Whether you're driving your own car or taking a bus tour down the Great Ocean Road, you'll be able to stop near Port Campbell National Park and hop a helicopter for a few minutes or an hour to fly over the 12 Apostles, the famous and much-photographed limestone rock formations on this lovely drive.
There were only nine apostles, which is what these limestone stacks in the sea are called, in recent memory when they were renamed, perhaps for touristic value, the Twelve Apostles after having been called the Sow and Piglets for years. A 2005 collapse of one apostle left eight standing... and man, are they outstanding.
Figure about $10 a minute for a scenic helicopter flight over the Twelve Apostles. Try Great Ocean Road Helicopters at the Twelve Apostles visitor center parking lot (that's them in the sky above the tour buses in the photo in this series). If you're with a bus tour, the helicopter outfit may be decided for you, but you'll still pay on your own. Spendy, but a real treat, and you can snap an aerial photo like the one above.
Next page: a great hostel in which to base yourself in Melbourne, Australia's hippest urban area and a launching point for the Great Ocean Road drive, plus a place to see and do plenty you'll like...
