8 More Dramatic Landscapes Along the Great Ocean Road

As we drove along the Great Ocean Road, I constantly found myself being awestruck by all the indescribable natural beauty around me.

Sure, we came to tick the 12 Apostles off our bucket list, but in the end, we discovered so much more here. Standing along this rugged coastline, with the howling winds whirling around and the light sea spray in your face, is an invigorating feeling. I was amazed at every turn we took!

Don’t do this trip in one day! You’ll barely scratch the surface if you do. I’d recommend at least two days, three preferred, to see as much as you can on one of Australia’s most famous road trips. In fact, we’re preparing to visit for a second time once my in-laws arrive for the holidays.

Here are 8 more dramatic landscapes you’ll find along the GOR:

Bay of Martyrs

Starting at the western end of the GOR trail, just on the outskirts of the small town of Peterborough, this is a wonderful place to see the beautiful Bay of Martyrs. This area has several walking paths that run along the cliff-hugging coast and feature several lookout platforms. The Bay of Martyrs is not as popular as the 12 Apostles, but I’ve heard this area is just as beautiful at sunset when the rocks are backlit by the sun.

2 km west of Peterborough

As you can see from the photos, we were plenty impressed with the Bay of Martyrs.

The Grotto

Our next stop was at The Grotto, basically a sinkhole that was created in the limestone cliffs. I took dozens of photos here trying to frame the peaceful Grotto in contrast with the wild ocean behind it.  

9 km west of Port Campbell

The London Bridge

Well, I guess technically this rock formation is now called the London Arch because of the relentless waves. Originally called London Bridge, this natural archway and tunnel collapsed in 1990 and became a bridge without a middle section. Mother Nature also left two tourists stranded here that had to be rescued by helicopter. There are several wooden platforms here to look out over the rugged landscapes.
7 km west of Port Campbell

The Arch

This natural arch gets pummeled by the surrounding rough seas as the waves crash around and continue to erode the rock. I also took dozen of photos here, trying to capture that perfect moment when the waves crashed into The Arch.

6 km west of Port Campbell

Loch Ard Gorge

Another popular tourist spot right before you land at the 12 Apostles is the Loch Ard Gorge. The gorge is named after the ship Loch Ard, which ran aground in May 1878 on nearby Muttonbird Island at the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Only two passengers survived. Here, you can stand on top of the cliff and be amazed by the sheer size of the nearby cliffs, or wander down to beach and sit awhile watching the crashing waves.

8 km east of Port Campbell

The Loch Ard Gorge also featured predominately on the cover of my Lonely Planetguide for Melbourne and Victoria.

In addition, the shipwreck site is a good dive spot where you can still see general cargo such as lead ingots, lead shot, tiles, bottles and pottery.

Creating shadows along the Great Ocean Road.

The Razorback

The next three landscapes are all located at the Loch Ard Gorge site. Simply park your car and give yourself an hour or two to explore these amazing landscapes.

This rock stack is called the Razorback because of its sharp edges and bumps along the top, caused by wind-spray and erosion. Notice how the waves also cause deep smooth grooves along its base. You can even see vertical cracks along the Razorback’s side, so it’s only a matter of time before more rocks collapse.

Island Archway

We followed the signs out to the Island Archway, which collapsed in 2009 and crumbled into the sea. Mother Nature continues to erode Victoria’s coastline, so it will be interesting to see how the coast changes over the years.

Thunder Cave

We could see Thunder Cave, but we couldn’t really hear it (apparently as loud as thunder) during our visit. The cave is about 25 metres deep and a local dive site that can be accessed only by charter boat.

Have you visited the Great Ocean Road? Or would you like to do so?

 This Great Ocean Road trip was my first time driving on the "wrong side" of the road.
Definitely takes some adjustment!

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Following the Foodie Trail Along the Great Ocean Road

Though we went for the stunning seascapes along the Great Ocean Road, we also ended up finding some foodie treasures. I simply have a nose for good food!

Our road trip adventure started out in the small town of Torquay, which is considered the official start of the 243-km southern coast-hugging Great Ocean Road. We woke up early to catch a splendid sunrise along the town’s Esplanade and nearby beach. I’m not a good morning person, but every now and then I don’t mind getting up early. The views were worth it, and so was the breakfast afterwards.

Not many cafés are open at 7 a.m., so we wandered into Café Moby, which was ranked as one of the top eateries on Foursquare. This local, laidback café provided us with an Aussie brekkie complete with poached eggs, bacon and avocado (an Aussie staple) and a Moroccan-style egg dish that almost reminded me of Turkish menemen.

The night before in Torquay, we enjoyed a pub dinner at a new brewery called Blackman's Brewery, where beer is brewed just a hop and a skip from Bells Beach, one of the world's most famous surfing areas. Hubby recommends ordering the hoppy Pale Ale while I sipped on a homebrewed cider. The brewery specializes in somewhat unique pub food such as barramundi fish tacos and quinoa-beet salad as well as more normal pizzas and buckets of fries. Grab a pint at this bustling brewery and enjoy the local people watching.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to wander off the road between Torquay and Port Campbell, where we stayed the second night. However, if you are interested, check out the Victoria Tourism website for winery, farm and other foodie recommendations, especially in the Great Otways region.

Port Campbell is the ideal locale to stay overnight and visit the nearby 12 Apostles, but it’s really a foodie wasteland and the main restaurant in town looked extremely overpriced for boring food. That said, we did have a decent gluten-free pizza and a large Greek salad at Nico’s Pizza for dinner and a typical breakfast at The Alcove Café, which opens at 6 a.m.

The beach at Port Campbell.

Before leaving Port Campbell, be sure to stop by the visitor’s center for a map of the 12 Apostles Gourmet Trail, which features 11 local food artisans. On our Sunday drive back to Melbourne, we stopped at five of the places for samples of chocolate, cheese, cured meats, ice cream, liqueurs and the best meal we had the entire trip!

Our first stop was GORGE Chocolates, established in 2004 in a former farm shed with a storefront and chocolate making room. The current owners, Mel & Jason, took over in 2010 and make tons of chocolate-covered delights such as marshmallows, honeycomb, freckles and black licorice, which happened to be our favorite! You can stop by here 7 days a week.

Next, we sampled a wedge of country life at Apostle Whey Cheese, a dairy farm since 1981. We had a delicious and informative cheese tasting with Dianne, one of the owners, whom had just traveled to France to learn about more kinds of cheese. We ended up buying a round of brie, a chunk of garlic Havarti and creamy blue cheese. Too bad we didn’t have time to enjoy a glass of local wine with our cheese tasting!

We ventured about 15km down a gravel road to our third stop, Mousetrap Café, home to Schulz Organic Dairy Farm. We thought the cheeses here weren’t quite as flavorful as our previous stop, but we did enjoy the tasting and ended up buying some feta and a washed rind cheese. The café also offers ample indoor and outdoor seating if you have time to order a cup of tea/coffee or glass of wine to go with your cheese platter or freshly baked scones.

Our last and tastiest stop along the Great Ocean Road was the tiny township of Timboon, which proved that big things do come in small packages! The Timboon Railway Shed Distillery is housed in an updated “shed” of the former Timboon railway line. Timboon was a big whiskey producer in the late 1800s. The current distillery produces single malt whiskey, vodka and several liqueurs and all are available for sampling behind the bar. If you like coffee, you must buy a bottle of Baxter’s Coffee Cream. Yum-o!

The distillery also contains a large, bustling restaurant which takes full advantage of the local produce in Victoria and offers an interesting seasonal menu. We ordered the chicken gado gado (described as Asian-inspired, flaky chicken cakes with veggies and a peanut-lime sauce) and the twice-cooked pork belly with coconut rice and an Asian slaw. Both dishes were so delicious that the flavors reminded us of our Bali trip in 2011! In fact, Bali is a very popular tourist destination for Aussies.

After lunch, don’t forget to order an ice cream cone from the Timboon Fine Ice Cream stand or buy some of the many local food products sold in the restaurant.

How about a salted caramel ice cream cone?

The distillery has a large display case of local foodie products from the Victoria region.

Our bellies were full and we still had a nearly 3-hour drive back to Melbourne. Starting in October and November, you can also do wine tastings at several of the wineries located off the A-1 highway between Colac and Geelong. Guess we’ll have to save that part for another trip!

As you can see, the Great Ocean Road not only has stunning scenery, but a vibrant, local food scene as well.

The Great Ocean Road goodies that made it home with us from our road trip!

Bon appétit!

Joy

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Sunrise and Sunset at 12 Apostles Along the Great Ocean Road

For the past month, I had envisioned seeing a stunning sunset along the Great Ocean Road.

I’d been following hashtags such as #12apostles, #greatoceanroad, #seegor and more on my Instagram feed. I wanted to capture those same brilliant shades of pinks, oranges and violets in my photos, but unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans for us.

August is still the middle of winter here in Australia, and in the Victoria region that often means a lot of overcast skies and gray days. We still had a wonderful time along the Great Ocean Road as we stared in awe at the rugged, windswept coastline every time we stopped.

Probably the most popular stop along the Great Ocean Road is the Twelve Apostles, majestic limestone pillars rising out of the Southern Ocean, located about 4 hours west of Melbourne. We planned our road trip so we would end up at this location about an hour before sunset, which was around 6 p.m. at the time.

First we hiked down 86 steps at Gibsons Steps, named after a local settler in 1869, to the beach. This is one of the few places along the Port Campbell National Park where you can actually access the beach. The two limestone formations here called Gog and MaGog, for some reason, actually aren’t considered part of the 12 Apostles.

The warm light right before sunset reflected off the steep limestone cliffs that line the beach.

The ocean waves were some of the most intense and ferocious we’ve ever seen in our lifetime! You would NOT want to attempt swimming in this powerful section of the ocean!

Quickly, we hopped into our rental car and drove over to the nearby lookout point for the official 12 Apostles. Though the name says 12, the signs state there were nine limestone stacks at most, and since the last collapse in 2005 there are currently eight. Until 1922, this site was known as the Sow and Piglets after which it was renamed to The Apostles for tourism purposes. (I’d have to guess there may have been some religious influence for the name change as well.)

Looking back east toward the Gog and MaGog formations.

Be forewarned as you’ll share this magical sunset moment with hundreds of other tourists. If you want to stake out a good spot with your tripod, I’d recommend arriving at least an hour earlier. I didn’t get the best photos as the Apostles were already dark on the eastern-facing fronts, but we still enjoyed a rosy glow along the horizon. Pretty, don’t you think?

The next day, after staying in Port Campbell for the night, we rose early again so we could catch sunrise at the 12 Apostles and Gibsons Steps. Despite the early hour, brisk morning and howling winds, perhaps about 50 other tourists had the same idea as we did.

Luckily, we saw some pretty pinks in the sky, but the morning was quite overcast.

After the sunrise colors began to fade, we drove back over to Gibsons Steps to see how the rocks looked during the golden morning light instead of evening. Technically, the steps were locked because of a high tide warning, but we climbed over the gate anyway and walked down the slippery steps. We stayed close to the cliffs and walked along the beach for awhile and set up our own photo shoot here.

This coastline is an amazing site to see and should be on every traveler’s bucket list. No matter what the weather may be like, the 12 Apostles are still a photographer’s dream to shoot!

By the way, today’s post marks my 600th blog post I’ve written since I started this blog in 2010. Thanks so much for joining my journey!

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