MFV Travel Diary: a Great Ocean Road weekend

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Last weekend I planned a (semi) surprise weekend away for P’s birthday. We spent the weekend away from Melbourne exploring the Great Ocean Road between Geelong and Warrnambool.

Geelong

We drove to Geelong after work, about 1hr from Melbourne CBD, and arrived in time for dinner at a restaurant I booked for us called Ripples. The restaurant itself was nothing to write home about, but we had a nice night.

We even got to see some local nocturnal fauna out and about that night, chatting up the bouncers and showing remarkable gross motor skills on their 7 inch heels given their blood alcohol level.

Good morning Geelong waterfront

After breakfasting in Geelong, P and I started our drive towards Torquay, which is the start of the Great Ocean Road. Unfortunately for us, the weather left much to be desired, with rain and fog enveloping the majority of the drive between Geelong and Port Campbell.

Great Ocean Road!

Great Ocean Road: less than ideal weather conditions.

Apollo Bay

Apollo bay is a gorgeous little sea side town along the Great Ocean Road, and the only place outside of Tasmania where I’ve managed to find a SCALLOP PIE. I’ve said this many times and I’ll say it again: If you have not had a scallop pie- you have not lived.

Spoilt sheep on the hill overlooking Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road

We took a detour through Cape Otway National Park to see the famous Cape Otway Lighthouse, and halfway down the dirt road, we noticed a group of excited tourists pointing to the trees and taking photos. Turned out that the trees in the area were populated by KOALAS.

I’ve lived in Australia all my life, and I have NEVER seen koalas out in the wild before this.

I lost my shit.

I was there for what must have been half an hour, taking photos with the other tourists on the road, pointing and squealing like a schoolgirl.

Koalas in the wild: Cape Otway national park

Keep reading after the jump!

Koalas in the wild: Cape Otway national park

SO MANY KOALAS: Cape Otway national park

Port Campbell: 12 Apostles

One of the reasons why we wanted to do the Great Ocean Road drive was because the iconic 12 Apostles (huge limestone stacks off the coast of Port Campbell National Park) were slowly dissolving.

4 out of the 12 had gone to meet their maker, leaving us with 8 remaining Apostles.

The view was breathtaking, and we knew that if we waited another hour, the sun would set- giving us the opportunity to take postcard-perfect sunset photos of the Apostles. Simple, right?

After freezing our tits off for what felt like an eternity out on the viewing platform, we decided that actually buying the postcards instead was a great idea.

Port Campbell: 12 Apostles

Warrnambool

Warrnambool is the last town on the Great Ocean Road. I made plans to stay the night there because I was told that there was going to be whales nursing this time of year just off the coast, but apart from that I knew very little about the town.

Turns out that the mythical ‘Shangri-La’ is actually the town of Warrnambool. It’s coastline is breathtakingly beautiful, the town itself is blessed with beautiful old buildings, it’s alive with activity, and there seems to be a lot of history and culture associated with the town. I could happily live here, if it was more accessible with flights.

Saturday night dinner at Club Warnnambool

A little bit of history on Club Warrnambool

“The Warrnambool Club was founded in 1873 and has operated continuously ever since.
It was based on the London Gentleman’s Clubs, and the early rules and customs reflect this. Unlike the London Clubs, ours did not serve meals until recently, nor has it had accommodation. Members were united by their need for kindred company, culture and comfort and a more civilised venue for drinking that was afforded why the local hotels and pubs of the day.

In 1876, the Club had comfortable quarters in Smith’s Warrnambool Hotel at the southern end of Liebig Street. By 1877, the Club had over 70 members and moved into architect designed, purpose built premises in Kepler Street. Mr George Jobbins was the architect, and the present building is essentially his building. It has a National Trust Classification and a Heritage listing.

Members have enjoyed snooker and pool for many years and tournaments were a large part of the Club’s Tradition. The newly refurbished snooker room has two full sized “Alcock, Thomson and Taylor “tables for member’s enjoyment.”

- taken from www.clubwarrnambool.com.au