Great Ocean Road

Hotels in Victoria

 The Great Ocean Road belongs in an élite group of classic coastal drives, which includes California's Pacific Highway and Italy's Amalfi Coast Road. It runs 285 km (180 mi) along Victoria's south coast, west of Melbourne between the towns of Torquay and Warrnambool.

Constructed originally to open up a previously inaccessible coastline for commerce, the Great Ocean Road has now become a major tourist attraction in its own right. Started in 1919 with the labour of ex-servicemen and completed 13 years later, this engineering marvel clings precariously to sheer cliff faces, snakes around inlets, crosses narrow gorges and passes through tunnels blasted out of solid rock.

 

Leaving the lively seaside resort of Torquay with its world-famous surf break at Bells Beach, the road huges the shoreline as it passes through the pretty little towns of Anglesea and Lorne. As you negotiate sharp corners and descend into protected bays you are presented time and again with stunning views of the Southern Ocean, endless expanses of virgin sands and rugged cliffs stretching off into the distance. After Apollo Bay the route bears inland and crosses Otway National Park, part of the Otway Ranges, an area of dense temperate rain forest which offers one of your best chances of seeing a koala in the wild. These shy creatures are notoriously hard to spot, thanks to their camouflage and inertia during the day.

 

Appropriately enough, the highlight of this trip comes towards the end. Just 70 km (45 mi) before Warrnambool the Twelve Apostles rise proudly from the sea, like giant sentinels guarding the coast. These majestic limestone stacks, up to 45 m (150 ft) high, are the result of coastal erosion and they provide a justly famous spectacle at sunrise and sunset.

 

 

HOW

By car

WHEN TO GO

Year-round. Be warned that on the more exposed cliffs you can get stiff winds off the ocean at any time of year.

TIME IT TAKES

You can drive the Great Ocean Road comfortably enough in one day, but you will be tempted to stay overnight on the way.

HIGHLIGHTS

A round of golf on the course at Anglesea, where you will be sharing the fairways with a mob of unconcerned kangaroos.

Taking a room with a sea view at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Lorne.

A helicopter flight - for a different perspective on the Twelve Appostles.

The rock arch known as London Bridge.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

If you feel like exploring this scenery on foot, the Great Ocean Walk is a 91 km (57 mi) track that starts from Appolo Bay.

Hotels in Victoria

 

Gibb River Road

Hotels in Western Australia

Running straight across the heart of the Kimberley region in Australia's remote north-west, the Gibb River Road remains one of the country's great off-road driving adventures, although improvements in the road's condition has meant that there are many more travellers who take on the challenge than there used to be.

Even so, there is still a real sense of achievement as you motor into the small towns of Derby at the western end or Kununurra at the eastern end, saddle-sore after 700 mostly bone-shaking kilometres (400 mi) and once you've cleared the last of the bulldust from your lungs.

 

"The Gibb", as the road is known locally, is serious 4X4 terrain. Apart from a short sealed stretch east of Derby, it is a red dirt and gravel track, fairly wide and smooth for the most part but badly corrugated in places from the effect of other vehicles and "wash outs" from the wet season. All this might still be negotiated in conventional car but what you really need the high clearance of a take in order to visit the main attractions along the route. Involving detours of up to 50 km (30 mi), places such as Bell, Addock and the Manning Gorges showcase the natural features for which this ancient and rugged landscape is famed: narrow sandstone gorges, waterfalls, hidden creeks and tranquil pools.

 

Most travellers tackling the Gibb choose to camp along the way but there are accommodation options for those wanting more comfort. You can drive the road in either direction but as the majority of the big sights are in the western half you might prefer to start from the eastern end and save these delights for later.

 

HOW

4X4

WHEN TO GO

May to October

TIME IT TAKES

At least five to six days if you want to make the most of being in this remarkable region.

HIGHLIGHTS

Waterfalls in full flow in the gorges - but you need to go early in the season to see them (soon after the end of the "wet").

Walking along beautiful Bell Creek and into the Gorge Swimming in a gorge pool (crocodile-free!).

The sunset over the Pentecost River and Cockburn Ranges from Home Valley Station.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Letting air out of your tyres before you set off will improve your journey considerably and reduce the likehood of punctures. You must have a permit in advance to travel on any side tracks which cross Aboriginal land.

Hotels in Western Australia