Great Ocean Road Day 1

In the middle of March my parents came to visit me in Australia. I got to show them why I love Melbourne so much, and they took my boyfriend and I on a trip to The Great Ocean Road and Wilsons Promontory. They were only here for 11 days, but we did a ridiculous amount in such a short time.

After 4 days in Melbourne, we drove down the Great Ocean Road to the 12 apostles with a few stops along the way. Our first top was Bells Beach, a renowned surfers beach. Bells Beach is where the longest running surf competition, Rip Curl Pro Surf, takes place. It's a beautiful crescent like beach with loads of surfers.

There was a view point at the top where you could see the surfers, and a long wooden stair case down to the beach. The water was freezing. We had a quick stroll on the beach when we were attacked by the waves.

This was just a random stop along the way. It shows off how windy the road actually is. You're driving on the side of a mountain so the majority of the time this is the view, but ever now and then the road takes you through the mountains and you see beautiful valleys. A very different type of landscape.

We had some stunning ocean views along the way... obviously.

We stopped by Kennet River at a place called Koala Cove Cafe. This is where we saw our first wild koalas!! There were 3 koalas just chilling out in the trees surrounded by these vibrant red and green parrots. After we had some lunch (delicious!) we bought a bag of bird feed and were attacked by the birds and ducks. They even sat on my head!

This is also where we saw our first kookaburra. The Kookaburra is found in Australia and New Zealand and their cry is a discordant, abrupt laugh. The cackle of the Kookaburra is actually a territorial call to warn other birds to stay away.

Finally we made it to the 12 Apostles! Unfortunately the weather had caught up with us and it looked a bit gloomy, but it was still an amazing sight. I have seen so many photos of the 12 apostles, but to see it in real life was very different.

We stayed at the 12 apostles for 3 nights in a place called Port Campbell. It's a cute little town but there wasn't really much to do. That's it for the first day!