Amazing Australia Day 6: Great Ocean Road Day Trip
That has been a really long hiatus & I am back to finish the last 3 posts for this series - been on my mind since ever.
Next up on the 8 Days Trip to Australia series: Day 6 - A day trip to the Great Ocean Road! Actually, I had been on the very same road trip one year prior to this one. Just a slightly different season & in the reverse direction.
Day 6 - 31 August 2017, Thursday
Overall itinerary of our sixth day
0700 - 0735 : Set off to pick-up point at Holiday Inn Melbourne
0735 - 2100 : Day trip to the Great Ocean Road
2100 onwards : Go back to Airbnb venue to rest
Basically, we spent the whole day on this day trip which brought us to the following attractions: Memorial Arch, Great Ocean Road, Kennett River, Maits Rest Rainforest, 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge / Gibsons Steps. Light breakfast snacks & lunch were also included in the day trip package we got from Sightseeing Tours Australia for AU$105/pax.
Time for some images of the places we visited throughout this tour, the visuals are just... great! Pictures are worth a thousand words afterall. The trip to the 1st stop, Memorial Arch took quite a while but the sceneries along the way were worth it! The sky was so blue and the weather was perfect on that day.
We made a stop along the way for some morning snacks (tea, coffee with biscuits) & there was a lake nearby. I could not remember what the name of the lake was but I do remember it being really cold.
After another bus ride, we finally reached the Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch. Apparently, it is built as a tribute to the World War One servicemen who built the Great Ocean Road & it has been rebuilt a few times as well. That being said, it still looks great and it was so difficult trying to get a photo taken with the arch without getting photobombed by other tourists, haha. The photo below was taken on my first trip (the second one was just filled with loads of people).
We then went for an early lunch at ILUKA restaurant along Apollo Bay which caters specifically to those people who are visiting the Great Ocean Road area. Since there are 3 of us, we ordered a different dish each to get a greater variety: Roast Chicken, Fried Gummy Fish (the frying oil was probably been used for awhile, the fish was really 'dark') and Marinated Lamb Wrap. Overall, the food was okay for a quick, okay-ish meal to fill up our stomachs.
Anyway, there is always space for desserts! After lunch, we went next door for Dooley's Premium Ice-cream. They have won quite a number of awards for their ice-cream. You can see them all framed & hung up on the walls. They have some cool flavours, like liquorice & vegemite which are interesting to at least try a spoonful. We went with both fancy & 'safer' flavours: Toffee, liquorice & chocolate (this also won a few awards!).
We then ran all the way back onto the bus since we are nearing the gathering time! Speaking of which, the tour guide was a little scary. Some of the tour members were not back at the said time, and he was already closing the door and driving away while saying that he would leave them behind since they did not keep to the time. Thank goodness, the few of them quickly came running up to the bus before it really drove away. We could not imagine what could have happened then...
Next stop, we were brought to the Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, a temperate Rainforest. This reminded me so much of what we studied during our Secondary school years for Geography. Like we were getting a live lesson there. This took us about 30 minutes to walk through the whole thing. The air was refreshing, it is a great place to take a walk to relax and get some fresh air.
We hopped back onto the bus to get to 12 Apostles, the must-visit attraction for every tourist who visits Melbourne. On the way there, we made a stopover to see little kangaroos & every now and then along the way, we would spot patches of white fluffy sheeps! Cute.
Okay, back to the 12 Apostles! I shall let the pictures speak for itselves. Great scenery, nice cool breeze, just don't forget your sunglasses.
Located nearby is the Loch Ard Gorge in the Port Campbell National Park. Loch Ard Gorge is actually the site of a 19th century shipwreck 'Loch Ard'. Nearby, we also had the Gibson Steps. Now, let me finish off the post with a couple more photos for your viewing!
