Australia – VIC – Great Ocean Road (1)

Hello Readers!

As you might have read, I was at the Great Ocean Road (GOR) three weekends ago with some friends. I gave a little introduction to the GOR in my previous post – Capturing waterfall. To read the post, click Here.

As for today’s post, I would like to list out our itinerary (accompanied with photos of course) on our first day in GOR. I hope that this itinerary would help you to plan for your next trip to GOR.

1) Bells Beach.
We set off at around 8 am from Melbourne for our first stop – Bells Beach. Bells Beach has been the location for the ‘Surf Classic’ or more recently known as the ‘The Rip Curl Pro’ surfing competition since 1961 and has become a professional competition in 1973. This competition has been held annually during the Easter period.

For more info on Bells Beach, click Here and Here.

2) Erskine Falls
Next, we headed to Erskine Falls before lunch. Erskine Falls are at the end of Erskine Falls Road, 10 km north west of Lorne. There is a viewing point above the falls for those who are not physically fit. If you would like some walking and climbing, there is a walking track, steep in places that leads to the base of the falls. The falls cascade over one of the highest drops in the Otways. I very much recommend going down to the base of the falls as it was one of those surreal experience!

For more info on Erskine Falls, click Here.
Unfortunately, there were no good photos of the Erskine Falls but trust me it was a beautiful sight!

3) City of Lorne
After the quite energy-consuming activity of climbing back up from the base of Erskine Falls, we went for lunch in the city of Lorne. It was a very short drive to Lorne. We had fish and chips in one of the shops and had a break before commencing our activities for the afternoon.

For more info on Lorne, click Here.

4) The Otway Fly Treetop Adventures
After our energy were recharged, we headed to the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures for the Treetop Walk. The drive to the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures was long and meandering (following a winding course). It took us approximately 2 h to get there from Lorne. If you tend to get car-sick, I recommend that you take some medicines for motion-sickness before this ride and make many stops along the way to get fresh air. Hopefully, this helps with the motion-sickness.

There are two different types of activities in the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures: 1) The Treetop Walk and 2) The Zipline Eco-Tour. We chose to do the Treetop Walk because it is much cheaper than the Zipline Eco-Tour. Normally, the Treetop Walk costs about $23.75 (Adult) but we got a really good deal from RACV members limited offer for only $13.50! We were very happy with the discount 😀 If you are curious, the cost for the Zipline Eco-Tour is $114 (Adult).

The Treetop Walk is a very easy activity. It is a 1 h rainforest walk experience that is approximately 2 km in total and features a 600 m long and 30 m high steel structured treetop canopy walkway that takes you right into the treetops. It is the longest and tallest walkway of its type in the world and includes a thrilling cantilever.

For more info on the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, click Here.

5) Hopetoun Falls
The day has almost ended and the sky was turning grey. We decided to visit one more waterfall before we went for dinner and back to our accommodation. I have shared the experiences I had at the Hopetoun Falls in my previous post – Capturing waterfall. The Hopetoun Falls is very close to the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, approximately 30 mins car ride.

Similarly to the Erskine Falls, you can take in the view from the upper platform for those who are not physically fit. But if you are, I strongly encourage you to descend around 200 stairs to the base of the falls – to take in the amazing experience (see photo below). To get to the platforms, follow the path from the car park. The upper platform is an easy 20 m walk from the car park. The lower platform is a 1 km return trip – allow half an hour.

For more info on Hopetoun Falls, click Here and Here.

6) Dinner and Good night
When we climbed back up and into our car, the day has become night. We drove to Apollo Bay where we had our dinner. We stayed overnight at Captain’s Quarter Apollo Bay. The accommodation was booked through airbnb, click Here for more info.

What a day! All of us were so tired when we got to our accommodation but we were so blessed and thankful for the amazing experiences we had throughout the day!

The next post will be on our second day in GOR – which includes the iconic Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Marriners Lookout and etc. So stay tuned!

All photos were taken using:
Camera: Nikon D800.
Lens: Tamron 24-70 mm F/2.8.
Post-processing: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.

Thanks for visiting my blog! Hope you have enjoyed the post! 🙂