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The power of nature ensures a dramatic ride on Australia’s Great Ocean Road National Landscape. The raw energy of the Southern Ocean helps create awe-inspiring rainforest and coastal environments.
Stretching from Geelong to Portland in south-western Victoria, this landscape is rich and diverse. It enjoys exquisite coastal scenery, mountains and farmland, thriving country towns, rainforests and historic relics. From the air, the Great Ocean Road looks like a giant serpent, spiralling through deep green forests and snaking its way along huge seaside cliffs.
Work on the Great Ocean Road began in 1919, when about 3,000 returned soldiers from WW1 used picks, crowbars and shovels to hew the road from solid rock. Their achievement became a memorial to those lost in the war.
Early motorists risked life and limb on the Great Ocean Road. Many cars at that time weren’t suitable for the drive, and were swapped for horses or horse-drawn carriages. The journey now is smooth and exhilarating.
The route begins in the seaside town of Torquay, considered Australia’s surfing capital because of the perfect swells at Bells Beach.
Anglesea is the next major town after Torquay. Its golf course is home to hundreds of wild kangaroos and wallabies who graze on the fairways, oblivious to the golfers.
People lucky enough to live at Lorne, an especially beautiful town on the Great Ocean Road, enjoy many picturesque views. In the 1890s Victoria’s government declared Lorne a place of natural beauty and special significance – the first in Australia to receive such an accolade.
The rich rainforest of the Great Otway National Park fill the valleys behind Lorne. The best way to get to the heart of this region’s natural beauty is to walk. There are more than 100 kilometres of tracks within the park, many following old tramways that were built when the forest was logged. Others were built in the late 1800s, making them some of the oldest tourism developments in Victoria.
The enchanting village of Apollo Bay is a paradise by the sea. Every water sport under the sun can be enjoyed here, and the bushwalking and mountain-biking are spectacular.
Drive deep into the Otway Ranges to the Great Otway National Park to discover an oasis of fern gullies, giant rainforest trees and abundant native wildlife. Wallabies, koalas and echidnas live in the Otway Ranges and you may be lucky enough to spot an elusive platypus in a forest streams. In winter, rain-swollen streams create spectacular cascading waterfalls.
Lighthouses are dotted all along the Great Ocean Road, visible reminders that this wild coastline, known as Australia’s Shipwreck Coast. In the 19th century it claimed many lives and ships.
Just before Port Campbell is one of the star attractions of the Great Ocean Road: the Twelve Apostles, dramatically rising out of the sea. These colossal limestone towers are more than 20 million years old. Great views of these amazing rock formations can be enjoyed throughout the day, but the colours at sunrise and sunset are particularly impressive.
Whales and shipwrecks define the history of the Portland coast.It is here that rare Southern Right Whales come to breed, so named by early whalers because their slow speed made them the ‘right’ whales to catch. These magnificent creatures come to feed within a few kilometres of the coast.
It’s possible to visit the Great Ocean Road as a day trip from Melbourne, but a better experience by far is had by those who take time to savour the landscapes, communities, habitats and wildlife along the way.
On the Great Ocean Road, the drama and beauty of nature unfolds around every corner. This is a landscape that captivates, inspires and invigorates.
Things to see and do
- Take a helicopter flight for a bird’s eye view of the Great Ocean Road and its spectacular surrounds.
- Visit Bells Beach, an icon of Australia’s surfing culture for more than half a century. Learn to surf at a local surfing school.
- Enjoy a bushwalk one of the many tracks within the Great Otway National Park.
- Enjoy coffee or a meal at one of Lorne’s cosmopolitan cafes or restaurants. Sample a cold beer at the pub in Apollo Bay while you watch the fishing fleet unload its catch.
- Drive to Teddy’s Lookout near Lorne for spectacular cliff top views of the Great Ocean Road.
Visit the waterfalls at Lorne, the Otways and Apollo Bay.
- Drop into one of the many lighthouses for a glimpse into history and commanding views of the coastline. Tours are run at lighthouses in Aireys Inlet and Cape Otway.
- Cruise or kayak past the seal colony at Apollo Bay.
- Learn some history and folklore of the Gunditjmara people.
- Look out for Southern Right Whales from the Logan’s Beach viewing area at Warrnambool. Whale-watching season is between June and October.
- Paddle with a platypus at Lake Elizabeth in the Great Otway National Park. Look out for swamp wallabies, koalas and grey kangaroos.
- Get up close to the Twelve Apostles from one of the many viewing platforms on the cliff tops.
- Fish for trout in mountain streams; try your luck with surf fishing, estuarine fishing, ocean fishing, or lake fishing. The coastal town of Nelson is a popular choice.
- Take a hike along the Great Ocean Walk from Apollo Bay to Glenample Homestead, near the Twelve Apostles.
- Enjoy the seals tour at Cape Bridgewater.
- Enjoy the Heritage Walk at Port Fairy. Discover dozens of historic buildings – many classified by the National Trust.
Suggested itinerary
- The Great Ocean Road starts at Torquay and winds its way along the coast for 240 kilometres to Portland in south-western Victoria.
- The Great Ocean Road curls its way around some of Australia’s most stunning coastline, through the towns of Anglesea, Aireys Inlet and Fairhaven, to the seaside resort of Lorne.
- The Otway Ranges rainforest begins in the valleys behind Lorne. Visit the Great Otway National Park and enjoy a walk on one of the many sign-posted tracks. From Lorne, the Great Ocean Road twists and turns towards Apollo Bay, the gateway to the Otway National Park.
- The magnificent Twelve Apostles can be easily seen from boardwalks and viewing platforms at the entrance to the Port Campbell National Park. Other striking features in the area include the Loch Ard Gorge and the Blowhole.
- Enjoy the historic towns of Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland. These coastal villages offer a taste of seafaring life, with their fishing wharves, beautifully preserved colonial buildings and maritime museums recounting the stories of ships that have foundered off the rugged shipwreck coast.