Section of The Great Ocean Walk.

Friday 7 October 2016

8km - one way

We set up our camper in the caravan park at Port Campbell and enjoyed a few days exploring the sights along the Great Ocean Road. Our last visit to this area was in 1993 and we have fond memories of scenic views and staying in the NP camping areas.

A lovely young man at the Visitor Information Centre at Port Campbell told us of the opportunity to walk a small section of the Great Ocean Walk, by accessing the school bus route - the 12A morning express.

The next morning, we got up bright and early, drove to the Twelve Apostles Carpark and were waiting for the 7.30am arrival of the school bus. Our ride along the road to Princetown was free, and we were dropped in the small township where there were a number of children lined up to get on the bus.

This walk leaves Princetown and drops down into wetlands beside the Gellibrand River. A boardwalk makes for easy walking.

After leaving the river and boardwalk behind we walked through areas of coastal scrub.

The track was mostly well formed, with some areas of soft sand. It undulated up and across hills and into dips. Through the whole of this walk we were passed by and then re-passed a small guided group from a local resort.

We ended up walking along the crest of the wooded dunes, with wonderful views of the wild Southern Ocean and rugged coastline.

We saw much wildlife with small kangaroos and an amazing sighting of a wedge tailed eagle sitting on a nearby post. Eventually the famous Twelve Apostles came into view. From our vantage point on the ridge, we could see the rock pillars in the ocean and also farm land stretching off into the distance inland from us.

We stopped at the final look-out point for morning tea. We could see streams of cars out on the highway, and knew we'd soon encounter the crowds that would be visiting the Twelve Apostles.

From there we took the turn-off at a small carpark, and went down onto the beach via Gibson's Steps.

We spent some time exploring along the cliff base, walking as far as we could before turning back when the high tide was a bit close for comfort - with nowhere to run.

After scaling the steps again, we made our way, along the 1km track to join the hordes of other visitors at the Twelve Apostles viewing areas. From one vantage point, we could see where we'd just been on the beach.

The viewing areas have changed a lot since our 1993 visit, with large fenced areas and a relatively new walkway out onto a point.

This gave access to views back to the towering beach cliffs below the main platform.

A wonderful walk and an amazing view.