Having done the Pacific Coast Highway in California, it was worth making the trip down to Melbourne to do the GOR. Yes, you guessed it. I am referring to the Great Ocean Road Drive. It was high on our list of things to do in Australia. That's us, mummy and daughter at The Memorial Archway for the Great Ocean Road in Lorne. GOR hailed as one of the world's most epic road trips starts in the surf town of Torquay.
It is a small village home to the Australian National Surfing Museum, surfing brands Quiksilver and Rip Curl. The road winds on past Lorne to Port Campbell, home of the 12 Apostles. Great Ocean Road is precisely 243 kilometers (or 151 miles). It is also the longest war memorial in the world. The Memorial Archway for the Great Ocean Road was built to commemorate 3000 WW1 returned soldiers from who built the Road between 1918 - 1932. It is a stunning coastal drive, and we highly recommend you place it on your Australian travel bucket list. Along the drive are some incredibly popular attractions, small coastal towns, and an abundance of wildlife.
We had a fun time at Lord arch gorge beach. This place was the location for the 1999 TV series journey to the center of the earth featuring actor Treat Williams. It is also rich in history. It is named after a 262 feet long iron clipper ship built-in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1873 that ran aground back in June 1878 on the nearby Muttonbird Island. Loch Ard Gorge is accessible via the Great Ocean Road. On March 1st, 1878, that ship left with 54 passengers and crew. The vessel was bound for Melbourne, but three months into what had been an uneventful trip, disaster struck. Of the passengers aboard, only two managed to survive the crash back in 1878. The two unconnected pillars you see in the picture have been named Eva and Tom after the two young adult survivors of the Loch Ard shipwreck. We learned from locals that both survivors sought shelter in the cave at the end of the gorge and were eventually rescued. We had fun at the beach, and on the cliff above the gorge, we saw the memorial dedicated to those killed in the wreck of the Loch Ard. Keep Lord Ard Gorge on your list of what to see when on your Great Ocean Road adventure. You will not be disappointed.
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