Below: Overnight Stops
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Great Ocean Walk |
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Walk Menu |
Day: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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Overview: The Great Ocean Walk is a one-way long-distance walk extending east to west, just over 100km, between Apollo Bay and the iconic Twelve Apostles near Princetown. The spectacular walk weaves its way through national parks, coastal heathlands, wild rocky shores, river estuaries and windswept cliff-tops presenting amazing views - nature truly unfolds at every step. By Parks Victoria. For this walk we trekked west to east from the Gables Car Park finishing at Blanket Bay. As we only had 8 days and the full walk would have taken too long with our two young boys. |
| Maps: | Right: Walk Location
Below: Overnight Stops |
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| Slideshow: Some of the best photos from the Great Ocean Walk |
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| Getting There to Day 3 |
| We
camped at Blanket Bay on our first night, the walk starting tomorrow, with Nana and Grandpa.
This was done as we needed to do a
car transfer to the start of the walk as we were leaving our car at
Blanket Bay, the
end of the walk. After we set up camp we went for a walk to the
nearby beach where our boys had a splash in the sea. As we headed back we
saw a not so shy echidna climbing our stairs. After dinner when
the kids were in bed Grandpa and Luca went for a walk to the beach
again. Day 1 of the walk. After a great breakfast, we headed off to Gables Car Park around an hours drive away. Here I unpacked my gear and started the walk with Grandma and Mike. Nat drove to Hider's Access track where she and Mike would leave the trail as they had could only stay for an overnight walk. Grandpa and Luca picked Nat up and went back to Gables Car Park, where Nat and Luca then headed off on the walk trying to catch Susan, the kids and Mike before they reached the camp. Grandma walked for an hour before she turned back to be picked up by Grandpa. Luca and Nat caught us just before the Ryan's Den campsite. This was a great spot with a look out over the sea, close by. Day 2 saw us walk to Milanesia Beach, where we all had a 'swim'. Here Mike and Nat left us and headed back to Melbourne, while we enjoyed the beach by ourselves. Finally, it was time to go and we headed up the hill as well. Ashley was able to climb the steep slope by himself and managed to climb some 80m in elevation before seeking my help. What a boy! We then met a local farmer, Brian, who offered us a place to camp for the night. It was a great spot under gum trees beside the road, that is rarely used. Brian also had free water, a sailor model, sand pit and treasure chest for the kids to play with. He also gave us a bubble show and showed us his artwork, fire evacuation site and his magical tree house. That night the boys slept very well. Day 3 saw the boys playing with Brian's treasures again before we headed off to Johanna Beach. This was a tough day as we had to carry all our food and water for the rest of the walk. Nat had left our extra food for us before she went home. The road to Johanna Beach passed quickly and we arrived at camp much earlier than we expected. After lunch we all walked down to Johanna Beach, but the wind was blowing hard and we did not feel like a swim. Susan |
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Walk Menu |
Day: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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| Camping Grandparents' style at Blanket Bay | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk - Let's swim! | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | What's Grandpa written? |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk - Echidna | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk - Echidna |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk - Echidna | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk - Koala |
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| Blanket Bay - dinner | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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| Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk | Blanket Bay - Beach Walk |
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Walk Menu |
Day: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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| Gables Car park | Off we go - catch us if you can Luca | An orchid |
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| The chase is on - Luca and Nat | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| On the way to Ryan's Den - Nat strides out | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| Caught! | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den | On the way to Ryan's Den |
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| On the way to Ryan's Den | Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out |
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| Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out |
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| Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out |
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| Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out |
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| Ryan's Den Look-out | Ryan's Den Look-out | Dinner time at Ryan's Den |
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| Dinner time at Ryan's Den | Dinner time at Ryan's Den | Dinner time at Ryan's Den |
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Walk Menu |
Day: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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| Breakfast at Ryan's Den | Packing up - Ryan's Den | View - Ryan's Den |
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| View - Ryan's Den | Packing up - Ryan's Den | On our way again - Ryan's Den |
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| On our way to Milanesia Beach | A happy boy and Mum | On our way to Milanesia Beach |
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| On our way to Milanesia Beach | On our way to Milanesia Beach | On our way to Milanesia Beach |
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| Milanesia Beach | Milanesia Beach | Up the Hill |
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| People passing | View to Milanesia Beach | Up the Hill |
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| Is this a camp spot for tonight? | Where can we make it to? | Brian's Farm Camp - a private spot |
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| Brian's place - treasures for the little boys | Brian's place - the sailor in his boat | Brian's place - pirate treasure |
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| Brian's place - our spot for the night | Brian's place - play time | Brian's place - play time |
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| Brian's place - play time | Brian's place - play time | Brian's place - play time |
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| Brian's place - play time | Brian's place -It's been a fun day | Brian's place -It's been a fun day |
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Walk Menu |
Day: | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
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| Farmer Brian's place -Packing it all up | Farmer Brian's place - moving on | Farmer Brian's place - goodbye sailor |
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| Wake me at Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach |
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| On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach |
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| On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach |
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| On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach |
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| On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach |
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| On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach | On the way to Johanna Beach |
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| Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach |
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| Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach |
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| Johanna Beach - Lookout | Johanna Beach - Car park | Johanna Beach |
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| Johanna Beach - Great Ocean Walk map | Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach - lookout |
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| Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach | Johanna Beach |