I had a family friend visit me and I wanted him to see the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles. We had one day to take on the GOR and we decided to take on the challenge. We rented a car that morning and hit the road.

It was 9 a.m. and my first time driving in Australia, as an American this meant on the wrong side of the road. I was nervous, gripping the wheel tight and reminding myself to stay vigilant and calm. The GPS told us it would take three hours and 10 minutes to get there. Our first stop was Split Point Light House found in the small town of Aireys Inlet. It had amazing views, so we stopped for some pictures.

 

Sadly, this was the only time we got to see the sun during our drive.It was late in May it rained the rest of the day. The GOR will take you through a national forest. It was a very windy road and then it started to rain and then pour and my hands gripped the wheel tight. We felt like we were lost in a rain forest, fog started to roll in through the thick forest.

Our next stop was Apollo Bay where we had lunch  and coffee at a local restaurant. We needed to refuel. After Apollo Bay the road takes you inland. I passed a lot of farm lands on hills with sheep and cows. As we drove through the rolling hills we spotted the Great Ocean Road Wild Life Park, so we decided to visit. Due to the weather, there were not many visitors. We got to see native animals and even fed some wallabies. It was really cool as it was our first time seeing kangaroos and dingos.

We were told by the front desk to visit the Gibson Steps, they would lead us down to the beach and we would get a better view of the Twelve Apostles.  As your driving you see a small sign on the road, so keep an out for it. There were plenty of tourist there and we made the climb down. The water was a beautiful turquoise blue and the sand was this rich coarse brown that reminded me of raw sugar.

 

We got back in the car drove up to our final destination The Twelve Apostles. The view is breath taking. There are now eight out of 12 limestone columns left and due to erosion they will keep on disappearing.

 

I decided to be cheeky and I took this one home with me, shhh don’t tell the park rangers.

If your asking yourself is the trip doable in one day? I will tell you that it is. I did all the driving so I was exhausted by the time I got home around 9 p.m. I would suggest having a second or third person who can drive. I definitely want to visit again during summer and actually swim in that beach.