TBJ Travels Melbourne 5: The Great Ocean Road with KKDay! + Travel Itinerary + Travel Guide

For our fifth day in Melbourne, let's get out of the city again and to one of the most visited locations near it: The Great Ocean Road.

Just 3 hours away from Melbourne is the area of The Great Ocean Road at Port Campbell, a long stretch of sea and shore adorned with gigantic cliffs.

I booked this tour with KKDay, like my Yarra Valley tour. I booked the Great Ocean Road + National Park experience because I've always wanted to visit the Twelve Apostles, a natural landmark that I've only been seeing in books and been meaning to see ever since I was young! This is the tour that I'm super excited about because it's pretty much a dream come true!

The Great Ocean Road is a series of natural wonders and sceneries lining the pristine coastline of the south of Australia; it's so long and vast that there it will take you about 5 or 6 days to explore the entire coastline. With KKDay, our itinerary only included the top sights at GOR namely Loch Ard Gorge and Twelve Apostles.

The tour was once again made with Go West Tours. A week before our trip, we were informed that there were stopovers that we must skip due to roadworks; I believe part of it was the area of the eucalyptus trees where we could've seen Koalas in the wild (it's one of their natural habitats). Bummer, but I appreciated the gesture so much; it helped manage my expectation.

We made a stopover at Geelong after 1.5 hours of travel for some morning tea before traveling for another 1.5 hours to Port Campbell, one of the jump- off points for the Great Ocean Road tours.

And we are here! The Great Ocean Road is a national heritage site; the actual road stretches for 244kms long and was built by returned soldiers between 1919 to 1932.

The first area we visited is called the Archway; before, there was a bridge between the rocks and tourists could crossover. In the 90's, just when a couple of tourists have successfully crossed to the farther portion of the archway, the bridge collapsed leaving the tourists stunned and trapped. A helicopter came by to rescue the trapped tourists. Since then, extra safety measures have been enforced and tourists are now prohibited from going near the cliffs and from straying off designated pathways.

The coastline is lined with limestone cliffs. They're continually being shaped by the harsh sea and wind, which is why the coastline is continually being pushed upwards since millions of years ago!

Loch Ard Gorge. This area has a pretty interesting tale. A rich family from Ireland travel all the way from Europe to Melbourne to settle. Just when they're about to reach the shore, their boat hit a sharp, massive rock, which wrecked their ship. There were only two survivors: Tom Pearce, one of the crew members of the ship and Eva Carmichael, one of the children of the family. Tom swam to shore for safety and after a while, he heard some screams in the water and saw Eva trying to stay afloat. Tom rushed back to the water and saved Eva and brought her to this area:

Yes, this is the exact area where Tom and Eva ended up and stayed for a few days before rescue came. You can descend to the beach at Loch Ard Gorge; it's so fascinating down there, I tell you: majestic cliffs and gigantic waves crashing onto each other; what a sight to behold! it made me realize the world is indeed far more amazing than I imagined!

OMG! We're here! Last destination is the Twelve Apostles, the most recognizable location at the Great Ocean Road. Actually, there are about 9 apostles. They just called it 12 because who knows? It might be 12 someday. Sadly, one apostle was lost in the 90s as it crumbled onto the sea and yielded to the powerful forces of nature. But as I said, the coastline is continually being shaped by the sea and wind, and there might be 12 someday or maybe we'll lose one again.

After GRO, we paid the National Park a quick visit to cap off the day.

What a perfect ender to my tours in Melbourne! The Great Ocean Road is a must- visit if you want to see one of the most spectacular natural sites in the world. Being here just makes me feel so happy and full of hope because the area is well- kept and preserved; the experience made me realize that there's still a part of nature that's thriving that's why we should continue the fight in saving it!