Cumberland River - Sheoak Creek - Day Three of Apollo Bay Camp

 U3A Hike No 274


Hike Report by Geoff

With Terry and Chris added to the group we set off for the Cumberland River Holiday Camp. On reaching the camp most of us waited by the river, being entertained by the local ducks while our cars departed to travel around the bend to the Sheoak Creek carpark. Soon after, Andrew returned with the other drivers and Don in tow and our group of 14 were ready to set off.

The walk proved to be significantly different from yesterday as we walked away from the sea, through the camp ground and up the Cumberland River. Balancing exercises were the main activity over the next hour as we crossed the river on six occasions, picking out the best stepping stones and working our way tentatively across, with the river flowing vigorously around us. Although not always graceful, all members of the group passed their balancing tests and crossed the creek without getting wet… well not very wet. 

Surrounded by beautiful, tall eucalypt trees as well as areas of tree ferns, maidenhair ferns and fishbone ferns, at times we felt we were in a lush jungle and my imagination led me to listen for the sounds of breast beating of a silverback gorilla. The only sounds to be heard were the songs of birds, mostly unseen however, some like cockatoos, currawongs and blue wrens could be seen from time to time. Although we didn’t see any other animals we saw evidence of many.

Cumberland Falls at the head of our river walk, although carrying a good flow of water, were not especially spectacular, but provided a very pleasant place to enjoy morning tea. After our break we proceeded back down the river for one last rock crossing before the walk changed dramatically. Up, up, up and still up, away from the lush undergrowth into dryer, understory filled the spaces between the tall, aged eucalypts. 

Eventually we reached the ridge between Cumberland River and Sheoaks Creek and were at last able to walk on the Garvey Track, a relatively flat path before we came to the descent to Castle Rock lookout. We thought it was strange that we had a significant descent before we reached the lookout but the view over the Cumberland River Holiday Camp was spectacular. The winds however were cold. Here we had lunch before climbing back up away from the lookout onto the ridge and finding the path down towards Sheoak falls. 

Before going down to the falls some of us walked back to the viewing platform for Swallow Caves.  These were aptly named as many swallows were swooping in and out of the cave.  The path then led us down to the beautiful Sheoak Falls where we had one last, short break before continuing back to our awaiting limousines and back to Apollo Bay. 

A very enjoyable and challenging walk which demonstrated the versatility of the beautiful walking opportunities in this area. 

Photos by Alan, Andrew, Geoff and Teena































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Comments

  1. Janet13 November 2023 at 10:44

    Fantastic photos, how well they captured our hike. Very diplomatic report!

    ReplyDelete

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