The Twelve Apostles: Only Eight Left and Worth Every Kilometre of the Great Ocean Road

The Twelve Apostles is one of the most misleading place names in Australia. The rock stacks off the Port Campbell coast in Victoria were originally called “The Sow and Piglets” – less photogenic for tourism – and renamed in the 1960s. They were never twelve in number; the count was eight when the name was applied, and it is still eight after the collapse of one stack in 2005. The erosion continues. Visiting now means seeing something that will look different within your lifetime, which is actually a good reason to go rather than a reason to delay.

The stacks are sections of limestone coastline separated from the cliff face by wave action over millennia: waves cut caves, caves became arches, arch roofs collapsed, leaving isolated pillars. The Southern Ocean does this work relentlessly. The stacks you see today stand between 45 and 65 metres tall, and the orange-amber limestone colour at sunset is responsible for most of the photographs you’ve seen. It is that colour.

Timing Your Visit

Sunrise is better than sunset for photographs from the main viewing platform, which is a counterintuitive recommendation for a westward-facing coast. At sunset, the sun moves behind the clifftops, casting shadow on the stacks while the ocean remains lit – atmospheric but not golden. At sunrise, the light comes from behind the viewer and hits the limestone face directly, producing the colour. Sunrise also means significantly fewer people; the main viewing area by midday in summer can be uncomfortably crowded.

The helicopter tours based at the visitor centre give perspective the cliff-top platform cannot. A 15-minute flight costs around $195 AUD per person for the standard Apostles run; a 25-minute flight covering the Apostles and London Bridge runs about $295 AUD per person. The views from above – the full arc of the coastline, the depth of the stacks against the sea, the colour contrast between orange limestone and blue-green Southern Ocean – are genuinely different from the ground view and justify the cost on a clear day. Booking is recommended but not always essential; arrive early as flights go quickly on good-weather days.

The Great Ocean Road

The Twelve Apostles is the most-visited section of the Great Ocean Road, a 243-kilometre coastal route built between 1919 and 1932 by returned soldiers after World War I, dedicated as a living war memorial. The road runs from Torquay near Geelong to Allansford near Warrnambool.

The section from Apollo Bay to the Apostles is the most scenic. The road passes through the Otway Ranges rainforest, along cliff-top stretches, and through the small towns of Lorne and Apollo Bay. The full drive from Melbourne to the Apostles takes about 4 hours without stops; with stops, plan the full day.

Driving east-to-west (Melbourne toward the Apostles) puts you on the ocean side of the road for most of the journey. Returning to Melbourne via the inland Princes Highway is faster but lacks the drama of the coastal route.

Loch Ard Gorge

Two kilometres east of the main Twelve Apostles viewpoint, Loch Ard Gorge is named after an iron sailing ship that wrecked here in 1878 with the loss of 52 of 54 people aboard. Two survivors – a 19-year-old crew member and a 17-year-old female passenger – were swept into the gorge and survived by clinging to wreckage. The gorge is accessible by staircase from the car park to a beach enclosed by 25-metre cliffs. It is one of the more dramatic small beaches in Australia, consistently less visited than the main viewpoint 500 metres away. It deserves more time than most people give it.

The Shipwreck Coast of which it is part saw over 200 wrecks between 1836 and 1908. The combination of unreliable charts, the Southern Ocean’s weather, and the hidden reefs made this one of the most dangerous stretches for sailing ships approaching Victoria.

Staying and Eating

Port Campbell is the nearest town (5 kilometres east of the Apostles), a small settlement with holiday rentals and a few cafes. Apollo Bay, 50 kilometres east, has better accommodation options and more food choices; staying there and driving west for sunrise is the combination that works best in terms of logistics and experience quality. The Twelve Apostles Lodge, 10 km east of the viewpoint, runs guided walks and accommodation in a higher price bracket, with exclusive access to coastal sections in the evenings.