3 Day Great Ocean Road and Grampians

Our guests on this micro group tour (max 8) are collected from any city hotel before making our way to Geelong where you have time to stroll along the beautifully transformed waterfront. We start our journey along the Great Ocean Road at Torquay, stopping at various places along the coast including Bells Beach, a chocolate factory and a site to observe Eastern Grey Kangaroos in the wild. This is one of many opportunities to see and hear about our unique and unusual animals in their native habitat. Our journey then begins travelling the very scenic, cliff-hugging section of the Great Ocean Road. While winding our way towards lunch in the seaside village of Lorne, we stop to view sites such as the ‘Memorial Arch’ and tell you of the intriguing story of this incredible road. After lunch we cruise along the spectacular road, stopping at many scenic spots including Kennett River where we can see koalas and many colourful native birds in the wild. Travelling through to Apollo Bay we take some time to explore the harbor, pristine beaches and eclectic township. We visit Apollo Bay before checking in your private self contained villa set high on a hill overlooking the Southern Ocean. This amazing setting is a great place to relax and unwind for a couple of hours. We have dinner tonight at Chris’s restaurant at Beacon Point. This famous restaurant is renowned for its setting and wonderful menu utilizing great local produce. Your dinner includes two courses with full choice from the a la carte menu.

Our journey starts with a drive into the Great Otway National Park and a guided walk through a cool temperate rainforest. Travelling onto the ‘Shipwreck Coast’, our first stop is at Castle Cove overlooking the Aire river valley. Your guide will introduce you to the strong Aboriginal heritage of the region with many tribes living prosperously around the coastline for thousands of years. The same area continues to reveal a rich pre-historic past; evidence shows dinosaur habitation dating back 106 million years. The 12 Apostles are Icons of Australia’s natural beauty. We arrive as the stacks are lit with the morning sun making them perfect for photos and crowd free. After hearing of the creation of the stacks and holding some of the limestone rock you can explore the boardwalks or brave a helicopter flight along the coastline (own expense). We then visit ‘Loch Ard Gorge’, the site of the most famous 19th century Australian shipwreck. We retell the entire story from the calm voyage, the tragic wreck, the courageous survivors and their ultimate fate. While hearing the tale you will be able to see and hold some original artifacts, photos and documents from the ‘Loch Ard’ contained in our treasure chests. After lunch in Port Campbell we travel to a lesser known but highly impressive area of the Coastline west of Port Campbell. This section includes the limestone formations of London Bridge, Bay of Islands, Bay of Martyrs and Boat Bay and is seen only be a small percentage of the people travelling the Great Ocean Road. Our journey then continues through to Warrnambool and Port Fairy with a visit to Tower Hill Game Reserve for the chance to see Koalas, Kangaroos and Emus living wild within this extinct volcanic crater. We then leave the coast and drive north towards the Grampians National Park. Your accommodation is at the foot of Mt Sturgeon staying and eating at the Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld. This hotel has won many awards for its food and wine including ‘Regional Restaurant of the year 2009’ in Gourmet Traveler Magazine and ‘Country Restaurant of the Year 2009’ by the Age Good Food Guide. Your experience here includes the five-course degustation menu in ‘Wickens’. This dining experience is something that has people from all over Australia travelling for

Our third day starts with an incredibly scenic drive between the Serra and Mt William Ranges through to Halls Gap in the heart of the Grampians NP. Our day includes a few short walks at Baroka Lookout, Reid’s Lookout and McKenzie Falls as well as visits to ‘Brambuk’ Aboriginal cultural centre and a rock art site ‘Bunjil’s Shelter’. This is an incredibly beautiful area that is rich in Flora, Fauna, steep scarps and amazing rock formations. The Aboriginal name for this region is ‘Gariwerd’ and it has great significance for the Aboriginal people of Victoria as well as containing 80% of the states Aboriginal rock art. Our journey continues to the gold mining township of Ballarat, once one of the richest towns in the world before we will be back in Melbourne.