The Great Ocean Rd...
From Above!

I have enjoyed travelling along the Great Ocean Rd (GOR), Victoria many times by car - it is certainly a magnificent coastal drive, and there is some awesome scenery to be had along the way.

But that’s from a car… how good would it be from an aircraft? It had been my dream for some time to fly along the GOR, however, since I lived in Perth, it made it a little difficult to access this part of Australia by light aircraft. It just so happened that my family and I moved to Ballarat last year, so this gave me the opportunity to be able to finally take the trip I had wanted to do. I decided to make one of my first nav flights out of Ballarat down the GOR; so that’s exactly what I did – and discovered this amazing coastline by air!

The day was set, and the aircraft of choice was booked; an immaculate and meticulously cared for Jabiru J160 from Inbound Aviation, Ballarat. Roger Gration, the CFI of Inbound Aviation, gave me plenty of tips and hints about the trip which really boosted my confidence to fly in, which, to me was such unknown territory. As it turned out on the day, and to my delight, the weather was almost perfect! I couldn’t have hoped for better…

I decided to take my younger brother with me, as he loves to fly also, and was equally as keen to get some aerial photos of this awesome coastline that we have both driven down so many times before. So after spending a considerable amount of time on the flight planning, particularly looking at alternatives if the weather was to close in, my brother and I were ready for our big day of adventure flying. We decided to make Apollo Bay our landing stop, as the airfield is right on the coast, is located within easy walking distance to town, and has a runway that is more than suitable for our little aircraft to land on.

The Jabiru J160 is perfect for this sort of trip...it’s fast, at around 100kts cruise speed, holds more than enough fuel for the 4+ hr return trip, and is exceptionally comfortable, especially for passengers who are a little taller than the average, like my brother.

The Jabiru J160:

From Ballarat, where I live, it took around 20 minutes flight time to get to the coast (Torquay). From Torquay I made a right hand turn and travelled down the coast toward the 12 Apostles. Along the way there was some pretty spectacular scenery and some great photo opportunities! There were many safe opportunities to descend down to 500' to really get the true aspect of flying along a coast line as beautiful as this one. With the ever changing scenery it was truly a magnificent experience – almost surreal, and just too much to take in all at once...luckily we would be returning the same way!

Flying out over the water, made for some very smooth air to fly through – no thermals or mechanical turbulence to worry about, just smooth as silk flying. The water below was a magnificent turquoise blue, it was so clear that we could actually see the ocean floor very clearly. We were looking out for sharks, but had no luck in sighting any; which, I guess is actually good luck for the surfers and swimmers that were out.

Apart from a bit of cloud and haze in the distance the weather was absolutely perfect! We were cruising at a ground speed of around 100 kts on average, and were at 500' most of the way, whenever it was safe to do so – this sort of flying is a true pleasure to experience…both my brother and I were mesmerized by the sheer beauty before us.

Moving further down the coast - the scenery just kept getting better and better.
We eventually made it right down to the 12 apostles, a popular tourist spot, which made for some pretty exciting photo opportunities. Between us we managed to get around 500 photos! (more images at the bottom of this page).

By this time it was well and truly lunch time, and with our stomachs starting to growl, we decided it was time to do a 180 and return up the coast to land at Apollo Bay.

Landing at Apollo Bay was a little challenging with its long narrow down hill runway and rising treed landscape all around the strip; I was ready on the throttle for a go-around, just in case, but we managed to get in with no trouble at all, with plenty of runway to spare. Before long we had the J160 tied down in the very sheltered parking bay area amongst other quite respectable aircraft which are used by the local scenic flight operators.

It was a leisurely 20 minute walk into town, with many food and drink establishment choices available. We decided on a hamburger and chips, followed by some home-made butterscotch ice cream – to our delight, it was the best ice cream we had ever tasted! If you are ever in Apollo Bay, I would highly recommend you visit the ice creamery, the ice cream is made on the premises and it is to die for!

Apollo Bay has many over night accommodation choices - from camping/on-site caravans, right through to 5 star apartments/hotels, there is something for every budget. It truly is a town worth visiting, situated on a magnificent bay, with the airfield being so close to town, everything within walking distance; it makes for the perfect destination for flyers.

After our 410 nm return trip to Ballarat, the total trip time was 4.1 hours, which gave us an average ground speed of 100 kts, and a fuel burn of around 60 lts.

My brother and I spent some amazing time together on that little trip, taking in some of the most breathtaking scenery found anywhere. Having traveled the world, I can honestly say that we are rather fortunate here in Australia. We have some of the most changeable and beautiful scenery that can be found anywhere, right here on our own door step.

I feel so privileged to have a RAAus pilots certificate, and very affordable aircraft available, such as this stunning Jabiru J160 from Inbound Aviation, and the freedom to be able to fly over and discover this amazing land of ours, from the coast to the center…my goal is to never take this country nor my freedom and privileges for granted, but to experience and share as much of this great land of ours has to offer.

For those who are looking to the skies and dreaming of flying, or even those who have their PPL but can’t afford to fly more expensive GA aircraft, I encourage you to do what I, and so many others have done – get your RAAus certificate and enjoy the affordable freedom that this sort of flying has to offer.