Victoria's Great Ocean Road has some amazing and inspiring coastal scenery. This road follows the contours of Victoria's south-west coast - from Geelong in the east, to the South Australian border in the west.
View the huge cliffs, roaring seas, tranquil coves which has safe swimming beaches, the peaceful rain-forest of the Otway Ranges, historic shipwreck sites, penguins, whales, seals and the nature-sculptured beauty of the Twelve Apostles.
The rugged coastline, towering cliffs and pounding surf combined over the years to create The Shipwreck Coast. Dozens of ships and hundreds of people have met a watery grave in this section of the Great Ocean Road coast. By following the Historic Shipwreck Trail you will see where the tragedies occurred marked by 25 signpost sites indicating where the ships met there match by either wind, human error or sometimes foul play. It is recorded that even some people escaped the surf to scramble to the safety of these cliffs.
The most infamous tragedy is that of the Loch Ard a clipper ship claiming 52 lives with only 2 survivors.
Natural beauty is everywhere along the Shipwreck Coast. The most famous are the Twelve Apostles, Lock Ard Gorge, Blowhole, London Bridge and the Grotto. Also at Port Campbell National Park you will find the Bay of Martyrs, Schomberg Reef and the Crown of Thorns.
In the Otway National Park it has some of the most beautiful scenery including waterfalls, fern-lined gullies, huge ancient trees and an assortment of wildlife. This National Park is 12,750 Hectares of totally natural bush. At Maits Rest there is raised board walks allowing you to walk into the giant myrtle beech trees. At Melba Gully State Park you can also walk along board walks that take you to a 300 year old tree with a massive circumference of 27 meters.
