Australian Hiker

Camping done and dusted on our Great Ocean Walk and all that remains is to pack up our gear and start walking. We had most of our gear packed and we were just eating our breakfast when our dry tent was hit by sudden rain. While I managed to unpeg the tent as one unit and carry it into the kitchen shelter, the fly was again damp. The rain didn’t last long and just in case we donned our rain jackets and headed off. Today’s walk was billed as being ‘easy’ and compared to the past few days it was just that. A day without big elevation changes as we made our way along mainly headland with just the few smallish ups and downs.

Again we had a few muddy areas but on the whole the trail tread was fairly dry and easy to walk along. The first real sign that we were reaching the end of our trip was when we started the downhill approach towards Princetown. The main reason for this town approach was more about using an old bridge to cross the Gellibrand River. Just prior to heading across the river we sat in the sun for a short period and had a snack break before we headed back along the headland making our way to the destination. Eventually we came around a corner and had our first clear view of the well known Twelve Apostles rock formations located along the Victorian coast.

The views came and went and each time the Apostles came back into view they increased in size and the distanced shorted. One of the biggest surprises for us was coming across what was essentially the end trailhead and some great views of the Twelve Apostles but we still has around 2.5km to go to the visitor centre. From a previous visit I had a vague memory of crossing under the road via a short tunnel and we came across that tunnel at the end of the Gibson Steps carpark and with that around another 1-1.5km and 30 minutes later we arrived at the visitor centre. The visitor centre isn’t huge containing a small coffee shop/kiosk but the food is hearty and filling.

From here we had a 3km walk up the road to our motel – this was the very reason we picked it being the closest to our trail finish point. Trail done and dusted, long showers, change of clothing and we headed into Port Campbell for another great pizza. All that is left now is a good night sleep before driving home tomorrow.