AS THE warmer months are swept aside for the cool change and wild shores of winter, we're taking the heat off the Great Ocean Road's most trodden sites and following in the tail slaps of the whales.
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We know that chilly days can be a real drag, but that's no reason to meltdown over your travel plans.
Winter along the Great Ocean Road isn't all grey skies and rainy days.
Rainforests come to life, the ocean adds powerful drama to the coastline, fireplaces crackle and invite cosy evenings, and crowds dwindle.
And, of course, our giant flippered friends return to the southern shores for their annual babymoon.
Our winter is a whale's summer and from May to September, the giants of the deep journey from the Antarctic to the warmer waters of the Southern Ocean to breed, birth and raise their calves. This is what we call that "whale corridor".
Open the e-mag edition of Winter Out & About HERE.
It's the only place in the world where you can watch whales breeding so close to the shore and we're not at all surprised our mammal friends love to come here and play.
It is one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in the world - if we do say so ourselves.
Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Portland offer some of the best whale spotting vantage points to watch the Southern Right, Humpback, Blue and the occasional Orca whale breaching, chin slapping, flippering and spyhopping.
And if you're lucky enough, you might even see a few young calves splashing about, too.
But the region offers much more beyond blow holes and flipper slaps.
Keep up to date with 'whale mail'
WINTER is prime whale watching time so why not sign up for Portland's WhaleMail?
Never miss an opportunity to spot the graceful mammals by tracking other people's spotting, while at the same time having the opportunity to register your own sightings for others.