The Great Ocean Road - 16th December - 18th December.

I booked an organised tour to do the great ocean road with. This meant i travelled on a bus of around 21 people with 1 tour guide for the whole 3 days. My group consisted of a mix of german, dutch and english with some really lovely people.

Day 1 - After an early pick up we drove through the Adelaide Hills towards Mt. Arapiles where we stopped for a short hike to the top. Although we had a lovely view back over towards the adelaide hills and the beginning of Victoria, the land is very dry and very bare compared to home. We continted onto the Grampians National Park which reminded me a lot of the blue mountains. Huge rolling hills filled with trees and overgrowth surrounded by beautiful cliff edges and rock formations. Inside the Grampians we hiked down to MacKenzie Falls, a very steep climb but worth the effort. The falls were huge, and hidden away between the trees, surrounded by rocks and small pools. We stayed the night in a mountain cabin lodge, lovely considering it was hostel accommodation, with Kangaroos just jumping about outside too! We did infact have Kangaroo that evening too and a lovely bbq meal.

Day 2 - Another early start lead us further into the Grampians for a hike up to the pinacle, a beautiful lookout point across the valley. A tough climb up what is known as the canyon, a rockly wet trail we arrived at the top to look out into.....nothing! The cloud was so low and thick we could barely see the trees to the side of the cliff. A bit of a shame as my pictures show but none the less an interesting walk! We took a short break at an Aboriginal Cultural Centre detailing the history of the Aboriginal Culture and it's impact on Australia. Everywhere i have been so far highlights Australias Aboriginal Culture and the importance it has in the country's history. After lunch we finally headed south towards the great ocean road itself. Here we saw the famous land marks of Bay of Martys, London Bridge and Loch Ard Gorge. The highlight of the day and one of the whole trip had to be finishing the day with sunset at the 12 Apostles. An incredible settling and just breathtaking when bathed in the golden, pinks and yellows of the sunset. That evening we spent the night in a hostel right on the beach at Port Campbell.

Day 3 - Early moring we headed back down to the 12 Apostles to view them in the morning light, again just as beautiful. I then had the opportunity to take a helicopter ride over the coastline which of cause i jumped out. Luckily i got to ride in the front of the helicopter, headphone and mouthpiece in tack, we smoothly took off from the ground. Not at all scary like i thought it would be, instead very exciting and you couldn't ask for a better view. We flew over the coastline and got to appreciate the delicate shapes and outlines of the beautiful coast, some in particular that look very different from above. Later that day and further along the great ocean road we took a short detore to Otway National Park, some of the oldest temperate rainforest in the world. Very different in temperature and of course noticably different in greenery, texture and scale. We continued onto the most historical section of the Ocean Road which was carved by returned WW1 servicemen. The road was carved painstakingly out of the cliffside. We visisted Apollo Bay, Lorne, Anglesea, Bells Beach and Torquay. Bells Beach and Torquay are well known surfling spots along the coast. We arrived in Melbourne early evening.