Day 5 : The Great Ocean Road

We spent the whole day in the bus that day. The roads were winding, and the movements of the bus made many of us sick. Many times during the journey, I felt like I was going to throw up.

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage.The highlight of the journey was of course, the Twelve Apostles, a series of limestone rock formations. But it was going to take a long time to reach there. So we set off from Federation Square at 8.00 a.m. The first stop was Anglesea.

Anglesea

We stopped at the small town centre. There were a few cafes and a supermarket, where we could grab coffee and a quick bite. I bought some chocolates at the supermarket. ;p

This was followed by a few other stops :- 

Urquhart Bluff

View from Urquhart Bluff

And followed by the Memorial Arch.

The Memorial Arch Information Plaque

Memorial Arch
Great Ocean Road was built by soldiers who returned from World War One. The entire road is a memorial, in fact, and it symbolises the sacrifice made by many during the war.

 
A tribute to the returning soldiers who built The Great Ocean Road

We reached Apollo Bay at about noon. Apollo Bay is a coastal town. Here we stopped for lunch. There were many eateries, and we decided to have our meal at George's Food Court. My friends chose to have fish and chips.

Fish & chips, AUD$9.00

 

Fish and chips

I did not think that I could stomach something greasy for fear that I would throw up in the bus later on. I merely nibbled on some chips. Instead, I chose to have an ice-cream

 

Streets Magnum Classic, AUD$4.00

Sweet and rich and milky. Totally decadent and I enjoyed the ice-cream lots!

After lunch, we continued our journey. Really, after lunch, I felt really nauseous, and thank goodness, PW gave me a pill which helped alleviated motion sickness. Otherwise, I would have been the only passenger in the bus who vomited!

Yeah, we had finally reached the Twelve Apostles.

The signboard

We had to walk along the boardwalk to the viewing platform.

There .... the limestone stacks formed by erosion. We were told that there were never twelve rocks, in the first place. But over time, they got eroded and fell. There are only 8 rocks standing at the moment. I enjoyed the spectacular view from here, but it was very windy and very cold at the time.

The other side of the viewing platform. We could walk till the very far end.

The next top was the Loch Ard Gorge. It was named after a ship, Loch Ard, which was wrecked nearby. Out of 54 passengers and crew, there were only 2 survivors.

Loch Ard Gorge

While we were walking, I snapped this photo of the vegetation at the surrounding area.

I thought it looked nice ;p

The final scenic stop was the London Bridge. This was situated near Port Campbell, and so named because it looked like its namesake in the UK.

London Bridge

We made a final stop at Port Campbell before making our way back to Melbourne.

Really, if I had time to spare, I would be taking a leisurely drive out here and stopping overnight at perhaps one of the many lodging houses available here. Then, I'd spend more time enjoying the view at the Twelve Apostles. Hmn, the tour was convenient. Just pay and go, but then, it was a real bore sitting in the bus for the entire day.