Great Ocean Road

08.12 - 11.12.2015

Our trip started by driving to Hot Springs and Philip's Island. Hot Springs is a big where you will find different pools with hot mineral water. It's very nice to relax and when you get to the top you will have a fantastic view over the countryside especially when you are sitting in the hot pool. I think it's nice to get here when it's cold otherwise it might be too warm but otherwise you still have the cold plush when you are coming from the sauna.

Further on we drove to Philip's Island to see the little penguins. The smallest in the world with max. 35 - 40 cm. They return in the evening after sunset to find her partner again which live in those little boxes and hatch their eggs. Mostly around the same time they come to the beach and make their way home. They are so tiny, you really have to pay attention for not missing them. Mostly every evening you'll find around 900 penguins heading up the hill along the paths. So sweet.

Wednesday we started the trip by driving passed Geelong towards Torquay where the great oceon road starts. We had a short stopover where we even had our feet in the ocean. We continued the trip by driving nearby the ocean, the weather was fantastic and the ocean so blue with its waves and beaches, passing Anglesea with his lighthouse and Lorne where we had lunch. Our day trip ended in Apollo Bay where we stayed in a hostel which even had its own koala bear sitting in the tree. As we arrived quite early we decided to drive around a little bit to discover the area and on the way back to the town we even met a koala who was walking on the road and everybody took a selfie, luckily he was calm.

Thursday we continued our trip by leaving Apollo Bay towards our way to Warrnambool. The weather was great, we were really lucky especially for taking pictures. We visited the Otway National Park with its rainforest and including Hopton Falls, later on we also visited Triple Falls. When we left the rainforest and the Waterfalls we got on with our trip and arrived at the Twelve Apostles, a collection of limestone stacks off the shore of the Port Campbell National Park. It's so impressive and there is even a possibility to go down to the beach. Further down the ocean road are different rock formations like Lord Arch Gore or the London Bridge, an offshore natural arch formation.

When we finally arrived at Warrnambool we had time and drove to Logan's Beach, a platform to see whales each year, roughly between late May and early October, Southern Right Whales return to their nursery at Logan's Beach to give birth and raise their calves. Unfortunately we didn't see any as it's not really the time for it but the view was super nice. We also went to a part of the beach called Granny's Grave , a lone monument in the dunes close to the beach. The headstone was erected by the local council in 1904, with the present structure around the grave erected in 1933. Agnes Ruttleton was the first white woman to be buried in Warrnambool.

Friday we drove all the way back from Warrnambool to Melbourne stopping over in the Cheese World, a factory of local products and had a short stop in Torquay. When we had a short break I met this cockatoo, felt like he wanted to say goodbye and a safe trip. Really cool!