Great Ocean Walk 2018 - Day Three

Great Ocean Walk 2018

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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