Trip Overview and itinerary - 5 days in Melbourne city and a 7-days Road Trip to Phillip Island, Dandenong, Grampians and Great Ocean Road

My family had visited Australia many times when the children were younger. Places and cities we visited include Perth, Albany, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas and the Daintree Rainforest, Fraser Island, Daydream Island and Atherton Tablelands with fishing at Lake Tinaroo. These were places we visited before I started this travel blog.

But we have missed out Melbourne, one of the world’s most liveable city!

Lured by what we saw in the MasterChef Australia TV show, we planned a 12-days trip to Melbourne in May (late autumn) 2019.

After 5 days at Melbourne seeing the sights and savouring the food, we embarked on a road trip from Melbourne to Phillip Island, Dandenong Ranges National Park, Grampians National Park and ending with 3 days along the scenic Great Ocean Road before heading to the airport for our flight home.

The Great Ocean Road, one of the world's most scenic coastal drives, extends over 200 km between Torquay and Allansford near Warrnambool.

We chose to drive the Great Ocean Road starting from Warrnambool and proceed down south and east towards Torquay, with overnight stays in Port Campbell and Lorne before heading to the Melbourne International Airport on the 3rd day for our flight home.

By going the reverse direction from Warrnambool to Torquay, we succeeded in avoiding the bus tours at the popular attractions along the route.

This is the overview of our trip:

Day 1 (6 May 2019)  – Arrival Day in Melbourne City

We flew from home to Melbourne Airport via Qantas arriving in the early morning and took the Skybus to Southern Cross Station. Our “home” for the next 5 nights was an Airbnb studio apartment, located right across the Southern Cross Station, along Spencer Street.

We did a walking tour of Melbourne, checking out places like Federation Square, Yarra River and the Southbank, Saint Paul Cathedral and the street art at Hosier Lane and AC/Dc Lane.

Melbourne is well known for the street art.

We also checked out the Melbourne food scene with brunch at Hardware Société, ate gelato at Pidapipó Gelateria and fusion food at Rice Paper Scissors.

Trip report: Exploring Melbourne – Southbank, Federation Square, Hosier Lane and yummy delights.

Day 2 (7 May 2019)  –  Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

A sunny day was forecasted for our second day in Melbourne. This was ideal weather for a visit to Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria located next to it.

Trip Report: Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance

Trip Report: A walk through Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Day 3 (8 May 2019)  – South Melbourne Market, Brighton Beach and St Kilda Beach

We spent the morning enjoying the food at South Melbourne Market.

This market is a lively indoor market with stalls for local produce, meat and seafood. Most important for us, there are cafes serving local and global fare.

Must try:  freshly shucked oysters and the freshly baked croissants.

Brighton Beach

First time visitors to Melbourne should include a visit to Brighton Beach to see the iconic and colourful wooden beach huts, or “bathing boxes” lining the beach. Not commonly seen in other countries, the colourful boxes make quite nice travel photos.

Wild fairy penguins could be observed after sunset at the breakwater in St Kilda Pier.

We ended the day at St Kilda Beach and saw the cute little fairy penguins at the pier.

Trip Report: Morning at the South Melbourne Market.

Trip Report: Brighton Beach Bathing Boxes and penguins at St Kilda Beach.

Day 4 (9 May 2019)  – Yarra Valley 

We did a day trip to Yarra Valley, Victoria's oldest wine region dating back to 1838. The Yarra Valley is about a one-hour drive north-east of Melbourne. There is no public transport to the Yarra Valley, so the best way to get there is on an organised tour or by self-drive car.

We decided to join a wine tour to Yarra Valley since we wanted to do wine tasting at the vineyards.

Trip Report: Wine tasting at Yarra Valley with a wine tour.

Day 5 (10 May 2019)  –  Queen Victoria Market, shopping malls, arcades in the Melbourne CBD area and also the State Library Victoria

A rainy day was forecasted. We visited the more famous and larger Queen Victoria Market (QVM) with plenty of yummy food stalls in the morning. 

Must try: Steamed mussels and the freshly baked doughnuts from a food-truck.

State Library Victoria.

We spent the afternoon exploring the shopping malls, arcades in the Melbourne CBD area and also the State Library Victoria.

Note: QVM is closed on Monday and Wednesday. On Friday, many shops in the CBD and suburban shopping centres remain open until 9:00 PM.

Trip report: Morning at Queen Victoria Market.

Trip report: Exploring Melbourne on a Rainy Day – Shopping malls, Arcades and the State Library Victoria.

Day 6 (11 May 2019)  –  Road trip to Phillip Island

This was the start of our 7-day road trip to visit Phillip Island, Dandenong Ranges, Grampians National Park and the Great Ocean Road.

We collected our rental car from Avis at the Southern Cross Station.

Daily pelican feeding at San Remo.

We drove to San Remo (2 hours journey) to see the pelican feeding that takes place on the beach next to the San Remo pier daily at noon.

Hiking at Cape Woolamai, Phillip Island.

Thereafter, we did a 4 km hike to the Pinnacles Lookout at Cape Woolamai on Phillip Island, followed by an easy walk at the Nobbies Boardwalk before ending the day at Cowes.

We skipped the famous Phillip Island Penguin Parade!

Where we stayed:

We stayed at the Seahorse Motel, a clean and well maintained motel located in Cowes, Phillip Island.

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 1 – Phillip Island

Day 7 (12 May 2019)  –  Road trip to Dandenong Ranges

Day 2 of road trip started with an easy 120 km drive to the Dandenong Range National Park from Phillip Island.

Interesting clay figures in the forest at William Ricketts Sanctuary, Dandenong Ranges.

We had tea at the famous Miss Maple’s Tearoom in Sassafras, visited William Ricketts Sanctuary and Dandenong Ranges Botanical Garden at Olinda.

Autumn foliage at Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden.

Where we stayed:

Nightcap at Ferntree Gully Hotel Motel, located along Burwood Highway, is a 2-minutes drive from the Dandenong Ranges National Park. This is a convenient place for an overnight stay for visitors to the park. There are eateries onsite and within 5-minutes drive from the hotel.

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 2 – Dandenong Range National Park.

Day 8 (13 May 2019)  –  Road trip to  Grampians National Park with visits to Mackenzie Falls, Reeds Lookout, The Balconies and Boroka Lookout

Renowned for rugged mountain ranges, rich cultural heritage and breath-taking views, the Grampians National Park is one of Victoria's most popular destinations. We planned to spend 2 days at the National Park to do some hiking and be close to nature.

The drive from Dandenong to Grampians took about 4 hours, excluding a stopover for lunch and some shopping at Ballarat.

We arrived at Halls Gap, the village located in the heart of Grampians National Park, at about 2 PM.

View from one of the lookout points in Grampians.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the sights in Grampians:

• Mackenzie Falls
• Reeds Lookout
• The Balconies
• Boroka Lookout.
  

Where we stayed:

The best place to stay when visiting the Grampians National Park is at Halls Gap, the village at heart of the park. We stayed at the Kookaburra Motor Lodge.

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 3 – Grampians National Park with visits to Mackenzie Falls, Reeds Lookout, The Balconies and Boroka Lookout.

Day 9 (14 May 2019)  –  Hike to The Pinnacle in the Grampians

The Pinnacle at Grampians.

We hiked to The Pinnacle from the Wonderland car park on our second day in the park. The Pinnacle at Grampians is one of the most spectacular vantage points in the Grampians National Park.

The hike took about 3 hours, covered a distance of 4 km return.

Plenty of kangaroos at Halls Gap.

We spent the afternoon strolling around the village of Halls Gap. Halls Gap is a quiet place during the weekday afternoon in May.

There were quite a lot of wildlife to be seen and photographed. This included a field full of kangaroos, emus, deer and lots of birds.

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 4 – Hike to The Pinnacle in the Grampians.

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 4 – Free and easy in Halls Gap.

Day 10 (15 May 2019)  –  Driving the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell

Leaving Halls Gap after breakfast, we arrived at Warrnambool for early lunch before seeing the sights along the Great Ocean Road around Port Campbell.

Bay of Islands, along Great Ocean Road.

Places visited are

• Bay of Islands
• The Grotto
• The Arch
• The London Bridge
• 12 Apostles.
  

Where we stayed: 

Port Campbell is a small coastal town along the Great Ocean Road. It is an excellent location to explore the nearby attractions along the Great Ocean Road, namely Bay of Islands, Grotto, The Arch, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, Tom and Eva Lookout, 12 Apostles and Gibson Steps. We stayed at Port Campbell Motor Inn.

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 5 – Driving the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell.

Day 11 (16 May 2019)  –  Driving the Great Ocean Road from Port Campbell to Lorne

The famous Twelve Apostles, along Great Ocean Road.

On the second day of our drive along the Great Ocean Road, we visited:

• Loch Ard Gorge
• 12 Apostles
• Gibson Steps
• Otway Lighthouse
• Apollo Bay
• Kennett River

We spent the night at Lorne.

Besides awesome seascape and landscape along the scenic drive, see wild koalas and birds at Kennett River.

Wild koalas spotted at Kennett River.

Where we stayed:

We stayed at the Chatby Lane Lorne. This luxurious condo hotel offers studio rooms with a spa bath. We even had cockatoos visiting us at the terrace in front of our room.

Trip report: Driving the Great Ocean Road from Port Campbell to Lorne.

Day 12 (17 May 2019)  –  Driving the Great Ocean Road from Lorne to Torquay

This would be the 3rd day of our road trip along the Great Ocean Road. It was also our last day touring Melbourne and the surrounding attractions.

We had to be at the airport by 2.15 PM to return our rental car, do the flight check-in and have lunch. We had the whole morning to complete our Great Ocean Road drive from Lorne to Torquay before heading to the airport, about 1.5 hour driving time from Torquay.

View from Teddy’s Lookout.

We visited:

• Teddy’s Lookout
• Memorial Arch
• Split Point Lighthouse
• Bells Beach.
  

Trip report: Melbourne Road Trip Day 7 – Driving the Great Ocean Road from Lorne to Torquay.

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Melbourne Road Trip Day 5 – Driving the Great Ocean Road near Port Campbell

15 May 2019

The Great Ocean Road, one of the world's most scenic coastal drives, extends over 200 km between Torquay and Allansford near Warrnambool.

Many visitors to Melbourne visit the Great Ocean Road as a very hectic day trip with one of the many bus tour companies. I think the best way to appreciate the Great Ocean Road is to do a multi-day self-drive road trip and go at our own pace.

There are many itineraries for a self-drive road trip. We chose to do a 2 to 3 days road trip starting from Warrnambool and proceed down south and east towards Torquay, with overnight stays in Port Campbell and Lorne before heading to the Melbourne International Airport on the 3rd day for our flight home.

Getting to the Great Ocean Road

After 2 nights stay in Grampians National Park, we drove southwards towards Warrnambool via Dunkeld and Penhurst. 

The day started with a cool and misty morning in Halls Gap, the village centre in the Grampians where we stayed. 

Misty morning at Halls Gap, where we stayed in the Grampians National Park.

View from our bedroom in the morning.

We had breakfast in our room. While enjoying the peace and serenity of the Grampians, I was also thinking about the drive ahead from the rocky mountains to the blue ocean. It would mostly be on scenic country roads and passing through forests, farms, small towns and villages.

We enjoyed clear weather once we left the valley in the Grampians and drove along the C216 towards Dunkeld. It was a scenic and enjoyable drive through the C216 to Dunkeld and C178 all the way to A1 highway that runs parallel to the southern coast.

Lunch at Warrnambool

It started to rain slightly as we approached Warrnambool along the A1. Warrnambool would be our rest and lunch stop before hitting the Great Ocean Road. We figured there would be more options and eateries in a large town like Warrnambool than along the Great Ocean Road.

The first place to that we picked for our lunch, a pizza place called Standard Dave Pizza, was not opened. We went to an Italian Restaurant called the Bottega Toscana Italian Pizza and Pasta instead.

This restaurant serves authentic Italian food. We were their first customer for the day and we were told that we had to wait for about 20 minutes while the owner/chef starts up the oven for the pizza. 

We ordered a pizza and a pasta dish. The regular sized pizza and small pasta was just right for 2 persons to share.

The garlic prawn pizza is northern Italy style with thin crust. The cheese and fresh rocket salad were added after the pizza was cooked.

Pork belly cooked in peas, cream and own-made Tagliatelle pasta. This dish tasted better than it looked.

I almost got fined for unpaid parking in Warrnambool, the largest city along the road. After a few days of free parking in Phillip Island, Dandenong and Grampians, I forgot that parking along the city streets in Warrnambool is not free. It was halfway through my meal when I noticed the parking meter outside the restaurant. I stopped feeding myself and rushed out to feed the parking meter instead.

The friendly owner of the Bottega chatted with us and recommended that we go to Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve where koalas are often spotted. After checking the time and distance, we decided to give Tower Hill a miss since it was not on the way to Port Campbell.

Once lunch was done, it was time to hit the Great Ocean Road. There are several attractions along the Great Ocean Road that we planned to see before staying the night at Port Campbell. They are:

• The Bay of Islands
• The Grotto
• The London Bridge
• The Arch
• The 12 Apostles

The Bay of Islands

Our first stop along the Great Ocean Road was the Bay of Islands, near Peterborough. Arriving at about 1 PM, there were few other tourists at this place. In fact, most bus tour groups would not come to this site.

There are a few viewing platforms at the Bay of Islands Coastal Park giving us different perspectives of the islands in the bay.

The sun peeped from behind the clouds just as we were at the viewing platforms. The views of the red and beige sandstone coloured islands and rock stacks in the blue water bay were impressive. A rainbow could be seen in the horizon. A sign that some rain was imminent.







I have only seen pictures of the 12 Apostles but I think this place more than matches the more famous 12 Apostles in terms of beauty and awe. In addition, there were no busloads of tourists to be seen.

The Grotto

Continuing eastwards along the B100 or better known as the Great Ocean Road for another 10 km, we arrived at the Grotto’s car park. 

Donning our weather proof jackets, we braved the light rain to walk to the Grotto.

An information board explained how the grotto was formed by erosion from the coast and from inland and not due to the ocean waves. The cliffs in this part of the coast were mostly limestone. Weak acidic water dissolved the limestone over millions of years to form a sinkhole and then eventually a grotto or cave.

A wooden boardwalk ran parallel to the coast and then downwards into the sinkhole.

Boardwalk leading down to the Grotto.

Another sinkhole and crashing waves outside the Grotto.

The rain god blessed us by stopping the rain as we arrived at the Grotto. We were the only persons at the Grotto. 

Part archway, part cave. The Grotto is a surprisingly peaceful little hideaway despite the crashing waves on the sea-cliffs outside.

It was amazing how this place felt so peaceful and isolated while the ocean waves were crashing on the rocks just a few hundred meters away.

London Bridge

London Bridge has fallen down!

What used to be a headland with double arches is now an island with a single arch when the main arch collapsed suddenly in 1990. A reminder that the cliffs along this coast are unstable due to erosion and constant battering by the sea and weather.

We read that no one was killed or hurt when the arch collapsed. However, a couple was trapped in the newly formed island. They were successfully rescued by helicopter.

Viewing platforms to observe the waves and beautiful seascape. A nice place to sit and relax.

The Arch

The Arch is a naturally sculptured piece of rock that stood at 8 metres high. It is a matter of time before the wave action erodes the rock further and makes it crash into the ocean.

The Arch - an attraction along the Great Ocean Road.

A short track from the car park leads to the viewing platform where we could see waves pounding the rocks below.

This was the last attraction we saw before driving to Port Campbell. We did not stop at Port Campbell as we wanted to see the 12 Apostles in the hours before sun set.  

The 12 Apostles

The 12 Apostles is one of the most famous attractions along this stretch of the Great Ocean Road. Only 8 of the rock stacks remained standing, four have fallen since their discovery.

Compared to the other attractions, this place was full of people. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful place to visit, especially during the hours before sunset.

The sun was playing hide and seek behind the low clouds. Although the ever changing lighting condition was a challenge for photography, it also provided some nice opportunities.

The sun showed its face momentarily to light up the surf hitting the beach below.

A boardwalk offers a scenic walk to a large promontory called the Castle Rock. Castle Rock is one of several seaside formations within the Twelve Apostles Marine National Park. A viewing platform on Castle Rock offers an extremely beautiful view of the coastline eastwards.

Along the coastal boardwalk in the 12 Apostles National Park.

The misty spray from the ocean backlit by the low sun was quite nice.

Castle Rock. One of several seaside formations within the Twelve Apostles Marine National Park with a viewing platform. Look at the number of people on the boardwalk!

View of the coastline along the Great Ocean Road from Castle Rock in the 12 Apostles Marine National Park.

The 12 Apostles was the last attraction we visited on our first day along the Great Ocean Road. There was no point waiting till sunset since there were low clouds in the western sky and we did not want to drive in the dark. We headed back to Port Campbell while there was still light.

Dinner at Port Campbell

After checking into the Port Campbell Motor Inn, we drove to the Port Campbell jetty which is the focal point of this small coastal town. There are a few eateries in town. We went to one of the largest restaurants called the 12 Rocks.

We ordered draught beer, seafood pasta and a beef burger. Service was fast, prices were reasonable and food was surprisingly good. Highly recommended place to eat while visiting port Campbell or the Great Ocean Road.

Excellent Linguini Marinara (AUD 28) that was made with fresh seafood ingredients at the 12 Rocks, Port Campbell.

Rocks Burger - Traditional juicy beef burger with fries.

Where we stayed along the Great Ocean Road 

Port Campbell is a small coastal town along the Great Ocean Road. It is an excellent location to explore the nearby attractions along the Great Ocean Road, namely Bay of Islands, Grotto, The Arch, London Bridge, Loch Ard Gorge, Tom and Eva Lookout, 12 Apostles and Gibson Steps.

Accommodations along the Great Ocean Road are generally more expensive compared to other parts of Melbourne. It is wise to book as early as possible to get great value-for-money lodgings as they will be snapped up first.

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Melbourne Road Trip Day 6 – Driving the Great Ocean Road from Port Campbell to Lorne

16 May 2019

I was looking forward to more fun on the second day of our drive along the Great Ocean Road. We planned to stop over at Loch Ard Gorge, 12 Apostles, Gibson Steps, Otway Lighthouse, Apollo Bay, Kennett River and spent the night at Lorne.

We had instant cup noodles for breakfast in our room at the Port Campbell Motor Inn before we hit the road again. We also filled up our car at Port Campbell. I regretted not doing it in Warrnambool as the petrol price was slightly higher at Port Campbell.

The Loch Ard Gorge, Razorback and Mutton Bird Island

The first place we visited was The Loch Ard  Gorge, located just 8 km from Port Campbell. This is a place full of history, geology and nature. Information boards told the story of a ship wreck and two survivors.

The Loch Ard  Gorge.

There are actually 3 easy themed walks that we could do on trails that start from the car park. 

Loch Ard Gorge and beach.

One of the trails included steps leading down to the beach in Loch Ard Gorge. The beach in this “secret lagoon” was one of my favourite places along the Great Ocean Road.  We spent some time doing a little photo-shoot on this beach.
 

Extremely fine and soft sand on the beach in Lord Arch Gorge.

Stalactites hanging from the cliffs on the end of the gorge.

After visiting the beach, we took the trail to the Loch Ard Wreck Lookout.

View of Loch Ard Gorge and beach on the trail to the Loch Ard Wreck Lookout.

We read about how this part of the coast is known as “Shipwreck Coast” due to the treacherous cliffs and large waves that caused many ships to be wrecked. 

In 1878, a clipper ship called the Loch Ard was sunk off the cliffs of Mutton Bird Island, located just outside the mouth of the gorge.

The clipper ship Loch Ard was sunk just off the cliffs of Mutton Bird Island (the island on left side).

Of the 54 people on board the ship, only two survived. The first survivor was Tom Pierce, a ship apprentice. He drifted for hours under an upturned lifeboat after the ship sunk. A change of luck and tide caused him to be swept, badly bruised and battered, into the gorge. He made it safely to the beach in the gorge.

He then saw Eva Carmicheal, a 18 year old passenger, who was clinging to a spar. Tom struggled for an hour to bring Eva to shore. Thereafter, this gorge was named the Loch Ard Gorge.

There was a geology themed trail that led to the Tom and Eva Lookout, where we could see two limestone stacks named after the two survivors.

View from Tom and Eva Lookout. The two limestone stacks known as Tom and Eva are the remnants of the Island Arch that collapsed in 2009.

The same trail to the Tom and Eva Lookout ends at the Razorback Lookout.

At the Razorback Lookout.

The Razorback is the name given to a long and slim limestone stack that stands in a cove that is constantly subjected to the forces of wind and waves.

Waves hitting the Razorback.

The cove and part of Razorback.

More limestone stacks could be seen beyond the Razorback. In due course, constant erosion could turned this into the future 12 Apostles of the Great Ocean Road.

Close-up of one of the highly eroded limestone stacks next to the Razorback.

After returning by the same trail to the Loch Ard Gorge car park, we took a short drive to another car park near the Mutton Bird Island. From there, a short trail led to the lookout point where we could get close up views of Mutton Bird Island.

Mutton Bird island. This island is where the clipper ship Loch Ard got grounded and sunk.

The mutton bird is also called the short-tailed shearwater. The island is home to 12,000 to 50,000 mutton birds but we saw not a single bird. 

We were a month too late. These migratory birds would roost on the island only from October to April. By now, they were on their way to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska!

We also learnt how the mutton birds kept the same burrow and partner and would return every year to Mutton Bird Island to breed. A single egg is laid in November and will hatch between 10th and 20th January. The parents will feed the baby for 6 weeks till it reaches almost 1 kg and heavier than the parent bird.

Illustration of the sizes of the baby mutton bird and parent.

All the adults will leave the island in early April for their yearly migration north. The babies are all left behind, unable to fly and without food. The fat reserves in their bodies ensure they continue to grow rapidly and they will learn to fly by end April. They will then fly solo northwards to join their parents. A remarkable 15,000 km journey, guided only by instinct. Many will perish. Nature’s way of selecting only the strongest, smartest and luckiest for the next generation.


View of the entrance to Loch Ard Gorge from Mutton Bird Island Lookout point.

Overall, we spent more than an hour in the Loch Ard Gorge area. There were only a few other visitors in the morning. We had a very relaxing time walking the trails, enjoying the sights and learning a bit about mutton birds. The volume of tourists in this area peaks around 3 PM when the tour buses from Melbourne arrive so it was good we came in the morning.

Return to the 12 Apostles

The 12 Apostles is a short drive from Loch Ard Gorge. We had already visited this site the previous day in the hours before sunset.

It is good to return in the morning as the lighting condition for photography was different. There were also less people in the morning.

12 Apostles in the morning sun.  Where are the crowds?

The rocks stacks of the 12 Apostles lit up by the morning sun.

We did not stay very long at the 12 Apostles. The Gibson Steps is located very close to the 12 Apostles. There was a sign at the 12 Apostles Visitor Centre providing information on a 2.1 km return walking trail from the 12 Apostles car park to the Gibson Steps. We checked Google Map and confirmed that there is a small car park at Gibson Steps. We took a 2-minutes drive instead of hiking.

Gibson Steps

An 86-step staircase led down the cliff face from the car park to the beach below. As we walked the steps down, we could touch and feel the powdery limestone cliff.

This is a place where we could walk on the soft sand, see the surf hitting the beach and listen to the roar of the ocean.

Two rock stacks off the beach of Gibson Steps.

Beach is accessible and walkable at low tide.

Koala Spotting at Cape Otway and Kennett River

We had seen a lot of wild kangaroos in Grampians and we hope to see some wild koalas as well. We read that wild koalas could often be seen on the road (C157) leading to the Cape Otway Lightstation and that was where we went next.

From Gibson Steps, it was a 76 km drive to Cape Otway. Unfortunately, we did not spot any koalas on the 10-minutes drive along the narrow and winding road leading to the Otway Lightstation in Cape Otway.

Road leading to Cape Otway Lighthouse. No koalas to be seen in these bald trees.

We decided not to tour the lightstation (entry fee of AUD 19.50 per person) and have lunch at Apollo Bay instead. It was another 35 minutes of driving to the town.

Apollo Bay is a coastal town that offers both swimming and surf beaches as well as a good selection of restaurants and cafes along the esplanade. We chose to eat at the Scallop Pie Bakery. We had lunch of chunky beef pie and scallop mornay pie with a pot of tea.  

From Apollo Bay, it was another 23 km to Kennett River. I had read that this is one of the best places to see wild koalas in Australia. The drive from Apollo Bay to Kennett River was scenic with constant view of the ocean.

Typical view of the drive between Apollo Bay and Kennett River.

We parked outside the Kafe Koala and General Store and take a walk up to Grey River Road. There were many colourful King parrots, white cockatoos and other birds on a feeding frenzy around some tourists who had bought bird seeds from the cafe.

We did not feed any birds. But I had fun taking photos of the birds who were lured by the food but yet quite camera shy (especially the red king parrots).

Photographing a flock of wild cockatoos and sparrows.

The parrots would stand on your head and arms, just to get some bird seeds.

We next took a stroll up Grey River Road, keeping our eyes peeled for signs of any koalas up on the eucalyptus trees lining both sides of the road. Even though there is a large population of wild koalas living in this area, it was not easy to spot them in the dense leaves of the tall trees. Most of the time, they were motionless or sleeping.

A lady who was staying in the caravan park next to the road called out to us and pointed us to a tree with a sleeping koala. Once we spotted the first koala, spotting the next became easier.

Cute sleeping koala.

We walked further up the Grey River Road and spotted one more koala. This koala was initially sleeping. It woke up and did what most animal would do after a long sleep. It peed.

Warning: Do not stand directly beneath a koala when it just woke up.

It then started to feed on the leaves, in slow motion.

More visitors were walking up the road and we pointed out this koala to the new arrivals.

We had a great time at Kennett River. Koalas spotted, mission accomplished.

We continued on our scenic coastal drive to Lorne. This stretch of the Great Ocean Road was quite fun to drive. The winding road hugs the shoreline. With cliffs on our left and views of the ocean on our right, the 22 km drive to Lorne seemed so short.

Dinner at Lorne

Like Apollo Bay, Lorne is also a seaside town that offers swimming beaches as well as a good selection of restaurants and cafes along the esplanade.

We had dinner at Marks Restaurant. We both ordered the chargrilled eye fillet steak on mash and peppercorn sauce and Shiraz to go with the steak.

Chargrilled eye fillet steak on mash and peppercorn sauce.

Complimentary fresh green lettuce.

After a day of driving, we really enjoyed a relaxing evening at this cosy restaurant with warm, friendly service and excellent food.

Where we stayed in Lorne

We stayed at the Chatby Lane Lorne. This luxurious condo hotel offers studio rooms with a spa bath. We even had cockatoos visiting us at the terrace in front of our room.

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