Bells Beach

Coburg to the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road
Distance Traveled: 210 Miles

Our first day of driving the caravan … starting out through rush hour traffic leaving Melbourne. A bit harrowing. But having an RV of our own that is about the same size, Mui felt fairly comfortable. And it helped that he’d been driving on the left side for the past few weeks. Smooth sailing once we eased out of city traffic … except for one wrong turn, which the GPS helped us to right quickly.

The Great Ocean Road (GOR) — so named in 1936 when it was proclaimed a “tourist road” — is the result of a citizen initiative established in 1917 to not just build the road, but to provide employment to servicemen returning from WWI. The construction of the road was done in stages from 1919 on, the progress dependent on the availability of men and money. In the end “… 3,000 ex-servicemen worked with pick and shovel, using stone and natural materials of the area.”

The road follows the contours of the coast. It linked up the seaside settlements and opened up the coast for development. As well, it provided “… the motoring public with ‘one of the most beautiful ocean drives in the world.’ …” Those motorists had to pay a toll at Eastern View, the site of the Memorial Arch. When the government took over the road and its maintenance in 1936, the toll was abolished. Today, the nearly 150-mile road is a tourist attraction due to its reputation for being one of the great coastal roads in the world. A well-deserved reputation I might add.

All along the road is amazing scenery … seascapes to our left traveling west as we are, and bushland to our right.

We started our sightseeing at Point Addis, a slight detour recommended by the Lonely Planet guide. The lookouts here afforded us our first real glimpse of the beautiful beaches, amazing cliffs, and rough surf that seems to be part and parcel of the coast.

We made frequent stops along the way, pulling into lookouts … which, in most cases, were large enough to accommodate caravans and trailers as well as cars. We used one such overlook for our lunch break. Nothing like a spot with a view for a quick bite on the road.

When we came to the Cape Otway turn-off, the lure of seeing koalas in the wild led us down a 15-mile in/out detour. Saw none on the way in, but did spot a few high in the trees on the way out … too high in the trees to photograph with anything but a long less.

Since we had detoured down the road anyway, we paid up and visited the Cape Otway Lightstation … constructed on the second southern-most point of mainland Australia — after Wilsons Promontory … located further east along the coast of Victoria. For those who had spent months at sea traveling from Europe and North America to Australia, the cape was the first sighting of land … the lightstation their “Beacon of Hope.”

Completing the detour, we got back on the GOR, arriving at the Twelve Apostles Visitor Center around 6:30p. As we were driving west, I was concerned that the sun’s glare would wash out the scenery. I was right. But we found a solution.

The Lonely Planet guidebook describes this iconic off-shore landmark as “… the most enduring image for most visitors to the Great Ocean Road …”. Shaped by the power of nature — wind, rain, and particularly the amazing waves that crash on to them 24/7 … 365 days … year after year — the sea stacks stand in the water … alongside a headland that is retreating due to the erosive power of the sea.

Turns out that there were never 12 of these sandstone sea stacks. Originally known as the Sow & Piglets, someone had the bright idea of renaming them to something a bit more venerable. The thinking was that it would attract more tourists. Would tourists still have flocked here without the name change? Who knows! But they do come in droves to see the seven towers that still stand.

Tourist guides specify that the best time to visit the Twelve Apostles is at sunset … the tour buses are long gone by then … and it is possible to see little penguins coming ashore as night falls. As little as those penguins are … a highly doubt the second reason is valid, unless you are down on the beach … which means hiking back up in the dark. Hmmm! I think not.

Thanks to a decision we made while at Twelve Apostles, we were able to see the amazing scenery a second time as the sun set over the sea. Very impressive. And a great end to our first day of caravaning in Australia!Read more