Western Districts & Shipwreck Coast
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The Otways
Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page
The Otways region is a fantastic example of temperate rainforest, and is suitable picturesque. Great Otway National Park
Attractions include:
Great Ocean Walk
One of the great Victorian hikes, the Great Ocean Walk is a 100km trek along the shore, through the forests, estuaries and clifftops that run from Apollo Bay to the Twelve Apostles.
Melba Gully
Not just a nice picnic area, Melba Gully is also home to colonies of Glow Worms.
Do not point a torch at them!
Otway Fly
The Otway Fly is an area strung with boardwalks amongst the canopy, so you can look out and see what’s happening up the top of these massive trees rather than wandering around on the ground
There are also flying foxes 30m above the forest floor. The smallest spans are 70m long, so that’s OK, I guess.
Great Ocean Road
Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia
The Great Ocean Road is a majestically scenic two lane road that goes along the Shipwreck Coast from Torquay to Warnambool. It is one hell of a way to spend a weekend.
Some of the things you will drive past include:
The Twelve Apostles
There are currently nine remaining sandstone pillars sticking out of the water. They look cool, but there has literally never been a time when there was twelve of them.
Occasionally they fall down, and it’s a big deal. In 2015 they discovered another five of them which were about 30 metres below sea level — this was actually a big deal, because sea stacks like these should not be able to last for the thousands of years that they have.
Loch Ard Gorge.
Has a blowhole, WHOOSH!
Waterfalls
The Visit Victoria website has a long list of waterfalls along the Great Ocean Road.
The Grampians (Gariwerd)
Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page
Big mountains in the middle of nowhere.
Full of typical “bush” scenery, it is also home to a lot of aboriginal rock art. Some say that it’s got the highest concentration of rock art in southeast Australia.
The area is a popular location for bushwalking and rocksports, as well as just camping. It is also known for the native springtime flowering.
Many a winery nearby.
Mount Arapiles
Website • Google Maps • Wikipedia • Parks Victoria info page
Slightly further than the Grampians, and much smaller, Mt Arapilies is supposed to be the second-best place for rock climbing, abseiling and assorted other rocksports in the world. There are also a number of bushwalking routes at the site.
People from around the globe come here and camp for months just to get their climb on