Melbourne Self-Guided Travel Day 5 | Great Ocean Road One-Day Tour: Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, Melbourne's Most Beautiful Coastline

On April 29, we visited the most classic day-trip destination of the itinerary — the Great Ocean Road, a highway that winds along the southern coast of Victoria. It's the dream route that many travelers consider a must-visit when coming to Melbourne.

Simple breakfast near Victoria Market - Not-recommended hot dog. For breakfast, we chose a German sausage shop called 'Bratwurst Shop' near Victoria Market as recommended online. Although the sausage itself wasn't bad, when we followed the pairing method suggested online, the overall flavor actually turned out quite bland. Plus, at 9.5 Australian dollars per piece, I really can't recommend it.

Old-folks tour mode: sleep on the bus, take photos off the bus This time we signed up for a Chinese tour group, and our guide was a second-generation Chinese immigrant — you could tell from his accent. On the bus, he emphasized three times why the "Great Ocean Road" uses the word "Great" — because the construction process was so arduous, and the road was built along the coastline for ease of supply — the way he explained it felt a bit repetitive. As expected, this was indeed an "sleep on the bus, take photos off the bus" kind of elderly tour group, with the bus almost entirely filled with older Chinese tourists. First stop: Torquay Lighthouse Town Our first stop was Torquay, where we could see the famous little red-hooded lighthouse in the distance.

The hillsides along the Great Ocean Road are dotted with holiday villas. According to the tour guide, Australians are very used to taking a long weekend together with three or four other families for a vacation, and many families even book next year's holiday right on the spot—it's become a kind of fixed ritual.

Stop 2: The Great Ocean Road Arch Next, we arrived at the iconic arch of the Great Ocean Road, a spot where almost every traveler stops to take photos. This is where the famous Great Ocean Road officially begins.

The car continued along the coast. If you have the chance to take this kind of Great Ocean Road trip, it's recommended to sit on the left side of the bus so you can fully enjoy the most beautiful coastal scenery.

Stop 3: Kennett River – Wild Koalas Spotted! Next stop is Kennett River, which has a small café called 'Kafe Koala', and the forest beside it is said to be a great place to observe wild koalas. We started by following the route suggested by our guide, but no matter how hard we looked, we couldn't see any. Just as we were about to head back to the car, our guide suddenly got excited and called us over – he found one!

It turned out that koala was hiding super secretly — if someone hadn't pointed it out, there's really no way we would have spotted it crouching up in the treetop. In that instant, the whole busload of people got as excited as if they'd won the lottery. Noon: Apollo Bay Seafood Fried Lunch At noon we took a break at Apollo Bay, which sits along a crescent-shaped bay, and I used Google Maps to find a little seafood spot loved even by the locals, "Apollo Bay Seafood Café." We ordered three dishes to share: fish and chips (you can choose the type of fish, and we went with local sea fish), a chicken salad, and fried squid. Everything tasted great, and it came to a total of 71.2 Australian dollars, which felt like a reasonable price.

Fourth stop: Twelve Apostles After lunch, the car turned onto the mountain road, heading into today's main highlight — the Twelve Apostles rock formations. Although named the "Twelve Apostles," there were actually only nine originally, and because these limestone stacks have been eroded by the sea over a long period of time, only seven remain today. There are several viewing platforms and information boards here, allowing you to admire these towering rock pillars from different angles.

Travelers who are interested can also pay extra to take a helicopter ride, taking in this spectacular coastal rock scenery from the air—we didn't take part in that this time. Stop Five: Loch Ard Gorge, a Marvel of Sea Erosion Our last stop is the truly impressive Loch Ard Gorge. This place was named in memory of an 1878 immigrant ship called the Loch Ard, which ran aground here. The highlights here include: The Razorback: a rock ridge as sharp as a blade's edge

Tom and Eva: The Names of the Only Two Shipwreck Survivors

Loch Ard Gorge: A spectacular coastal landscape with magnificent sea-eroded terrain that's best viewed from above

There was a path we could take down to the beach. I went down alone to explore, and on the limestone cliff behind the beach, there were obvious stalactite formations. A Cat and Kun Ge chose to observe from above instead, since they're not really into walking on sand (laughs).

Island Arch Lookout: originally two arch-shaped rock formations standing side by side, but one of them collapsed in 2009, leaving only a single, island-like stone pillar standing alone in the sea

Return Trip & Guide Gripes We left the attraction a little after 5pm and began the three-hour return journey. This time, the guide and group experience were a bit disappointing, for three reasons: Chaotic assembly times: even with a group of 30 people, we were only given 5 minutes for a bathroom break, so the bus never departed on time. The guide talked politics: openly discussing Chinese politics with tourists on the bus was honestly jaw-dropping. Thin commentary: the narration was repetitive with no in-depth introductions, lacking both depth and interest. But setting aside these pitfalls, the scenery of the Great Ocean Road itself is truly not to be missed.From the winding coastline to the towering, unyielding limestone sea stacks, everything was unforgettably beautiful. Dinnertime: Wrapping Up with Stir-Fry and Red Wine In the evening we headed back to Melbourne, and Woody brought over some stir-fried dishes to hang out at the hotel. Even though we were missing the vibe of pairing it with beer (the liquor store had already closed), we still had the red wine we'd bought a few days earlier to drink alongside it. This trip, which we'd planned way back before the pandemic, had finally happened — it really felt like fate!

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