The 12 Apostles

With a new lookout platform, visitors will be struck by seven limestone rock stacks standing out of the ocean blue and the loud force of the Southern Ocean waves hitting the cliffs, gradually eroding it. A plethora of wildlife at its depths and sea birds making it home. The 12 Apostles is a must-see for all who plan to road trip the iconic Great Ocean Road.

Park at the visitor centre and enjoy the new wide pathways and accessible viewing areas, pram and wheelchair friendly. For fit and able, test your knees on Gibson Steps, 89 steps that lead down the cliff-face to a wild ocean beach below. You may come across a dried-up poisonous puffer fish or witness sea birds circling the rock structures at great speeds. At low tide you can view two of the sandstone monoliths up close. But understand the power of the tides and the fragility of the sandstone cliffs. You will see up close how fleeting Mother Earth can be.    

The 12 Apostles is a four-and-a-half hour drive from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road. The design of the viewing platform was by the Eastern Maar community, the First Nations peoples here on Keerray Woorroong Country, and opened to the public June 2024. The design resembles two clapsticks and the white and yellow, black and red colours reflect Ngayook (Sulphur Crested Cockatoo) and Ponponpoorramook (Red Tailed Black Cockatoo). You might choose to take to the sky to see the full coastline from a helicopter. Count how many Apostles are still left standing before another one disappears into the ocean forever.