The Great Ocean Road

 It was time for something different- driving! I haven’t driven a car in five months! So I was excited to pick up my rental and head out for the Great Ocean Road. 

My first day was supposed to be boring, it’s actually about 600km from Adelaide to the start of the drive. So day one is just eating up the distance. But I loved it. Chilling in the car, blasting down country roads with my music up and singing alone. Yeah, I had missed this. 

Day one certainly wasn’t terribly interesting. Although I crossed the Murray River and saw how flooded it was, trees half submerged in the river valley.  I stopped at a nice town called Keith for lunch before google started leading off down random country roads. The farm land was beautiful and I was usually the only car on the road so it was perfect. 

I stopped the first night in Port Fairy, the worlds most livable town. And it really was picturesque. My hostel was an old heritage building, my morning tea at the Farmers Wife Cafe was actual loose leaf brewed up before going in the to go cup. Perfect. 

My first stretch of the Great Ocean Road wasn’t as busy, being further out from the major towns. It was a winding road along the cliff tops of southern Australia with plenty of stops at grand vistas to see where the waves at carved the limestone cliffs into incredible scenery. There were a few shipwrecks along the coast as well, with their stories told at the look outs. 

I had lunch and a swim in Port Campbell. And wow, the water was icy!! Pretty much straight from Antarctica. It was refreshing for a quick dip but I was amazed at all the people staying in the water. 

The final big stop of the day was at the famous 12 Apostles. Although only about 6 of the towering pillars remain.  I decided to spend the night at Apollo Bay. It was pretty booked up but I found a nice little motel to stay at and had a good dinner in town. 

I started the day by driving back to Cape Otway lighthouse, which was nice but I wouldn’t recommend. It was a fair way off the main road, and a historic park site. So $20 to get in, which some people will certainly enjoy but I just wanted a quick peek before moving on.  

Cape Otway also has a small stretch of rainforest that was wonderful, I saw a kangaroo beside the road as I was driving and bright red birds flitting about the canopies. 

The rest of the day was mostly winding coastal roads, with a few small towns at popular surfing beaches. I had one small scare when some rocks tumbled down the cliff as I drove by. But the cliffs all have netting so while I heard the crash and saw them shaking nothing hit my car. Though my biggest worry was damage to the rental!!

I stopped at one of the towns for lunch, which was crazy with people at the beach. Though the waves weren’t really crazy while I was there, there were still lots of swimmers and some surfers.  

The views along the drive were amazing and I had a lovely trip the rest of the way to Melbourne to close out the Great Ocean Road.