The Great Ocean Road

I hired a car this weekend, from Thrifty, a Mitsubishi Lancer 2l Automatic with air-conditioning. It cost me about £56 for the 2 days hire - quite a bit cheaper than it would be in the UK.

I made full use of it yesterday, travelling the famous Great Ocean Road. On the advice of a workmate, I first travelled down to the western end via the inland Princes Highway from Melbourne to Geelong and then on past Colac and Camperdown to Warrnambool. This would mean I wouldn't have to drive into the setting sun in the afternoon. Good plan.

Now, when I see a hill, I generally want to go up it, so I had two brief detours along the way to go to the top of Red Rock and Mt Leura. But eventually I got to the coast, and it was worth the wait. My first sight of the Bass Strait, as I came round a bend, was the spectacular Bay of Islands.

A little further on I came to the small town of Peterborough. Here I changed into my swimming trunks and went for a walk along the beach with some wading through the edge of the water. Those waves looked so inviting, but the currents looked strong and the beach was practically deserted so I didn't dare go for a swim.

I worked my way along the Shipwreck Coast stopping at most of the features in the Port Campbell National Park, including the Twelve Apostles. Famous though they are, I found the Bay of Islands more impressive. Anyway, instead of the usual picture, here's the view from the lookout looking east.

After Princetown, the road leaves the Shipwreck Coast and crosses the lovely Otway National Park, returning to the Surf Coast at Apollo Bay.

Here I tarried for a while and thought of staying the night, but the motel rooms were a bit more expensive than I was willing to pay, so I pressed on.

The next part of the road hugs the coast and is wonderfully scenic. As it started to get dark, I stopped one last time for a walk on the beach. Here I found someone fishing in the surf.

By the time I got to Lorne it was getting quite dark, but I was still able to see the lighthouse at Airey's Inlet. After that it was back 'home' to Melbourne arriving about 9:20 pm - 13 hours after I set out. But it was a damn fine drive!

You can see many more of my pictures from the day here on Flickr.