Day 1 on the Great Ocean Road track was a stunner. A little overcast, warm (but not too warm) and a light wind, perfect conditions. Designed to be an introductory day, we only had a mere 8.5km to cover.
At this point, I need to make a disclaimer……
We have cheated slightly and decided to stay in Apollo Bay for the whole walk. We have a comfy bed, hot shower and full kitchen. We don’t need to carry all our gear every day, we are being driven to our start point and picked up at the end of the day. It is supposed to be a holiday right? so why make it too hard!
Today, we were dropped at Shelly beach and made our way back to Apollo Bay (the opposite to my title). This direction just makes things easier for Walk91 (the company looking after us) and allows you can take your time, easing into walking. Before we set out, we were given a briefing, poles, maps, tide charts, an EPIRB, bird and fauna leaflets. All set.
The track headed downhill from the carpark to Shelly beach. For me, it was reminiscent of walking in New Zealand, with a carpet of ferns covering the forest floor as light filtered through the tree canopy. There were koalas high above us in the Mountain Ash trees, but we were not lucky enough to see one.
From here, it was a combination of grassy hill tops, rock platforms and sandy beaches. As we skirted around the coast we passed plenty of beautiful holiday homes perched in farmland and rolling hills, each with stunning views across Bass Strait.
As we came back into Apollo Bay, we took the scenic route to check out the town’s marina (adding about 1km to our journey). It was here we discovered the creature of the day! A huge octopus was making its way along the sea wall. An intrigued backpacker described how he had watched it help its self to its very own seafood platter picking crabs off the rocks and ambushing small fish. We were all mesmerised as he changed colour, shape and pattern. Visible one minute, gone the next.
Eventually we had to move on. With the light fading, we made our way across Apollo Bay Beach and back to our apartment. The moon high in the sky and the pink clouds of sunset, made it a beautiful end to the day.
Distance walked: 9.6km
Blisters gained: 4 (all Mrs Travel Bee! Sand inside a sock wreaks havoc)
Cool animals seen: 1
Achy muscles: multiple
Tomorrow we double the distance so things will start to get interesting!
TTB
The Travel Bee 