[theragingbull]

I had been for a month long visit to Australia last year. It totally skipped my mind to share with everyone, one of the best driving experiences I've ever had. Driving on one of the world's most beautiful coastal road - THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD!



The Great Ocean Road is a 243-kilometre stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia. The road is two lane (one in each direction), with the majority covered by an 80 kph speed limit. I didn't cover the entire distance but my last destination was the famous Twelve Apostles. So I covered about 144kms of the Great Ocean Road.

So we left off from Melbourne early morning in my uncle's Toyota Prius.



The route:



To be continued....

[shuvc]

Wow ! Glued to this.

I was fortunate to make the same trip. It was ages back .. 1999. Looking forward to reliving the trip through your thread !

[theragingbull]

So the first stop after leaving Melbourne, 75kms away, was the city of Geelong,. Popularly known for being home to car manufacturer Ford Australia. We had breakfast in the Cunningham Pier at the Port of Geelong.



After that was a long drive towards the Great Ocean Road. Before that, there was this famous lighthouse at Aireys inlet.



After a small halt there, we continued with our journey which included going through beautiful mountain roads with forest on one side and ocean on the other! Finally, we reached the point from where the Great Ocean Road starts. Got a beautiful picture to share of the Great Ocean road from a view point just before the entrance.



The entrance.



From here starts the heavenly road Just can't describe in words how beautiful the landscape was and what a fantastic drive it was! (I wish I was driving but I wasn't allowed). Let the pictures do the talking...


In the next post, I'll continue towards the Twelve Apostles.

[sachinj12]

Envy you Zohaib, driving along side the sea is the biggest dream any enthusiast would have. Waiting for the next batch of pics

[rajeev k]

That really is a nice drive.
Along with the pics and text waiting for the Prius driving experience too.

[theragingbull]

Continuing with my post...I headed along the Great Ocean Road towards the Twelve Apostles, which is a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park. The road has beautiful curves and is very smooth. Both the sides have vast green lands with one side overlooking the ocean as seen in this picture.




The Twelve Apostles were formed by erosion: the harsh weather conditions from the Southern Ocean gradually eroded the soft limestone to form caves in the cliffs, which then became arches, which in turn collapsed; leaving rock stacks up to 45 metres high. The stacks are susceptible to further erosion from the waves. In 2005, a 50 metre tall stack collapsed, leaving eight Apostles remaining.





The Loch Ard Gorge is part of Port Campbell National Park, Victoria, Australia, about 10 minutes drive west of The Twelve Apostles. It is a visible example of the process of erosion in action.



After that we continued further along the Great Ocean Road towards Port Campbell.



London Arch is another natural arch in the Port Campbell National Park, Australia. The arch is one of the tourist attractions along the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell in Victoria. This stack was formed by a gradual process of erosion and formed a complete double-span natural bridge. But in the 1990, the arch closest to the shoreline collapsed unexpectedly.




Some more limestone stacks along the shores -



So my trip to the Great Ocean Road ended here. But the next day I also went to Phillip Island. Famous for penguin spotting and also one of the most exciting MotoGP tracks. I did karting there
If people are interested, I can post a travelogue of that too.

[Swanand Inamdar]

@theragingbull. Lovely pics. Thanks for bringing back memories. 3 years in Melbourne and numerous trips on the GOR and it still feels like I am seeing the place for the first time. This place has so much to offer. What with the lovely roads to drive on and the scenery itself.

Please bring on more pics if you have them.

Once again Lovely pics!

[Newpunter]

The Great Ocean Road is awesome. Nice snaps. I did this trip back in 2008. Seems like a long time ago now. Melbourne is a great place, one of the best cities in the world.
Did you do the helicopter trip over the Apostles? I took the trip and it was a great experience.

[theragingbull]

Thanks for the comments everyone! This is my first attempt at writing a travelogue so please pardon me for any mistakes

Originally Posted by Newpunter

Did you do the helicopter trip over the Apostles? I took the trip and it was a great experience.

Actually by the time I reached the Apostles, the sun was setting down. So I did not have enough time for the helicopter ride. Would love to go there once again and drive myself on the Great Ocean road in a cabriolet

[lohithrao]

I can just say "WOW" and wish that i can go/drive around this place!

Zohaib very nicely narrated and pictures which ads up to it! thanks for sharing btw why dont you add the "Philip island experience" here itself?

[roy_libran]

The photos are superb and I am sure the drive would have been even better.

The places you saw remind me of some places in Ireland. In particular, the isolated coves in Aran Islands, the Cliffs of Moher overlooking the vast expanse of the Atlantic, and the drive up the Antrim Coastline from Belfast to Derry via Carrick-a-rege and the Giant's Causeway. Did that in an Alfa Romeo, and that drive looks very similar to this one. I highly recommend that for people in that part of the world.