The Great Ocean Road is sold from Melbourne as a day trip. It is roughly 600 kilometres of winding coastal road, and the day-trip version arrives at the main attraction at the worst possible hour.
The one-night version
One night in Apollo Bay or Port Campbell transforms the trip.
It means seeing the Twelve Apostles at sunset and again at sunrise, with the coach parties gone in both cases, and not driving 600 km in a single day.
It is the single change that makes this route worth doing.
The light
Late afternoon and sunset is when the sun comes off the sea onto the stacks and the colour appears.
Sunrise is the other good window and is quieter still.
Midday — when most day trips arrive — is the flattest light of the day, with the sun behind or above the formations.
There were never twelve, and there are now fewer than there were, since they collapse periodically.
Direction and the return
Drive westbound from Melbourne, which puts you on the ocean side so pull-offs are on your left and easy to enter. It also builds toward the Apostles rather than starting with them.
Return inland via the highway from Port Campbell rather than retracing the coast.
This is the thing people discover at the far end: the coastal road is linear, not a loop. The inland return is much faster and closes the circuit.
The stops
Torquay and Bells Beach — the surf coast, and the start of the road proper at Memorial Arch.
Lorne, with Erskine Falls inland.
The Great Otway National Park — rainforest, waterfalls, and the Otway Fly treetop walk. Kennett River is the reliable place for wild koalas in the roadside eucalypts, best in the morning.
Apollo Bay, the natural overnight.
Cape Otway lighthouse, on the detour.
The Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, London Bridge and the Grotto, clustered near Port Campbell.
Bay of Islands, further west and almost empty, which many people prefer.
The road itself
Built by returned First World War soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedicated as a memorial — it is the largest war memorial in the world.
Narrow, winding, with cliff on one side and drop on the other in places, and a lower speed limit than the highway.
Drive on the left, which catches out visitors from right-hand-drive countries especially at the pull-offs.
Practical
Book Apollo Bay or Port Campbell accommodation ahead in summer and school holidays; both are small.
Fuel is available in the towns and is more expensive than Melbourne.
Two full days is the comfortable minimum, three with the Otways properly.
Season: the road works year round. Summer is busiest, winter is dramatic with big swell, and spring brings wildflowers and whales off Warrnambool.
Wildlife on the road at dawn and dusk — kangaroos and wallabies — which is a genuine collision risk in the Otways.