With 100 beaches To choose from and plenty of extraordinary wildlife To spot, The great ocean road is Truely The road To paradise for little kids. Not To mention The variety of child centred activities That have been created To keep The youngest ones happy and entertained. Only Three year old And having experienced The Amalfy coast drive in Italy and The famous Chapmans Peak drive in South Africa, I was on familiar ground. In addition I always have been fond of road Trips and I must say This one has it all.

The Great Ocean Road stretches from Torquay Beach all the way To Portland. As my mom and dad were short in Time, we covered only The part from Toquay Beach To Port Campbell. However There is much we missed, I did see The highlights and had an amazing Time full of kids proof adventures. Let’s summarize which activities I liked the most.

Incredible nature walks

Going on a nature walk is full of fun, simple and There are many learning opportunities for The little ones. It is an excellent way To get inspired and To discover The impressive world of mother nature. Good To know is That The Great Ocean Road has plenty of interesting nature walks To choose from.

Beach Aireys Inlet Boardwalks

The protected beaches and boardwalks are ideal for a walk. Very safe for kids and easy if you need To use a stroller.

👉 My Tip: even when walking at boardwalks, be cautious for snakes. Most of The Time Those creatures are shy and hide in bushes, but you don’t want To accidentally step on one when it is crossing The board walk. In addition, wear decent hiking shoes, it’s harder To bite you with Those on Than when you are wearing flip flops.

Forest Erskine Falls near Lorne

Who doesn’t love To see falls? The Erskine falls are not The biggest or most impressive falls I have ever seen, nevertheless They are worth a visit. They are located close To The parking lot and reachable by a stone stairway, easy To decent, even for Toddlers or small kids.

👉 My Tip: There is no easy access to The falls for strollers, so Take a baby carrier with you for The smaller kiddos.

Otway Treetop walk

For a breathtaking experience you have To visit The Treetop walk at Otway National park. They offer The longest rainforest walk (of This Type) in The world. It was a bit of a walk (accessible by stroller), but The views are amazing. The air, The shades of green and The fairy houses along The way Took my breath away. Make sure you grab The Fairy and Elves hunting sheet, it will keep your youngest ones entertained at all Times.

👉 My Tip: if you intend To have lunch, The Otway Treetop Walk has restaurant facilities. However in my opinion There aren’t That many healty options for Toddlers, so bring you own is definitely something To consider here.

There is also a zipline adventure, for older kids and parents, but as you could already have guessed, Three years is Too young To go for The flight.

👉 My Tip: if mom and dad wants To Take pictures of you Taking The zip Tour, let Them go first. In addition They must have a lanyard attached To The camera To secure it.

Nice seaside Towns and plenty of playgrounds To choose from

Lorne

Spending Time in Lorne is always a good idea. I had much fun Taking a stroll along The pier To observe some of The fishing fanatics. If The season is right, you can even do some whale watching (between May and September). Lorne has a quite large and beautiful playground in The form of a ship, my perfect place To loose all my energy.

Lake Pertobe adventure playground

This is definitely paradise for kids. With giant slides, a street art maze and boat rides, it was so Terrific I almost cried when I had To leave. Convince your mom and dad To Take a pic nic of prepare a bqq, so you can stay longer.

Amazing lighthouses To visit

Cape Otway lighthouse

At Cape Otway I did not only encounter some of The most remote and beautiful rainforest I have seen until now, but I could visit one of The most iconic lighthouses of Australia. With my passion for lighthouses I was so Thrilled. Located at This southernmost point of The Great Ocean Road, it is Australia’s oldest lighthouse on The mainland.

Split point lighthouse

A visit of Split point lighthouse is absolutely worth it. A gorgeous Trail led me To The lighthouse where I could see The sea and The inland fresh water lagoon. From The balcony of The lighthouse I could even observe The layers in Eagle Rock. At This extraordinary part of The world it is possible To literally observe The sands of Time.

Beach activities

Swimming

The safe and protected sandy beaches of The Great Ocean Road are very popular with families. I discovered a large variety, from favourite surf beaches and cliff flanked beaches To deserted secret  hideaway beaches. Some of Them are excellent for swimming.

The most popular beaches for swimming are The following:

• Torquay
• Anglesea
• Point Roadknight
• Fairheaven
• Lorne
• Apollo Bay
• Port Campbell

👉 My Tip: There is only life patrol for The most popular beaches during The summer months. With rips and currents caused by shifting sand bottoms, swimming can be dangerous, so be cautious at all Times, even in case you are an experienced swimmer. Same applies for The parents.

Making sandcastles

Beaches are not only useful for swimming and surfing, They are also good for building The most amazing sandcastles. Especially when The water is Too cold To give swimming a go, building sandcastles is an excellent plan B. Don’t forget To take some construction attributes along, making an entire sandcastle with your bare hands can be a real challenge.

👉 My Tip: however it is usually fine To collect empty shells you find on public beaches, Try not To go overboard and ensure That They are actually empty. You do not want your Toddler playing hide and seek with a blue ringed octopus when collecting sea shells. It’s deadly!

Discover rock pools (Lorne / Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary)

Rockpools are my favourite attribute To discover secret mini marine life and its eco system. This ensures hours of beach holiday fun, any Time of The year.

Museums

There are not a lot of museums along The Great Ocean Road, however There’s is one I want To highlight: The Surfworld Museum. Even if you are not a surfer or a surfie enthusiast, it’s interesting for kids and Their parents To go Through The history of surfing in Australia. Discover The champions and lot’s of interesting artifacts That will show you The progress of design of The surfboards over decades. I loved playing at The kinetic sand pit Table and I immortalized myself in The Wipe Out photo booth. This is not just another museum!

Go for wildlife during your overnight stay

Between Lorne and Apollo Bay you can find some great holiday parks where you can stay overnight. The Location is most of The Time superb and The best part is That in most of These places you can spot wild koalas, kangaroos and parrots. All very convenient if you want To have some close encounters or in case you want To go camping under The koalas.

• Bimbi campside
• Kennet river holiday park
  

  

👉 My Tip: koalas and kangaroos do request a specific diet. How Tempting it may be, you can not feed Them even if They beg you for it.

Look out points

There is no doubt That The Great Ocean Road is famous for its lookout points. Although we were not able To discover Them all, The ones we did visit were breathtaking.

12 Apostles

The famous 12 Apostles are basically a collection of limestone stacks, who were renamed for Tourist purposes. The original name of The 12 Apostles was Sow and Piglets and although There were never 12, there amount decreased over Time. Two disappeared leaving only 7. Hard for a Toddler To understand where The figure 12 came from.

Gibson steps

It was already quite impressive for me To observe The 12 Apostles from The ideally located viewing platform, but even better is Taking The Gibson steps down To The beach. Ok, True They are steep and it looks challenging, but it is absolutely worth going down. I was able To see The 12 apostles from a different perspective and To make sandcastles at The same Time.

Mutton Bird Island

In Australia There are Two Mutton Bird Islands, one in New South Wales and one in Victoria at The Great Ocean Road, which is also called Shearwater. During our visit we saw none, but between October and April This place becomes The house of Thousands of short Tailed shearwaters. The Mutton Bird Island is also The Piglets part of The original name of The 12 Apostles.

Lock Ard George

With its mesmering views and breathtaking hill walls, Lock And George is a special Island. I learned The George is named after a ship, called The Lock Ard, which was shipwrecked nearby Muttonbird Island in 1878. Only Two kids survived. Scary!

Dine with a view

There are plenty of café’s and little restaurants where you can grab delicious treats. It gets even better when I Tell you almost all of Those places come with ocean view.

So Thanks To my parents who Took me on This amazing Road Trip I can scratch another one of The world’s Top driving routes from my bucket list.

👉 My Tip: you need more Time To enjoy The Great Ocean Road Than you might Think. There is much To see and you have To cover some distances between The different attractions. Count on minimum 2 days, ideally 3 days if you are Travelling with little kids.

Cheerio,

Little T