January 26th 2015 marked my first Australia Day in Australia. Instead of getting blind drunk and waking up in someone else’s yard, we decided to hit the road and do a mini road trip. Keegan kept it secret for a week, up until we set off, where he buckled and told me we’d be driving the Great Ocean Road, to check out the 12 apostles.

What are the 12 apostles?

The apostles are limestone stacks, just off the coast of the Southern Ocean. The shape and form of the stacks have been caused by erosion. A beautifully humble view of the real power of nature.

Getting there

We drove from Melbourne, and there’s a couple of options, the quicker inland route, or the slightly longer route via the Great Ocean Road (just head towards Geelong!)

Obligatory selfie at a rest stop

The Great Ocean Road is insane and bucket list worthy, but not for the faint hearted. If you don’t travel well, remember to take your travel sickness pills, as it gets very windy (like a clock, not weather wind). You will encounter bends and twists that you’ve probably never seen before and death defying views as your vehicle veers around cliff faces. It’s really spectacular.

Courtesy of Google Images

You will drive through lots of small towns, and it’s well worth spending a couple days exploring if you have the time.

At each rest stop, we would look backwards and forwards at the precipices that we had driven around, and the ones we had yet to tackle. Lots of deep breaths and amicable joint silences abound. It’s awe inspiring.

The 12 apostles

We had visions of eating out lunch, sitting on the bonnet of the car, looking out on the ocean and the apostles. Sadly, this is not the case. The car park is across the road, and there were a lot of people at the viewing points, perhaps too many – this was the only downside.

Despite having the road to ourselves, the tourist swarms at the apostles were huge!

The apostles themselves were amazing, and we were astounded at the amount of helicopter journeys we saw touring the apostles from above. (Definitely doing that next time).

N.B. We ate lunch sitting in the boot looking out on a field of sheep and it was still lovely.

I felt a slight pang of jealousy at the camper van next to us in the car park, and I think that’s definitely on the agenda for when my friend T visits from the UK. You get a bed and kitchen in them, and they look ideal for road tripping! This one is a Hippie Camper, but there’s heaps out there to hire/try.

If any of you have done a holiday around Australia in a camper, let me know what it was like, warts and all!

Have you ever visited the apostles? What did you think? Gone any further on the Great Ocean Road?