It would be silly to visit Melbourne and not venture a little further and experience the Great Ocean Road. Due to our trip being cut unexpectedly short, we booked a tour to take us for the day down this great stretch of road and hit many of the spots. This was a very long day, picking us up at a nearby hotel (thankfully just a five minute walk from our hotel) early morning and getting us back by 10pm. Easily the longest one day tour I have done anywhere.
We stopped off at a small beach first to break up the journey and have a morning coffee. From this first stop at a lively but not too busy beach I knew this was going to be a beautiful trip.
This was a popular stop along the way, with a memorial dedicated to those that built it. The Great Ocean Road is recognised as the worlds longest war memorial, and could well be the most beautiful.
Fun Fact: In 1924 the S.S. Casino hit a reef and as a result, spilled a hell of a lot of spirits and beer into the ocean. There was enough beer for work to stop and an unplanned two week long binge commenced. Can you imagine the hangover?!
Next year (2019 if you are reading this far into the future) is the 100th anniversary of the early stages of building of the Great Ocean Road. Visitgreatoceanroad.org.au is wanting stories from those that built it, so if anyone knows someone that build it or has a story linked to this construction, I am sure they would appreciate it.
And what a good job the soldiers did. The road winds around the coastline and there are various lookouts along the way giving some stunning views to take in. Again, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.
This lookout is fairly close to the road however a longer footpath winds through the forest. Two ladies kindly let us know that about two minutes down the footpath a koala was chilling directly above the path in a tree. We went to have a look.
The first time I’ve seen a koala in the wild! As we only had a limited time at each stop we got back on the road and continued down this beautiful stretch of Australia.
We were told of the damage wild fires have caused here, and that in some areas most of the houses are fairly new as they were destroyed by the fires. Hundreds of homes were lost on Christmas Day of 2015 following such fires. Christmas Day of all days. Very sad.
Our final stop on this half of the trip was to a little area full of wildlife. The birds would feed out of your hand and if they felt like it, land on your head. Very friendly though, they just want to eat.
And more koalas!
Looking closely, you can see a koala just to the left of this bird in the background photo bombing.
The next half of the trip will be uploaded soon, consisting of the famous Twelve Apostles. See you all soon!
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Happy blogging,
Sam
Very impressive! Koalas are a bonus….hahahaha.
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Certainly a bonus! I am so pleased I got to see them. It really made the trip complete 🙂
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Beautiful pictures 😊
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Thank you!! 🙂
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Lovely pictures Sam. I’ve twice driven the length of the Great Ocean Road and don’t think you can ever tire of its beauty. Lucky you spotting koalas, I didn’t see any but maybe your younger eyes are keener than mine. Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.
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Nice! I have terrible eyesight, I really relied on people pointing them out to me haha.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! Here’s to a great 2019 🙂
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I do remember the bush fires. We were at our beach house when it happened. We could smell smoke from where we were which was frightening considering we were miles away. The beach had black ash.
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That really shows how big they were. Terrifying! But I am glad you’re okay 🙂
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Beautiful! And you were so lucky to see koalas!!
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I was, very lucky and so pleased I saw them! Thanks 🙂
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Congratulations finding the world’s longest war memorial. In Finland we have them in even smallest villages, because we lost the war and big amount of men (young & old):
Memorials
They are finally unique in the world!
Happy holiday!
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It is sad to live in an era that has so many war memorials, but it is good that we remember them.
I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year 🙂
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Thank You.
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Great pictures. You definitely managed to make up of your lack of ‘seeing koalas in the wild’.
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Haha I have haven’t I? Definitely ticked that off the list 🙂
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That is definitely eye-opening. And the sheer amount of trees and the blue water is just beautiful. That red bird is definitely adorable. 😀
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A stunning drive and I would highly recommend it. The birds were so friendly!
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Taking a tour was the best way to see one of the most beautiful parts of our country and to hear the history. You miss a lot if you’re driving.
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I am glad to hear it was the right decision. Especially with little time it was good to not have to find the spots ourselves and waste precious time. Our driver was great too!
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Beautiful pics, Sam! Loved the brief descriptions too. Planning a road trip to this part of the world soon….
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Thank you! And you will love it, have a great time here!
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