the seals. Stay still, and there’s a good chance that the seals will swim over to you.
The Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles are the most famous of the Great Ocean Road rock formations, and the ones that appear on all the marketing photos. Even though there are now only seven left.
The rest have been reclaimed by the Southern Ocean, but that doesn’t stop people cramming on to boardwalks to see them. Scenic helicopter flights are on offer here, but the smart to show up is around sunset, when dozens of little penguins scurry along the beach on their way home from a hard day’s fishing.
Tower Hill Reserve
Just outside Warrnambool, this nature reserve sprawls over the bowl of a volcanic caldera. Tower Hill is a tremendous place for ticking off all those Aussie creatures everyone wants to coo over.
Roos and koalas can be found in close proximity – which is surprisingly rare – but you’ve also got an excellent chance of spotting scuffling, spiny echidnas.
The emus are hard to miss – they’re more than likely to march over and attempt to steal your picnic.
Port Fairy
Voted the world’s most liveable small town in 2012, Port Fairy is that gorgeous little find that everyone wants to make on a road trip.
Historic 19th century maritime looks, folk music festivals, surf schools and boat cruises are all part of the magic mix, while a smattering of galleries and a dining scene that punches well above its weight are major bonuses.
This article was originally written for National Geographic Traveller UK
More Victoria travel
Other Victoria travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- Why Echuca is Australia’s paddlesteamer capital.
- What it’s like to visit the Phillip Island Penguin Parade.
- Going underground at Bendigo’s Central Deborah Gold Mine.
- On the Ned Kelly Trail in Victoria’s High Country.
- Discovering Australia’s immigration history at the Bonegilla Migrant Experience.
