Great Ocean Road

When we first arrived in Australia we asked around about places worth visiting and several people recommended we drive along the Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately, our girls get carsick so we weren't sure that a long windy drive would work for us no matter how scenic it was. But then we read more and it truly looked spectacular. So we decided to attempt it this weekend while we had extra hands and an extra incentive for it to go well. 

We rented a minivan, loaded up on Dramamine (thank you Nina and Grampi for bringing extra from the US) and hit the road. The girls started out thrilled. We made our first stop in the beachy town of Torquay. We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast outside and watched the lovely morning light.

From there we drove the short distance on to Bells Beach. We were lucky enough to get there to see part of the Rip Curl Pro international surf competition. We saw some amazing match-ups between the elite women. We have seen a lot of amateur surfing around Sydney so it was amazing to see the pros show their stuff. It felt like a quintessentially Aussie experience.

After Bells we drove by Anglesea to look for wild kangaroos that we heard could be seen along the golf course. We hear they are most active in the morning and evening. We got there late morning and thought for a minute we had missed them entirely but then we caught sight of five or six. At this point the girls started to realize we would be in the car all day and the serious whining began. Tess ultimately got sick and I really felt terrible for her but surprisingly they pulled it back together and ended the day nicely.

The drive winds along the mountainsides through a wonderfully varied coastal landscape. 

We heard that there were opportunities to see koalas in the wild. To our delight we found them just where we were told to look. It helps that they sleep so much of the day so once they find a spot they tend to stay put. The girls weren't great about smiling for the photo but I know I was jumping up and down with excitement. It felt like an Aussie Full Pull to see wild kangaroos and wild koalas on the same day that we saw pro surfing. We were even bold enough to try our first meat flavored potato chips (chicken). They actually weren't bad.

Clearly we aren't the only foreign tourists to make this trip. With the narrowness of the road and all the many on and offs to stop for photo taking they post these signs as reminders. 

We stopped just short of Apollo Bay - not even half way down the road but long enough for us to feel like we had gotten a good taste of it. We got out, walked down to the beach and let the girls play in the sand for a bit. The waves kept rolling and crashing and I swear I could have watched and listened to them for hours. 

From there we headed inland to work our way home through the Great Otway National Park. I had no expectations for this part of the trip so I was thrilled to find some gorgeous mountain views along the way. We also drove through a rainforest area thick with mossy trees and giant ferns. It was a whirlwind of a day but incredibly memorable.

We even got one of my favorite family photos of the trip.