Great Ocean Walk Snapshots

The "Great" Ocean Walk  … a poem by Annemarie T

There are words known by some as "gift" words, not lightly bestowed
Words like mentor, elder, leader, or other special descriptors I'm told

A monicker such as "great" would fit into this category
And I am now ready to agree that this walk has earned its title, here's my story

We set out the first day with 28 Kilometres to cover
Ending at the lighthouse at Cape Otway, with lots in between to discover

The first beach section took our breath away
With interesting terrain and powerful waves filled with ocean spray

Climbing into the eucalyptus forest where koalas might be sighted
We never saw one, but if we had we would have been delighted

We were greeted with scones and jam for our tea
Then escorted to the lighthouse keepers house (or what used to be)

It stormed through the night with the lighthouse standing guard
The weather the next day was perfect, and the terrain wasn't hard

More beautiful beaches, more waves to admire
More beautiful forests to traipse through, of these views we could never tire

It seemed on this day that we could never get enough of all that was on offer
At day's end we had a house to ourselves, we didn't suffer

The next day's start with yet another amazing beach
Led us to a climb that was a bit of a reach

Sliding backwards in the mud during the ascents
Our poles kept is on our feet during the descents

A rainbow with a black cloud background 
The ever growing swell, the roar of the waves an overpowering sound

Back inland we would track,
Where the view from the out house is a must to inspect

The storm came I with great force, 
Powerful wind and drenching rain (of course)

We made our way to our shelter for the night 
Soaked through to the skin, we were quite a sight

The power blew out, we watched the wind and rain increase
Our warm cozy candlelit dinner left us quite pleased

An early morning start so to facilitate a timely end of walk pick up
An easy walking day with only short showers causing barely a hiccup

Though the bush, up and down the headlands to a riverside town
Where we paused for a break, we had lots of time for a sit down

The on to the final destination where the apostles stand
A "high five" when we first glimpsed them, but we still had to walk a fair bit overland

The apostles are beautiful but the overwhelming number of tourists are a distraction 
Causing in us a less than positive reaction

We shot a few pictures but left as soon as we possibly could
We agreed that an early morning viewing with fewer tourists would be good

Driving back along the Great Ocean Drive, gave us a different view
With farmlands, rolling hills and valleys it was all quite new

So beyond the stunning scenery, what makes this walk earn the adjective "great"
We had the track to ourselves, with very little traffic, which I appreciate 

The track is well maintained, with a wide variety of terrain
To keep the experience fresh, and there's lots of wildlife to entertain 

The distances we covered were comfortable, we ended quite energised
I just loved this walk, how much I enjoyed it was a bit of a surprise

Annemarie & Geoff T from Vancouver Canada, stayed at our Retreat in late March 2015, and were impressive in their friendliness and also their insights. 
'The dismal weather did not stop the sun shining from their presence.'

Thanks to Annemarie for permission to use her poetry and Geoff for his photography-         
it is not to be reused or circulated without the author's consent. 

Moonlight Head sketching... Courtesy Bob & Jenny Payne, from Norwich, England

Stairway to Heaven... Courtesy Geoff T, from Vancouver Island, Canada

Gumtree sketching... Courtesy Bob & Jenny Payne, from Norwich, England

An Unspoilt Coastline... Courtesy Geoff T, from Vancouver Island, Canada