Victoria - Australia 2004 - page 578

There's also a visitor center at the National Wool Museum, 26 Moorabool St.,
Geelong ( & 1800/620 888 in Australia, or 03/5222 2900).
Along the route, the Port Campbell Visitor Information Centre, at Port
Campbell National Park, Morris Street, Port Campbell ( & 03/5598 6382 ), is
also a good place to pick up brochures. It has some interesting displays and an
audiovisual show of the area, and also acts as a hotel - booking service for the area.
It's open from 9am to 5pm daily.
If you're approaching from the north, visit the Camperdown Visitor Infor-
mation Centre, “Court House,” Manifold Street, Princes Highway, Camper-
down ( & 03/5593 3390 ). It's open Monday through Friday from 9:30am to
5pm, Saturday from 9:30am to 4pm, and Sunday from 11am to 4pm.
EXPLORING THE COASTAL ROAD
Along the route you might want to stop off at To r q u a y, a township dedicated
to surfing. The main surf beach here is much nicer than the one farther down
the coast in Lorne. While in Torquay, check out Surfworld Museum, Surfcity
Plaza, Beach Road, West Torquay ( & 03/5261 4606 ), which has interactive
exhibits dealing with surfboard design and surfing history, and video of the world's
best surfers. Admission is A$6.50 (US$4.20) for adults, A$4.50 (US$2.90) for
children, and A$18 (US$11) for families. Bells Beach, just down the road, is
world-famous in surfing circles for its perfect waves.
Lorne has some nice boutiques and is a good place to stop off for lunch or stay
the night. The stretch from Lorne to Apollo Bay is one of the most spectacular
sections of the route, as the road narrows and twists and turns along a cliff edge
with the ocean on the other side. Apollo Bay is a pleasant town that was once
a whaling station. It has good sandy beaches and is more low-key than Lorne.
Next, you come to the Angahook-Lorne State Park, which protects most of
the coastal section of the Otway Ranges from Aireys Inlet, south of Anglesea, to
Kennett River. It has plenty of well-marked rainforest walks and picnic areas at
Shelly Beach, Elliot River, and Blanket Bay. There's plenty of wildlife around.
About 13km (8 miles) past Apollo Bay, just off the main road, you can take
a stroll through the rainforest on the Maits Rest Rainforest Boardwalk. A lit-
tle farther along the main road, an unpaved road leads north past Hopetoun
Falls and Beauchamp Falls to the settlement of Beech Forest. Seven kilometers
(4 1 ⁄ 3 miles) farther along the main road another unpaved road heads off south
for 15km (9 1 ⁄ 3 miles) to a windswept headland and the Cape Otway Light-
house. Built by convicts in 1848, the 100m (328-ft.) tall lighthouse is open to
tourists. Admission is A$6.50 (US$4.20) for adults and A$3.50 (US$2.30) for
children. It's open daily from 9am to 5pm. Ask about guided tours.
Back on the main road again, your route heads inland through an area known
as Horden Vale, before running to the sea at Glenaire—there's good surfing and
camping at Johanna, 6km (3 3 ⁄ 4 miles) north of here. Then the Great Ocean Road
heads north again to Lavers Hill, a former timber town. Five kilometers (3 miles)
southwest of Lavers Hill is the small Melba Gully State Park, where you can
spot glowworms at night and walk along routes of rainforest ferns. Keep an eye
out for one of the last giant gum trees that escaped the loggers—it's some 27m
(88 ft.) in circumference and is estimated to be more than 300 years old.
The next place of note is Moonlight Head, which marks the start of the
“Shipwreck Coast”— a 120km (74-mile) stretch of coastline running to Port
Fairy that claimed more than 80 ships in only 40 years at the end of the 19th
century and the beginning of the 20th.