March 10th, 2010

Great Great Ocean Walk

by Alex Hallatt

I’m running a little behind on my work this week, as last week the boyf and I took time out to hike part of the Great Ocean Walk with our friend, Clare. We did a 3 day section from Johanna Beach to Princetown and stayed overnight in 3 campsites, so had to carry all our camping gear – about 15 kilos each until we started drinking the wine and eating the food. We were lucky with the weather, having only some light rain when we walked and some sun when it counted. My favourite part was Milanesia Beach and it was a shame that all the camp sites had to be so far from the beaches, as I would have enjoyed a few more swims.

We saw quite a few wallabies and a kangaroo, but I was surprised not to see more wildlife on the walk. We were warned by the kind lady who provides free water to walkers (we needed it – one of our water bottles had fallen out in the taxi and the first day of walking was in the high 20 degrees C – very warm) that the section up to Ryan’s Den (a hard slog, up and down narrow tracks through bush – not the 1.5 hour doddle suggested by the sign!) was a common snake hangout and she was right. The boyf and Clare were surprised by a 2-3 foot tiger snake that was crossing the path, but then lunged up towards them. I missed the action, but was told that they surprised themselves at how fast they could run uphill with their packs on…