Victoria’s Twelve Apostles

Howdy all again, it’s time for another Australia-themed post, and today I’m writing about my experience on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, to visit the ‘Twelve Apostles’. I was lucky enough to be joined by Gino Pop – a guy I met when travelling last year who was suddenly in Melbourne. I asked him if there was something he’d like to do, he said he’d like to see the ‘Twelve Apostles’, I said ‘great!’.

It was a fair drive to the Twelve Apostles. It’s the best part of three hours from Melbourne and over three hours from my side of town, and if you drive along the official ‘Great Ocean Road’ it’s even further. So if you’re in Melbourne and looking to see the Twelve Apostles, you may well prefer to take a tour, there are plenty of companies that will do a day tour out to the Twelve Apostles and return you to the CBD.

So the ‘Twelve Apostles’ – not a very accurate description. They used to be called the ‘Pinnacles’ but at some point they adopted this presumably more ‘touristic’ title. But the thing is, there isn’t and there never was twelve of them.

What are the ‘Twelve Apostles’? The cliffs/land are primarily sandstone. Over millions of years erosion has pushed back the cliffs, leaving these ‘rock stacks’ – which at one point were connected by arches to the mainland. They stand out of the cliffs in the ocean, not fair from the mainland where you view them from. It makes for impressive views for sure!

They say that there were eight of these stacks, and I think there are now seven, however you will see far more than that – the smaller ones, I believe, are just not counted.

My childhood memories of visiting were of walking across on ‘London Bridge’ – two arches that led you out to a lookout point. Sadly, in 1990 the arch connecting the ‘brodge’ to the land collapsed. Today there second arch is still there and it is known as ‘London Arch’. There is also another arch not far from it.

There are loads of trails you can explore. The main point to start is the ‘Twelve Apostles Lookout’. You go for a short walk from the visitor centre and you can find a number of viewing spots on the short trail (15 mins max unless you are heavy into the selfies!). These areas are really popular though and you will not be alone, and you may need to wait to get to the edge so you can get decent pics.

All along the road though there are walking trails, you can find nice beaches, the London Arch is actually nearly 20 kilometres away too. You’ll see caves formed by the waves too, forming virtual ‘blowholes’ as they call them.

Port Campbell is one of the main towns in the region, and sits between the lookout and London Arch, and has a bunch of dining options. Not the world’s greatest food, but exactly what you need when out on a day trip. And it’s a pleasant coastal town if you’re looking for a place to stay if you’re overnighting it – which is not a bad idea at all!