Hike the Great Ocean Road

Welcome to Melbourne! Meet your group at 8am at a central CBD pick-up location and drive the scenic route to Apollo Bay via Anglesea and Lorne. On arrival, we’ll pick up lunch and other supplies before our first walk of the trip from Apollo Bay to Shelly Beach. Along the way, we’ll see fur seas seals at Marengo, travel through scenic farmland before making your way along the coastline through stunning stunted messmate and heath forests. From here, we’ll head into the mighty forests of Great Otway National Park where you’ll inhale the scent of eucalyptus as you walk to Shelly Beach. Then it’s a 40 minute drive to the Cape Otway Lightstation (or Bimbi Park), your accommodation, where a warm shower awaits and your guides will have a freshly cooked dinner for you to enjoy tonight – the dream of every hiker!

After breakfast, drive to Shelley Beach and get ready for the first of two big walking days in a row. Today we’ll head inland once again to walk through mighty Mountain Ash forests and up and down the undulating plains and plateaus which make Great Otway National Park such a rewarding walking destination. After you reach Blanket Bay, keep an eye out for black cockatoos, wallabies, and echidnas on your way along the tops of the cliffs before you reach the Cape Otway Lightstation and your nearby accommodation.

With your accommodation so close to today’s starting point, you won’t have to do much more than roll out of bed and lace up your hiking shoes and you’ll be on the trail. Today’s walk is another long one but you won’t mind a bit with such stunning and diverse scenery to enjoy. Along with rolling sand dunes, coastal scrub and sea cliffs up above Station beach and Rainbow Falls. The inland route today offers stunning scenery up and down the coastline all the way to Aire River. Around Aire River inlet the trail heads inland briefly before making its way back up top of the coastal dunes to Castle Cove. From Castle Cove the trail heads behind the dunes into sheltered coastal forests before arriving at Johanna beach for a short 2km beach section all the way to the end of today's walk.

After you’ve enjoyed a delicious breakfast prepared by your guides, we’ll drive to Milanesia Gate for the start of our walk. Today’s hike showcases yet more spectacular highlights like Milanesia Beach, which is so isolated that it feels like this wildly rugged section of coastline is yours alone, and towering sea cliffs with views back to Cape Otway. From here, we’ll walk through coastal forests before we reach our pick up point at Moonlight Head. This afternoon we’ll move from our accommodation at Cape Otway to Port Campbell. As dinner is not included tonight, you’ll have the option to head out with your group to a local restaurant.

We’ll start today’s walk along a newly cut section of the track which offers breathtaking views from one of Australia’s highest sea cliffs. After a walk through large stands of casuarina trees, we’ll come out at the aptly named Wreck Beach where the anchors from shipwrecks can still be seen at low tide. If you can see the anchors, we’ll continue along this route to the Devils Kitchen and onwards to Princetown. Otherwise, we’ll take the new high tide route to this afternoon’s pick-up. After a long day of walking, the seaside village of Port Campbell is the perfect place to spend the night once again.

After a leisurely breakfast, drive to Princetown and walk along the Gallibrand River and on to the famous 12 Apostles. Originally known as the Sow and Piglets, these iconic limestone formations were renamed The Twelve Apostles as part of a 1920s tourism campaign, despite the fact there were only nine pinnacles. Now there are eight. With the rapid rate of erosion caused by the wind and sea, soon there will likely be even less so it’s lucky you’re here to enjoy the view. At the end of the walk, we’ll drive back to Melbourne via Colac, arriving at approximately 5pm. No accommodation is provided tonight but if you would like to spend more time here, we can book additional accommodation for you (pending availability).