Great Ocean Walk

The Great Ocean Walk is Australia's signature coastal long-distance walk — 104 km along the Victorian coast from Apollo Bay in the east to the Twelve Apostles in the west, traversing the Great Otway National Park and the Port Campbell National Park. It runs roughly parallel to the famous Great Ocean Road but stays in the wild: eucalypt forest in the eastern half, secluded beaches and headlands in the middle, and the dramatic limestone-stack coastline of the Twelve Apostles at the finish.

The walk is divided into 8 stages, each ending at a designated GOW campsite with composting toilets, water tanks, and tent platforms. Day 1 leaves Apollo Bay through coastal eucalypt forest to Elliot Ridge. Days 2–3 cross to Blanket Bay and onto Cape Otway, with its 1848 lighthouse on the cliff edge and a koala colony in the surrounding manna gum forest. Days 4–5 traverse the long beaches between Aire River and Johanna, where the Bass Strait surf is at its most dramatic. Days 6–8 finish along the spectacular cliffs above the Southern Ocean, past the Gables, the Wreck Beach (where two anchors from the *Marie Gabrielle* and *Fiji* still lie on the sand), and end at the Twelve Apostles platform. Cumulative climb across the 8 days is around 2,300 m of gentle headland ups and downs.

The walking season is year-round but spring (September–November) and autumn (March–May) are the most pleasant. Summer is busy and the limited water on the Otway sections can be tight. Bookings through Parks Victoria for the campsites; each campsite holds 12 walkers, and popular dates sell out months ahead. The Great Ocean Walk Pass costs around A$70 per person for the full trail. Two big logistical decisions: westbound walks (Apollo Bay → Twelve Apostles) finish at a major tourist site with shuttle services; eastbound starts at the same site with the same shuttles. Most walkers prefer westbound for the prevailing wind direction. Day-hikers can sample individual stages from numerous road-access points.