Bay of Islands
The Grotto
London Bridge
The Arch
The Twelve Apostles
Loch Ard Gorge
Otway Fly
Californian Redwood Forest
Hopetoun Falls
The Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s most iconic roads to drive. Renowned for its endless winding roads and dramatically breathtaking ocean views, it brings tourists from all around the world to experience the beauty. Not only for the views, the challenging twists and turns make it entertaining for motoring enthusiasts. Construction of the road by 3,000 returned World War One servicemen, began in 1919 and finished at Lorne in 1922. The road continued construction to Apollo Bay and was announced officially completed on November 1932.
 We have driven this road to access many of our adventures whilst living in Geelong. The start of the drive welcomes you with a large Great Ocean road sign, which welcomes you with a warm up of slight bends before large cliff edges and hairpin turns. There is an endless array of natural beauties to witness along the drive like waterfalls, beaches and unique Great Otway National Park rainforest. Although congested with a lot of traffic, the views make the drive worthwhile. Our greatest distraction on the drive is the Great Ocean Road Chocolatier, not just for the chocolate, but the amazing scones, which concludes our day adventures out this way. Teddy's Lookout LorneThe lookout is a large viewing area that lets you see out over the hills, beaches and winding roads of Great Ocean Road. The amazing weather that day brought the view to life, boasting a rich variety of blue, green and sand.
We will forever enjoy our times travelled on the Great Ocean Road, it can sometimes be very busy, but we always come home fulfilled after a trip out to our Great Ocean Road and Otways destinations. It’s a pure Australian icon that everyone should experience once in their lifetime. Check out some of our Great Ocean Road and Great Otway Adventures
Two kilometres out of Lorne is a walking track that starts at the Sheoak Picnic area that takes you to a well-known Phantom Falls. Fed from the St George River, the falls are 15 metres high, which on paper would make for quite a spectacular view. Our day out began with beautiful weather and gorgeous views over the horizon of water on our drive through the Great Ocean Road. Turning off from Lorne with a couple of hills and turns brought us to the Sheoak Picnic area. We began our walk from the picnic area, our first stop was Won Wondah and Henderson Falls, when looked at hard enough you could see rocks were damp, giving indications of the dry season. Venturing on we walked through beautiful luscious green rainforest that passed through a shallow but spectacular canyon. As the Canyon disappears, the Phantom Falls sign arrives. As we see the falls in our sights there is not a drop of water, leaving a big stagnant pond with a 15-metre cliff behind it. Even with a lack of running water, you can imagine how spectacular the falls can get in the wet season. Our walk looped around and went back on to Allenvale Rd, taking us back to Sheoak Picnic Area making for a 9 kilometre walk.
It was another great day along the Otways, a solid walk in the rainforest and breathtaking views over the ocean. Phantom, Henderson and Won Wondah falls weren’t too exciting over the dry season, but we’re sure they are a different story in the wet season and the walking track is good fun regardless. As this is blog on Otways, it means it ends with…… scones at the Great Ocean Road Chocolateria.
A road can take you directly to Erskine falls, but we pulled up at the Blanket Leaf picnic area and walked the 14 kilometre return trip on the Lemonade Creek track. The track is worth the walk, spoiling us with gorgeous ferns and other thriving Otways flora. Arriving at the falls is a rewarding experience after walking the track, the water was running steady proving us with a soothing soundtrack at the bottom.
We strolled back on the same route back to the Blanket Leaf picnic area feeling more refreshed than when we started out the walk. That’s just what nature does to you. We highly recommend taking the track instead of driving to the falls, it makes for a different experience. At Blanket Leaf jumped back in Cherry and retired for the day at the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie for Scones. |
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November 2023
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