Easter Adventures- Otways

Hi everyone!

Happy belated Easter! Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable long weekend.

It is not often that we are lucky enough to be able to have a long weekend, I spent mine catching up on lost sleep, eating almost every 2 hours of the day and enjoying the company of good friends. One of my favourite things to do is road triping, I just love getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoying the serenity of mother nature.

On Easter Sunday, some friends and I decided to drive down the Great Ocean Road for an adventure day out at the Otway National Park. The Otway is about 162km south west of Melbourne and the drive takes approximately 2.5 -3 hours. Thankflully for us, one of our friend was extremely organised (can you believe, he is a guy too?!) and devised an itinerary for the day.

Our first stop was a small town of Birregurra where we dropped by the local Sunday market, which is held on the first Sunday of every month. Although it was not large in size, it was filled with warm community spirit. Small stalls were set up in the local park selling a variety of things from local produce, handcrafted ornaments, decorations to books and games (however, the bf did comment that the games were little out dated). We even found the cutest ponies which can be rode for only $4 (for only a short distance of course). I couldn't pass up the opportunity and gave it a go- my pony was so cute and it even had bunny ears on for the Easter spirit.

Cute pony

The girls

Cute little bear we adopted

From Birregurra, we made our way pass Colac for a quick lunch and made the most of the beautiful sunshine by taking some happy "Korean Drama" snaps at the local botanical garden. The boys just couldn't wait to put on their cheeky boy band poses! There are definitely more photos of them on my camera than the girls lol. It was heaps of fun and a great laugh!

Check out the poses (Lol)

After that, we were on our way to the destination- Otway National Park. The Otways is largely a rain forest with a number of beautiful waterfalls as its main attraction. We chose to go to the Triplets fall, as it is one of the iconic and most visited waterfalls in the park.

Walk to the falls

Triplets fall

We also did a few treks around the nature walks at the park as well as enjoyed a DIY picnic meal. There's just something about being surrounded by nature and beautiful views which transformed a simple experience into something perfect.

Before leaving for the night, we made one last visit to the Melba Gully in hopes of witnessing the glow worm night display. We waited patiently for after dark before venturing into a pitch black forest (it's probably a good idea to stick together in a group, so you don't feel like you're in the Blair Witch Project). It wasn't long till we spotted on the banks of the walking track, twinkles of little lights illuminated from the tiny little creatures. I would advise to bring a torch but avoid shining it directly at the glow worms as this disturb them and cause them to 'turn off their lights'

The "Big Tree" (which has actually fallen)

There are many other things to do and explore in the Otway, depending on your preference and adventure styles. Some suggestions include:

1. Camping - there are many suitable camping grounds around the park, whether it is at a caravan park or setting up your own tents underneath the stars.

2. Walks and treks- there are a number of different walks and trails which can explored, suited for all fitness levels ranging from easy short walks to longer and more challenging hikes.

3. Otway fly tree top adventures- this is probably the most popular attraction in the Otways, with the options of a tree top walk or a zip line tour (which is basically like a giant flying fox through the forests). We did not have enough time to try either of these but did check out the information centre. The Tree top walk is approx $25 and zip line tour is $125 (I think most people just stick to the safer walk option).

The tree top walk

Overall, we had a lot of fun on this trip! It was a shame that we couldn't find any last minute over stay accommodation and had to endure a long and exhausting drive home.

I would definitely recommend the Otways for those who are looking for some adventure or just wanting to get away from the city.

DIY Group shot :D

With the "Big Tree"

Scribble you later

Miss Scribble