You’ll travel the Great Ocean Road, with magnificent views of the Southern Ocean, visit historic seaside towns, the famous Twelve Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge and learn about the history of the ‘Shipwreck Coast’ and about the Aboriginal people who lived in this region.
Inland, walk through the secluded fern gullies and ancient rainforest of the Otway National Park and discover native wildlife by day including Grey Kangaroos and Koalas and magical glowworms by night. Your delightful villa style accommodation is set high above the Great Ocean Road overlooking the spectacular coastline of Apollo Bay.
Day 1 - Apollo Bay
Join this small group tour and depart Melbourne via the West Gate Bridge. Travel through the vast volcanic plains on route to Geelong where you have time to stroll along the beautifully transformed waterfront.
You start the journey along the Great Ocean Road at Torquay, stopping at various places along the coast including Bells Beach and the scenic morning tea location. The focus then turns to Australian native wildlife as you observe Eastern Grey Kangaroos in the wild. This is one of many opportunities to see and hear about the unique and unusual animals in their native habitat. The journey then begins travelling the very scenic, cliff-hugging section of the Great Ocean Road.
While winding the way along you stop to view sites such as the ‘Memorial Arch’ and tell you of the intriguing story of this incredible road. After lunch in Lorne, the largest of the seaside villages, you cruise along the spectacular road, stopping at many scenic spots including Kennett River where you can see koalas and many colourful native birds in the wild.
Travelling through Apollo Bay you go into the Great Otway National Park. Enjoy a 1km guided walk through a cool temperate rainforest gully to see the world’s tallest flowering plants, prehistoric trees and ferns and unique features such as ‘Yabbie Chimneys’. You visit the township of Apollo Bay before checking in to ‘Beacon Point Ocean View Villas’.
Your private self contained villa is set high on a hill overlooking the Southern Ocean provides an amazing setting is a great place to relax and unwind for a couple of hours. There are plenty of birds in this natural bush setting and it is not unusual to spot koalas, wallabies or even echidnas.
Tonight, dine at the award-winning restaurant ‘Chris’ at Beacon Point’. This is regarded as the best restaurant in the region and has a fantastic menu that utilizes great local produce. Included in the tour is a two-course dinner that can be made up of any of their wonderful entrée’s, mains or desserts
Hotel: Beacon Point Ocean View Villas
Day 2 - Adelaide
After breakfast, the journey starts with a travel through the Otway ranges and onto the ‘Shipwreck Coast’. The first stop is at Castle Cove overlooking the Aire river valley. In this area millions of years ago when Australia was part of the great southern land, Gondwana, dinosaurs were roaming the land. A unique find along the coast in 1987 uncovered important clues into the world’s pre-historic past.
The 12 Apostles are icons of Australia’s natural beauty. You arrive as the stacks are lit with the morning sun making them perfect for photos and crowd free. This is a bonus for taking a 2 day trip as the stacks are silhouettes in the afternoon and sometimes overcrowded. After hearing of the creation of the stacks and holding some of the limestone rock you can explore the boardwalks or take a helicopter flight along the coastline (own expense). You then visit ‘Loch Ard Gorge’, the site of the most famous 19th century Australian shipwreck. While approaching the site you hear of the tragic story composed by a local historian. His story retells the tale of a calm voyage, the tragic wreck, the courageous survivors and their post-wreck lives. While hearing the tale you will be able to see and hold some original artifacts, photos and documents from the ‘Loch Ard’ contained in our treasure chests.
Port Campbell is our lunch stop for today. The small fishing village of just 500 is set in a beautiful natural port and has some wonderful cafes and restaurants for food and views. After lunch you travel to a lesser known but highly impressive area of the Great Ocean Road west of Port Campbell. This section takes in London Bridge, Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs, and Boat Bay before our journey turns inland and travels through open farmland towards Melbourne arriving there around 18:00.
