That’s how many kilometres I drove while on a recent holiday to Victoria. In the state for a wedding, we decided to add a couple of days to experience the Great Ocean Road.

In this column last year, I mentioned a terrible travelling mishap that left my husband waiting in an airport for six hours while I flew home with a sprained ankle.  I can say this itinerary mishap was not a one-off mistake.

While sweating out 42-degree heat we decided to break up our travel from Ballarat to Apollo Bay with a stop at Geelong’s waterpark.   About 1pm I received a message saying our stay at our Airbnb was all set for the next day. 

Turns out, when I booked the accommodation, I had missed a day (I hope my travel agent mother isn’t reading this). We were homeless.  A quick internet search while on the sun lounge showed a motel with a spare room.

“Don’t let anything touch the floor,” the husband said, as I went to put a suitcase on the ground as we entered the room.

He was serious. And rightfully so.  About 90 minutes later a cockroach scurried across the make-shift card table we were using between the beds.

A cloud always has a silver lining and in this case, it was the Great Ocean Road. Rather going directly to Apollo Bay, as planned, we started at the beginning at Torquay. 

It was there we took a photo at the arch and what is probably one of the most unique war memorials I had ever visited.

As we drove for two days, I was constantly reminded that the path we were travelling was created at the hands of World War I soldiers who had returned home not the same as they left. It was haunting and inspiring.

Every corner your breath would be taken away by the magical views of the ocean, rough yet kind, licking the cliff face.

And on the second day, when we reached the 12 Apostles, it was just as breathtaking. 

While we joined tourists along the walk specifically created to take in the sight, with helicopters constantly buzzing above, it was the walk down Gibson Steps that was truly amazing. The feel of sand on your feet as you stood next to steep cliffs and just stared at the waves crashing into one Apostle.

To have the time to reflect on 2018 and look towards the new year could not have happened in a  better place than travelling on a road imagined and built because of an army of soldiers who were creating their own futures. 

While the Apostles took my breath away, it was the journey on that road, and that road alone, that made the Apostles so great.