Destinations
Camplify Uncovered: iconic Great Ocean Road adventure
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You sometimes forget about all of the beautiful things that are right on your doorstep. Less than 2.5 hours south of Melbourne, it's easy to see why the Great Ocean Road has cemented itself as one of Australia's most iconic road trip destinations. Starting in Torquay, the Great Ocean Road is a 243km stretch of winding highway towards the southernmost point of Australia. From the iconic 12 Apostles to undiscovered finds, read on to see where we went and some of our favourite spots.
Must-see highlights
Black Spur
12 Apostles
Gibson Steps
Port Campbell
12 Rocks bar and Waves cafe
Princetown Rec and Campground
Yatzies Pancakes
The Otways National Park
Hopetoun Falls
The van:
Sproutvans by Dylan and Lucy. Available for collection from in South Melbourne, Dylan and Lucy's van was the perfect size for our trip away.
Check out all our Melbourne based vans here.
Stop 1: Black Spur Forrest
You can’t go on a road trip around VIC and not visit Black Spur, it’s one of my favourite places and so close to home being only an hour and 40-minute drive from Melbourne. There’s not much around and you probably won't have any signal on your phone but if you’re a Jurassic Park fan then you’ll love this spot.
Stop 2: 12 Apostles
With our ‘car karaoke’ playlist turned all the way up, we did a 4-hour drive to the 12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road, stopping along the way in Geelong for a quick coffee and to stock up the fridge with some tasty essentials. The 12 Apostles is a very popular spot with visitors admiring its beauty at sunrise, all through the day, and at sunset for that famous golden glow.
Stop 3: Gibson Steps
Just one minute up the road you’ll find Gibson Steps where we spent the rest of the day down on the beach before heading off to camp. Gibson Steps only recently opened up again after a fairly long period of time being closed due to rockfall on the cliff edge. If you feel like taking the 86 steps down to the beach you won’t be disappointed and will usually have the beach to yourself, just remember to bring water and sun cream if you’re going to spend a long time down there and be careful on the way back up as those steps get pretty slippery!
Stop 4: Port Campbell
Port Campbell is a beautiful seaside village close to all the main attractions along the Great Ocean Road. We spent our second morning here sitting out the front of 12 Rocks Beach Bar & Cafe enjoying the beautiful weather and view. It’s a very popular area but it never feels too crowded. After spending the whole day visiting nearby hotspots like The 12 Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge & Gibson Steps, we came back to a cafe just a few doors down from 12 Rocks called ‘Waves’ for a late afternoon meal before heading out in the van to set up camp.
Stop 5: Princetown Recreation Reserve & Camping
20 minutes outside of Port Campbell is our favourite place to camp along the Great Ocean Road (and probably anywhere in VIC). Unpowered sites are $10 per person or for an extra $5 you can grab a powered site. It’s a pretty huge area and has plenty of space and has good toilet and shower facilities. We saw heaps of kangaroos and wallabies night and day here, and although we didn’t use it this time around, there’s also a BBQ, laundry services, a tennis court and giant chess!
NOTE : It is a cash-only campground!
Stop 6: Spoilt for choice at Yatzies Cafe
We woke up craving pancakes and that’s exactly what we got. Couldn’t say no really as it was on our route to our next stop... $10 for 2 big pancakes with syrup and a strawberry, and if you’re not in the mood for pancakes, they have a huge selection of pies, pastries, cakes, muffins, cookies and plenty of veggie options. Not to mention their coffee was really good!
Stop 7: Otway National Park
A further 20 minutes up the road (50 minutes in total from the Princetown Reserve) took us to the Great Otway National Park. If you're wanting to see native wildlife, then you won't want to give this stop a miss. We saw wallabies, kangaroos and even spotted a few of the region's famous koalas!
If you’re a fan of moody weather like us, it’s the perfect place to visit on a rainy/foggy day. The tall trees and the lush green forest comes alive in the low lighting. The waterfalls dotted around makes it even more magical. ]
Stop 8: Hopetoun Falls
Hopetoun Falls drops 30 metres into the Aire River in the Great Otway National Park and as you’ll see from photos, it’s definitely an Instagrammable waterfall. You can admire from the platform or take a short walk (10 minutes) to get up close and feel the spray from the falls on a warm day. Although we were getting rained on and it was a bit cold, we stayed here for quite a while. It was busy and lots of people came and went while we were still watching the waterfall and listening to the birds around us. We chatted to a few others who were visiting and shared stories from our travels before we eventually made our way back to the van.
Home Time
Instead of karaoke on the drive home, we shared our favourite parts of the trip and started planning our next adventure. We’re thinking WA or SA, clearly, we really love the van life... Thanks, Camplify and Travis!
If you're itching to travel after reading this blog you can find your van here. For more info on Harry's trip, check out his guide on Travis here.
The information in this blog is accurate and current as of the date of posting. Please be aware that information, facts, and links may become outdated over time.