Great Ocean Road

If you are a nature and wildlife enthusiast, you definitely won’t want to miss Great Ocean Road (GOR) for your Melbourne trip! In this post, I will be sharing our itinerary and some useful information for GOR Trip.

Tour / Self Drive

Tour and self-drive are the two common options to visit GOR. A great variety of tours to GOR are available online, but most of them are day tours. Travelling with tour groups is definitely a fuss-free choice as everything’s planned and guided by professionals. However, after rounds of struggling and discussion, 5 of us decided to take up the self-drive option to enjoy the flexibility of being able to customize our own itinerary. But in return, we have to complete a lot of research in advance and there must be someone willing to drive the long distance!

View from the passenger seat:

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Expenses for the Self-drive option

• Car Rental – AUD 385.8

We rented a 8 seater Kia Carnival from APEX with full protection for 3 days to cover our journey from Southern Cross Station – GOR – Brighton Beach – St Kilda Pier – Southern Cross Station. (The detailed Itinerary can be found within this post.) The car capacity is just nice to fit 5 of us plus 4L size luggage and 1M size luggage. *If you have more than that, you may have to consider other vehicle types.

• Petrol – AUD 111.36 

We covered approximately 630 km and refuelled 4 times in 3 days. Different petrol stations offer different petrol rates. Refuel is done by yourself before making payment at the counter. 

• Toll fee – N.A

Citylink (links Melbourne’s CBD, port and airport) and Eastlink (linking Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs and Mornington Peninsula) are the only toll roads in Melbourne. All toll roads in Melbourne are cashless – there is only electronic payments. Toll fare and toll map in Melbourne can be checked HERE. Alternatively, you can pre-check your journey to see whether it involves toll road via google map. For car rental with APEX, the toll charge will be AUD 3/ day if you happen to pass through any tolls.

• Parking – AUD 21.7

Parking is FOC throughout our GOR trip. Our first 3 nights’ accommodation (Nick’s Airbnb, Southern Ocean Motor Inn & Best Western Plus Buckingham International) provide complementary parking space. The only two places we paid for parking charges are in the city; Brighton Beach (AUD 5.7) and St Kilda Pier (AUD 16).

Total spent for the self-drive option: AUD 103.8 / person

Where do we stop along GOR?

• Marriner’s Lookout

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• Cape Otway – Entrance fee: AUD 19.5/ adult. A good place for Sunset & spot wild koala along the road filled with eucalyptus trees. P.S: You need to have extraordinary sharp eyesight to spot Koala. Tips from a local: There’s a high chance of seeing a Koala if you see a car pull over on roadside with a group of people staring upwards.

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• Apollo Bay for lunch, ice cream and groceries

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• 12 Apostles (it’s not the ideal sunrise spot, but somehow you can see 12 apostles with pink and orange-y background in the early morning)

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• Gibson steps (not suitable to visit in the morning, because the high tide blocks the connected path to 12 Apostles beach)
• Loch Ard Gorge

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• Dinner and one night stay at Southern Ocean Motor Inn, Port Campbell

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Reminder for self drive 

• International license or driving permit is not required as long as your license is written in English or accompanied by a copy of English translation.
• If you are expecting the border-less ocean view along the highway, double check the route before you depart. WAZE brought us to the shortest path where 80% of our route was driven through the forest.
• Roads in Melbourne are quite well maintained, just be extra cautious about the kangaroos, traffic rules and speed limit. 
• Avoid driving at night as there won’t be any street light along GOR.
• Prepare your own car phone holder if you’re not planning to rent a GPS from the car rental company.

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Itinerary

Day 01: Southern Cross Station

• 12pm Collected the car from Southern Cross Station (SXS)
• 1230pm Parked our car at Nick’s Airbnb until next day morning

Day 02: GOR

• 745am Set off from Nick’s Airbnb 
• 8am Take away breakfast from LUNE
• 1015pm 1st toilet break at Wonky Stables
• 1132am-1230pm Marriner’s Lookout
• 1235pm-330pm Stop by Apollo Bay for lunch, ice cream, fuel up & groceries
• 4pm-5pm Cape Otway
• 5pm-7pm Spot Koala and night drive to our stay
• 7pm Checked in to Southern Ocean Motor Inn
• 715pm Dinner & Rest

Day 03: GOR  – St Kilda

• 645am Depart from Hotel
• 7am 12 apostles
• 8am Gibson Steps 
• 830am-10am Return to hotel for refresh session and checked out at 10am
• 1020am Loch Ard Gorge