12 Apostles Great Ocean Road
An early start saw us leaving the hotel in Melbourne’s CBD before breakfast was served. The drive to the 12 Apostles and along the Great Ocean Road was very easy. Although the scenery is boring at first it improves along the Great Ocean Road, with some spectacular ocean views. We arrived just as the helicopter flights were setting up for the day.
Helicopter Flight
The helicopter flight was spectacular and provides an unrivaled view of the 12 Apostles and the coast line. We took the 30-minute flight for $135 each. The helicopter has eight seats. Beware if you sit in the rear, as the view from the middle seats can be a bit restricted.
The flight went west past Port Campbell and then returned. The views of the 12 Apostles Great Ocean Road were amazing and a totally different perspective from those on the cliffs. As well as taking photos, there is a recording made of the flight which you can buy and is given to you on a USB drive.
It’s highly recommended that you get to the Visitor Centre early, as when we landed, the queues were quite long to get on the flights. At this stage though, they were getting another two helicopters out to cater for the growing crowd.
After the flight, we crossed the road to the lookout. The views here are fantastic and despite crowds everyone can get a good view. If you want to go down to the beach, travel east to Gibson Steps, where there is another lookout an steps down to the sand.
Port Campbell
Ten minutes down the road from the 12 Apostles visitor centre is the small town of Port Campbell. There is a very nice café sitting right opposite the beach. We had apple pie and coffee for a morning snack, rounding off a very enjoyable morning. The town was quite peaceful and relaxing when we were there, but a local told us that in summer, the population swells by 3,000. If you want a quiet time, probably best not to be there during school holidays.