February 12, 2024

What a perfect day we had!. First off when we were sailing into Melbourne we were along side our sister ship the Viking Sky which is doing the same itinerary. We are just 3 days ahead of us. There are some differences which is why we are so close right now. They were on their way to Phillip Island to see the Little Penguins and we were on our way to Melbourne. We have some friends on board from the 21/22 world cruise so they sent us a picture of our boat and we sent them a picture of their boat.

Viking Sky

We did dock in Melbourne at 9:30pm on Sunday Feb 11th and while we were sailing in we had a great sunset with just a little sliver of moon.

We were not allowed to disembark until Monday morning but it was nice to be tied up and not bouncing around. We were one of the first ones off the ship on Monday morning and we did the Australian face to face immigration which took no time at all. We had hired a Tours by Locals to pick us up and take us to the Great Ocean Road and our guide arrived at 8:20 to begin our very long day. I had turned off all cell and wi-fi service so I would not get any notifications about the Super Bowl which would be starting at 10am on Monday in Melbourne.

View from our balcony and the cool bridge we would cross on our way out of Melbourne

Our guide was Errol and he has lived in Melbourne for 25 years but originally from South Africa. He was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humor so it was a very enjoyable day. Our first stop was the Split Point Light house.

A couple of things about the touring. It is the Chinese New Year and because of the holiday there are lots and lots of Asians in Australia right now and the majority of them seemed to be taking the same road trek we were taking.

Stops on the road

The light house that had a cafe and a rest room near by and we had a drink and a scone. I was amazed at the cockatoos in the trees around the cafe and Errol told me I would be seeing tons of them along the way.

he next stop was at a trailer park that has the kind of eucalyptus trees that koalas like. There were several up in the trees but you could not really get a good look at them.

It is a long ride to to The Great Ocean Road. Here is what Wikipedia says about it. The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage-listed 240-kilometre (150 mi) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia, between the Victorian towns of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world’s largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast, and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations.”. It is 170 miles from Melbourne so it is a 4 hour ride each way. With stops it makes it a 12 hour day but most of not is spent in the car.

Photo stops along the way.

There are great beaches along the drive and lots of surfers.

The water color was spectacular. So many shades of blue.

The ride is long and most of it is along the coast but them you go through the forest and several national parks and also lots of farm land.

Traveling through the forest

We stopped at a sea side town that was very cute to have lunch. Unfortunately is was a sports pub and they had tons of TVs on. Kathy had me stay outside and she went in to ask if there was anywhere we could sit that we would not be able to see or hear a TV. They had a patio that was away from everything so Kathy lead me there and occasionally we could hear cheers but I had no idea of what was going on. I had also turned off cell service and wi-fi on my phone so I would not get any alerts about what was happening in the game. We had fish and chips for lunch and then proceeded on our way.

When you arrive at the 12 Apostles, which is the main highlight of The Great Ocean Road it is a mad house. Tons of people on the boardwalk leading out to the views of the coast line. The coast line is protected and no one is allowed on the beach or to climb any of the rocks. People are not even allowed to approach the coast line by boat.

Views from the 12 Apostles view point

Another view point

The wind and waves have carved several cool features in the rocks and it is constantly changing.

Us at one of the view points.

While it was a 4 hour ride to and from the view points along the coast you really don’t spend much time at the view points. It takes more time to find parking and walk to the view points then the actual viewing.

We headed back around 4pm with 1 rest stop for a bathroom break and there were 100s of birds at the rest stop. They were in the cockatoo family but they don’t have the yellow crest. There is no explanation for why so many hand out in this area.

We were dropped off at the boat around 8pom and we made it on board and to the room with out talking to anyone about the game or hearing the score. We started streaming the game right away and Kathy went up to the World Cafe to get us a little something for dinner while I watched the game. We were able to see the whole game and finished watching around midnight. The Chiefs win capped off a great day.

We are overnight in Melbourne and another busy day planned for day 2.