177th-182nd Day 11/03 - 16/03 Great Ocean Road

Monday 11/03.
In the morning, we drove back to María and then continued through Melbourne and towards the Great Ocean Road. On the way, we listened to a podcast for the first time, which was pretty good compared to always listening to the same playlists. We stopped at a campground off the coast and were welcomed by 2 chilled kangaroos.

After a very delicious dinner and a beer, we went to bed pretty quickly.

Tuesday 12/03.
Start of the Great Ocean Road GOR. Historically, the GOR begins in Torquay as a job creation measure for returning soldiers from World War II. The goal was to connect the individual towns and mining sites. In Torquay, we visited the Surfer Museum, which was quite impressive with its many stories and exhibits. At Bells Beach, the beach where the 'Ripcurl Bells Beach Worldcup' takes place at the end of April, we went for a walk and enjoyed the view.

There were fantastic regular waves to admire. In the afternoon, we went to a luxurious campground with a pool, warm showers, and a good camping kitchen. We made ourselves comfortable there and watched some hopping kangaroos in the evening.

Wednesday 13/03.
The next morning, we went to the historic entrance gate of the GOR.

Of course, you have to stop there and take the obligatory photo. In Lorne, we went to Erskine Falls and did a little climbing.

That was a lot of fun. At Teddy's Lookout, we hiked 3km in the bush and saw a really beautiful beach and old railway tracks that were used for the local coal mines. Up there, we met a Swiss family who are traveling for 3 months in Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia with a 5-year-old and a baby.

In the afternoon, we drove to the next campground, as there are no free places in the area. I got back on the surfboard and enjoyed the waves a bit, even though it didn't go so well.

We had some cockatoos with us when we cooked in the evening.

Thursday 14/03.
In the morning, Barbara saw her first koala at Kennet River. It was super fluffy.

Then we went to Apollo Bay and rented surfboards. There, I showed Babse a bit of surfing, but the waves didn't really cooperate.

In the Bimbie Park at Cape Otway, we stayed at a really nice campground with many koalas that you could hear roaring in the evening.

Friday 15/03.
In the morning, we decided to go hiking and saw many grasshoppers, a beautiful beach, and some koalas on the 10km long hiking trail. But just like with the kangaroos, once you've seen them a few times, it's nothing extraordinary anymore. In the afternoon, we continued driving and saw another beautiful beach with an old anchor in the reef and a beautiful view.

In the evening, we were in Princetown and had a 'Apostle Special' pizza at the local pub.

Saturday 16/03.
The world-famous 12 Apostles formed the end of the GOR, which used to be 8 and now only 7. They are definitely worth a look, especially in sunshine. P.S. What do you see in the picture?

Then we passed Loch Ard Gorge. There, I was adventurous and explored a nearby cave without any light.

That was an exciting experience, entirely without light. When I returned from the cave and my footprints were the only ones in the sand, many more people wanted to go in and see what was there.
We also visited the London Bridge, which was connected to the mainland until a few years ago. Fun fact: when the land connection collapsed back then, 2 tourists were on the island and had to be rescued by helicopter.

But at the viewpoint, the Asian tourists annoyed us because they literally chased us away to take photos.

Then we continued driving and headed to the Grampians, a national park with many mountains and hiking trails. At the information center, we decided to hike Mount Abrupt the next morning. In the evening, we slept at a nearby rest area and had a curious wallaby visit us while cooking.