By: Darren Heise
Submitted: 2009-03-25 22:29:32 | Word Count: 668
Visitors to Melbourne really shouldn't miss a visit to the Great Ocean Road. This is genuinely one of the world's finest coastal stretches with a truly diverse range of attractions. Perhaps the greatest thing about the Great Ocean Road is just how many things there are to see in the course of a day. Around the world, many day tours have just one, tow or maybe three genuine points of interest, with lots of driving in between. The Great Ocean Road has not only many, many more points of interest, but also lots of really spectacular scenery that can be seen from the window of your tour vehicles making the drive along the Great Ocean Road a wonderful destination in itself.
Of course, the icon of the Great Ocean Road is the famous Twelve Apostles, but if you're travelling down this way it's important to realise there are other equally spectacular places nearby. One of these is the amazing Loch Ard Gorge. Many visitors to the Great Ocean Road actually rate this place more highly than the Twelve Apostles, as there are so many great views, and a wonderful but truly tragic story that goes along with the place. It was here in 1878 that 52 lives were lost when the Loch Ard crashed onto the cliffs of Muttonbird Island and sank. What's truly remarkable, however, is the tale of the two survivors, Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael who were both 18 years of age. I won't go into the story here, as it's when you hear the tale in the awesome natural setting of the Shipwreck Coast that the Loch Ard Gorge is really brought to life.
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There are numerous other rock formations in the Port Campbell National Park, of which the next most popularly visited by Great Ocean Road tours is the collapsed London Bridge. Again, what really makes this attraction worth visiting is the story of its collapse and the two day tourists who were stranded on the remaining arch when the first arch collapsed.
But long before you get to the Shipwreck Coast and the Port Campbell National Park, the Great Ocean Road has much to see. The first part of the road, known as the Surf Coast, is where the most scenic driving sections of the road may be found, but also is the home to the famous Bells Beach. Bells Beach is home to the world's longest-running professional surfing competition which today is held at Easter time, but surfers can be found here year-round taking advantage of the wonderful swells coming off the Southern Ocean.
Further along the Great Ocean Road can be found abundant populations of wild koalas in the sweetly-scented eucalyptus forests, as well as lots of colourful parrots which are friendly to anyone who offers them a handful of seed.
A little further along the Great Ocean Road is the Great Otway National Park. This area is home to numerous pockets of cool temperate rainforest, which provides a pleasant surprise for many international visitors to the area. The ancient rainforest is delightfully cool and tranquil, and is surrounded by stands of Mountain Ash, the tallest flowering plant species in the world. The awesome forest giants tower up to 70 metres tall in this area and are second is stature only behind the Sequoia trees found in California.
Whatever you're looking for as a traveller, the Great Ocean Road has something special for you, so be sure to give it some time during your next visit to Melbourne!
Author Resource:-
When in Melbourne take some time to do a day tour to The Great Ocean Road, which is one of the greatest coastal drives. There you can learn about the culture, meet the Koala locals, and walk through the amazing rain forest. While visiting the Great Ocean Road be sure to check out The 12 Apostles, as which were renamed as so after the disciples of Jesus Christ. Article posted by Darren Heise of Australia Travels.
