The Ocean Road - 'Great' or just 'Good'? (Victoria (Seychelles))

Member Name: zoe_page_1

Product:	Victoria (Seychelles)
Date:	30/11/05 (497 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pretty, lots of places to stop, the 12 Apostles

Disadvantages: It's just a road

One of my big reasons for wanting to visit Melbourne was the possibility to do a day trip from there to the Great Ocean Road. I liked the look of it in my guide book, and put in on my must-do list for my trip, so as soon as I was booked for my weekend in the city, I set about finding a trip.

The building of the Great Ocean Road began in 1919, and since then new bits have been added and the road extended until it reached its current form. It now officially starts at Torquay and finishes at Allansford though roads continue from these two places - but since they don't run by the sea except between these points, they don't come under the official moniker. Various options for seeing the road are available. You can self drive, doing it in a day or staying over, or take an organised tour of between 1 and 3 days or more, with longer ones starting in Melbourne and ending in Adelaide. As you would expect, the more time you spend, the more you can see, and in a one day trip you cannot expect to see it all. That said, a one day trip is the option most people go for, especially those with limited time in the city. I chose to do it in a day, and to go on a trip because it was cheaper than hiring a car for one person, and included a commentary from a local guide who knew the area well.

I paid $80 (34.35 GBP) for an all-inclusive tour that included hotel pick-up and drop off, all entry fees, tea, coffee and cookies, and lunch. This was the cheapest tour I could find, and many cost double this, but I couldn't see a reason to opt for a more expensive one as the itineraries and timing were virtually identical - you end up paying more for a plush coach with a toilet, instead of a minibus, a guide as well as a driver and a 3 course lunch, none of which I was interested in having. I travelled with Wildlife Tours Australia (http://www.wildlifetours.com.au) and booked through Tours To Go (www.tourstogo.com/ ), an online booking service who offer a range of trips in all price ranges. Here's how my day went:

7am : PICKUP

The Great Ocean Road requires a lot of time if you're to try and see it all in a day, so most tours start around 7am and finish about 9pm. I travelled with about 10 other people, most young students / backpackers though we had a mother and daughter combo too. On our way out of the city, we passed through Bendigo, home to the latest winner of Australian Idol, Kate DeAraugu (blonde Australian girl who couldn't sing anywhere near as well as Emily, the Maori single mother from New Zealand who came 2nd).



9am: TORQUAY

This seaside town is home to Rip Curl, the Aussie Surf Label, and the main sandy stretch, Bells Beach, is home to the annual Rip Curl Pro competition every Easter. As the official start of the road, this is where you'll find a big archway welcoming you to the area, under which virtually every tour group will pose for a photo. The beach itself is pretty, but no more so than many of the other gorgeous ones I've come across over here. But, we stopped for a while to enjoy the views, take some photos, scoff some biscuits and use the dunnies.

10am: ANGLESEA

I think it was a good idea on the locals' part to name Anglesea this rather than keep its original name of Swampy Creek. It's a seaside town that looks remarkably like the country as soon as you leave the main road, and has a few places to stop and stay over, or enjoy a meal. The main thing I remember, though, is the golf course, which has kangaroos running wild on it. We spotted a few even at this time of day (dawn and dusk are when they really like to come out).

11am: LORNE

This is probably one of the bigger places to stop over on the Ocean Road, and as we drove through it I spotted all sorts of places to eat and drink and sleep and surf. I would have liked the chance to get out and explore (ok, shop), but being a guided tour, that wasn't possible. Still, it was a cute place to drive through, and is one of the better known towns along this stretch. If you're looking for somewhere to stop over, here rather than nearby Anglesea, would be my suggestion.


12pm: KENNETT RIVER

This is a random little place where lots of tours seem to spot in what is essentially a campsite, with a short 'nature walk' attached. This walk is only about 100m max, but evidently that's all you need as we saw half a dozen Koalas as we explored it. Having seen these creatures in a Wildlife Park in Sydney, it was really nice to see them in the wild, doing as they pleased. They sleep for the vast majority of the day, so we felt especially lucky to have a few who were awake and eating heartily, easily ignoring the click, click of the many cameras.


1pm: APOLLO BAY

This is another seaside resort, similar to Lorne, and happily we did get to stop here for a while to enjoy lunch and have a quick look round. They have all the usual things touristy places are supposed to - souvenir shops and ice cream places - as well as the things places real people live in need to have - a supermarket and a book shop and a very good newsagents. Virtually everything is on the main promenade, opposite the sea, so it's easy to find your way around. The beach, again, is very pretty, but so virtually every beach in Oz. This place was quite quiet, probably because it was a Sunday, but not eerily so.


2.30pm: OTWAY RAINFOREST

Amazingly, just a short drive off the Ocean Road, you can find a 13 000 hectare patch of rain forest. We stopped at a place called Maits Rest for a 30 minute walk that wound is in and out of the forest, on man-made and naturally evolved walkways, past waterfalls and towering trees and giant ferns. This area is great for doing a self-guided walk as there are numerous information plaques telling you what to look out for as you pass through. We saw a species of snail that supposedly can only be found in this exact rain forest, and there were other unique inhabitants we didn't catch sight of. Many tours stop here, and I appreciated the chance to go for a wander, stretch my legs and see something other than beaches - I was ODing on them by this point, and needed some respite.


4pm: THE 12 APOSTLES

This was the main reason I wanted to head along the Ocean Road, as the pictures of these 12 giant rocks, jutting up out of the sea, looked incredible. There aren't 12 any more - one crumbled quite recently - and it was with the fear that a few more might be on their way out that I wanted to go and see them now, and not postpone it until my next trip to Australia, whenever that might be. As we approached we were offered the chance to go on a helicopter ride for an additional $50 (or 21.50 GBP), and I immediately said yes despite thinking it was probably on my mother's list of things I'm not supposed to do, like go on motorbikes (v. dangerous), or die abroad (v. inconvenient). The trip was just under 10 minutes long, and provided by a company who seem to have exclusive air-rights to this area. They offer walk-in prices that start at $80 and go up to about $200, and I would highly recommend it, especially if you can wangle the tour-group price. There were 3 of us in each 'copter, and the view of the Apostles as we soared above them was magic. We also got to see a few other special rocks, like the Baker's Oven (so called because that's precisely what it looked like) before coming back down to Earth.

Back on the ground, we headed towards the look-outs which provide the opportunity for those staying on the ground to get an eye-level view of the formations. The place was crowded but not unbearable, and I was mostly surprised that it hadn't become commercialised at all - there are no shops or cafes at the site itself, just toilets and a small unmanned visitor's centre that I couldn't quite figure out as the walls and space appeared to be empty. There are lots of photo points here but most offer the same view from slightly different angles, so if one Is overly crowded you can just move on to the next. I imagine sunset here would be beautiful, but we were too early, as most tour groups are. The Apostles are quite away from Melbourne, so to see them at that time would require a stop over in a nearby town, or driving well into the night.


5pm: LOCH ARD GORGE

Loch Ard Gorge got its name as it was the site of one of Victoria's worst ever shipwrecks. In 1878, 52 people died after Loch Ard smashed into the cliffs days after reaching Melbourne following a 3 month trip from England. The cliffs are still quite vicious looking, and this was our final stop on the road, just a few minutes up from the Apostles. Here we were offered 3 options (rocks, views or beach) but through being efficient girlies, and quick walkers, we managed to take in all of them. The beach was lovely, and backed by some incredible rock formations that were reminiscent of some of the caves you find in Derbyshire and Yorkshire. Back up at the top we discovered London Bridge (like the song…it's falling down) and some other huge slabs that provided the perfect backdrop for our last few photos of the day.


7pm: DINNER

We stopped briefly in a place called Colac which is best known for being the fictitious home of the Timmins family in Neighbours. It wasn't too bad a place though, and had a good choice of fast food eateries - from McDonalds and KFC to noodle, sandwich and pizza places, all open, even on a Sunday night.


9.30pm: HOME

I was one of the first to be dropped off, and was in bed by 10pm, totally exhausted, not only from the walking but also from the constant snapping of photos.



Comment:

While I accept that this was the only way for me to see the road in a day, I would have preferred more time to explore places, so would choose to do a smaller tour or, possibly, self-drive if I was ever to do it again - public transport is not really an option unless you have weeks as busses are few and far between, and only a few places have train stations. Though the scenery was spectacular, especially the quick switch from ocean to rain forest and back again, I somehow thought there would be more. The Road was good to see and certainly interesting, but it wasn't quite the magical experience I had convinced myself it was going to be. At the end of the day, it's just a road. Worth doing, certainly, but once may prove to be enough for me, though I know many, many others who love the area and would highly recommend it, so we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

My comments only really reflect the way it didn't live up to my perhaps hyped-up expectations - I had thought that writing it up afterwards I would want to give it at least 6 stars, to show it was better than the best. It still gets 4 stars because it is a fab experience, and it is recommended, but to be highly impressed you will need lower initial expectations than me, and redefine the word 'great' in your mind.


http://www.greatoceanroad.org/

Summary: Not the greatest road in world, but certainly up there.