Bushwalk Australia

Thanks to JimJim for suggesting this route. The walk was really spectacular, I would highly recommend it and I expect I'll be back to do the remaining part.

Day 1
Castle Cove Lookout to Johanna Beach. 7km
A nice easy start after the 3hr drive from Melbourne to Princeton where I dropped the car off. Its a grisly opening shot, but I found a dead dolpin just south of Johanna Beach.



Johanna Beach walk in campsite is a good spot with nice sea views from the tent.



It is easy enough to find Johanna Beach campsite as long as you take the new route that starts not far from the Johanna beach lookout. There is still a sign for the old route at the gate further down the slope - this leads you in a more circular route and it can be more difficult to find the campsite from this direction.

Day 2
Johanna Beach to Ryans Den. 14km
Spectacular scenery just after Johanna Beach campsite





Ryans Den campsite was fairly average after the previous night, although a nice lookout.



Day 3
Ryans Den to Devils Kitchen. 13km

I cut it close with the tide at Wreck Beach, the waves were coming up quite far.



but well worth heading down this way to see the wrecks



Day 4
Devils Kitchen to Princetown. 7km (?)
Devils Kitchen Campsite is great, but only site no. 8 has a sea view so worth getting in early to grab it. I managed to lose the Great Ocean Walk track just after leaving the campsite. Annoyingly I ended up on the Old Coach Rd all the way back to Princetown. It was a nice enough walk through farm land, but I was annoyed to have missed the GOW path. Its worth keeping an eye out for the signs at this point so you dont make the same mistake.

The weather was pretty awful on the final day



... so I skipped the final leg to the Apostles this time (I had already seen them anyway...).

This was my first solo walk and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The lack of company wasnt really an issue at all until the evenings where I'll admit I was pretty bored at times. There was one other couple on the route but they were in their tent by 530pm each day, and I only had phone reception from my tent at Ryans Den. I finished the small amount of whisky I had on the first night, in hindsight I wish I had taken much more. Ive also watched far too many horror films, I'll admit that being in the woods on my own at night did affect me at times(!).

Mmmm I always take a book or a well-charged Kindle with me, and a good reading light if needed. Sadly my favourite Coleman lamp seems to have died

And I try to find room for some wine or whiskey if possible!

Nice pics. I like that statement about the 'small' amount of whisky being finished on the first night. Alcohol. I tried it on a walk once but it just doesn't do it for me so I just go without and don't miss it. Herbal 'tea' on the other hand...now there's a nice drop. Shame about that dolphin.

Ive been looking to do that hike. Either with my scouts or solo. Just need to find enough time off. How did you get back to your car from the end? When solo hiking that's my only concern. As i don't always want to retrace my steps.

You have just made me realise that there will actually be a practical use for the "Driverless Car" . Start walking at point X and send the vehicle ahead to point Y, voila! Problem solved

I did this walk last week except I extended it all the way to the end at the 12 Apostles. The weather was really kind and the scenery is spectacular the further west you go. I wish they would extend the walk further west along the cost to take in some more of the other iconic spots along the Great Ocean Road.

The track is really well maintained, a lot of work appears to go into cutting back the bracken ferns and ensuring the surface drains well. The toilets are also kept fairly well stocked with toilet paper which was a bonus. The 3 sided shelter being big enough for several groups to cook at once on windy and wet evenings.

The camp sites are all really good with a few choice tent sites at each. We secured site 8 at Johanna Beach which is on the edge of the cliff. While the view is breathtaking it was very noisy due to a lot of wind and large waves. At Ryans Den we secured spot 4 which had a bench and was on the sheltered side of the hill. The wind and waves didn't bother us at all during the night. I'm not sure if it was the position or weather that made it better. At Devils Kitchen we got site 8 which has a large bench next to the tent spot and has a little path up to the edge of the cliffs with a bench there too so we spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun and taking in the scenery.

Regarding travel arrangements: We left our car at one end and were fortunate enough to have family members come down and pick up the car and come through to get us. I arranged this walk for the start of a family a holiday in Warrnambool for that reason!

PTC wrote:Ive been looking to do that hike. Either with my scouts or solo. Just need to find enough time off. How did you get back to your car from the end? When solo hiking that's my only concern. As i don't always want to retrace my steps.

PTC, there are a couple of transport options:

http://www.greatoceanwalk.info/transpor ... -the-walk/

The FAQ's link on this site is extremely helpful: http://www.visitgreatoceanroad.org.au/g ... nwalk/faqs

I've used GOR Shuttle which was great, not cheap but if you plan ahead and are a little flexible you may be able to co-ordinate your plans with others in the area.

There's also the V-Line bus service.

Hi we did this spectacular walk 4 weeks ago. We organised the shuttle (GOR shuttle 0428 379 278 email gorshuttle@bordernet.com.au - best way through email) for four of us $30 each.Fantastic service arrived right on time would definitely recommend. We had hired a car from Melbourne worked out cheaper and easier than coordinating buses/trains. We were lucky to have the wonderful owner at Motel Marengo allow us to leave our car at the hotel. Starting here saved us walking up the hill from Apollo Bay! We found the weekend bus times were few and far between, that was another reason hiring a cheap car worked out cheaper plus we could drop into Rays Outdoor to pick up gas canisters.