Great Ocean Walk

During the week before Xmas, Ms A and I took-off from Melbourne down the Great Ocean Rd to the Otways region of Victoria for 4 days of hiking and camping along stretches of the Great Ocean Walk (GOW). It was fantastic, not just leaving the pre-xmas hustle-bustle of Melbourne behind, but also for the beautiful track, amazing coastline, serenity, absence of others and some quality time.

While the GOW is set-out into 8 days of walking from Apollo Bay to near Port Campbell (about 104km in length), we did just 4 stages of it, starting from the Otway lighthouse to Wattle Hill. And although we camped for 3 nights, we managed to do a car shuffle each day which meant we didn't need to carry full packs, which was a relief.

During the walk my brother, his wife and 8-month old baby came along for 1 day walk and night, which was great given their knowledge of the area. The weather was pretty good and the lack of other walkers in the area was welcome relief from what we left behind in Melbourne - it was like another world.

Here's some photos from our trip...

 A board walk down to the beach on the way to Rainbow Falls.

 A big coil of rope washed up on rocks on the beach.

 Rainbow Falls...not a lot of water, but a lot of moss in a range of vivid colours.

 I also managed 40km of running along parts of the GOW - this run along the ridge-top was spectacular.

 Part of the GOW track, which ranged from beaches to sandy tracks, dirt, bush enclosed tunnels, steps and more. A fantastic track.

 A spectacular view along the coastline...just one of endless stunning views.

 Fishing on Johanna Beach...rod, seat, fishing box, thongs and stubby. The fisherman has gone AWOL...

 An echidna digging a burrow. We saw many part burrows but caught this guy mid-way through a dig.

Westwards from Johanna Beach near dusk. Breathtaking.

 Johanna Beach, the view from our campsite...doesn't get much better than that!!

 Running on Melanesia Beach...remote, hard to get to but stunningly beautiful.

 Locals offering of water for GOW walkers...with free view behind the bushes.

 Melanesia Beach.

 Post lunch rest on Melanesia Beach, Ms A and me.

 An ocean channel on a rock shelf, with water gushing in.

 Dusk at Ryan's Den, possibly more stunning than at Johanna Beach.

 View from Moonlight Head towards the Otway lighthouse.

 One of the anchors wedged in the rocks at Wreck Beach, surrounded by stunning rock pools and coastline in the background.

 The rock pools around the anchor.

 The rainforest near Triplet Falls, up in the Otway ranges and just near the Otway Fly.

Triplet Falls surrounded by ferns, mossy trees and more lush rainforest.