21 January 2011 - Apollo Bay Cricket and Recreational Reserve, Victoria

The morning dawned overcast and cool but we guessed the cloud would burn off later on. We popped down to the town to buy the Weekend Australian, then turned and drove back west, covering road we had travelled yesterday as we arrived in Apollo Bay. Just ten kilometres or so back up the ridge above the bay, we turned northwards up Binns Road and travelled through steep country clad in tall stately gums, tree ferns seemingly identical to those that grown in New Zealand, and as we climbed higher, a greater density of beeches.

Posing in the Great Otway National Park

About thirty seven kilometres out of Apollo Bay, we came to the first of several Great Otway National Park must-dos, a stand of Californian Redwoods, Sequoia trees, planted back in 1939 along the banks of the Aire River. While there was no formal walking path here, the undergrowth was non-existent and so we wandered through the small forest, gazing skyward and marvelling at what magnificent trees they are.

Just up the road, we turned off to visit the Hopetoun Falls, on the same river. This involved a half hour walk to the foot of the falls which were indeed very pretty and worth the effort. They were originally known as the Aire River Falls, but in 1895, a gentleman named Hopetoun took a party for a picnic there, and everyone was so overcome by the spectacle and day out, they changed the name of the falls to recognise their hosts taste. There is still hope for us all yet!

The Beauchamp Falls are situated on a small creek that runs into the Aire River, and were our next destination. This hour long walk was advertised as being difficult, but was not. The path descended gently to the valley, through a softwood plantation  along a river lined with beautiful Mountain Ash, Myrtle Beech, Blackwoods and ferns. The land here was part of that offered for selection in 1884 to “people of small means”, but proved to be too challenging, and was abandoned, eventually to become part of this 103,000 hectares National Park. The falls were not hugely spectacular but the walk was again worth the time and effort of returning up the long track to the carpark.

Soon the road joined the more significant route that takes one through to Lavers Hill. We turned down past the Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, a wonderful attraction for tourists who need to be entertained, and parked in the carpark ready to walk to the Triplets, a series of three waterfalls on Youngs Creek. We lunched, still huddled in our sweatshirts and caps, still hoping that the clouds close around us would lift, then set off for another hours exercise. This too was a delightful walk, much of it on metal “board-walks” and stairs, surrounded by the same wonderful vegetation. Toward the end of the loop walk, we passed the site of an old timber mill, the big boilers and some of the wagon stock still in evidence. These falls were the most spectacular; truly qualifying as a must-see.

We returned to the main road and travelled back east through Beech Forest, a small settlement pleasant but not enough to stop us, and continued onto Turtons Track, signs warning that there was ten kilometres of narrow winding road not suitable for caravans or trucks. Chris misread the sign; sure that it said “tortuous”, a rather apt mistake. It was such an incredibly beautiful piece of road although Chris was not able to enjoy the surrounding scenery to the same degree, extreme concentration required every inch of the way. It was interesting to note that there were gates either end of the road so there are obviously times when it is not deemed even safe for the likes of us to pass through.

The road north to Forrest was pleasant, passing through pine plantations and farm land, more rolling and arable than the abandoned southern slopes of the Otway Range. It had been suggested to us on Wednesday when we were out to dinner that a drive from Apollo Bay to Forrest was an essential part of the Otway / Great Ocean Road experience, and I must say that we had expected more of Forrest. There we found a well patronised brewery come restaurant, and a general store, manned by a reluctant proprietor keen to be rid of his business, from whom we purchased decadent chocolate ice-creams.

Lake Elizabeth lies to the east of Forrest, along a gravel loop we took. We parked and walked to the lake, a walk touted to be an hour one way. I think we did the return walk in that one hour, however only walked along the river bed, past a billabong, up over the landslide that dammed the river, and to the lake edge. There are apparently many platypus living in Lake Elizabeth, however we saw none. We looked also in the billalong for these little critters, but only saw hundreds of gum leaves falling like snow into the water, responsible for the brackish colour.

There is a rather amusing story about this lake; it is an accidental or case of geological evolution, which of course all landscapes are, but this within our lifetime rather than a millennium story. In late 1952, the heaviest rains for years caused a great slip to come down and blocked the East Barwon River. Remarkably the lake was not discovered until someone noticed the river had stopped flowing, and went to investigate.

The lake is very peaceful, tucked away and offers greater walks than we undertook, but the day was getting on and we were ready to head toward home. We drove on through more beautiful forest, along a loop back road, frightening hundreds of bright scarlet parrots out of the road side undergrowth and just missing a couple of black wallabys. We re-joined the main road we had taken to Forrest, but headed directly south, driving down the very steep ridges above Apollo Bay, arriving at the coast at Skenes Creek to the north east of our camp.

Back at camp we found that several tents had gone from our end of the camp, and that we now have an uninterrupted view of the river and the misty hills beyond. The clouds did finally lift in the ranges; at about two o’clock, and with that we enjoyed some warmer temperatures, but now just before dark falls, it is once again cooler and the weather for our onward journey tomorrow is anyone’s guess.