Apollo Bay
If you didn’t know, you will now – I am not a great car traveller. As I’m sure some of you can relate to, I get bored, I can’t ever get properly comfortable and I find the journey in this form of transport much less exciting than the destination. Yet I was happily surprised to find that the journey from Melbourne to Apollo Bay was the complete opposite (well mostly – I still struggle to comfortably rest my long limbs in a confined space). Once out of the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road drive was positively stunning. Driving so close to the coast, winding past the beautiful ocean – I could almost forget I was stuck in a car! It probably helped that I made Tom stop every 5 minutes for pictures, and listening to one of the funniest podcasts ever (post coming soon…!).
STAY
After one ice-cream stop and several admire-ocean-stops later, we arrived at Apollo Bay. A small town, with the main street short but quaint, we drove through to our Airbnb. I love the coastal house vibes and our Airbnb was no exception! With all the typical amenities, plus some extra useful additions (namely; BIKES! Which were perfect for riding to the shops and just generally being disgustingly cute coupley to ride around) – it was a fabulous stay.
Squinty eyes and pale skin remained despite sunshine.
The beach that was within walking distance did not disappoint either - every sunset was gorge!
EXPLORE
A shoutout to a must-visit shop. Hawkeye Homewares is a beautiful stand-out store facing the main beach. Stocking a lot of wonderful Melbourne brands like Elk, and Shanghai Suzy, Marie Cochrane (owner) has curated a fun and tasteful selection of clothes, homewares and gifts for any age. I picked up a few bits and pieces including these fun socks for Tom and some Shanghai Suzy lippies (check out my post on them here).
And now we come to the crucial part:
EAT
Our first night we had our own BBQ, but we did sample some of the food options on the main street. So a few pointers…
Firstly, use the foodworks round the corner for groceries. We made the mistake of thinking there would be more of a supermarket than there is, and did not discover the foodworks until we had already spent a fortune at the IGA – an overpriced tourist trap. Secondly, as it is a small town, the eating out choices are limited. The local pub has great beer choices, but food is fairly average*. Have you tried somewhere else that we didn’t? Please share below any suggestions!
While Apollo Bay didn't get a wow factor, our way home took us through Torquay - and boy oh boy are we glad we stopped for lunch. Fisho's do the best fish and chips I have tasted in Victoria (and I consider myself a bit of a fresh fish snob). Delicious and with plenty of choice, they have the casual and great fish and chip shack vibe down pat.
Apollo Bay was a great mini trip to get a feel for the Great Ocean Road and explore some of coastal Victoria.
*I haven't linked any food places here because I can't honestly recommend them. So feel free to leave suggestions below if you've got any!
