The Great Ocean Road (Take 1)

Over the weekend I was treated to a roadie by two of my new Melbournian friends and they took me down the Great Ocean Road! This post is Take 1, because I hope to go again in Summer when there's a bit more sunshine and a bit less torrential rain. 

We were aware on Saturday that the forecast wasn't great for Sunday but went anyway. I've found that Melbourne only rains for a few hours max, so was really optimistic that we'd only get a few showers. Boy was I wrong! 

Great Ocean Road - Wet Selfie

In spite of the terrible weather, we had a great time. Or maybe it was because of the weather? We certainly had a lot of laughs on the trip and I'm so glad the weather didn't stop us.

STOP 1 - THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD SIGN

Great Ocean Road -sign

What's a road trip if you don't get a photo in front of an iconic sign? Our first stop was the only one where we didn't look like drowned rats and we were all very glad we took plenty of selfies there and at the little nearby beach.

Great Ocean Road - Beach

The sign is on The Great Ocean Road, according to Google Maps it's numbers 689/721 in Eastern View, Victoria. You can't miss it! 

STOP 2 - KOALA SPOTTING

Great Ocean Road - Koala spotting

The next stop was really exciting, we got to see Koalas! I do apologise that you can't see them either, it was raining really hard so I left my DSLR in the car and it was just a mission getting a good photo. That's the best one...

There's a bit of bush just by Kennet's River that is known for being home to koalas and friendly Australian birds. There were several parrots and cockatoos that will accept seed from you if you offer it to them, and although we didn't have any, that didn't stop me from pretending, and getting a snap with a curious parrot.

Great Ocean Road - Parrot

Then we went for a little walk up the hill to spot some koalas. We saw three of the poor things, they looked so miserable just huddled in the corner of their branches getting soaked by the rain. I didn't take my DSLR out for that point because it was so wet, and couldn't really get a good shot of them on my phone - another reason to go back in the summer. 

STOP 3 - THE 12 APOSTLES

Great Ocean Road

The 12 Apostles were what we were really there for, and despite the weather we were still able to get some really nice shots of them! Apparently it's normally really packed and hard to get shots of it without having people's selfie sticks in the shot so I guess the rain was good for something. 

You can't see all 12 of the Apostles anymore and from the lookout point you can see two to the East and about 7 to the West. They are slowly being eroded away by the waves, the most recent one to be swallowed by the ocean was called "Judas" and it collapsed in 2005.

Great Ocean Road - 12 Apostles 2

STOP 4 - LOCH ARD GORGE

Great Ocean Road - Loch Ard Gorge
Great Ocean Road - Loch Ard Gorge 2

My dear Melbourne natives had never heard of Loch Ard Gorge when I was trying to describe it to them! I had recently seen pictures of it on Instagram and assumed it was well known but apparently not. It is only 5 minutes away so we headed down the road to take a look at the spectacular beach hidden between the cliffs. It was well worth the trip! 

Have you been down the Great Ocean Road before? Got any hidden gems that I can check out next time I go?!