The Otway Coast comprises a popular beach and national park section of the Great Ocean Road

Great Ocean Road

The Great Ocean Road is a stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Warrnambool. The road was built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932, and is the world's largest war memorial; dedicated to casualties of World War I...

 on the south-eastern coast of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 between the Victorian cities of Lorne

Lorne

Lorne is a given name and place name especially popular in Canada, due to the Marquess of Lorne, who was Governor-General of Canada . Lorne may refer to:-Given name:*Lorne Anderson , Canadian hockey player...

 and Apollo Bay. The townships on the Otway Coast are: Separation Creek, Wye River, Kennett River

Kennett River

The Kennett River is a river in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It arises in the Otway Ranges and enters Bass Strait to the east of Cape Otway through the locality of the same name....

, Wongara and Sugarloaf.

History

The Otway Coast region became a popular holiday destination from the city of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 after the returned servicemen from World War 1 built a spectacular stretch of road along some of the state's most precipitous cliffs. The townships of the Otway Coast were all settled in the late 1800s but only became popular as beach resorts when the Great Ocean Road was opened in 1932. They differ from the other townships along the coast in that they are smaller and less developed.

Koala populations

The Otway Coast has one of the most successful wild Koala

Koala

The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae....

 populations in Australia with their numbers increasing every year due to the high percentage of available suitable vegetation like Manna Gum

Manna Gum

Eucalyptus viminalis, Manna Gum, also known as White Gum, Ribbon Gum or Viminalis is an Australian eucalypt.It is a straight erect tree, often around 40 metres tall, with rough bark on the trunk and base of larger branches, its upper bark peels away in long "ribbons" which can collect on the...

 and Blue Gum

Blue Gum

Blue Gum usually refers to the subspecies or the species in Eucalyptus globulus complex, however it may also refer to a number of other species of Eucalyptus in Australia. Confusingly, in Queensland it usually refers to Eucalyptus tereticornis, which is known elsewhere as Forest Red Gum.* Gippsland...

.

National Parks

A significant area of the Otway Coast belongs to the Great Otway National Park with many walking tracks and waterfalls. The Park features the magnificent trees of the ancient rainforests, the drier forests of the inland slopes and the very diverse heathlands and woodlands along with spectacularly rugged coastline. During winter it has some of Victoria's most striking waterfalls.