Great Ocean Walk, Day 5 – Ryans camp to Devils Kitchen, 14km

Well, we all survived the night.  In fact, comparatively, even though the wind remained strong, it was rather pleasant.

We all woke up feeling refreshed and declaring “I slept well!” All except Raye, who, on his first hiking trip, declared he was waking up all the time and had slept badly.  “Yeah, no that’s a good sleep Raye…when you don’t sleep at all, that’s a bad sleep.  When you sleep intermittently, that’s a good sleep”.  Turns out Raye had had a good sleep.

We set off and the ferocity of the storm and prevailing winds became quickly evident.  I’d not gone more than 200m when I came across James, stopped, and reaching for something in his bag.  I’ve been both curious and amazed at some of the equipment that Raye and James have bought with them.  A magnetic chess board, full sized thermos, multiple lunch sized eskies….and now, a hand saw.

There was a large tea tree across the track, limbs protruding at every angle. In one of the most gallant declarations I’ve heard in a long time, James informed me that he was going to cut all the protruding limbs away in order to make things easier for Marg, who’d been having a bit of a tough time with her broken tent pole. I really admired him for thinking so much of others, though felt compelled to tell him that it would likely be a very long day if he was going to cut away all the fallen trees.  The next time I saw him, he thanked me for my advice.

It felt great walking today! No rain and considerably less wind.  The morning consisted of pleasant forest and cliff top walking through tea tree and paperback scrub.  I took my break on a protruded sandstone platform overlooking Moonlight Bay.  The sea still looked incredibly powerful, a muddy grey now, with huge swells rolling around the points.

The afternoon was more ups and downs.  Easy walking really, but the 14km day felt a little longer with all the ascents and descents.  The alternative route along Wreck Beach to camp was a definite impossibility, with the waves pounding right up to the cliff face and no beach to speak of.

We’ve all arrived at camp and set up, very spread out this time.  I wander along the 1km track to the “Fiji memorial” which commemorates those lost in a shipwreck in the late 1800’s.

Final day of the trail tomorrow.  It’s going to be an early start for me to ensure that I make it to the bus in time.  I need to do 16km by 2pm or so, so I will rise early, get the skates on, and hopefully fang it enough to both reach the bus stop in time, and enjoy all the final sights of the trail…including the Twelve Apostles.