The Great Ocean Road

After the wedding, I was ready to figure out what the rest of my Australian adventure would look like.

I was in a travel group chat when I saw a girl named Sophie post that she was looking for people to join her on a road trip along the Great Ocean Road. I’d never met her before, but I thought it sounded like a great opportunity, so we arranged to meet up beforehand. I figured it was probably a good idea to meet in person before committing to spending a few days travelling together — especially when we were still complete strangers.

When we met, we got on well, but we decided we needed at least two more people to join us. Four people seemed like the perfect number for a road trip: enough people to share the driving and costs, but not so many that organising everything became impossible.

I contacted my friend Eilir, who was immediately up for it, while Sophie put another post in the group chat looking for someone else to join us.

That’s when Marion messaged us and decided to tag along.

And just like that, we had our four.

Once the four of us were confirmed, the fun part began: actually trying to organise the trip. We had to work out where we wanted to stop along the way, where we wanted to stay and how much driving we could realistically fit into the two days.

We figured out that we had roughly two days for the trip, so we decided not to try and make it all the way to the other end of the Great Ocean Road and continue on to Adelaide. I was flying to Adelaide after the road trip anyway, so there was no need to rush the journey just to say we had driven the entire route.

Like most travellers these days, we also used ChatGPT to help us plan the trip. Between the four of us, we worked out which stops we wanted to make and mapped out a rough itinerary for the two days.

We picked the car up on the morning of the trip and set off.

It was also the first time Sophie and I had driven in Melbourne’s city traffic, and can I just say, it wasn’t the nicest introduction to driving in Australia. The right hook turn was definitely a learning curve. If you’ve never come across one before, it’s essentially a right turn made from the left-hand lane at certain Melbourne intersections — and trying to understand where you’re supposed to be while surrounded by traffic was certainly an experience.

Eventually, we escaped the city and made our first stop in Torquay. It was a good opportunity to get out of the car, stretch our legs and have a wander around. Torquay was a lovely beach town and felt like a much more relaxed start to our road trip.

From there, we continued along the Great Ocean Road towards Lorne. We stopped here before heading inland to visit Erskine Falls, a beautiful waterfall tucked away in the Great Otway National Park. It was a nice change of scenery from the coastline we had been driving along, and another chance to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

We then continued towards Aireys Inlet, where we stopped at Split Point Lighthouse. We walked around the lighthouse and took in the views across the coastline. The views were to die for, and it was one of those moments where the road trip started to feel like the adventure we had imagined.

For the first time that day, we were properly out of the city and surrounded by the coastline and scenery that we had come to see.

From there, we hit the world-famous Memorial Arch. Of course, we had to stop for the obligatory photos, but it was also nice to learn that the arch has a much deeper meaning than just being a popular photo spot. It commemorates the returned servicemen who built the Great Ocean Road between 1919 and 1932 as a memorial to those who lost their lives during World War I.

It was one of those stops where you get the tourist photo, but also a little bit of history along the way. Just be careful if you’re taking photos here, as the arch is right alongside the road. When we visited, it wasn’t particularly busy with cars, but it’s still worth keeping an eye out for traffic while trying to get that perfect shot.

Next stop was Apollo Bay!

After a full day of driving and exploring, we were ready to check into Apollo Bay Backpackers and settle in for the night. We were lucky enough that the four of us had a room together, which was nice as we didn’t have to worry about being split up with strangers after a long day on the road.

We headed to Coles to pick up some food for dinner and then found a public BBQ to cook it on. This was actually a first for me. I had no idea that public BBQs were such a thing in Australia, but after discovering them, I quickly decided that more countries should have them.

While we were cooking, a local turned up carrying a giant T-bone steak and started cooking it alongside us. We got chatting, and he explained that his BBQ at home had run out of gas and he hadn’t had time to get more before his friends arrived, so the public BBQ had come to the rescue.

It was such a funny little interaction, but I loved it. Here we were, four travellers cooking our dinner on a public BBQ, and a local had turned up with a massive steak because his own BBQ wasn’t working. It felt like one of those very Australian moments that you probably wouldn’t think twice about if you lived here, but as a visitor, I found it brilliant.

The next morning, we packed up and headed towards Port Campbell, which was the furthest point we planned to reach on our road trip. From there, we decided to work our way back along the Great Ocean Road, stopping at the landmarks along the way.

Our first few stops included the Bakers Oven, a natural rock formation shaped by years of erosion from the Southern Ocean. When we arrived, it was incredibly foggy, so we could only just make out the formation through the mist. It gave the whole place a slightly eerie atmosphere and made the landmark feel quite different from the photos I had seen beforehand.

We then continued on to the Grotto. It was noticeably busier, with tourists queuing up the steps and taking turns to get their photos. Some people were really making the most of their moment in front of the camera, turning it into something of an impromptu photoshoot, despite the queue of people waiting behind them.

When it was our turn, we were respectful of the people waiting and took a few photos before moving on. There was no need to spend ages posing when there were plenty of other people waiting for their turn!

The Twelve Apostles were fantastic. By the time we arrived, the sky had cleared up, so we were finally able to see them properly. After the fog earlier in the day, it felt like perfect timing. Of course, we took plenty of photos before heading down to the beach, where we got to see the Twelve Apostles from a completely different perspective, looking up at them from below.

From there, we found a beach closer to Melbourne and spent about an hour relaxing and enjoying the last bit of our road trip before heading back into the city.

Once we arrived back in Melbourne, we dropped the car off and went our separate ways. It was strange to think that just a few days earlier, the four of us had barely known each other, and now we had spent two days driving along the Great Ocean Road together.

It was a great first proper road trip in Australia, and probably one of the best ways I could have spent those first few weeks of my Australian adventure.

If I get the chance to do the Great Ocean Road again, I’d love to do the whole thing properly — either travelling from Melbourne all the way through to Adelaide or doing it in the opposite direction. We managed to see so much in just two days, but next time I’d love to have more time to slow down, explore more of the places along the way and take in the entire route without having to rush.