Friday, September 21, 2007

Great Ocean Walk

I've completed Victoria's Great Ocean Walk, which follows the coastline near the Great Ocean Road from Apollo Bay to just beyond Princetown.


It's a 91km hike, suggested as a 7-night, 8-day hike. I did it over 4-nights and 5-days, combining 2 suggested hiking days at the start, and 2 at the end.



View photos in full-screen mode

It was an amazing hike, I camped in the hike-in campsites - some very special places. Lots of coastal scenery, some quite dramatic, and also the forests of the Otways and coastal heaths, and yes a little, just a little, bit of farmland. I highly recommend the trail to those interested in multi-day hikes or trekking, or those who just want to pick out some of the best day hikes. Spectacular stuff.

The blog entries for my 5 days appear below, in reverse order, having been typed up from hand-written entries I made each night (start with Day 1: Apollo Bay to Blanket Bay). They are presented here largely unedited which shows my hopes for the following day, and then you get to witness those hopes shattered. No sorry, probably being a bit dramatic.

For those of you who are impatient or just otherwise uninterested, above in this blog entry I have included the 12 very best photos here. Also find the Google Map (suggest view in full-screen mode).



Driving down to Princetown from Adelaide on Saturday, I took this one rather good photo at Port Fairy. Nice place, lots of old colonial buildings, nice holiday spot one day.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Jez. Great blog on the GOW - def the best I've found. I'm thinking of fast-packing the route in 3 days (tides permitting) - running the flats and walking the ups/downs. Were there any shops you could pick up food along the route where it seems to come close to roads (say Cape Otway, Aire River or Johanna)? Cheers - Ruth.

Jez said...

Hi Ruth, there is a tourist shop at Cape Otway but it only sold ice creams, drinks and tourist crap. There is a cafe on the Great Ocean Road where the trail comes out at Glenaire. I think that's all there is. Perhaps you could drop some food off and hide it in a secure box beforehand.

Cape Otway Lightstation Cafe - Cape Otway
Cape Otway Lighthouse Rd, CAPE OTWAY Ph: 5237 9240

The Bend Café - Great Ocean Road, Glenaire
3225 Great Ocean Rd, GLENAIRE Ph: (03) 5237 9102

brad said...

Jez,

Awesome information on the GOW, best I have found yet! I am planning my first trip to Australia this Sep, and I am going to be hiking the GOW. Do you think it would be possible to get a copy of your GPX files?

Thanks,
Brad

Jez said...

Heya Brad, yeah no worries, here are some links. The first section to Blanket Bay is no good I think (the GPS didn't save that bit), but the rest is good.

2007_09_16-Apollo-Bay-to-Blanket-Bay.gpx

2007_09_17-GOW-Blanket-Bay-to-Aire-River.gpx

2007_09_18-GOW-Aire-River-to-Johanna-Beach.gpx

2007_09_19-GOW-Johanna-Beach-to-Ryans-Den.gpx

2007_09_20-GOW-Ryans-Den-to-Princetown.gpx

Brad Anderson said...

one last question if you dont mind. I am planning on stopping at Princetown what is the best way to get back to Melbourne from there? Is there a coach or is taxi my only option?

Jez said...

Brad - check out the V/Line website, the Journey Planner seems the easiest way. I can see there are a few options bus route/train combos for Princetown. They drop off on the main road I think, at the town turn-off, but the town is only a few hundred metres from the turn-off.

http://jp.ptv.vic.gov.au/ptv/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en

Anonymous said...

This is the best blog on the Walk. Parks Victoria have realigned a lot of the section on the walk now so some of the more boring bits are now pretty spectacular. Up to date times and distances on the Great Ocean Walk are here. Also found on the Great Ocean Road iPhone App.

Jez said...

Thanks greatoceanrd (http://greatoceanrd.wordpress.com/)! It's a great walk, a good to hear that some of the more mundane sections have been re-routed.

anderson said...

your blog describe a logical view of the things. It is very effective for the reader. Please post more blog related to this.
Visit :- great ocean road cafe

Unknown said...

Hi.
Just letting you know about a new and updated site on the GOW.

www.thegreatoceanwalk.com

Kind regards,

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