Great Otways Walk

On 25th October Frank and I drove down to Apollo Bay to meet Carol and Stephen to do some walking. Frank particularly liked the stretch of road just north of Lavers Hill as it allowed him to check out the new car on dirt road for probably the first time since we bought it. (It's actually 3 years old but feels new compared to the Outback which was starting to look and act rather tired).

On the Thursday afternoon Carol and I warmed up by walking to Marengo and back from Apollo Bay (about 6 or 7km).

Carol and Sylvia leaving nothing but footprints

On the Friday we walked from Cape Otway to Castle Cove (around 15 or 16km). It was a pretty spectacular walk and made us realise how long it was since we had spent some time on the coast. The only downside were the flies, they were terrible and Aeroguard was no deterrent at all.

Flies adding to the weight of Steve's pack

Stephen was feeling a little weary by the time we got to Aire River (maybe it was all those flies!). This was about 5.5km from Castle Cove so we left him there to retrieve the car and pick him up. But when we went to collect him he had walked about 5km on the road and had done some koala spotting. We all went back to Aire River to check out all the koalas including a mother and baby in a tree right in the campground.

Koalas in the campground at Aire River (Photo by Carol)

On the Saturday we walked from Blanket Bay to Cape Otway via Parker inlet. The first part of the walk to Parker Inlet took you away from the coast into the shady trees.

Frank, Sylvia, Carol and Steve at the lookout above Parker Inlet

Steve and Frank crossing the mighty Parker River! (Carol again)

Frank checking Sylvia's pack before heading off down the beach

Once you descend down to Parker Inlet (great place for lunch) you can then walk along the beach over sand and rocks - more fantastic scenery. There are sections of the walk where you get a choice between walking along the beach or the cliff tops and the supplied map helps make this decision by showing quite clearly where you have a choice. The time of day we did these stretches the tide was too high for beach walking.

On the rocks - Steve, Carol, Sylvia and Frank with the Otway Lighthouse in the background (Photo by Frank sprinting across sand to join in after using the timer on Carol's camera :-))

On the sand - Sylvia with the Otway Lighthouse in the background

To finish the day, we did the Shelly Beach walk. This is a short 2km walk through fern gullies, coastal scrub, along Shelly Beach and across rocky platforms to Elliot River. The track returns through a stand of blue gums. The rock platform has round boulders embedded in it that make for a very strange sight.

The strange rock formations on Shelly Beach

The weather on Sunday turned cold, wet and rainy so we decided to head for home via a short walk at Stevensons Falls. Quite a surprise after we had to drive through a clear fell of pine forests to get there.

Stevensons Falls