Travelling the great Oprah road

While Winfrey was soaking up the sights thousands of kilometres away at Uluru as part of her so-called "ultimate Australian adventure", 30 of her most avid viewers spent more than an hour at the Twelve Apostles.

Winfrey will meet up with her 300-strong entourage next Tuesday when she films two episodes of her talk show at the Sydney Opera House which is being transformed into the "Oprah" house for the day.

After landing in nine helicopters, her fans walked along the coastal attraction's boardwalk and learned about its formation, history and wildlife.

The fans arrived in Sydney on Tuesday and were broken into smaller groups to experience locations throughout Australia including Melbourne, the Yarra Valley, the Great Barrier Reef, Hamilton Island and Kangaroo Island.

The Victorian group left Essendon Airport early yesterday and enjoyed a bird's eye view of the Great Ocean Road and Shipwreck Coast before their stop near Port Campbell.

Indianapolis fan Richard Barker said his parents were so jealous that he had won a free trip to Australia that they had already booked a holiday here for themselves.

"It's infectious. Everyone in America has got Australia disease," Mr Barker laughed.

"There's not even words to described how much fun we're having, the spirit of the adventure and the friendliness of the people."

Georgia visitor Jan Lowery described the scenery as "amazingly beautiful and breathtaking".

Cradling a stuffed kangaroo in her top, Ms Lowery said she had been an Oprah Winfrey fan "since the very beginning."

Canadian friends Janice Holmes and Mona Crandell were two of the few lucky fans who scored a ticket for the Australian adventure from outside America.

"It's an amazing experience that we're all part of," Ms Holmes said. "It is something to remember - not just the landscape but the people."

Ms Crandell said the coastal scenery was spectacular. "It's better than what you see on the TV and in the magazines."

"We'll be great ambassadors for your country going home."

"Today was wonderful," said Chicago fan Tammy Bauman. "We didn't know what to expect so it was amazing. It's a very beautiful place here."

Although Corangamite mayor Matt Makin had heard rumours the Oprah circus might tour the district, he was not informed of the visit.

"We were kept out of the loop but obviously that's the way it's all been conducted," Cr Makin said.

He was part of a shire inspection with other councillors and staff at Princetown when he saw the large group of helicopters fly over. They turned up at the 12 Apostles Centre as the international guests arrived.

"It's good for the region to get that type of publicity, particularly for the North American market."

Cr Makin said the shire had not been asked to consider changing the name of the Twelve Apostles to the Twelve Oprahstles for the day.

"Obviously we'd consider it if she came in person," he joked.

Shipwreck Coast Marketing executive officer Carole Reid also welcomed the brief visit.

"The important thing is we will be getting very good visual exposure," Ms Reid said.

"The Twelve Apostles already has high recognition in the state.

"The exposure we will get from the show, the general awareness of the region it will create worldwide, is fantastic."

She said the marketing body already did a lot of promotion of the Great Ocean Road in the United States, through the Great Southern Touring Route initiative.

The Australian adventure is estimated to have cost $3 million in taxpayers' dollars and is partly financed by Tourism Australia and the Victorian and New South Wales governments.