[Travelogue] Melbourne: Day 3 | Great Ocean Road Day Tour | sillyandordinarygirl
By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - April 01, 2019
Hi, so the third day of our Melbourne trip was specially reserved for the Great Ocean Road Day Tour. We started off very early in the morning as we had to be at the St Paul's Cathedral before 7.30 a.m, waiting for the tour bus to pick us up. At around 6 something, we had arrived at the Flinders Street area and had some breakfast at the McCafe there to kick start the day and warm up our tummy in the cold morning. I should say that the McCafe in Melbourne was really cool, it had this big screen where you could make your order, and once you're done, you just needed to wait for the call, made the payment and your orders would be ready for you. So cool! No long queue like we often have in the McDonald's here -.-
And, our journey began...
The tour guide/driver was really kind to make a stop in an area (I don't really know where), somewhere a bit outside Melbourne, at this some kind of private garden or something, to show us the wild kangaroos. *yeaaaay* only they're quite far away, but hey, I spotted them!
And we made another stop at the Skinny Legs Cafe in Aireys Inlet Reserve for morning tea or brewed coffee, before we started the long trip along the great ocean.
the 34-meter Split Point Lighthouse
Oh, hello, Mr. Koala..? Welcome aboard!
The Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch - the starting point of the route
The Great Ocean Road is the world's largest war memorial, built by World War I returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to the fallen soldiers in the war. This 243-kilometer stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia starts at Torquay and continues westwards until Allansford near Warrnambool.
The Great Ocean Road provides access to some of Victoria's famous landmarks, like Cape Otway, Shipwreck Coast, Teddy's Lookout, and travels across rainforests, beaches, cliffs of natural limestone and sandstone rock formations, such Loch Ard Gorge, the Grotto, London Arch, and the most famous the Twelve Apostles.
Our day tour didn't take us to all of these places, in fact we didn't travel all the way to the end of the Great Ocean Road (which we were completely aware of). It is said that, indeed, it is impossible to visit all the places along the road in one day, so if you're planning to join a complete tour, you can check maybe the 2-day/3-day ones and make sure to read the itinerary carefully. Oh, and don't forget, to check whether they provide lunch or not.
Can you see the koala sleeping on the branch?
I'm sorry, I'm liking the blue sky a bit too much >o<
Oh, I found another one!
Oh, hi, Mr. Koala, I didn't see you climbing...?
Love this green park across the restaurant!
From the Apollo Bay, the next stop we made was at the Otway Rainforest...
to Port Campbell National Park
The Gibson Steps
Loch Ard Gorge
The gorge is named after an English sailing ship Loch Ard, which was wrecked on nearby Muttonbird Island on 1 June 1878 at the end of a three-month journey from England to Melbourne. Of all 54 passengers and crews, only two teenagers survived: Tom Pearce, 19, a ship's apprentice, and Eva Carmichael, an Irishwoman emigrating with her family, at 19 years of age also.
"According to the memorials at the site, Pearce was washed ashore, and rescued Carmichael from the water after hearing her cries for help." - wikipedia : Loch Ard Gorge
It is said that these two stones belonged to one rock formation before, but the arch collapsed in 2009, making it into two unconnected stone pillars. And they have since been officially named Tom and Eva after the two teenage survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck.
The Twelve Apostles
is a collection of off-shore limestone rock formations that were formed by erosion. There used to be eight of them, but one collapsed in July 2005, and only seven remains for now. Despite the name, there are never really twelve limestone stacks from the beginning. They were originally known as the Pinnacles, and the Sow and Pigs, but the name Twelve Apostles was eventually made official and continued to be used in the tourism industry.
It was quite crowded when we got there, and since the sun was setting, it was hard to take pictures with us in it. So, if you're the type to want to take a lot of pictures of yourselves with the rocks, then you might consider taking the Reverse Tour, as they start their road trip by visiting the Twelve Apostles in the morning, when there's not a lot of people showing up yet.
(sorry, I just can't get enough of the sunset photos :))
Oh, for information regarding our one-day Great Ocean Road tour:
https://www.viator.com/tours/Melbourne/Boutique-Great-Ocean-Road-One-Day-Experience/d384-20852P1
Back in the town, dropped by the tour guide on the Flinders Street, we had an impromptu dinner in Kass Kass in the CBD area, to have our craving of Korean Fried Chicken satisfied, (as if the Nene Chicken the day before was not enough XD) and had a scrumptious Korean meal before heading back to our hotel in Parkville.
490 Flinders Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: +61 3 9077 1807
How was the trip so far?
Enjoying it?
See you again,
:)
