Everyone calls them the Twelve Apostles, which is generous. There were never twelve, and the original name was the Sow and Piglets, a rather less holy image that tourism officials decided to retire. Today about eight limestone stacks stand in the surf off Port Campbell National Park, and one collapsed in 2005 in front of a crowd of onlookers. The cliffs are made of soft limestone, and the Southern Ocean is working on them constantly, so the view is never the same twice.
The stacks form because waves cut caves into headlands, the caves become arches, and the arches fall to leave isolated pillars. Eventually the pillars fall too. It is a process that is visible in a lifetime, and this stretch is called the Shipwreck Coast for a reason. A short drive west, Loch Ard Gorge marks the site where the clipper Loch Ard struck the cliffs in 1878, and only two young people survived, Tom Pearce and Eva Carmichael.
For riders, the Apostles are the highlight of the Great Ocean Road, and also its most crowded point. The viewing platforms are reached by a walkway from a big car park, and the midday crowds can be thick with tour buses and selfie sticks. Go at sunrise or an hour before sunset, when the stone glows and the visitors are fewer. The road here is mostly straight and open, running across wind-bent coastal heath, and gusts from the southwest can hit hard on the exposed stretches. A windproof layer is essential even in summer, since the temperature can drop abruptly.
The nearest big services are at Port Campbell, a small seaside village a few kilometres along the coast, while Timboon and Cobden inland are quieter dairy towns that also have fuel. Cobden is known for cheese and Timboon for whisky made at a local distillery. Watch for little penguins, which nest along parts of this coast, and for wildlife on the road at dusk, when wallabies and kangaroos are most active. Let the ocean do the talking.