“There. Can you see it? It’s just to the right, on that branch.” And, sure enough, there it was, smack bang on the first day of our wilderness walking tour.
Sunlight beamed through the downy fur on the tips of its ears, its bottom hung over the too-small branch making it look especially sedentary, and its winter warmer coat was a blend of mottled grey, white and brown. It was in fact, my first koala sighting in the wild. No petting zoo here, just a sea of brown and green foliage and the wind whistling through as I contorted with excitement on the side of the road (think: Jim Carrey in any of Jim Carrey’s films). Beautiful nature mixed with a melting down thirty-five-year-old woman.
You’d be forgiven for easily missing the token Aussie marsupial. But as I learned over the course of the weekend, the detail is everywhere. Take time to look around, and you’ll be shocked at how much jumps out at you when you slow the pace.
The setting
I was on my way to the starting point of a three-day guided walk along The Great Ocean Road. We had wended our way from Melbourne city central towards Apollo Bay on the Cape Otway peninsula. Suburban houses and rural properties made way for dense eucalyptus trees with shrugged off bark strips and lone kookaburras on electric wires. I had absolutely no idea where we were, but I had Clocked Off.
The walking weekend, led by Tasmanian Walking Co, started in Blanket Bay. It steered us along the spectacular coastal trails of the Great Ocean Walk, and the Great Otway National Park. We walked through water-steeped rainforests laden with ferns, estuaries lapped by pale tides, unmanned stretches of rock platforms and scrubby bushland dotted with spiny grass trees. The vitas were plentiful, and the packs were light. Which are really the two most important things on a guided walk. That, and good shoes.
You couldn’t dream it up
The accommodation
When it came to the niceties, like the aforementioned light packs (amen), I’m pleased to tell you there was no lugging of tents or nibbling of bland dehydrated food. No iodised water and – dare I say – portable loos. Instead, our base was an eco lodge, wood panelled and welcoming, having recently been given a sizeable face lift.
In fact, I’ll paint a picture of how not-so-ordinary this guided walk was. After a long day of hiking where some of us may have returned with weary feet, we were met with Epsom foot baths, warm rooms and teeming cheese boards.
At night we tucked in to sustainable produce from the region: deer ragu with crisped Brussels sprouts, locally caught crayfish with a garlic butter remoulade, and moist, flourless chocolate cake to fill up any last gaps of hunger. You see? Niceties.
Lobby eat your heart out
The walking
And, sure, those things are indeed nice. But what about the walking? And what if you’ve never been a walker before?
Well, now is the time to disclose that I’m very much a freshman in the world of guided nature hikes. This trip turned out to be a tipping point, though. Why? Because it’s much more enriching and invigorating than I gave it credit for. And it wasn’t even the perfectly salted, crunchy Brussels sprouts or the fleshy, garlic-laden lobster that got me well ahead of the line.
In your very own backyard!
Here are three things that I learned on my three-day walking tour in Victoria
Walking is the most incredible mode of transport – and exercise
It might sound obvious, but when you’re tromping along, you have a unique moment to be mindful. To feel your breath in your body, to anticipate the knotty path roots that require a pirouette, and to sink into the rhythm of one-two. No emails pinging, dinners to be made, petrol tanks to be filled, bibs to be cleaned out.
I’m not saying there weren’t times that I clock-watched – ouff there were times – and I’m also not saying that I’m Mother Theresa, observing every leaf, wave, boulder for intimate reveal. But I certainly realised how very practical and enjoyable walking is. It’s from A to B at a lovely, slower cadence, and all the while doing magnificent things for your physical and mental health.
And, really, you can walk a lot further than you’d think. 10kms minimum each day on the guide, to be exact. And all ending with the Twelve Apostles to greet you on the last day.
Behold the sandstone nodules of beauty
The Australian bush is in your veins (yes, cringe but true)
Excuse me for a moment while Dorothea Mackellar’s words are touted about, but I do love this sunburnt country.
Along a coastal snippet of south-east Australia that I’d not yet had the joy of meeting, I saw and felt home. I realised the reliability of the bush; that you know all parts of it, even if you’ve only just met. Trite but true.
The rough and smooth, the kelp and ironbark, the lighthouse and dunny – all familiar and new at once. Even the chubby bottom of a despondent koala brings a sense of homecoming. So if you needed an excuse to go home, this is your sign to go and gaze at a koala butt. It will do wonders for your mental health.
Happy tromping (no staring at a koala butt here)
Community might be the real hero
The evolution of relationships on a tour with strangers is something to be experienced at least once in life.
From shy, self-conscious hellos and getting-to-know-you pleasantries, follows back-slapping, hugging, quiz playing, I-just-need-to-pee-behind-this-tree-you-do-go-on-please, storytelling, music singing warmth. You might meet a side of yourself. You hear yourself talk. And you make connections with people you’d probably never have met. There’s a sense of pride in that, no matter what age you are.
We all had a glass of wine at the bottom of this verdant rainforest
So there you have it; the best reasons to book a walking holiday if you ever needed that gentle hiking-boot-nudge in the bott. See you on the other side.
Head to Tasmanian Walking Co for more details on walks, timings and which beautiful part of Australia you can see next.
