On the weekend of 18-20 July, some of our members headed out for our weekend long walkabout to Warrnambool and then along the Great Ocean Road.
We had nine members and one partner coming along for the ride as we drove along the route to Warrnambool on Friday and then home again on the Sunday.
Friday came around as a pleasant day, slightly cold but no rain in sight. We started our day meeting at Red Rock lookout – which gave us a lovely view over the land and lakes below us. Red Rock is aptly named as the rocks at the lookout were make of the red scoria type rock formations.
After grabbing a quick bite to eat at Camperdown bakery (highly recommended by the way), we then headed to Tower Hill, which sits within the mouth of an old volcano. This area definitely deserves some longer time here, but we were surrounded in nature, including wild Koalas in the trees and Emus coming up to you hoping to grab something shiny. The walk around Lava Tongue Walk was easy and would be a great place for birdlife if the conditions were right. A drive around the top of the crater shows you the width and depth of the crater which we were in.
Our last stop before Warrnambool was Port Fairy where we took the short trek to the Lighthouse to watch the waves crashing on the shore and giving us a great backdrop to the Lighthouse.
After arriving in Warrnambool, we settled into our accommodations before meeting for a lovely dinner at The Flying Horse.
Saturday came around blow a gale – literally! The wind made things a little harder, given we were following the coastline along, so the Saturday itinerary got changed around a bit. Add in a bit of rain and many of us took some different routes, and went to different points of interest, but meet somewhere along the way eventually.
To start we went to the breakwater to watch the waves crash against it for a time, before trying to do some whale watching at the whale nursery lookout area. Alas, we didn’t see anything after an hour or so other than some surfers – who ended up being our entertainment while we waited. Then off we set. Many of us took a detour off the itinerary to visit the Grotto – if you haven’t been there, I highly recommend it – and with the wild weather we had the sea was buffeting the cliffs nice and high – it put on a great show for us! We then went to Port Campbell for some lunch, and then some members went to Loch Ard George and other places – tackling the rain at the same time – and the rest of us made our way towards Cape Otway Lightstation. For those of us who went to the Lightstation, we only just made it before the 4pm deadline. And we decided to go on the tour to the top of the lighthouse but that wind!! It’s amazing they let us out on the viewing platform and even more amazing we didn’t get blown off – it was that strong. Walking was a challenge!!
We eventually all made our way to Apollo Bay where we had dinner at The Apollo Bay Hotel.
Our final day was our best day yet. Lovely weather, no real wind, what a difference a day makes.
Our first port of call was Sheoak Falls. Such a lovely waterfall made with basalt type rock face. The black rocks with the white water make such a lovely contrasting scene. Next we went to Teddy’s lockout. What a lovely place this was and somewhere I would love to spend some more time to bird watch etc. The local Kookaburrah posed nicely for lots of photos.
Onwards to Airley’s inlet and the beach and lighthouse there. Quite a few birds here to see as well as the obvious attractions.
By this time, our day was nearly done – we had certainly stayed at some of the points of interest longer than anticipated but that is what these walkabouts are for. They can be changed as needed to meet what we want. To finish the day some of us headed to Bell Beach – it was a relaxing way to finish the weekend – standing in the heat of the slowly setting sun, watching the surfers take advantage of the surf. It really was just lovely.
Thank you to those who attended. Thank you, Suzy, for the itinerary – there were several places on there that were not known to some of us, and they ended up being a really great surprise! Thank you for the dinners, the company, the laughs and for helping each other out and giving your knowledge and experience to each other. We have such a great club and some wonderful people – it really is a pleasure to organise and attend these events. Until the next one.
Nicky Donald
Walkabout Coordinator