Our Hiking Blog: May 2007

Day 7 - Devils Kitchen to The Gables - Great Ocean Walk

We decided that because of the position of the car that we would not complete the whole walk to Princetown rather backtrack along Wreck Beach. Frank had brought Deb's CRV in along the 4WD track to near the Devils Kitchen campsite the evening before so we were able to load up all the packs, and while he did a short sharp rally trip in the car, the others were able to enjoy a last walk along the beach back to the Gables.

So following a really terrific walk and great company the GOW ended. A walk that is highly recommended to anyone with a spare 5 days. A couple of concluding points you may want to consider if you ever plan to do this walk.

Water is usually available at each GOW campsite but we carried additional supplies, even though it was not hot. Most days we arrived at camp with empty bottles.

In summer, not only would carrying additional water be essential, a careful eye for snakes would be important. It is very snaky country.

We all thought that summer would'nt be the best time for the walk. Too hot, too dry, too many flies and as mentioned above , snakes.

Many sections of the track were quite slippery and occassionally difficult. This is probably because the drought broke the day Helen and Deb commenced the walk.

It is a great walk to drop in and out of, using a car shuffle. Overnight or weekend sections can easily be undertaken.

Pickup and dropoffs can be arranged through Great Ocean Road Transport on (03) 52379278. Really nice bloke who's rates are pretty good. Saves a car shuffle.

Some of the individual campsites needed some work. There were some great ones but some of them were a bit rough or on a big angle. Given that all the facilities were excellent and blended into the bush really well.

We had both Optus and Telstra mobiles. The service was heaps better with Telstra but still patchy.

Day 6 - Ryans Den to Devils Kitchen - Great Ocean Walk

Picture above is looking back at the Ryans Den shelter (if you open the picture you can see it!)

Today was the weekend and a nice slow start was had as we were really getting into the pace of the walk i.e. quite relaxed with distances that are not too long. Deb went ahead to shuffle the car and planned to met walk in and meet us on Wreck Beach…..more of this later he says ominously.

Following a long inland section, we reached the Gables Lookout for lunch. This is a terrific spot with wonderful views, if my memory is correct; it is at the peak of some of the highest cliffs of the GOW. We had a leisurely lunch as we knew today was our last lunch of this walk and we could eat any goodies we had saved. One of the great things about walking in a group is the way everyone shares and combines their food (especially at the end of a walk when you know you don’t need it!!)

Food, to me anyway, always takes on a more important role when you are hiking and when you lunch or dinner it is usually with gusto and great enjoyment as you feel you have really earned your nourishment.

After Wreck Beach there is a long "up" to the campsite. The days always seem to end this way. Bit of a grunt to get to your campsite but the views are always worth it in the end.

Above is the view from the Devils Kitchen toilet. Now could you think of a better place to sit and relax. Well done Parks on the great facilities and locations.

We did have a bit of excitement at the end of the day when Deb, our usually trusty camp host, was not at Devils Kitchen. This caused us some concern as the walk out of Ryans Den would not have been easy with a sore knee and as much as she has a lot of determination we were concerned she could have come to some grief. A search party was dispatched and thankfully a text message arrived before long, stating that Deb was OK and a mix up with her car keys was the problem.

Due to some atrocious road "repairs" the 4WD track into Devils Kitchen was too much for Deb to accept as a challenge and she decided to walk in for our last night. Thankfully, she had collected all the refreshments and we were able to have a jolly good time reminiscing about our terrific walk and the great trip we had all enjoyed.

Day 5 - Joanna to Ryan’s Den - Great Ocean Walk

We were fairly slow off the mark each morning, and today was no different. Deb again headed off in the car to meet us at Ryan’s Den. The rest of us threw on our packs which were getting a bit lighter by now and took off with the aim of reaching Ryan’s Den with plenty of daylight left in the day.

Below is a picture of the very brave cattle that graze this area. They have big "ups" and "down's" to contend with in their lives.

We hit Milanesia Beach following (in my opinion) a fairly boring inland dirt road and 4WD track section. Below is our lunch spot...very nice.

At this spot there is a very pretty cottage tucked away in a small valley.

We could not understand why it was able to be there as many houses had been demolished at Blanket Bay when the Otway National Park was declared. The hut was very well maintained, had gas bottles and a newish shed behind it. It was well furnished with 50’s furniture and had the grass mown around it. A GREAT position for a holiday shack, we decided as we explored around it and had lunch on the edge of the beach.

The beach walking here was pretty good as the sand was not too soft and the wind had dropped since yesterday. We headed off up hill at the first GOW track arrow and had to do a fairly steep hill climb and then another steep down. We discovered if we had continued up the beach there was another GOW arrow up a track that would have saved the previous up and down. We were then faced with a fairly large climb up both track and stairs to reach Ryan’s Den Camping area. This seemed a long, long way and finally, after a couple of false starts we reached the camp sites.

Deb, our camp host, had not long arrived and boy were we glad to see her ever cheery face. This was another spectacular position and at the very end of the sites was a great lookout where we were able to take many sunset photo’s and Helen and Deb got up early in the cold and took some of the sunrise.

That night, just on dusk, two other parties arrived (we remembered it was Friday) They were the first GOW walkers we had seen. Thankfully, even thought we had not camped in our allocated sites, these new people were happy to pick any site and camp the night. (Note to selves, we should have camped in the allocated sites)

Related Posts on the Great Ocean Walk
Blanket Bay hikers shelter
Our Hiking Blog goes "lightweight" at Blanket Bay
Drinking water on the Great Ocean Walk
Great Ocean Walk - the start
Marengo to Blanket Bay
Blanket Bay to Cape Otway Lightstation
Lightstation to Aire River
Aire River to Joanna
Ryans Den to Devils Kitchen
Devils Kitchen to The Gables

Day 4 – Aire River to Joanna - Great Ocean Walk

A gentle start to the day was had by all as we awoke to perfect conditions, blue sky and not too much wind. The night had been cold and the stars totally visible as we enjoyed our warm sleeping bags. We had a great cook up of fresh food for breaky and then following a short car shuffle to Castle Cove, we all headed out for a gentle morning stroll around the coast. This was a relatively easy walk and following a break at Castle Cove where Deb took the car to Joanna, the remaining four headed off.

Below: Having a break at Castle Cove

Right (lunch near Moonlight Head)

There is a quite boring inland section here although there were a couple of highlights because we spied some beautiful toadstools and the famous Otway’s carnivorous snail. (see pictures below)

The only REALLY BAD PART was when we reached Joanna beach and we all faced a difficult hour as we struggled into a gale forced head wind over the whole length of the very soft sand on the beach.

Helen took off like there was a bottle of Bundy with ice and cold Pepsi waiting for her at the campsite. Unfortunately she also filled her boots with water on the river crossing and had to spend the evening drying them out (successfully).

We were stuffed (I was anyway) by the end of the beach, and when we FINALLY headed inland there was still quite a grunt to the hiking campsite. We were rewarded with a great location and excellent campsite perched on top of a hill overlooking the huge waves that were rolling into Joanna. An early night was taken and lying in bed listening to the roar of the ocean was fantastic.

Pictures below, our campsite....absolutely million $$$$ views and one of the GOW shelters, beautifully constructed, practical and DRY!

View from the shelter out to the ocean at Joanna

Day 3 – Lighthouse to Aire River - Great Ocean Walk

It was now car shuffle time as Deb’s knee was still playing up, so off she went to Aire River by car to meet up with Helen who took the track. A fairly lazy day was had, by all accounts, as this section is only 10 km’s. They then faced the quandary of where to camp…..the Hikers area or the planned area with fireplaces (as Sue, John and Frank were bringing wood, nibbles and liquid refreshment for a good old sit around the fire night that evening) . The correct decision was made (stuff em, I heard told, we are pushing for the Hikers area, that shelter was too good to not use)

Below is the Aire River bridge and camping area. The GOW campsites are to the left (west) of the bridge in the bush.

Sue, John and Frank arrived in plenty of time before dark and we happily set up in the hikers area to the west of the Aire River. There was a LOT OF STUFF to transport up the hill but once that was done, camp sites selected, tents erected and gear sorted, the Champers was opened. A very pleasant night was had in serious comfort.

Related Posts on the Great Ocean Walk
Blanket Bay hikers shelter
Our Hiking Blog goes "lightweight" at Blanket Bay
Drinking water on the Great Ocean Walk
Great Ocean Walk - the start
Marengo to Blanket Bay
Blanket Bay to Cape Otway Lightstation
Aire River to Joanna
Joanna to Ryans Den
Ryans Den to Devils Kitchen
Devils Kitchen to The Gables

Day 2 – Blanket Bay to the Lighthouse - Great Ocean Walk

Our intrepid walkers woke dry and ready to face the next day following their interrupted night and the very heavy precipitation. Great little tents those Storm Shelter 2’s from Snowgum. Unfortunately Deb’s knee had decided to play up and decisions had to be made about what to do next, and how. One given was that this dodgy knee was not going to make Deb a quitter and an intricate plan was hatched to save the day. The car was needed so Helen set off BACK to Marengo to get the trusty CRV and Deb headed in the opposite direction to limp, well sort of, to the Lighthouse. Helen made it back, after only being geographically challenged for a short time and Deb made it to her destination.

Well done ladies. I understand a couple of rums were consumed that night to ease both their pain……

Day One - Marengo to Blanket Bay - Great Ocean Walk

Deb and Helen headed off early to start the walk from Marengo on a wintry Monday morning with the plan to have their first night at Blanket Bay. This section starts with some beautiful coastal walking until the track heads off inland to a long section of fire trail and then back to the coast near Blanket Bay. It is about 17km. On their arrival at Blanket Bay the weather turned rather “difficult” and they also discovered their campsite may have been invaded by a school group. The other interesting fact was there was no water as some workmen had accidentally cut the tank outlet that day. Ah, the challenges of a quite stroll in the bush!

The picture below is of the old day visitors camping area at Blanket Bay (is it the calm before the storm?)

Blanket Bay on a nice fine summers day

Under some stress, I can imagine, they sourced water from the school group (luckily), decided to camp in the main Blanket Bay campsite and they set up quickly to prepare themselves for the rapidly approaching cold/wet front. I believe it was early to bed and a slightly interrupted night with a possum or some other native stealing Helens’ whole food tub during the night, a GREAT lightning storm and a LOT OF HAIL!

The first picture is of the non existant Blanket Bay beach, check out the tide! The one below is from approx the same spot in nicer weather!

This picture is of the new steps to the "beach" from the area where Deb and Helen. A bit wet!

Great Ocean Walk

The plan was to traverse most of the Great Ocean Walk. Helen and Deb would commence at Marengo (just outside Apollo Bay) and Sue, John and Frank would meet them at Glenaire (Aire River) and we would all walk through to Princetown (just before the end at Glenample Homestead)

The Parks Victoria website describes the walk as:

One of the Worlds Great WalksThe Great Ocean Walk, on Victoria’s spectacular west coast, stretches 91 klms from the idyllic resort town of Apollo Bay to Glenample Homestead (near to the 12 Apostles). It passes through the beautiful National Parks and overlooks the Marine National Park and Sanctuary.

You can check out the official site here: Great Ocean Walk Site

Below is Helen on the western side of Marengo heading towards Blanket Bay.