Apollo Bay is where the Great Ocean Road stops being a headline and starts being a town. It sits in a curve of bay on the south coast of Victoria, with the forested Otway Ranges standing directly behind and Bass Strait rolling in from the front. A population of about fifteen hundred swells in summer when holidaymakers arrive, and you notice the change in how busy the main street and the foreshore are.
The famous road itself was built by returned soldiers after the First World War, starting in 1919 and finishing in 1932, as a memorial to the dead, and that history is easy to forget when you are focused on the next bend. Between Lorne and here the road clings to the cliffs and the views drop away to surf beaches. Inland from Apollo Bay, the ride changes character: you climb into the Otways, where tall mountain ash, tree ferns and damp green air replace the open sea, and the road narrows and twists through the shade.
This is a good place for the practical things. There is fuel in town, which matters because services thin out toward Cape Otway and beyond, and there are plenty of cafes, bakeries and fish and chip shops along the main street, with a bay view if you sit outside. The harbour is a working fishing port, and the smell of salt and diesel is part of it.
Nearby is plenty to see. Cape Otway Lighthouse, built in the 1840s, is one of the oldest on the Australian mainland. Koalas live in the gum trees by the road around Kennett River, and you can often spot them without a walk. Weather matters: the Southern Ocean produces rain, wind and sudden cold even in summer, so carry a waterproof layer. Early morning is the best time to ride, before the coach traffic gets going, and weekdays are calmer than weekends.