20/5/12 Today we set out early, driving the new Tiguan makes for a very comfortable few hours on the road.(8 to be exact)! On our arrival at 'Bothfeet' Ecolodge Ha the cook came out to greet us & showed us to our room, with central heating, a king size bed & a HUGE shower, it promises to be a very comfortable stay. The rooms are ingenious in that they have sliding partitions that can configure into separate single rooms with a shared bathroom or 1 room for couples or families. Gavin, the owner, came in for a chat while we had a refreshing cup of tea. After a rest & a hot shower we were ready for a drink & dinner. And dinner didn't disappoint- 1st course was a duck dish with beautiful flavours of blk pepper & raisins, 2nd course was beef fillet (med rare) served kipfler potatoes & bokchoy & dessert was poached pear with cinnamon & saffron- yummy was so delicious! Michael & I shared a Shiraz while Michael enjoyed a summer ale. The other guests were a retired couple from Melbourne & a dentist & her landscaper partner from Victoria. After dinner we were briefed on our walk tomorrow & breakfast.
21/5/12
After a hearty breakfast of porridge with macadamias & coffee( M had eggs Benedict) we were given our trip notes, morning tea & lunch, Katie drove us to our walk start point at Apollo Bay.
From Apollo Bay we walked from the park & onto the beach getting some great beach photos. We followed the walk track onto Shelley Beach where we watched a surfer riding the waves. From there we followed the Blanket Bay track through bush land getting away from the ocean, this was very boggy & muddy at times. There were huge tree ferns, large Mountain Ash & Stringy Bark trees along the track and at one point after a lunch of beef & bean salad ( yum) we came across an old Wallaby munching on grass. He wasn't afraid of us at all & kept eating even when we were within 1 metre of him. I did it quite tough today as my hips were stiff & my left foot was paining, I hope tomorrow is easier on my joints.
We finally made it out of the wooded area into Blanket Bay where we stretched our sore, tired muscles & took yet more photos while we waited for Katie to drive us back to the lodge.
We were treated to wonderful footspa & afternoon tea, it was very restorative after walking 22kms.
Dinner was another treat of beetroot & orange salad with yoghurt, poached chicken with smoked eggplant & polenta & dessert was baked cheesecake & ice cream. Yumm!
To bed early tonight, need to rest for our 25 Km walk tomorrow!
22/5/12
Porridge for brekky again this morning this time with banana & maple syrup.
Today we set out from Blanket Bay & walked to Cape Otway Lighthouse. The weather was changing & by the time we were ready to leave it was drizzling rain.
After lunch we pulled on overpants & pack covers and headed out on the track towards Aire River. Both of us were really tired & our feet were VERY sore by the time we reached the escarpment so we decided not go on to Castle Cove. We had covered 21 Kms.
Back at the lodge a lovely glass of Shiraz was enjoyed at the same time as aching, sore (& in my case blistered) feet were soaking in the footspa! Bliss!!
Dinner was delicious as always - a tomato consommé with basil & peas for entree, linguine with rockling fish for main & dessert was creme brûlée & raspberry sorbet.
Very tired tonight so retired early(8.15pm).
23/5/12
Up at 6 o'clock this morning to allow time to stretch longer & dress blisters!
Porridge was with orange segments & macadamia this morning- so filling & yummy!
Started our trek this morning at Aire River- was a good walk with lots of ups & downs along the coastline. Had lunch at Johanna Beach & then attempted to walk up the beach to get to the exit point. As we were watching the waves crashing in we realized that it would be foolish & dangerous to go that way. As there was no discernible track anywhere else Michael led the way up over the sand dunes. The waves pounded the shore, the wind whipped up the sand & flung it in our faces with a driving force & we scrambled over the dunes & through the tough grasses that manage to survive there.
With a head wind, walking up the beach was really hard & then we had to cross Johanna River at the mouth where the sea flows into it. Luckily we managed to get across without taking boots off as it was only about 6 inches deep.
When we finally put the beach behind us we had to make the 3km walk into Bothfeet Lodge. We arrived back at 2.45pm & then enjoyed our foot spa with a cuppa & a jam croissant. We had covered 17kms today. We then enjoyed a well earned rest before dinner!
Ah, dinner - again a delight!
Entree was a pear & blue cheese salad, main was lamb cutlets on sweet potato with a jus served with green beans & pine nuts and dessert was a pear & almond cake with ice-cream.
In bed at 8.30pm. We decided today to modify our walking plans & do the last 18kms tomorrow & leave the lodge after brekky.
24/5/12
This morning porridge was with berries & Michael had scrambled eggs & bacon.
Gavin drove us to our starting point today near Wreck Beach. Had rained through the night & was still raining, pulled on our overpants & pack covers once again and set out.
The track was sticky clay mud & the rain got heavier! My knee hurt & my blisters were sore & I was pissed off! The track did improve as we walked through coastal scrub but the rain persisted. We had a cup of hot chocolate in the rain & got cold because by then everything was soaked!
We finally made it to Gellibrand River where we had lunch. We spoke to the Ranger & he gave us permission to walk on the new track which was due to open tomorrow. So we were the 1st to try the track, it was a good gravel track which took us up a little higher than the road & eventually linked up with the old GOR track. My mood improved this afternoon as the nurofen kicked in & my pain lessened. Also it had stopped raining, thank heavens!
As we came closer to the Twelve Apostles the weather cleared & we were able to take off our overpants & wet jackets. The sun came out just as we arrived there & Gavin was waiting for us with the van. On the very last step Michael took a tumble & fell.
Gavin then drove us around to the car park at the Twelve Apostles for a look around. As we were driving over Michael put his hand in his hair & found he was bleeding- we thought that maybe he had cut his head when he fell but on closer inspection I found a massive leech on his neck!!
It was still attached so Gavin pulled it off with a plastic bag. I freaked at the size of it! Poor Michael's head bled for hours.
We arrived back at the lodge at 4pm & headed straight for the shower to warm up. We had walked 18kms today.
Four of the other guests left today which left only four of us for dinner.
We opened another bottle of wine & settled in to enjoy our last night at the lodge.
Entree was crispy pork belly with courgette salad (so good!!), main was baked salmon & dessert was poached apple with lemon sorbet- absolutely delicious!
In bed at 8.45pm.
25/5/12
It rained through the night again & quite heavily at times. Woke up later than usual (7.15) this morning as I didn't set an alarm so made a quick dash over to brekky. My porridge was with dried apricots & apple slices & was delicious as usual! Michael had poached eggs & bacon with sourdough toast.
We packed up the car & paid the bill (wine & lighthouse tickets), said our goodbyes to Gavin & Ha then we made our way down to Loch Ard Gorge. It was still raining & very windy but we braved the weather to see this absolutely marvellous landmark. I think that this is much more beautiful than the Twelve Apostles. We drove on through to Port Campbell & had a coffee then we headed home. It rained all the way & was quite wild by the time we arrived home.
26/5/12
Was a wet & miserable day so we kept the curtains closed, built a roaring fire & played with photos on our iPads.