Our Hiking Blog: Great South West Walk

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Great South West Walk - The Capes and Bays

Penguins?
Enchanted Forest?
Blowholes?
Seals?
Petrified Forest?
and The End....

The final section of the Great South West Walk is described as "The Capes and Bays" and in his fourth guest post, Dave Tomlinson shares his trip report of this popular and beautiful area.

Petrified Forest

The 27km from Tarragal Camp around Cape Bridgewater to Trewalla Camp was my longest day but also one of the most enjoyable. Initially I had to traverse some pastoral land which offered beautiful views of Bridgewater Lakes. After enjoying some native bush around the lakes the track pushed its way out onto the rugged and windswept headland. As I progressed down the western side the vegetation became sparser until it became barren with a moonlike appearance. I took a break at The Springs camp, which was surprisingly well presented and so named for the freshwater spring nearby.

Bridgewater Lakes

At various points there was evidence of the ancient lava flow that created the Cape. Unfortunately there wasn't much action at the blowholes when I was there but it wasn't much further to see the Petrified Forest. There are a number of theories about how this surreal landscape of calcified sediment was formed. One of these is that a forest was smothered by a large sand dune and water seeping down through the sand formed a crust of sandstone on the outside of the tree trunks. This process decayed the organic matter, leaving behind the "petrified trunks".

Cape Bridgewater in the distance

After rounding the southern tip of Cape Bridgewater the track passes high above a colony of Australian fur seals, over the highest sea cliff in Victoria (130m above sea level) and descends to the tranquil community of Bridgewater. This eastern flank of the cape is sheltered from the prevailing wind and is noticeably greener. I had the recommended fish and chips for lunch before following the gentle curve of Bridgewater Bay around to Trewalla camp. This site offered good views looking back to the cape I'd just walked from. The only worry I had that night was the dark clouds that rolled in from the sea during the evening because my tent is not entirely waterproof.

Although I woke the next day to a heavy looking sky it remained dry and reasonably warm. In fact I never had more than a few light spots of rain the entire hike. The next headland I had to round was that of Cape Nelson.

Cape Nelson

After a few kilometres along the beach the track climbs (which the help of some wooden steps) up the dune and onto the cape itself. Although smaller, the scenery is similar to Cape Bridgewater with the landscape becoming very rugged and barren toward the end. At the southernmost point is the distinctive red and white Cape Nelson lighthouse built in 1884.

Great coastal scenery

It was noticeable that extra resources have been allocated to the track and campsites around the headlands. This is clearly the most popular section and many people do the 'Three Bays in Three Days' walk from Portland to Bridgewater Lakes. I stayed at Mallee Camp on the eastern side of the Cape Nelson. This was a lovely campsite apart from one thing: it's located close to a large wind turbine. The sound of the huge blades cutting the air disturbs both the ambience and even your sleep if they continue turning into the night. Fortunately for me the wind ceased soon after dark so the turbines fell still and silent.

Mallee Camp - nice and close to the wind turbine...

The track passes through the Enchanted Forest on Cape Nelson. This is where the twisted branches of Moonah trees, draped by vines and surrounded my lichen covered rocks combine to form a slightly haunting and fairytale like setting. Yellow Rock is a popular surfing and picnic spot but deserted as I passed by. The final cape of Sir William Grant is the smallest of the three and leads onto the aptly named Point Danger. There is a large Australasian gannet colony in this area.

Trewella camp with morning light over Cape Bridgewater

The final few kilometres into Portland is a much better walk than the track leading out the other side. The local aluminium smelter provided funds for a smooth 2km pathway suitable for the disabled. There are nice views of Portland Bay and it passes historic sites such as a sealing station and bay used for quarantine purposes in the 1800's. Part of this section is dedicated to one of the locals who volunteered much of his time over the years to develop and maintain the track. It's these people that make the track what it is today and I owe a special thanks to.

Returning to Portland completed the Great South West Walk and I took a moment to reflect on the experience. I'd hiked 13 days through wonderfully diverse scenery, observed fascinating wildlife and enjoyed good weather. I'd recommend this walk to anyone because of its variety. From a vision conceived nearly 30 years ago, it became a beautifully planned and well constructed hiking track. Through the years it's received various upgrades and extensions to become the world-class walk it is today. It truly is a symphony in four movements; each of them unique and offering something different to the others. The brochure for the walk asks the question "When will you do it?" I'm now very happy to be able to answer "I already have."

"The End" picture - Dave reaches Portland

Related Posts:
GSWW - Section 1 - The Cobboboonee Forest
GSWW - Section 2 - Glenelg River - Nelson
GSWW - Section 3 - Discovery Bay to Trewalla Camp

Many thanks to Dave Tomlinson for his wonderful trip report and photographs. The Great South West Walk looks like a fantastic trip and is now on our "to do" list. You can check out all of Dave's photo's here

Great South West Walk - Discovery Bay and Mount Richmond

The Great South West Walk third section is from Discovery Bay to Mount Richmond and Tarragal Camp.

If you like beach walking, sand and sand dunes this section is for you!

If you hate march flies, be prepared.....

In his third guest post, Dave Tomlinson shares some great information about this section of the GSWW. You can check out the map here

Dave's footprints, Discovery Bay - soft sand makes for hard walking

The Discovery Bay Coastal Park begins at Nelson and extends virtually all the way along the coast to Portland. It is recommended to walk the direction I did because the sun and prevailing wind is generally behind you. However when I came through the dunes at Ocean Beach the sun was high overhead and there was a strong wind right in my face. I had 7km of walking on sand with a heavy pack to reach White Sands camp. Fortunately I found that the high tide mark offered a reasonably firm surface to walk on and I got the job done okay.

White Sands shelter

White Sands is probably the most rustic campsite on the route but it was very welcome after 1½ hours of battling into the wind. Set in the shelter of the sand dunes, it offered a comfortable place to spend a night.

White Sands from above - it lives up to it"s name

Every day I appreciated the long twilights which offered daylight until about 9pm. By this time in the evening the wind had dropped so I went back to the beach and enjoyed watching the sun set over Discovery Bay.

Lake Monibeong is a fresh water lagoon which is popular for trout fishing and bird-watching. There is something exhilarating about walking beside a wild ocean on an isolated shore but from White Sands I took the inland route because I knew I had 17km down the beach the following day. The campsite was excellent (with the luxury of flush toilets!) and lake itself was absolutely beautiful.

Lake Monibeong - great spot for a swim

The water was crystal clear and I enjoyed a couple of swims during the afternoon. The kangaroos at this site seemed relatively tame and weren't in a hurry to disappear into the bush at first sight.

The third day along the beach dawned to a cloudless sky and promised plenty of sun. I tried to leave a bit earlier but it was impossible to do all I needed to in the morning in less than 1½ hours. So it was the usual 9am departure as I hit the beach. It was a beautiful morning – warm with gentle sea breezes. I found some firm sand underfoot and all seemed perfect…except for the flies. I could hardly believe the number of March flies that were following and attempting to land on me at any given opportunity. For those unfamiliar, these are the large flies that bite, even through clothing sometimes.

Initially I simply tried to keep legs and arms moving to avoid them. Then I began to lose patience and decided they had to die. It was war and I left a trail of bodies along the sand. I had the sounds of Culture Club's War Song stuck in my head as the sun climbed higher and it grew hotter. There was no shelter from the elements anywhere and I ran out of water. The worst part was the final couple of kilometres through the sand dunes to the Swan Lake campsite. I felt like I was trudging though a desert in search of the oasis and prayed I wouldn't miss any track markers.

All my romantic notions of swimming in Swan Lake were destroyed when I arrived. This was the worst campsite of the entire track. It was little more than a dusty carpark with a toilet and tap offering underground bore water. The only reasonable place I could find to pitch my tent was actually on the track itself. I had trouble even finding the lake and when I did it was anything but appealing. The black mud and dirty water meant I happily settled for a bath from the tap. Very disappointing…

Swan Lake - NOT Dave's favourite spot

It's at this point where the track either continues down the beach again or deviates up into the Mount Richmond National Park. I thought the latter option was preferable and took the appropriate track the following morning. The initial gradual uphill offered a nice view looking back but the section of track between the two national parks will remain my least favourite memory of the hike.

Just a view of Discovery Bay from track to Mt Richmond

It involved walking on soft, sandy forestry roads and 4WD tracks through pine plantations that had been scarred from recent logging. It was in this unattractive landscape that I missed a track marker and became lost.

I thought at the time it was unusual to come to an intersection devoid of any track markers and if I was thinking clearly I would have turned back right there. Instead, I assumed that walking straight ahead would be the correct course. And we all know what assumption is right? Arriving at a second corner without any markers was an obvious reminder of what assumption is! After a few muttered expletives I had no choice but to turn around and slog back to where I'd seen the last marker. The one I missed was only about 100 metres from where I'd last taken a break!

It was getting hot as I made the gentle but unrelenting ascent to the top of Mount Richmond (229m). I was hoping for a view from the top of this extinct volcano but there were too many trees to see anything. Even the panorama once offered from the lookout tower is now obscured by the surrounding vegetation. I was happy however that there was a rainwater tank in the picnic area because I still had 1½ hours hiking to get to camp.

Many thanks to Dave for his great trip report. Click on the links below to read about the other legs of the Great South West Walk.

GSWW - Section 2 - Glenelg River - Nelson

GSWW - Section 4 - The Capes and Bays

Great South West Walk - Glenelg River to Nelson

The Lower Glenelg National Park, in Victoria's south western corner, is a wonderful place for a camping, hiking or canoeing holiday.
We had a terrific holiday camping at Pritchards Landing a few years ago. The swimming, boating and fishing made for a fantastic family holiday with something for everyone.

Dave, our guest poster, continues with his trip report on the Great South West Walk.

In this post he covers the Glenelg River section of the walk which is from the Moleside Camp to Nelson.

Nelson is the mid point of the walk. It has a couple of general stores for resupply.

Map of the Glenelg River section - Moleside Camp to Nelson

The Glenelg River
After 80km the track emerges at Moleside Camp to follow the mighty Glenelg River out to the coast. (Notice how you can spell 'Glenelg' backwards and it's still correct?) This was one of my favourite camps and I enjoyed a swim soon after I arrived. It was here that I realised that the river is tidal and the water has a slightly saline taste to it, even some 50km from the ocean. It is a magnificent river though and for the length that I walked it always spanned about 50 metres across to the other bank. Views of the water would come and go as the track pushed through bush on the south side of the gorge.

View of the Glenelg River from Moleside camp

Moleside Camp

I stayed at Murrell's Camp(pic below) which was a lovely spot beside the river where I had a well earned swim and even did some laundry.

The only problem I had was there was hardly any level ground to pitch a tent. I chose what I thought was the best place but still felt like I was sliding down to the far corner all night! After the company of only birds and animals for three days, it was nice to meet a few groups of day walkers and fishermen in this section of the walk. I never met anyone doing more than this and had every single campsite to myself.
Murrell's Camp - Great South West Walk

I decided to throw in a long day and miss the picturesque Patterson's Camp in favour of getting to Simson's Camp. It meant completing 24km on a hot day but it was one of the best sections of the whole track. In the lower reaches of the Glenelg River the gorge becomes much deeper and the track offers some spectacular views from on top of the limestone cliffs. It goes past a number of popular picnic and camping areas, some of which were being well used. At its most westerly point the track follows the curve of the river into South Australia. I had lunch at the lovely little picnic area of Hirth's Landing.

The South Australian section

Simson's was a pleasant campsite but I was disappointed there was no river access. After a hot sunny day I was eager for a swim but had to settle for my daily rainwater bath instead. It was here that I was woken in the middle of the night by something scratching around beside my tent. I got a fright and unzipping my tent door revealed a possum. This was Australian wildlife I could happily do without! They don't have much fear but I scared it as much as possible and fortunately that's the only one I saw in the two weeks.

The Glenelg River - great swimming

The small township of Nelson represents the halfway point of the Great South West Walk. It's a place to restock with food for the journey back along the coast to Portland. There are a few historic buildings which now serve as the local pub and a guesthouse. It has a petrol station, food kiosk, boat hire, church, information office, several houses and not a lot more. The kiosk had limited and very expensive supplies but I managed to accumulate what I needed before heading south to begin the trek along the beach.

Hire Boats at Nelson

Related Posts
Great South West Walk - Section 1 - Portland to Glenelg River
Great South West Walk - Section Three - Discovery Bay

The Great South West Walk - a great walk? You bet!

Want to spend 2 weeks hiking in Victoria in a variety of interesting scenery including sea, river and forest?

Love the beach and bush and want a bushwalking trip that takes you these environments and more?

Looking for a multi day hike that offers a lot of variety?

The Great South West Walk may be for you!

The 250km long Great South West Walk provides a fascinating variety of scenery and wildlife in the southwest of Victoria. The track winds inland from the town of Portland and reaches Nelson via the Cobboboonee Forest and Glenelg River. From there, it returns along the beaches and rugged capes to complete the loop. As it is cleverly promoted, it is a "Symphony in Four Movements"

Dave Tomlinson, our guest poster pictured below, started the Great South West Walk on the 7th February 2009. He stayed a night with us on his way through to Portland from Brisbane and has kindly agreed to allow us to reproduce his trip report here on "Our Hiking Blog".

But first, some background and references.

Parks Victoria have a great site with more detail Great South West Walk and the Great South West Walk site also has significant information about local resources, volunteer assistance, maps, accommodation and walking options.

Below is a map of the Great South West walk - for a bigger, scalable map click here

This walk has a fascinating history as is seems to be conceived and supported by the Portland and district community. The following information is taken from a great site maintained by NETS Victoria - called Walk

In 1980, Sam Bruton, the then Chief Ranger of National Parks in South West Victoria, dreamed of a massive walking track extending inland form Portland to Nelson and returning via the coast.

The Walk would feature four contrasting environments – the Cobboboonee Forest,the Glenelg River, the beach of Discovery Bay, and the cliffs and capes of Bridgewater and Nelson.

Portland High School accepted Sam’s invitation to construct the walk. With the support of government officers, the students, teachers and parents set about the task and the Walk was officially opened in November 1983. In April 1984, the newly formed Friends of the Great South West Walk accepted responsibility for it. Ever since then, with the support of the government, they have continuously maintained, upgraded and promoted this community asset.

Bill Golding Co-founder, Great South West Walk

Now onto Dave's trip report -

Part One: The Cobboboonee Forest

My hike of the Great South West Walk started in Portland on February 9th, just two days after the state of Victoria was devastated by the worst bushfires in history.As I stepped from the plane on the day which will be forever remembered as 'Black Saturday', I was greeted with a temperature of 47ºC and strong, hot winds.Never have the words 'stepping into an oven' been more appropriate!I had concerns about the fire situation, but the worst affected areas were in an area northeast of Melbourne. Apart from a fire which damaged the train line, the western part of the state appeared to be largely unaffected.

On the day I started the temperature was down to a very comfortable 21ºC.

To be quite honest, I didn't find the first day out of Portland very inspiring.The town itself is attractive and there were some nice views of the harbour and as the track passed the historic Whalers Bluff lighthouse built in 1859. I also took time to do an interesting little self-guided tour of the old cemetery.

I had some navigation problems though and a few more makers in these initial stages would have been appreciated.For most of the 20km I seemed to be walking on either residential streets, sealed or secondary unsealed roads and it was only in the last few kilometres that I felt I'd actually left civilization.

Starting mid-afternoon meant it was getting late by the time I arrived at the first camp.I was so happy to be there, pitch my tent, unroll my sleeping bag and hang up sweaty clothing.I was just imagining how good a cup of tea would be when I realized: there was no water! I was puzzled that there should be a toilet and fireplace but not the promised rainwater tank. It then occurred to me that I'd arrived at a disused campsite and the new one was a further 2km.There was no option but to pack everything up and ask my weary legs for another 25 minutes work.

In the fading light I nearly tangled with a snake on the track and the adrenalin from that had me surging into Cubby's Camp!

The three days through the forest offered relatively easy hiking.The track was wide and well maintained.There were very few undulations so it was very pleasant walking.The weather was generally overcast and temperatures through this entire section were unseasonably cool at only about 20ºC.So all those factors meant I was able to hike at 5 kilometres per hour and estimate my arrival time at the next camp accurately.

Cobboboonee is a native Australian eucalypt forest.The track explores the headwaters of two rivers and ferns seemed to flourish in these areas.It traverses heathland areas and Messmate trees.These are also known as Stringybark for the way bark can be easily peeled from the trunk. It also passes an unusual pond called The Inkpot.

The water is a distinctive black colour (caused by an accumulation of decayed vegetation) and forms an interesting contrast with the surrounding earth. At a couple of the forest campsites I was greeted in the morning by one or two grey kangaroos.After I emerged from my tent it usually didn't take them too long to disappear into the bush. I saw a couple of echidnas on the track but they were very shy and shuffled away as soon as they sensed the possible danger.

Unfortunately I didn't see any koalas but the forest is home to some beautiful birds. Occasionally I'd see the bright red and deep blue of Crimson Rosellas flicking through the trees and also several flocks of the white Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.

Related Posts:
Great South West Walk - Glenelg River to Nelson - Part 2