Great Ocean Walk 2018 - Day Three
Great Ocean Walk 2018
Day Three - Blanket Bay to Aire River.
Day Three - Blanket Bay to Aire River.
Blanket Bay to Aire River. 21.6km
U3A Ballarat Hike Number
51
By Mark Bevelander
Our third walking day! With great trepidation, we
rose from our beds with the knowledge that this day was going to be the longest
of the 4-day hike. Two of our members, Ingrid and Mary, wisely decided to spend
some time in Apollo Bay instead of attempting the 20 or so kilometres.
There was a long drive following the Great Ocean
Road inland until the turn-off on the Hordern Vale Road to Wye River, our
finish point. Andrew did a great job, as usual, in working out which cars would
stay and which would then drive to the Starting Point at Blanket Bay.
We left Blanket Bay and followed a contoured track
passing through shady coastal forests coming to a Phytopthora Boot Disinfection
Station. In and out of gullies we walked until we descended to beautiful Parker
Inlet taking in the view of the estuary from a couple of lookouts on the way
down. Here we stopped for our Morning Tea and a wander around the rocks. Andrew
discovered a Koala perched up in the rocks looking very relaxed. Gordon was so
excited he forgot to look where he was walking, slipped on the wet rocks and
fell flat on his back, luckily he didn’t injure himself.
We managed to cross the Inlet stream without
getting too wet and we forged ahead towards Cape Otway walking mainly along the
cliff edge. It’s 10km from Blanket Bay to Cape Otway and we could see the
lighthouse in the distance. By this time we were all somewhat weary and there
was a definite agreement that someone was moving that lighthouse as it never
seemed to get closer. We passed beautiful Crayfish Bay and it wasn’t too much
longer when we arrived at Cape Otway. Unfortunately no coffees were available
at the Cafe and we continued on another 550 metres to the campground where we
had lunch and a talk from Gordon about first-aid when someone has been bitten
by a snake.
Leaving the campground we came on the Cape Otway
Cemetery containing the graves of lightkeepers’ families and shipwrecked
sailors. We continued along through increasingly steep sandhills with the track
becoming challenging because of the soft sand. The track paralleled Station
Beach along the top of the sandhill ridge until we came to the escarpment looking
down on the Aire River Estuary. The sighs of relief from the tired walkers
quickly turned to groans when the track went inland for another kilometre or so
to the campground.
It was a great achievement to complete such a long
day and we all relished that feeling.
Photos by Mark Bevelander
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