Returning to Nature – Great Ocean Road Camping
As a excellent balance to my self development business, I’m very blessed to run 1 and 2 day tours down the Great Ocean Road which I’ve done since the end of 2015. It’s an epic and magical land and a common rite of passage for our youth. The history is long and deep, beginning with the indigenous Australians such as the Gadubanud people who lived all around the Otways Ranges, depending on the season. We also have a varied ‘mid-history’ with more than 300 hundred shipwrecks along its coast, old whaling and logging towns, and the small freshwater river ‘towns’ founded by the ANZACs that build the most scenic stretch of the road.
Running tours, whilst lovely… at times can feel like a bit of a grind. Think: pouring rain, tight schedule, re-routing through the forest due to landslides… and it’s your third 14-15 hour day that week.
So I decided to take myself on a self-drive tour in order to reconnect with the land. To take time to feel it, from all angles… indigenous, maritime and naval history, surfers, campervans and hippies, families surfing and playing the footy, and locals, here for the long haul.
It was a two-day adventure, cut short because of the rain. Not that I was complaining; I had magical weather whilst I was there, I experienced a LOT more that I’d expected, and I could get back to Melbourne early. I went as I’d had another East Coast road trip planned but I was forced to postpone due to severe flooding.
I had moonlit walks down to waterfalls and through the redwood forest, fires and camping under the stars, climbing to the peaks of mountains to drum, swimming in crystal clear albeit still freezing waters, a close encounter with a Tiger Snake, and the freedom to soak up sunsets wherever I chose.
It was a deeply wonderful experience. I got to ‘receive’ more of the relaxation, warmth, love, fun and joy that people go there for. I stoped at EVERY single place that I’d ‘been wanting’ to stop at. Without a bus, 24 people, schedule, safety considerations, set route, language barriers and WITH my own podcasts and a epic range of music, the trip was a massive JOY!!!!!!!!!!
Bells Beach is a beautiful surfing sanctuary
I walked down with a few german backpackers to the amazing ampitheatre that is Beauchamp Falls. I pitched a tent and lit a fire at the campground there. I also walked most of the way down to the waterfall at night with only the light of the moon and the stars.
Sunset overlooking the beautiful town of Apollo Bay
I took a thin walking trail up a hill and had a little drumming session overlooking the creek at the bottom of these falls. I got the fright of my life on the walk up, as I stumbled upon a HUGE (and extremely poisonous) Tiger Snake!
Two days of soaking up natures gifts really made me glow!
Wild blackberries can be picked all the way along.
The pebble beach at the outlet of Carisbrook Falls has become a bit of a must-do for self-drive visitors and backpackers. Oftentimes the whole beach will be full to the brim of very well balanced stacks of rocks. Every time there is a storm, the majority of the stacks will fall down. Fortunately this is a good thing, as it allows the hoards of visitors to create their own magic along the way.
Wonderful windy roads stimulate the soul
I caught a wonderful sunset on the drive home
I’ll be down again soon. I’m also looking forward to the next few tours so I can share my newfound discoveries with people from all over the world.
If you’ve never been down, or haven’t been down for a while, I recommend you check it out!
