great ocean walk

We did three days of this walk in February, and the best parts were when we didn't have to see anyone else. Unfortunately, wherever the road intersects with the hiking path, you will find waste, refuse, and faeces for 100m on either side. It is truly disgusting, and can't help but make you feel awful about humanity. On the last day we skipped the Twelve Apostles altogether - the wall-to-wall people and crowds four deep simply did not appeal. The buzz of helicopters was constant for the last half of our last day. I'd suggest skipping this bit to anyone who values quiet contemplation of nature!It's worth contacting one of the registered shuttle operators who work the region to discuss an itinerary before you book it, as their local knowledge is useful.However, as the walk is relatively new, local knowledge and what's happening on the track sometimes don't match up. We missed an entire section of beach because the sign we were told to look for was no longer there.All in all, I have done better walks, and if it's wilderness hiking you want, and you're travelling to get it, I suggest Hinchinbrook Island in QLD, or the Larapinta Trail, in the NT, as alternatives.

We only did 3 hours of the walk (as advised by Deb our hotel manger) and it was great. She arranged a shuttle bus to the start, and then we walked back to Apollo bay town centre. I suggest this part (the very first part of the great ocean walk) if you don't have much time. You don't need to join a tour group for this. All you need is the tide times and a 10 taxi or shuttle down the road to start the walk. Don't forget to take water!

Two 70+ Aussies have just enjoyed the most interesting, mind awakening, outdoor activity ever.A four day guided walk of the Great Ocean Road, Victoria Australia.Being guided by 'Mitch" from RAW Travel was a dream. The whole four days were well organised, but not over done; walks were moderate plus, (but being older than the rest of the group we had to push a little to keep up) the scenery was to die for, rain forrest, stringy-bark forests, sand dunes with well made timber walk ways, ocean sand, rock formations, black berries just ripe for the picking, and of course the wonderful sea - scape and the Apostles.Mark, a son of a former light-keeper joined us on day one. His experiences and knowledge of the area shed much light on the history, geology and geography. Very entertaining.Richard, a descendant of the native folk joined us on day three. His knowledge and wisdom gave an insight into the area, its wildlife, native foods and medicines found in the area and stories of the 'olden times'. Fascinating!We were picked up at The Melbourne Arts Centre (very central) and very smoothly driven to Appollo Bay. Stopped at small town for morning tea then on to Cape Otway, our home for the next three nights.Accommodation very comfy, well appointed and the food fit for a royal family. Mitch cooked a hearty breakfast each morning, we made our own lunches from a great selection of meats and salads, fruit and biscuits and health bars were always at hand, and dinner at night was either at the Lighthouse or at a local hotel (the chef should be at a fancy restaurant in the City, his food was so good). Vegetarian and gluten free diets well accommodated.All meals, snacks and non alcoholic drinks were included except dinner on the way home late on the fourth day. We stopped off at Colac and had a choice of six good, tasty take-a-ways; not typical fast food outlets.Overall. The very best four days spent in my home country. Hard to think of another walk offering so much. Thank you RAW Travel for such an experience.

No need to get a company to organise this for you. We did the walk, stayed in good accommodation ( I am too old for camping) and were able to be selective as to which legs of the walk to do. Strongly advise driving to the end of planned walk, leaving your car and get the shuttle to the start of the walk. This allows for a walk with no real time constraints and knowing that the vehicle is waiting for you. We carried day packs and left the luggage in the car. We did a 3 day walk, ending on day 1 and day 2 on the beach and day 3 at 12 apostles. The paths are excellent and well maintained.

I recently completed a 3 day walk with Raw Travel and it went beyond my expectations. Group leader Eric, was not only informative but a very experienced guide. I was gobsmacked by the scenery and how well the paths were maintained. Accommodation was at Bimbi Park where Frank and his family looked after us whilst we stayed in their 4 star cabins. I really can't fault this trip and I will return!

I did this Walk with RAW Travel and they were fantastic! The walk is certainly a challenge, but the RAW team accommodated all walking abilities and had everything planned for a smooth trip.

Fabulous! A highly rewarding challenge, and it is a challenge.The scenery is to die for. BreathtakingA must do.

Three of us did the entire Walk/hike in January 2015. We were self-guided and booked through Auswalk who were excellent. The accommodations were excellent and they provided excellent guide notes, maps, etc.I have rated this walk as very good, not excellent for several reasons. The trail is one direction only which is interesting. It means that you will encounter very few people. In fact we only saw two other hikers over the 6 days. There are certainly incredible vistas of large sections of the wild and scenic coast and there are very long beach walks which are fantastic. In fact, I strongly recommend that you hike the beach wherever possible. Here is why. The various sections of this trail are clearly designed by different people. There was almost an entire day of simply hiking through high brush with no visibility of anything. It appeared to me that they were simply trying to connect two points in the most expedient way possible and that the trail could have been built closer to the cliff edge. And I am not talking about the sections which had to go around private property, but sections of the Great Otway National Park. In terms of the actual trail, there are several sections that are beautifully designed and built. I mean single track hand cut trails with stone steps that contour the hillsides nicely and fit in with the natural landscape beautifully. But these sections are the exception. Australia has opted for building and maintaining the newer sections with tracked equipment. This means wider paths built and maintained with machines. There are no switchbacks our contours in these sections, they just go up and down steeply. As an avid hiker I do not appreciate this type of trail construction and I believe that the trail itself is as important to the hike experience as the location. I think that Australia could consult with the people in New Zealand who build their trails. They are truly trail masters. As there are plenty of great photos of the views, I will include some of the trail sections I enjoyed.

Wonderful stretch of coastline with fabulous views and the chance to see Australianflora and fauna up close. I have walked parts of this on several occasions over the years and I love it. Most recently I just did a short walk for an hour or so along the cliff tops near Anglesea. You can walk a little or a lot and in any weather walking the great ocean road is fascinating. It's extremely varied. There are the great views of the magnificent skies, the water and beaches, and through different types of coastal forest. Don't try it in the heat of the day as there are less likely to be animals about and you run high risk of sunburn and in my case possible internal combustion!

In September 2014 a friend and I walked the 'Great Ocean Walk' together from Apollo Bay to the 12 Apostles. It was with great trepidation that I set out - whilst I am an experienced hiker, my last walk was quite a few years ago and at the grand old age of 49, I did kind of feel like a beginner again.With a bit of planning and good kit, the walk was fine and I'd say anyone of reasonable fitness could do it. We did the entire length in 5 days and I don't think we pushed ourselves too hard. I probably wouldn't go any faster, but the pace seemed fine to me, and we did between 17 and 24 Km each day.Water supply is excellent but I recommend a good water filter. We bought a platypus gravity filter, it cost about $150 but it was worth every cent. Check out this review! I found it to be quite accurate:http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Backpacking-Water-Filter-Reviews/Platypus-GravityWorksFood supplies are an issue. We drove in from Adelaide to Apollo Bay and stopped at two drop off points on the way in to bury supplies. In hindsight we probably only needed one supply drop at about the day 2.5 mark, but there you go.We stayed overnight on arrival at Apollo Bay at the YHA Eco-lodge. Simple but great accommodation. The manager allowed us to park our car out the back for the week at no charge, which was good of him. I offered to pay but he declined and apart from vast quantities of bird droppings on the car on our return, the vehicle was safe and sound! We stayed here again on the night we finished the walk too.The campsites are really easy to find (in fact the entire route can probably be done without a map it is so well signposted). You do have to book your campsites and I recommend booking well in advance. Parks Victoria were easy to deal with and very helpful. The cost was quite small.Getting picked up from the 12 Apostles and being taken back to Apollo Bay was easy. The GOR shuttle picked us up at the appointed hour and whisked us back to the YHA for about $45 each. After walking for 5 days that was the best $45 I ever spent! The GOR shuttle fellow has two vans and he can do pick ups and drop offs anywhere on the walk, meaning that you can do a two or three day section if you like. He can also do food drops for you too. You can find details (plus other info) here:http://www.greatoceanwalk.info/transport-to-and-from-the-walk/The scenery was breathtaking. There were a couple of steep days, but I don't regret a moment of this trip. Thanks Phil for convincing me to do it with you!If your sitting there thinking to yourself 'I'd really like to try this but I'm just not sure...I'm a bit nervous." Well I hear you - that's exactly how I felt and I don't regret this experience for a moment. It was a wonderful highlight and I felt 10 feet tall when we finished it. In fact - I am now planning my next walk. So go on - you only live once! DO IT!Enjoy!

I walked Great Ocean Walk only for a few hours between Castle Cove and Otway Lighthouse, via Aire River camping, a one-way walk of about 15km. Great Ocean Walk doesn't offer any real 'loop' walks and you will have to have someone to drop you off and pick you up, whether you chose to go for a day or for an overnight walk. You should also know that this walk was designed to be traveled strictly from East to West, with the signage not taking in consideration traffic running in the opposite direction. Overall, this is a great opportunity to discover this much-driven part of Australia. Contrarily to Great Ocean Road, you wont be bothered with crowds here: I saw only 20 hikers over this 2.5-hour hike. The views of the Ocean are sublime, and there are alternative pathways running on the beach, although you have to know about tides if you wish to venture this way. The path surface, at least the part I did, is smooth, sometimes a little shifty with loose sand in some area, but nothing truly challenging or overly rocky. The only campsite I saw on my walk was Aire River, which is accessible by dust road, so it feels a little rowdy compared to spots that can only be reached by foot, and I would be dismayed if my 4-, 5-day hike was taking me to campsites with trailers and caravans on it. Overall, I really enjoyed myself. Expect the path to take you through tunnels of bush lands and vertiginous rock cliffs, with profuse bird life and well sign-posted tracks. It can be exposed for long segments, however, so prepare well (sunscreen, rain jacket, a lot of flies). I strongly recommend it.

The Great Ocean Road is certainly a spectacular coastline in Australia. The views are amazing and certainly breathtaking.

Breathtaking scenery and typical Australian outdoor experience walking along the cliff tops and down on the beaches on this unique walking stretch.This walking trail hugs the coastline along Victoria's south-west coast and covers many areas of historical significance including Indigenous history and the numerous shipwrecks for which this part of the great Southern Ocean is famous for during the 1700s onwards. The full walk is approx 105 kms and includes a small amount of walking along roadways and through at least one caravan park.We went with the Twelve Apostles Lodge Walk group (formerly Two Feet) which is part of the loose group of luxury walking experiences "Great Walks of Australia" covering most of the top (most spectacular) walking tracks across Australia. We had a full group of 10 walkers and a guide.We had a grey kangaroo and its joey jump by us along the cliff top and koalas are readily sighted along the road out to the Cape Otway lighthouse. There were a few snakes but so long as you don't set out to upset these folk they are quite safe.The guide (Ben) was reasonably knowledgeable about the environment and had advanced knowledge of the rock formations and the fauna and wildlife habitats that we encountered along the way. The pace was easy to moderate for generally fit people - nothing too strenuous and Ben looked after any sore feet in the evening.The 4 day walk included a helicopter flight over the Apostles which perfectly topped off the adventure.Lodge accommodation is located near Johanna Beach where the breakfasts and dinners are served - good quality and healthy food on offer. Food is sourced locally and is a solid 3.5 Star quality rather than 5 Star. The accommodation is located in the timbered woods on the hillside above the beachland so plenty of bird life and stillness. We were disappointed there was not freely available wines with the meals and there was a shortage of mineral waters in the fridge - at the price these small things should be a given.Gavin our host was very pleasant and knowledgeable. He has gathered a good team around him to give the walker a lasting experience.Definitely worth doing especially if you can grab a 50% bargain that is sometimes available from the group. I think the 7 day walk would be too long and the walking distances too short for serious walkers and the 4 day experience adequately highlights the scenery.

We did the 7 day Great Ocean Walk with RAW travel in mid November 2014. It was an excellent and most enjoyable experience. Easy to book from the UK. Very well organised. The walk was nicely divided into sections varying in length from about 15 to 24 Kilometres. The coastal scenery was magnificent. The guide Mitch and driver Lee could not have been more friendly and helpful. Mitch in particular took great care of everyone and was a fount of knowledge about everything we saw. Accommodation and meals of a very high standard especially at Bimbi Park. Highly recommended.

We spent half day at the beach from Gibson Steps. Enjoyed sooo much! Then we tried to to and visit Twelve Apostles and turned back as there were too many tourists (note: it was on Xmas day).