Jan 108 min read

Our Great Ocean Road Roadie Part 3: Off The Beaten Path

Updated: Sep 20

Hi friends! Welcome back to the blog - I kinda feel like ever since I stopped doing regular daily posts, I've lost a lot of foot traffic to the blog so maybe I'll bring those back later on I'm not sure. I'm really trying to figure out how to make my blog really kick off in 2024 with way more traffic and somehow monetize it. However, Ad Sense still doesn't seem to think it's high value just yet. I'm pretty sure I need a lot more daily visitors, but we'll keep at it. Mainly because I like writing and telling people about my experiences and even if I can help one person, then I'd feel special.

Anyway, today's blog is going to go over days 5 and 6 of our Great Ocean Road Roadie! And we SAW a lot of waterfalls - my legs still hurt from them now but I'm so glad I pushed myself (and not taking the iron helped my tummy out a bit so I could do these walks as I was worried it was gonna be too much). I also want to thank myself for having done so many walks back in NZ because I feel muscle memory really helped me out. Also, I feel like I can be kinda badass when I want to be and I feel like I lost a bit of her during the last few months and she's someone I want to bring back for sure. Let's get into the blog!

Day 5: All The Bloody Waterfalls!

31st December 2023

Whoa, day 5 already! Our trip is going so fast. But today, my tummy was relatively okay and I really pushed myself to do a lot of walking on the last day of 2023. I don't know what it was, whether I was determined to prove to myself that I could do it or whether I wanted to prove to Luke that I could actually do hikes (because we haven't been on many), or whether my iron levels are improving so my energy is slowly coming back? Or maybe it was all of the above. I really hope my iron levels are improving because I HATE these stupid supplements - they are awful. We also saw a cute koala out in one of the trees next to our Air Bnb which was neat af to see right there!

Anyway, our first stop of day 5 was Beauchamp Falls and this was probably relatively easy for me - I think mainly because it was the first walk but the muscle memory definitely kicked in for this one. I'm glad I did it. I think this was one of the longer walks - around 1 hour return for us with a few stops on the way & this was probably the fastest we walked as we had the most energy here. The second stop of the day was Hopetoun Falls which were gorgeous but there was this random kid doing a photoshoot with a random photographer and her mum there and I had no idea if it was set up prior or if they'd randomly asked him to do it but it was annoying because SOOOO many of us wanting to take photos where he was but we did wait a little and he eventually offered me his spot (once the mum and her kids went). I think this one was only like 12 - 15 minutes for us to get down to but was a bit steeper than the first falls. It was definitely worth it though and we got super muddy because we jumped the fence to get better shots. I posted a photo on Instagram that had the random girl in the photo and I think it's probably one of my worst waterfall pics, but it seems to have the most engagement on there. SO WEIRD. I feel like with basically a degree in social media, I should be better at social media but I'm still learning hahaha. Pls follow me on social media if you don't already!

On to the next stop! Now it was time to head down to the Californian Redwoods Forest in Beech Forest, which was so peaceful and it has some of the tallest trees (or trees planted there that will grow to be the tallest in the world - Luke mentions more about in our YT video so check that out at the end of this blog). Anyway, we even saw cute wee huts that looked manmade and we're not sure if someone stayed overnight or built it or if it was there on purpose but it was cool. It was also really muddy here. I did enjoy watching other photographers take photos here too and people making videos also and like kinda being in the moment rather than focusing on making my own content ya know.

Alrighty so that brings us to our next stop of day 5 and that was TRIPLET FALLS and these falls were absolutely gorgeous but a bit of a harder walk - more quiet than the other ones - I think maybe people went to the other falls around there or Google Maps took them the wrong way. Not too sure. But it was about an hour all up of walking and honestly, there was no where good to take a photo of all of the falls but they were mesmerizing to look at - absolutely stunning. If you do struggle with big walks though, you can do this backwards and it'll only take 40 minutes return but you'll miss out on a lot of nature. I do have to say getting back up to the carpark (it was a loop walk) was VERY steep, like steeper than some of the other walks we'd done this today but absolutely worth it.

After Triplet Falls, I think we both needed a rest, so we headed back to Tanybryn for NYE and made ourselves a charcuterie board and had some champagne to celebrate. We also just watched Parks and Rec on my laptop because I was struggling to stay up till midnight (and no, I wasn't partying in the middle of the rainforest - that would be so stupid and dangerous like the people who think that wtf?) We managed to stay up till midnight and I was asleep only moments later because I was exhausted and then I randomly heard Luke on the phone but wasn't coherent enough to wake up, I was wrecked from all the walking.

Day 6: Stevensons Falls, Forrest and The Southern Most Pub!

1st January 2024 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So that brings us to day 6 of our adventures and our last full day in Tanyrbyn - this place is honestly going to hold a special place in my heart forever! And those people staying next to us had left to get back home to Melbourne (which was good because they had a doggo and I don't think the birds liked the doggo very much even though she was very cute). Anyway, that's not that important (or is it?). The 2nd of January was epic too but we'll get to that next blog post.

First stop for the first day of the year was Stevensons Falls (and I've seen so many different spellings of it online that I don't actually know which one is correct but that's what it said on the sign so we're going with that one). This was probably the scariest gravel road we drove on but it was absolutely worth it. The walk wasn't hard, it was ALL flat, disability-accessible and absolutely gorgeous views of the falls. That is, until all the swimmers came with their bevvies and took their shirts off (we're so glad we went in the morning BECAUSE THAT would not have been a pretty photo). I think it only took like 10 to 20 minutes to walk to the falls and there's a few different paths you can take. My favourite was probably the "sick as" chair as Luke so kindly put it (have I turned him into a kiwi?) "sick as bro" if you don't get the reference. Anyway, as it was time to leave, lots and lots more people came in so again, we definitely got there at the right time for sure!

Next stop of the day was Forrest which seemed like a busy little town (it was lunch time after all and a lot of people would have been on their way home). But we did manage to find a DELICIOUS spot for lunch at Dar Teta (which our Air BNB host had recommended). He recommended a few other restaurants in Apollo Bay as well that we couldn't get into / were closed on the public holidays that we'll have to go back for. Fun Fact, Dar Teta is Arabic for "Grandmother's House" and the food was amazing. It smelt as good as it tasted - a little on the pricier side and felt more like a dinner meal than a lunch but sooooo good omg. However, Luke still reckons "Bekka" in Moonee Ponds is his favourite Middle Eastern style food.

Our next stop was Lake Elizabeth - a pretty walk but I was getting a bit cranky at this point - it wasn't that hot but I think I'd done a lot of walking and we wanted to check it out while we were in Forrest and had the time. However, I think my anxiety kinda got the better of me. The map that we had said this walk was "easy" and honestly, I did not find that walk easy. We saw on the sign that it said "moderate to steep" so we had no idea where the heck the map got easy from? Safe to say I was annoyed from there, but anyway, adrenalin took over and we got down to Lake Elizabeth and THEN WE SAW THIS BLOODY OLDER GUY who had dragged his kayak all the way down to the lake which I was like how the heck did he do that if I struggled and then I overheard someone ask him and he said some strangers helped him so that made me feel a lot better but still I'm like I should not be struggling. I did get a nice picture of a couple overlooking the lake and at first I was annoyed that they were in my picture, but then it turned out to be quite aesthetic so it kinda made my day and I did feel like the birdies were watching over me to get through the hard walk. I almost gave up like 5 times but I pushed myself and we got there so yay me! Although tbf, this is one of the walks that we could have skipped.

For dinner, we headed down to Apollo Bay and went to the Southern Most Pub of Mainland Australia which was pretty cool! It was "Great Ocean Brewhouse" and this had one of the more "Pub" vibes (idk how to judge a pub - but it was more pubby than Apollo Bay Hotel was) - maybe it was the carpet or the fact that you went up to order but it was really good food. We got a platter to share (mainly because we weren't feeling really heavy meals after our lunch and it had arancini on it - and we all know how much I love arancini). There was also a floofy husky chilling here too! Oh, I also forgot that we managed to get some cheap (I assume fake) clothing along the waterfront - I got some elephant pants, a fluffy white jumper and a hoodie and Luke got a waterproof jacket (we both spent $80 and I think I got the better deals hehe). Anyway, we thought dinner was yum and I'd absolutely go back again. The cocktail I got here was yummy - it tasted like Peaches and Cream. I wonder if I can find the cocktail (yay, I did, it was called Peach Perfect and it had Peach Snapps, Peach Puree, and Vanilla Vodka). So no wonder it tasted like Peaches and Cream - if my tummy hadn't been such a menace over the past few days, I would have had two.

That's it for days 5 and 6! We'll see you again for day 7 soon (probably all the cool scenic parts). Woo!

But for now here's some photos to enjoy!