Animal Encounter Thornbury

After a pickup from your city hotel, we travel over the infamous Westgate Bridge towards Victoria’s south-west coast. We pass through Geelong, the second largest city in Victoria, before reaching the start of the Great Ocean Road in Torquay. Our first stop for the day is at Anglesea where we observe wild grey kangaroos at the local golf club. Lorne is our next stop for some morning tea and a chance to take in the beauty of the Southern Ocean and surrounding foothills. While winding along this cliff hugging road your guide show you many scenic lookouts and introduce you to the stories behind its creation. A stop at Kennett River allows you the opportunity to see koalas in their natural environment as well as many colourful native birds.
Lunch brings us to the seaside village of Apollo Bay to enjoying some of the gourmet local produce. On our way through the Otway Ranges we make a stop to enjoy a walk through a cool temperate rainforest gully. This forest dates back millions of years to the times that dinosaurs wandered this region. In 1987, a new species of Dinosaur called Leaellynasuara, dating back 100 million years was found on the coastline at Rotten Point. There is also evidence of Aboriginal tribes living of the land in the form of shell middens dating back over 10,000 years. We explain some of the history, culture and conflict that has a resonance with the battles of native peoples world wide.
We arrive at the Shipwreck Coast and visit the Icons of the Twelve Apostles. Here your guide will explain their creation and constant reformation while you get photos and even take a helicopter ride. We then visit ‘Loch Ard Gorge’, the site of the most famous 19th century Australian shipwreck. We retell the entire story from the calm voyage, the tragic wreck, the courageous survivors and their ultimate fate. While hearing the tale you will be able to see and hold some original artifacts, photos and documents from the ‘Loch Ard’ contained in our treasure chests.
We then turn for Melbourne traveling through some of Australia’s most fertile land and the worlds third largest Volcanic plain. We arrive back in Melbourne around 1900.

Tour Details
Our Great Ocean Road tour is a private tour only which departs at 0730 from Melbourne. Pickups are available from all city hotels within Melbourne. Passengers will be returned to their points of departure at 1900 at the completion of the tour.
Tours include :
• 1 x 2 course lunch

• Private group travel