Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Great Ocean Drive...realistic drive time

I am going to Australia in November and have days planned in Brisbane and Sydney. However a friend suggested checking out the Great Ocean Drive outside Melbourne. If I were to fly to Melbourne to do the Great Ocean Drive what is a realistic number of days to complete the whole drive without feeling rushed (but also not stopping to see every single spot along the way) and to get back to Melbourne for a departing flight?

If you're not really stopping to catch all the sights (other than a quick walk at the Apostles and Loch Aird), you can do it all in one very long day (not returning on the GOR). With somewhat limited stopping, two days.

Base this on: 2 hrs Melbourne to the start of the GOR at Torquay
2 hours to Apollo Bay
4 hrs to Port Campbell
Head inland and to Melbourne from there (I've done the GOR twice but never went back to Melbourne). 4 hrs?

How far do you want to go? If you want to go all the way to ADL then you will at least 2 days. Ideally a week.

If you just want to do the beginning you will need 1-2 days as YVR has said plus some time to get back to MEL.

We drove the Great Ocean Road this past June with the family. Give yourself 2 days and you will have plenty of time to see the highights at least through Port Campbell and not feel rushed. Just a few miles past Port Campbell is what remains of the collapsed stone bridge. If you try to squeeze the drive into 1 day, you will definitely feel rushed.

Walk the entire boardwalk at the 12 Apostles as the views of the Apostles change dramatically from one end of the boardwalk to the other.

The boardwalk and (make sure to walk down to the beach cove as most people miss this) at Loch Aird is actually quite nice. We stopped here with the kids and walked around and the kids played on the beach for a while. Great place for a beach picnic.

Onedog