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Wonders of Greatopia revealed

October 12, 2023 BY

Bells Beach is a must-visit destination for both avid surfers and travelers embarking on their Great Ocean Road journey. Photos: SUPPLIED.

THE most impressive tourist destinations that showcase the greatness of the Great Ocean Road and surrounds have been revealed.

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) invited the public to vote on their favourite attractions around the region as part of its Greatopia off-peak winter marketing campaign, and announced the top seven wonders last month.

Hopetoun Falls in the Otways cascades 30 meters over a rugged rockface into the Aire River below.

 

GORRT says Greatopia plays on the idea that the locals consider the Great Ocean Road region their own utopia, abundant with world-class “big nature” experiences, which form the motivation behind people travelling to other parts of Australia and the world.

“Naturally if the world has seven wonders, so should Greatopia – so Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism sought the public’s opinion on the matter”.

The 12 Apostles is one of the most recognisable and celebrated attractions in not only Greatopia but also in Australia, drawing visitors from around the world.

 

After all the votes were counted, the seven wonders of Greatopia, in their respective categories, are:

  • Bay of Islands Coastal Park (Landscape)
  • The Great Ocean Walk (Trail)
  • The 12 Apostles (Lookout)
  • Hopetoun Falls (Waterfall)
  • Bells Beach (Beach)
  • Cape Bridgewater Seals (Wildlife encounter), and
  • Gellibrand River (Rivers/Lakes).

For seven weeks, visitors to the Visit the Great Ocean Road pages on Facebook and Instagram were asked each week to vote on their favourite beach, lookout, rivers and lakes, waterfalls, trails, landscape and wildlife encounters.

The Great Ocean Walk stretches across 104km along the coastal stretch from Apollo Bay to the 12 Apostles.

 

The campaign reached more than 95,000 people on social media, and had almost 2,000 followers interacting with it.

For more information on GORRT’s Greatopia campaign, head to visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/greatopia

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