The Long and Winding Great Ocean Road: Geelong to Lorne

Friday, July 5, day two of my first Australian Road Trip, had me driving down to Geelong, the gateway to the Great Ocean Road.  My plan was to take three days to drive the GOR and then make my way to Adelaide.  I had to deliver my rental car to the Adelaide airport by 6 pm on Monday, July 8.  I had already changed my Adelaide hotel booking, my car rental return, and my Kangaroo Island excursion once to add in the detour to Ballarat so July 8 was pretty much set in stone.

A map of the Great Ocean Road (source: Lonely Planet Australia)

The weather was very changeable - sun, cloud, rain, hail - any combination of these was possible within a one-hour time period!  That didn't deter me and the rain followed by sun made for some incredible rainbows along the way.

The Bollards

Arriving in Geelong, I spent some time walking along the foreshore.  A local artist has painted bollards to look like people - sailors, priests, families, etc. - and these are located along the foreshore esplanade.
I took morning tea (well, latte!) at a café called the "Sailors Rest" - vanilla latte and a white chocolate raspberry muffin - yum!

I took a quick stroll through the mall.  It was surprising to see Target in Australia although I've since learned that despite a very similar logo, it is not the same company as in North America - a major local company made arrangements with the "real" Target to set up shop in Australia using the same approach but independent of the original company.

The National Wool Museum in Geelong was very interesting, showcasing the production of wool and its importance in Australian history.

Next stop on the Great Ocean Road is Torquay, a surfing town.  Other than a quick stop to take some photos of the beautiful coastline, I didn't stay long.

Torquay

A short detour off the Great Ocean Road led to Point Addis which provides amazing views of the ocean and the coast line.  This detour also led to my first sighting of kangaroos!

My first sighting of kangaroos was from quite a distance so a stop in Anglesea was a must.  Here, the kangaroos like to hang out on the local golf course.  A sign on the golf course fence stated that spectators were not allowed on the green.  Another photographer had jumped the fence but I wasn't quite that brave so I drove around a bit and found a cul-de-sac that backed onto the course.  A small bit of trespassing on a wild patch of someone's yard gave me a great close-up view of the grey kangaroos.  It was incredible - they just hang out there.  If a golfer gets too close, the kangaroos just bounce a little out of the way and continue on with their day!

Anglesea Golf Course

To give myself the flexibility to stop and enjoy the scenery and activities along the way, I hadn't booked any accommodations for this 4 day road trip.  As it was starting to get dark, I called up the Great Ocean Road Cottages & Backpackers YHA in Lorne to make a reservation.  They were willing to hold a room but only for an hour.  I was still about 45 minutes away from Lorne so I needed to get moving.  Unfortunately, this meant I couldn't stop to visit the lighthouse in Aireys Inlet or for any of the gorgeous scenery along the way.  I kept telling myself that I would backtrack the next day.  As it often goes, I didn't backtrack as I felt I should keep heading west in order to be in Adelaide on time.  Something to see next time!

The Great Ocean Road Cottages and Backpackers YHA was really nice, despite having shared bathrooms (not my favourite!).  The buildings are nestled in among the gum trees.  In the morning as I was leaving, there were several cockatoos in the trees.

Dinner at the Maple Tree was good but pricy.  Actually, despite being low season, food and accommodations were pricey along most of the Great Ocean Road.