Great Great Ocean Road ;-)

On our repeated arrival at Melbourne Airport, this time we directly picked up our next rental car, a Toyota Corolla, as it shouldn't be any different ;-). However, when picking up the car, we had to fight for the booked car, which was a midsize car, despite all previous rental car experiences, as Europcar wanted to give us a compact car. After long discussions, we finally got the booked vehicle and so our next road trip in Australia could begin =)

On the day of our repeated arrival in Victoria, we only drove to Geelong and stayed overnight at a campsite, as it was already very late.

The next day, we had the Great Ocean Road on our agenda, one of the most famous coastal roads in the world, which we were really looking forward to, because in addition to the first experiences with wild koalas, we naturally wanted to enjoy the beautiful viewpoints of the unique rock formations. In advance, our expectations were exceeded in every respect =))

We made the first stop at the Split Point Lighthouse and got a first taste of the landscape that awaited us in the next 2 days, whereupon we briefly stopped at the Memorial Arch for one of the obligatory photos. By the way, the construction of the 243km long coastal road only began in 1919 and was carried out by 3,000 soldiers who returned from World War I. For them, the construction served as a means of employment, while the coastal road was intended to serve as a war memorial for the soldiers who had fallen in the war.

After that, we took a longer detour to Erskine Falls, a beautiful waterfall located in the rainforest. For this, you only have to leave the Great Ocean Road for about 20 minutes and drive inland, but it is definitely worth it, as the waterfall is very easily accessible and offers a beautiful sight. Teddy's Lookout is also worth a stop, as you can see how the road winds along the coast.

We stayed at the Kennet River Holiday Park, which did not happen by chance. Rather, we followed the recommendation of several travelers, as we were told that we would find one of the best spots here to observe wild koalas.

Immediately upon our arrival, we started searching and we didn't have to wait long until we saw the first cute cuddly bears sitting in the eucalyptus tree. Once again, the sight made our hearts jump, as contrary to our expectations, the lazy animals were quite active. Usually, they spend almost the entire day sleeping, while we could watch them climbing and eating. Tip for all travelers, here you have an almost 100% chance of observing koalas in the wild =)

The next day, our first stop should be Cape Otway Lighthouse, from which you should have a nice view. However, the visit was only worthwhile because of the cute koala that we saw sitting right next to the road. This was easy to recognize, as there were already a few cars and tourists standing in the middle of the road. However, the lighthouse is not worth a visit at all, as they actually charge almost 20 AUD admission, while all other stops on the Great Ocean Road are free. We refused to pay the admission and headed to the main spots.

The Gibbson Stairs Point (path to the beach with a great view of the beginning of the 12 Apostles), the 12 Apostles Lookout, the London Bridge, and the Bay of Mertyrs Lookout are highly recommended. We were very lucky with the weather, so we could admire the beautiful rock formations in the sea in good weather, which presented themselves to us just as impressively as we expected them from the pictures and postcards.

We stayed at Port Fairy on the 2nd day at a great campsite. From our experience, you should plan at least 2 days for the Great Ocean Road, as there are simply too many worthwhile stops.

At the end of the coastal road, there is an absolute insider tip with the Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve. Unfortunately, we had pouring rain here and could not go hiking, but you can simply drive through here, which is also worthwhile in bad weather. Immediately upon arrival at the reserve, we saw our first wild emus in Australia, which were waiting for us almost everywhere. In addition, if you are lucky, you can observe koalas, echidnas, and kangaroos.

From Tower Hill, we went straight to the Grampians National Park, which is located about 2.5 hours north. Here, we actually wanted to do some bigger hikes, but due to the unstable weather, we only visited Boroka Lookout, McKenzie Falls, Zumstein, Reid Lookout, and the famous Balconies, some of which were connected to short but very beautiful hikes. The Grampians National Park is less known in Australia, but really beautiful and should definitely be visited if you have enough time.