Aussie Road Trip Day Four

April 11th Driving the Great Ocean Road

The plan this beautiful morning was to get up early, drive to Warrnambool, enjoy breakfast and then head out towards Apollo Bay enjoying the sights as we drove. Unfroutunatly our morning got off to a rough start as Siyani realized we had lost the oil cap to the car. He spent the better part of an hour running the few streets we had driven to try and find it. What he did find was a mechanic shop with some helpful guys who called an auto wrecker for us who had one. With the mornings drama sorted we headed out of Stawell and off to Warrnambool.

This part of our trip was what I had been personally looking forward to more then anything. It has been a really big goal of mine to see the Twelve Apostles and to travel the Great Ocean Road. To make sure we didn't miss to much we stopped at the Warrnambool Visitors Center to get a more detailed map and the lady there told us we had to stop at Cheese World just outside of town.

Outside the Warrnambool Visitors Center

Are we ever so glad we heard about Cheese World. Of course with a place like this they make all the cheese in house and the flavors, who such yummy flavors. Siyani and I indulged and bought three different flavors, two mini bottles of champagne and strawberry schnapps, crackers and two of the worlds best milkshakes to go. Cheese world labeled their milkshakes this but we weren't to far off from disagreeing. 

Next we plugged in the stops we wanted into Nancy (the GPS) and headed off on the Great Ocean Road. Words cannot describe the beauty of the rock masses and the surf and the smell of the ocean. We stopped off at quite a few places but one favorite was the Grotto. The tide was out, so Siyani jumped the retaining wall to build an Inukshuck out of rocks, a bit of Canada in Australia.  The twelve apostles was of course the busiest stop along the road, but so worth it. To finally be standing there, seeing them with Siyani was a wonderful moment. We also headed down to the beach to sit on the sand and dip our toes in the ocean. Good thing we are used to cold water, because being so far south it definitely wasn't a tropical surf.

With daylight running out we drove through the The Great Otway National Park. This is where the road goes inland, through dense green forest as far as the eye can see. We tried to take pictures but you just couldn't grasp the expanse or beauty of this place nor the transition of coastal road to inland forest. Take our word for it, the drive was breath taking. 

Once we got to Apollo Bay we found our hostel, grabbed a pizza and once again appreciated having a bed to sleep in. The next day we would see the final part of the Great Ocean Road and hit our first major city, Melbourne.

Morning in Apollo Bay, hitting up the visitors center and enjoying some awesome gelato at a local cafe.