Road Trip … The Great Ocean Road …

Mon, 10th Dec: The Motor Home … Bimbi Park, Cape Otway (Bass Strait)
Picking up the motor home we have an hour acquainting ourselves with its facilities and functions before we are on our own!

To get used to the Motor Home, Neil and I head South to tour The Great Ocean Road and what a most stunning experience these few days turn out to be. Fresh, salty air fills us with adventure and we are rewarded with iconic landscapes where nature’s drama unfolds at every turn. Providing the opportunity to enjoy the enviable lifestyle of the relaxed seaside villages, The Great Ocean Road is a coastal sanctuary of contrasting natural beauty; lush forests, rugged oceanic splendour, raw seascapes, fabulous flora and fauna.

Our map took us along the Surf Coast, east of Cape Otway then inland through the forested Otway region to emerge on the wild and well named Shipwreck Coast to Warrnambool and beyond. All along are winding coastal roads where the view around each corner just gets better and better. The Great Ocean Road remains one of the most spectacular tourist drives in the world. Hand built by returned World War I soldiers in honour of their fallen comrades and officially opened in 1932, it is also the world’s biggest war memorial.

Our journey starts via the famous memorial arch and ‘Diggers’ statue at Eastern View, Aireys Inlet which was erected to commemorate the returned servicemen from World War I who built the Great Ocean Road from 1918 to 1932. It is a chance to reflect on the sacrifice of the young men and women who lost their lives in the First World War; on the hard work of their returned comrades who dug a road, often out of sheer rock, by hand. A series of bronze plaques from Torquay to Warrnambool help to complete the story.

Having journeyed via the stunning seaside villages of Aireys Inlet, Lorne and Apollo Bay, our first night in our new home is at Bimbi Park – ‘Camping Under Koalas’ and we just have enough time to settle in and get the campfire going. It is situated in Great Otway National Park (103,000 hectares) which represents all that is special about the Otways – the tall, wet, ancient rain-forests, sandy beaches, rock platforms and windswept heathland fringed by a spectacularly rugged coastline.

Tue, 11th Dec: Port Campbell Holiday Park (Shipwreck Coast)
Up early (nature is very noisy) we drive only a short distance on The Cape Otway Road before spotting the local inhabitants in the trees – koalas in their natural habitat. They are so cute and very docile, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. Introduced into the area, they are now in abundance and literally eating themselves out of house and home. A further 2 km drive takes us to Cape Otway Lightstation. Open to visitors at $18, it is the oldest lighthouse on the mainland, sitting 91 metres above a spectacular tip of the southern coastline.
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Back on the Great Ocean Road we travel until we come to the picturesque Port Campbell. En route we dip in and out of the scenic lookouts the most significant of which is the 12 Apostles coastline – these world recognised icons are set amongst the Port Campbell National Park. The giant rock stacks soar from the swirling waters of the Southern Ocean and today’s lookouts include London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge and the Gibson Steps.

We ‘hitch up’, explore and stay the night at Port Campbell Holiday Park which is located between the ocean and riverfront and at the heart of this charming little holiday town. Surrounded by Port Campbell National Park, Port Campbell is a small port on the ‘shipwreck coast”. Nestled amongst the limestone cliffs, this small fishing village is the gateway to the 12 Apostles. It is set on a natural gorge at the mouth of the Campbell’s Creek and filled with lookouts over the ocean. With only 400 permanent residents, this cosy seaside town happens to boast one of Australia’s most breathtaking and dramatic coastlines.

Wed, 12th Dec: BIG4 – Aspens Caravan Park, Melbourne
Time is against us and we turn around today not being able to complete the remainder of this journey to Warrnambool, the end of The Great Ocean Road. We head back inland through the countryside to Melbourne where we will stay overnight in readiness for Kieran’s arrival tomorrow 🙂

We add The Arch and The Grotto lookouts to our list – more amazing sculptures made by the sea’s actions – and head inland via Timboon in a picturesque wooded valley to Colac Lake making a stop at Red Rock Lookout and Red Rock Winery for lunch. We are very high up on the crater of the old volcano and the temperature reaches 40 degrees!!!!!

Calling in at Geelong on our way through to Melbourne we visit Tourist Information to pick up some leaflets and maps to enable us to plan the next part of our trip. Geelong is Victoria’s largest regional city set on the ocean front. Famous for its Bollard Trail (life-size characters) which stretches from one end of the bay to the other; this features a hundred or more characters who have shaped Geelong’s history – from the original indigenous inhabitants to contemporary identities.

On arrival at the BIG4 campsite we stock up with groceries, tidy up and plan our strategy for picking Kieran up from the airport at 7.30am. EXCITED MUCH 😀