ROAD TRIP: The Great Ocean Road

It’s been awhile since my last update. But, I’ve had a good reason…we were on the road! For the Easter long weekend, Adam and I drove the Great Ocean Road and visited Melbourne. It was such a great trip, although I was hesitant about all the driving since I get bored in the car so easily. But, it actually wasn’t that bad!

The first leg was from Canberra to Port Campbell, which was about 9 hours of driving. It took a bit longer with the few stops that we made, but it went surprisingly quickly. When the final destination is the Twelve Apostles you realize it’s totally worth it.

Please ignore my fashion choices as it was VERY cold there and I didn’t change out of my “travel clothes”.

The views were incredible and we stayed to watch the sunset. We actually stayed 15-20 minutes past the sunset to see the fairy penguins (now called “little penguins”) come out of the sea onto the shore. Since it was dark and a bit far away, there are no pictures, but it was so cool to see these little guys!

I couldn’t choose which photos to share, so I uploaded a lot!

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The next day we began our drive down the Great Ocean Road. The morning was a bit cloudy / rainy so we may have missed some of the views that would normally be there. But, we had a great time anyway!

The bottom photo of the group below is of London Bridge, which used to be connected to the mainland (hence the name, London Bridge). In 1990 it collapsed and 2 tourists were trapped on the archway. They were successfully rescued! We heard a rumor in Melbourne that the two were having an affair and this is how they were caught, but when I googled it turned out they were just cousins 🙂

We stopped in Apollo Bay along the drive and happened upon a Farmers Market (my favourite!) We had lunch at this really cute cafe that I had found online. Since I love to research EVERYTHING, I was on a hunt for this amazing coffee roaster / cafe. We drove around for awhile and it seemed like we were lost in this industrial area, but we finally found it. It was worth the wait and tasted delicious. The owners were so nice and my decaf was specially hand-ground for me right before my eyes. Thanks Hello Coffee Roasters!

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More fun stops along the road…

A road trip wouldn’t be complete without a stop at a winery! We loved this place. The people were so nice. Not awkward like some wineries, where they just stand there and stare at you as you taste the wine. Highly recommended as an additional stop along the Great Ocean Road!

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We wanted our last stop to be at Bells Beach. This is the home of the world’s longest-running surfing competition! As we drove closer, we saw a lot of “Event” signs up and tons of cars everywhere. It turns out we happened to be there on the weekend of the famous surfing competition! Since it was the end of the day, we could walk up to some viewing platforms to see some pro women surfers. Although it was far away, it was still pretty awesome to see.

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Such a great surprise! We really enjoyed the Great Ocean Road and definitely think it’s a must-do for anyone visiting Australia and staying on this side of the country.

Next up – Melbourne!

Category : Travel