Great Ocean Road – Day 2 (January 24)

Our final day of activities started off with breakfast at the hostel. The weather for the beginning of the day was not the best, it was raining when we left, but this was appropriate because our first stop was at Maits Rest Rainforest. We had a quick walk through the rainforest and then made a quick stop at Castle Cove for some pictures. Will was able to talk to us about the different areas and how they fit into the Victoria Parks system. He works for them full-time so he had some insightful things to pass onto the group.

Will at Castle Cove talking about Parks Victoria

Luckily after these first stops, the weather started to break and the sun came out. We made two more quick stops at the 12 Apostles and Loch Ard Gorge. The 12 Apostles is one of the most photographed sites on the Great Ocean Road and is a landmark in Australia that many can’t miss. It is interesting because it is completely made by nature with erosion of the sandstone by water and wind.

12 Apostles

Loch Ard Gorge is probably a lesser known site, but many would agree that it is probably more beautiful. It received its name after a ship that wrecked just off the coast in the late 1800s. The story is quite interesting in that there were only two survivors of the ship Eva Carmichael and Tom Pearce. Tom saved Eva and then had to climb out to get help for both of them.

Loch Ard Gorge

After these quick stops we stopped in the town of Port Campbell for some lunch and then made the long drive back to Melbourne for our last night. The students did some reflection in Port Campbell and then when we arrived back in Melbourne they had their final assessment before enjoying their last night out.

Students engaging in some last reflection over lunch