Why this ride
Repeated coastal bends, headlands and frequent viewpoint stops. It also links naturally to Budj Bim Cultural Landscape nearby.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Great Ocean Road
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 250 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 59
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Access context
Check state road reports, fire, flood, fuel range and unsealed-road suitability. Specific flag: traffic; wind; rockfall.
Seasonal context
Oct-Apr
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Torquay
Torquay is where the Great Ocean Road begins, or ends, depending on which way you ride. It is a town of about thirteen thousand people on the edge of Bass Strait, and it has a reputation that has little to do with motorcycles: this is the capital of Australian surfing. Bells Beach, a few minutes down the coast, hosts one of the world's oldest surf competitions, held every Easter, and the town gave birth to brands such as Rip Curl and Quiksilver that have since gone global. Surf World, the museum in town, tells the story with boards, photographs and a lot of sun-bleached nostalgia.
Read the complete Torquay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Torquay sits at 0 km, early in the day. Next is Lorne.
2. Lorne
Lorne is where the Great Ocean Road stops being a seaside drive and starts behaving like a mountain road. The town sits on Louttit Bay with the Otway Ranges standing right behind it, steep and thick with eucalypt, tree ferns and the odd waterfall. About twelve hundred people live here, a number that swells enormously in the Australian summer holidays, when Melbourne decamps to the beach and the main street fills with surfboards and ice cream.
Read the complete Lorne write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lorne comes up 62 km in. Next is Apollo Bay.
3. Apollo Bay
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.
Read the complete Apollo Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
123 km in you reach Apollo Bay. Next is Warrnambool.
4. Warrnambool
Warrnambool is the western gateway to the Great Ocean Road, or the end of it, depending on which way you ride, and it is a solid, comfortable regional city of about thirty thousand, where the dairy farms of south-west Victoria meet a cold, wild coast. The town spreads along the shoreline, with long beaches, a breakwater and good sea views, and the centre has all the practical comforts of a place that does not depend entirely on tourism.
Read the complete Warrnambool write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Warrnambool, late in the day.