I made it out of Melbourne and made my way southwest to my next official stop, Great Otway National Park. I took the long way here by making a huge loop around to the northwest so I could go visit Trentham Falls, but it turned out to just be a trickle, about a one on the gusher scale, and not really worth the effort. Oh well! From there it was due south for the rest of the day. My route was mostly lonely rural roads. Along the way, though, I saw this spiky guy crossing in front of me. Meet the echidna, one of Australia’s crazy native animals. I just had to stop and get some pictures of him, even if he was being shy.

Otway National Park is a really fantastic place and I was definitely not disappointed. It’s a beautiful coastal rainforest area of redwoods, eucalyptus, and plenty of ferns. I mainly chose to come here for all the amazing waterfall hikes, though. Get ready for waterfallapalooza down under. First though, a look at Apollo Bay, where I’m staying the next few days. It’s a quiet cozy beach town with a couple of handy grocery stores and a few good restaurants. I’ve been eating a LOT of fish at this stop. Yummm!

Back to the waterfalls, first up was Stevensons Falls. It was a fairly long drive, but a very short hike through an amazing redwood forest. Thankfully, there was plenty of water. I’ll give it a seven on the gusher scale. I was worried I was going to only see a bunch of dry waterfalls after Trentham.

For these next two I had to find my hiking legs again after sitting around all winter. They were only a couple of miles each, but it might take a few days to get back in shape. I gave both of these gusher sevens. At Beauchamp Falls I was reminded that waterfall hikes are backwards. First you go down, then you climb back up.

You’re not allowed to get too close at Hopetoun Falls. I had to be satisfied with the view from the observation deck. It was so tempting to jump that railing and get closer though. I contemplated it for a good long minute since there was no one around, but in the end I behaved myself.

In addition to all the waterfalls and the amazing hiking trails there are also many incredible viewpoints along the way too. One thing that strikes me right away is how bright blue the water is. I’m not sure if this is still considered the Bass Strait or the Indian Ocean or what, but it’s gorgeous!

Erskine Falls was just a short descent down a bunch of steps of doom, but I hiked beyond it a couple of miles on the trail along the river to seek out two other waterfalls. Straw Falls was just another trickle and I think I found Splitter Falls, but it was way down at the bottom of the ravine while I was at the top. Oh well, the hike was super fun!

Back at Erskine Falls I stopped to take some pics and cool off a bit before my climb back up the steps of doom. This one gets a five on the gusher scale.

I also did a two and a half mile hike out to Phantom Falls nearby, but true to its name the waterfall was a phantom, bone dry, a big fat zero on the gusher scale! Anyway, on my way back I stopped at little Sheoak Falls and got a good view of part of the Great Ocean Road between Apollo Bay and Lorne, the next significant town east. Sheoak Falls only gets a two on the gusher scale, but it was right off the highway so I can’t complain.

Also right off the highway, but several miles west, is Carisbrook Falls. A solid three gusher.

The next day I drove back through Lorne and up into the hills to do one of the longer hikes I tackled here in Otway, Kalimna Falls. There’s an upper and a lower falls, a two for one special. For the record, I absolutely did NOT ignore the warning signs about the trail to the upper falls being closed, nor did I deftly maneuver around the bright orange barrier blocking the path to get this next picture of the stunningly beautiful four gusher.

The Lower Kalimna Falls were equally stunning. Another four gusher. This one had a bonus, though. Being able to walk around and admire the falls from behind. Awesome!

At the lower falls I decided to sit on a log and enjoy some snacks that I brought to munch on. I spent quite a long time there just enjoying having the falls all to myself… or so I thought. He really didn’t want me there. Haha!

Driving back to Apollo Bay I timed my stop at the Kennett River wildlife viewing area with dusk to try to maximize my sightings. It wasn’t as prolific as I was expecting, but I did have my first kangaroo sighting of the trip, even if they were really far away.

I’ve been surprised at how many different kinds of parrots there are here. I see them flying around on all of my hikes. This is the first one I’ve managed to get a picture of, though. Also below is one of Australia’s own kookaburras. Here’s an interesting fact about my travels. I usually have really good luck and positive experiences with all kinds of animals all over the world, but for some reason, birds seem to despise me. There’s the angry bird above at Kalimna, but also, I had an angry bird chase me in Costa Rica, an angry bird attacked my car while I was sitting in it in Panama, I got attacked by a hawk on Easter Island, I was attacked by a sea gull in Chile, I even got attacked once by a dove in Utah. I just don’t get it!

The main reason for coming to Kennett River was the roughly 20,000 koalas that supposedly live here. I was expecting a smorgasbord, but after lots of walking with my neck hyperextended, I only found two. I was still pretty happy about it, though. I came to Australia expecting there to be a kangaroo next to every tree and a koala on every branch, but apparently that’s not the case.

My last day in Otway National Park I headed for another big hike through the beautiful rainforest to two waterfalls. First was Little Aire Falls. They built a gravity defying platform out over the canyon for an incredible view. A seven and a half on the gusher scale. And I had this one all to myself too. I love just standing there listening to the water.

On the way to the second waterfall I got excited because I finally found an Otway Black Snail. I’ve been hoping to find one of these. Why am I so excited about a snail, you ask? Because these guys are only found here in this part of Australia and they’re one of the world’s very few carnivorous snails. New nightmare, unlocked!

The other waterfall on the hike was Triplet Falls. I don’t know why they call it Triplet because there seemed to be six or seven different cascades, but ok. Also, this is probably the best waterfall I saw in Otway, but I can’t be certain because it was impossible to see through all the foliage in the way. Nevertheless, I gave it a gusher of eight and did the best I could with the pictures. It was pretty loud too.

The far south of the national park is called Cape Otway, sporting Australia’s oldest lighthouse (I got there too late to see it) and a lot of eucalyptus forest that’s notorious for koala sightings.

I spotted three koalas in the trees wandering around. I was pretty happy. Koalas are super cute and I love seeing them, but they’re also pretty boring. I mentioned earlier that they sleep around twenty hours a day. So when this cutie in the pics below stretched out her arm briefly, let’s just say it was a thrilling moment for me.

This guy was deep in dreamland. I spotted him randomly while driving and had to slam on the brakes so I could get out and take a closer look. All in all, I think it’s fair to say that my waterfallapalooza turned into a waterfallakoalapalooza!

Well, I started this post with an echidna sighting. It seems fitting to end it with an echidna sighting too. While walking around looking for koalas on a side trail I spotted this guy and he wasn’t even remotely shy. I also learned some more about our echidna friends this week. They’re not marsupials but they do have a pouch. Mom lays one egg, puts it in her pouch, and after it hatches the baby stays in there for about a month and a half. That’s when it starts developing spines and mom ejects ’em. Oh, and the babies are called puggles. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? Ha!

That’s it for Great Otway National Park. My next stop isn’t very far away and will be a quick one, so don’t stray too far…