Great Ocean Road

The sights along the Great Ocean Road (GOR) are probably some of the most photographed spots in Australia so it is going to be near impossible to post any original photos for this blog. Like thousands of other Grey Nomads the GOR was on our bucket list since we started travelling. We were advised by other experienced travelers that although is was easy enough to tow a caravan along the GOR it is difficult at times due to restricted parking and the sheer volume of travelers to find a spot to park your van at the various attractions along the GOR.

Port Campbell is a nice spot

So – our plan was to leave our van at Portland and drive back up the GOR to Apollo Bay, stay the night at Port Campbell and then take leisurely drive back to Portland the next day after taking in all the sights along the way and having a night out of our caravan at a luxury hotel for a night.

Not fishing weather!

We didn’t count on gale force winds and pouring rain all the first day so after getting as far as Lavers Hill and not being able to see more than 20 meters in front of us we turned around and headed back to Port Campbell to book into our motel, warm up in the hot spa, and visit a local restaurant for dinner.

 One of many sunrise photos

Next morning we got up an hour before dawn (noting the stars were out and the rain had disappeared) to do the sunrise photo shoot of the Twelve Apostles.

Kerry! - where is my cup of tea!

There were hundreds of tourists (mainly Chinese/Japanese) doing the same thing - good to see now our Oz dollar has softened that the tourist trade has improved.

Loch Ard George - scene of a shipwreck

Well worth getting up early as we captured the morning light and took in a few attractions before breakfast.

Think this was called Bay of Islands

In the Grotto

Noting that we only did about half of the GOR this trip we still have “half a tick” to take off the bucket list next time we are back this way.  Looking forward to it!