Great Ocean Road. How long and where to stay?

[b2tf]

The better half and I are going to do the GOR in September and I'm looking for some advice on what to do while we're down there and what sort of distances to try and cover each day etc.

Our plan is to head to Melbourne on a Saturday afternoon, stay the night then do Melbourne on Sunday (been there numerous times before so we don't really have a need to stay there for a few days etc) and then probably head to Geelong on Sunday night. I want to go see the Ford Discovery Centre and then maybe head down to Lorne and begin working our way down the GOR with the eventual aim to make it to Adelaide.

We have a timeframe of about a week or so to get from Melbourne to Adelaide, I dont care if we end up taking less time but we can't really stretch it much further than that.

Any ideas or tips/advice?

[Kryton]

GOR is now 80km/h if you werent aware.
You could stop in Warrnambool, have a look at the Ship Wrecked Light show at Flagstaff Hill one night - thats well worth it.
Theres also Cheese World at Allansford as you come in too, to stop at.

[hendrixhc]

Take your time and stop at all the sights. Lots to see and all worth it. Done it bout 3 times now.

We stayed at Budget motels and it was only bout $65 to $80 a night and the rooms were all really good.

[nuthin' fancy]

Geelong - Lorne - 70km. Stop Torquay for surfwear clearance centres, Bells Beach for the ultimate Aussie surf expereince (even if you only watch). Anglesea Golf Course for kangaroos, Aireys Inlet for Lighthouse tour and to view the Eagle Rock (the song was named after the rock). 20 minutes to Lorne, stop at Cinema Point for photos, heas to Erskine Falls, the Arab for dinner.

Lorne - Pt Campbell - 140 km

Stop at Wye River for a coffee at the pub (it should be too early for beer), Apollo Bay for some shopping (and purchase fish at the Co-Op for dinner). Divert inland for the Otway Fly, down to Cape Otway for the lighthouse and views, shipwreck coast for Loch Ard Gorge, Twelve Apostles etc.

Port Campbell - Port Fairy - 100km. Whale watching at Warrnambool, Cheeseworld at Allansford, Tower Hill for walking, volcanic craters and greedy emus. Port Fairy is a lovely historic town, worth a lazy afternoon.

Port Fairy - Mt Gambier Just drive to Portland and take the coast to Mt Gambier. Look at the lake, drink Coopers, have an early night. Mt Gambier is none too exciting.

Mt Gambier - Victor Harbour. Yeah, it is a long day but what is there to stop for? The bikies will be in Robe, Storm Boy will be on the Coorong.

Adelaide - it will be the weekend, you can go on a church crawl on Sunday. Stay in Glenelg.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Did the trip today (up to 12 Apostles at least), sitting in my hotel room in Ballarat right now.

Melb to the 12 Apostles is, at its shortest a 5hr drive. There is soo much to see along the coast you will be stopping (or wanting to stop) at almost every turn. Thankfully there are plenty of pull over areas along the way.

I did it in 1 go, but if I had more time I would have stopped along the way and enjoyed it more. There are literally hundreds of places to stay along the way. I would suggest you stay somewhere close to a town with things to do in the evenings.

It is 80km, but the road is a mess of speed limits much below it. In a 1km stretch you can have several corners with separate posted 35, 65, 45, 80, 70, 55km limits one after each other.

I was rushing to get it done in 1 day, my wife didn't have time to get the pic of the twin 80km/h signs with the much lower speed signs only a dozen metres behind....

Oh... it isn't all along the ocean either. You turn off (just after Apollo Bay) then head inland through farmland and forrest. After about half an hr I was thinking that I had made a wrong turn but then soon enough you see the sign assuring you that you are indeed still on the GOR.

Phone reception is crook, best to book in advance and have all details with you. Also, keep the petrol tank full, only saw a bunch of petrol stations along the way that may not stay open too late.

Street lighting at night is non-existing. Get a navigator to help you if you need to go anywhere off the main roads.

I got from the 12 Apostles to Ballarat in 1hr 55 min through mostly pitch black and would have been tearing my hear out trying to work out where the hell I was going looking at a road atlas... I still don't know how I got here, and thought I was going around in circles but did it with no worries.

Good luck, it is a very nice drive.

[|Nate]

Enjoy your stay in Ballarat, word of advice, stay away from Bridge Mall and little bridge st unless you want to get mugged/assaulted. Otherwise, have fun !

Although you have been traversing the GOR, the Grampians aren't that far from Ballarat (About 45-60mins) and the drive there is really nice!

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by zxctive

Enjoy your stay in Ballarat, word of advice, stay away from Bridge Mall and little bridge st unless you want to get mugged/assaulted. Otherwise, have fun !

Although you have been traversing the GOR, the Grampians aren't that far from Ballarat (About 45-60mins) and the drive there is really nice!

Cheers for the heads up! Looks like I have something to do tomorrow (today!) now

[|Nate]

Heheheh no worries!

I spend every weekend in Ballarat and it's not a bad area, the only thing is my car does not enjoy the almost freezing mornings |:

There's good shopping to be had on Sturt St ( The main street) at Central Square shopping centre, or just along the st there's good shops.

The other plaza is the Village in Wendouree, about 10 minutes away!

And if you're looking for a feed, Irish Murphys on Sturt st serves a REALLY great Parma, and a good range of drinks, sometimes with live music!