The best option for a two or three day visit to the region is to choose a centred touring option where you base yourself in a central point and do day tours The advantages are that you are not living out of a suitcase and also you are spared having to find a place to stay each night and carrying luggage to and from your room and also be able to relax for a few days and take in the surrounding area at your leisure
( for a two day option of this tour delete day three and do a late afternoon trip to Tower Hill and Port Fairy on Day One)
Day One - Melbourne to Warrnambool via Geelong - Colac - Camperdown - Terang. Arrive Warrnambool (before midday) and book into your accommodation, and do a quick tour of the city and foreshore and a visit to Flagstaff Hill Maritime village. A quick bit of retail therapy or a walk around Lake Pertobe before dinner at one of the many restaurants
Day Two - A Full day tour to Peterborough - Port Campbell - Bay of Islands - London Bridge - Loch Ard Gorge with lunch in Port Campbell and on to Twelve Apostles and Glenample homestead. Afternoon drive through the Otways forest to Lavers Hill and afternoon tea at the Melba Gully tea rooms. The next bit is the adventurous part of this tour and is a rain forest drive that follows a logging track from Lavers Hill to Kennedy's Creek. About 15Km of dirt road than is easily handled by most passenger vehicles and goes through a rain forest that is the equal to the Daintree. From Kennedy's Creek to Simpson is some very picturesque dairying country and if you get your timing right you should arrive at the Timboon berry farm about 15 to 20 minutes before they close and be able to pick a bucket of fresh berries to eat on the way home.
Day Three - tour to Tower Hill , Koroit and Port Fairy. Morning tea in the wildlife sanctuary in Tower Hill and a brief drive through Koroit and lunch in Port Fairy possibly fish and chips on the wharf followed by a casual stroll around the art and craft shops and a walk to the Griffiths Island lighthouse and possibly dinner at one of Port Fairy's restaurants.
Four - Six Days
Four to six day is probably a more realistic time period to do the
full Great Ocean Road tour again this is a good opportunity to incorporate
a centered touring option and base yourself in either Warrnambool, Port
Fairy or Port Campbell for two or three nights
Day One-
Melbourne - Geelong - Queenscliff with morning tea and brief sight seeing
at Queenscliff, then on to Torquay, Anglesea and lunch at Lorne and the
afternoon drive and overnight stay at Apollo Bay
Day Two - Apollo Bay to Lavers Hill
- Princetown - Glenample Homestead and Twelve Apostles - Loch Ard Gorge
and Lunch at Port Campbell. Afternoon to London Bridge - The Arch - Peterborough
- Bay of Islands and on to Warrnambool for a three night stay
Day Three - Warrnambool, sightseeing
around the foreshore and Hopkins River plus a visit to Flagstaff Hill
Maritime museum and an hour or so wandering around Lake Pertobe
Day Four- Tower Hill - morning tea
with the local wildlife - a drive through Koroit and fish and chips for
lunch on the wharf at Port Fairy followed by a casual stroll around some
of Port Fairy's art and craft shops and a walk to the Griffiths Island
lighthouse and possibly dinner at one of Port Fairy's restaurants.
Day Five - Warrnambool - Penshurst
- Dunkeld and lunch in Halls Gap . Afternoon sightseeing and a bit of
bush walking and an optional winery tour of some of the many wineries
around Moyston and Great Western. If you have sampled too many wines then
an overnight stay in Halls Gap is recommenced
Day Six - Halls Gap - Ararat - Ballarat
with visits to Sovereign Hill and the Eureka Stockade and sightseeing
around Ballarat and either an overnight stay in Ballarat or just an hours
drive away is Melbourne
P.S. this message is not meant to scare anyone into avoiding the Great Ocean road, as it is one of the most spectacular and accessible coastal drives on the planet, but as a suggestion that you allow sufficient time to do this drive as it is slow and has quite a bit of twisting and winding roads and trying to make up time on this road is what causes a lot of the problems!!
Things to do and places
to see -
Queenscliff
Visit the Maritime museum and Marine discovery centre
19th century military fort - built in the 1870's to protect Victoria from
Russian invasion
Torquay
Torquay Surfworld museum - covers the history of surfing both in Australia
and worldwide
Bells Beach - one of Australia's most famous surfing beaches - just a
few kilometers out of Torquay
Factory shops- a visit to the Billabong or Rip Curl factory outlets
Lorne
Apollo Bay
Cable station historical museum - a small
museum dedicated to the laying of the Bass strait telecommunications cable
Mariners and Crowsnest lookout - elevated views across Apollo Bay
Apollo Bay foreshore and harbour - walk around the Apollo Bay harbour
with views of the fishing and pleasure fleet
Maits Rest - a few kilometers out of Apollo Bay - a interesting walk on
a wooden boardwalk that takes you into the lush Otways rain forest
Port Campbell - Peterborough
Glenample homestead - part of the saga of
the wreck of the Loch Ard. The historic homestead has been preserved as
it was in the 1870's -
Twelve Apostles visitor centre - Opposite the Twelve Apostles and the
main visitors centre for this spectacular part of the coast
Loch Ard Gorge - scenic views and the site of the wreck of the Loch Ard
Bay of Islands - just outside Peterborough and another scenic stop
Warrnambool
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village - Historic village recreating the Port
of Warrnambool in the 1850's
Lake Pertobe adventure playground - 35 Ha site with free barbecues and
a great way to entertain the kids for a few hours ( for free) also incorporating
a wetlands area
Warrnambool Breakwater and foreshore - views of the Southern ocean and
Warrnambool's fishing fleet
Logans Beach - whale watching from June to October
Hopkins River - Warrnambool's major river and a pleasant scenic stop -
also daily river cruises leave from near the boathouse
Fletcher Jones gardens - part of the Fletcher Jones factory - worth a
visit just to find out about this remarkable man
Tower Hill - natural history centre and the best place to see Kangaroos,
Koala's and Emu's
Port Fairy
Port Fairy wharf - picturesque views of the historic wharf and the fishing
and pleasure fleet
Historic buildings - a walking trail around Port Fairy covers the many
historic buildings in the town
Griffiths Island - home to a large colony of Shearwater ( Mutton Birds)
during the Summer and Autumn - watching the tens of thousands of birds
returning to their burrows at sunset is a popular tourist attraction
Port Fairy museum -- a small museum opposite the wharf, covering Port
Fairy's colourful history