Apostles, Great Ocean Road

There were never twelve. The Twelve Apostles on Victoria’s southwest coast have been marketed under that name since the 1960s (they were previously called the Sow and Piglets), but the actual count at the time of renaming was eight. Coastal erosion has reduced the number further – one stack collapsed in 2005 – and current counts range from seven to nine depending on the tide. This doesn’t diminish the formations, which are genuinely extraordinary: limestone stacks up to 45 metres tall rising from the Southern Ocean, carved by swells that travel uninterrupted from Antarctica.

The Twelve Apostles are the main draw along the Great Ocean Road, which runs 243 kilometres along the Victorian coast from Torquay to Allansford. The road was built by returned soldiers from the First World War between 1919 and 1932, using largely manual labour. It was intended as both a memorial and a way to open up the isolated southwestern coast. The landscape it passes through – coastal heathland, Otway rainforest, exposed limestone cliffs – remains among the most varied on any comparable coastal drive.

The Apostles and Surrounding Sites

The Twelve Apostles viewing platform is free and accessible 24 hours. The helicopter tours over the stacks (around AUD $145-165 for a 10-minute flight) give the best perspective on the full extent of the cliff system and the isolation of each stack. Sunset is the most photographed time, but sunrise – with far fewer visitors – gives cleaner light from the east.

Loch Ard Gorge, 2 kilometres east, is the site of an 1878 shipwreck – the iron clipper Loch Ard ran onto rocks in fog, killing 52 of the 54 people aboard. The two survivors, Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael, were 18 and 19 years old. The gorge is named after the ship, and the story is told at the site. The enclosed beach with its calm, clear water and towering sandstone walls is one of the more beautiful spots on the coast.

London Arch (formerly London Bridge until the seaward arch collapsed in 1990, stranding two tourists on the separated stack) is a dramatic limestone formation 8 kilometres west of the Apostles.

Cape Otway Lightstation, inland from the road, is Australia’s oldest surviving lighthouse (1848), with koalas reliably found in the manna gum trees along the access road. One of the more unusual wildlife viewing situations in Australia: koalas in trees lining a road to a working lighthouse.

The Drive

The Great Ocean Road is properly driven westbound from Torquay (so the ocean is on your left throughout). Melbourne to Torquay is about 1.5 hours; the full road takes a day at a minimum without stops, 2-3 days with time for the Otway Rainforest boardwalk at Melba Gully, the Cape Otway stop, Loch Ard Gorge, and the Apostles.

Returning to Melbourne via the inland Princes Highway (through Warrnambool) takes about 3.5 hours and allows a loop rather than backtracking.

Staying

Port Campbell (the closest town to the Apostles) has limited accommodation; book ahead for the summer months (December-February) when the Great Ocean Road is busy. Apollo Bay, midway along the route, has more options and makes a better overnight base for those doing the road over two days.

For the drive’s specific highlights – Apollo Bay for seafood, the bakery for morning fuel – stop rather than eating at the major tourist viewpoints where the prices reflect the captive audience.