New shuttle tour to help more enjoy foodies trail

Seven lucky locals became the first group to experience the region’s new 12 Apostles Gourmet Trail Shuttle Tour this week.

Ride With Us officially christened its new dedicated shuttle service, which takes small groups from stop to stop along the iconic foodies loop to enjoy the local produce.

Owner Sandra Timmins said the day was a great success and she was excited to be playing a role in the region’s burgeoning food tourism offering.

“The producers along the food loop are the real heroes when it comes to food tourism in our area - we’re just helping more and more people enjoy the experience,” she said.

“We ran an online competition and the seven ladies who won a seat on the very first tour on Thursday had a great time and gave us a lot of confidence that our new service will prove popular.

“Food tourism is becoming increasingly important to the Twelve Apostles region, especially in the non-peak season. We’re rapt to be helping our wonderful artisan producers with our new shuttle tour service.”

Ms Timmins said that while thousands of people drove themselves around the food loop each year, there were many people who couldn’t drive, or preferred not to drive.

“Obviously there are a lot of visitors to our region that don’t have vehicles, but often those who do drive are not confident navigating the route or would like to have a few drinks along the way and really let their hair down,” she said.

“Our shuttle tour will cater for these people, but it’s also ideal for a range of small groups such as workmates and even party groups like a hen’s party for example.

“It’s only about 100km, but we’ve scheduled our shuttle tour to take six hours so that people can really take their time, talk to the producers and enjoy everything there is on offer.”

Ms Timmins said the tours started and finished at the Timboon Distillery and the vehicle could seat eight passengers.

“For our first tour, we headed to Dairylicious to enjoy some fudge and a beautiful morning tea before heading to Apostle Whey Cheese for their tasting experiences,” she said.

“From there we headed to Gorge Chocolates, then down the coast to see some of the sights before a few drinks at the Sow and Piglets Brewery in Port Campbell, then the Timboon Cheesery before heading back to the distillery.

“There’s no set stops though, we are happy to work with people to make sure they visit the artisans they’d most like to get to in the available time.”

​To make a booking, please call 0428 407 777 or email [email protected]