In my previous post, I shared with you the highlights along the Great Ocean Road from Melbourne to Apollo Bay.
ICYMI:
Why You MUST Drive The Great Ocean Road – Part 1
This post is going to take us off of the rugged coastline, into the forest and back to the coast. The drive is equally as beautiful, but slightly more exciting in terms of wildlife.
Great Ocean Road Highlights
As you can see in the photo above, the landscape changes dramatically.
Start Looking for Koalas
Funny story: Our guide was telling us to start looking for koalas and I immediately said, “There’s two right there!” He couldn’t believe it for two reasons:
- Koalas are really difficult to spot.
- They never hangout in pairs unless it is a mama and baby.
Just to prove me wrong… he pulled over the car and we got out. He couldn’t believe it! There were two koalas (mama and baby) hanging out! Clearly, I was born with koala vision. Haha. Who knew?!
Koalas are seriously the cutest animal ever. I’m obsessed.
Walk Among Kangaroos
About a half hour away from Apollo Bay is the Great Ocean Ecolodge.
The tour company we used has an exclusive relationship with the Great Ocean Ecolodge. This allowed us access to their grounds to walk among the kangaroos on their property as well as spot more koalas. If you are driving yourself, you might consider staying the night at the Ecolodge!
Hike in Melba Gully
About 35 minutes away from the Great Ocean Ecolodge is Melba Gully.
There is a quick 20 minute hike that is totally worth doing.
Visit the Twelve Apostles
Driving one more hour along this beautiful coast leads to the incredible Twelve Apostles.
You’ve probably heard or seen pictures of the Twelve Apostles as it is the biggest attraction along the Great Ocean Road. They are giant stacks of limestone that rise out of the ocean. There are only eight left standing.
Loch Ard Gorge
Loch Ard Gorge is right by the Twelve Apostles. You can walk down and hangout on the beach. Some people enjoy a bottle of wine and a nice picnic. It’s so gorgeous.
That pretty much concludes our Great Ocean Road experience, however the road doesn’t end here. It keeps going and going. You could actually spend a few days driving it! We turned around and drove the quickest route back to Melbourne, which was about 3 hours.
Phew! That was a lot of information to share, but I hope you enjoyed all the photos!
XO, Lauren
Haha love that you have Koala Vision!!! This tour looked amazing! Also couldn’t believe how big those legs were coming out of the pouch!
Seriously!!! What if you had to stick Reece back inside of you?! 😂
Great shots! The Kangaroo photos are amazing! I recently visited the GOR for the first time, but I didn’t get to do any hiking through the national park area – looks like I’ll have to go back! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you! You’ll definitely have to go back. 😀