Driving on the Great Ocean Road in Australia has been one of our long-standing dreams. It is very exciting, scenic and friendly. This coastal highway runs from Torquay to Warrnambool. Being from San Francisco we have been on the Pacific Coastal Highway (aka Route 1) many times which runs along the Pacific Coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The major difference between these two coastal highways for us is the wheelchair accessibility. Most of the major stops and attractions on The Great Ocean Road are completely wheelchair accessible as against the Pacific Coast Highway.
There are a lot of places to pull over along the coastline and admire the view. Bells Beach and Artillery Rocks near Jamieson Creek, Lorne are some good places to stop. The wheelchair accessibility is very nice at all these places all the way to the lookup points.
The highlight of this drive, however, was the 12 Apostles. These are the collections of Limestone stacks on the shore. They are named 12 Apostles as they stand tall on the shore, presently they have only 8 of them and the others have faded away by erosions. The view is spectacular, especially during the sunset.
Wheelchair accessibility ♿️ ♿️ ♿️
The wheelchair accessibility in this area is amazing. The main lookout area is on the opposite side of the car park which goes through an underpass crossing Great Ocean Road. There is a lower-view platform that is completely accessible for wheelchair users. The paths are marked for wheelchair users. The main viewpoint has a boardwalk with rails. If the wheelchair user is seated at a very low level it might block the view slightly. There is a wheelchair-accessible restroom at the visitor center and there is some wheelchair-accessible parking in the back of the parking lot.
There are 4 wheelchairs available for use stored in the facility. You can get them during the visitor center’s opening hours.
Gibson Steps Viewing Platform
There is a single-car park for wheelchair users. It provides the steps to access the Beach. Here you can see two offshore stacks. However, these are not part of the 12 Apostles.
You can do the complete route of the 12 Apostles having a Helicopter ride. The Helicopter terminal is at the car park and there are no steps to get in.
