Falling for it: Beauchamp Falls are among many to be linked by new tracks.
Clear: remains of a clearfelling operation
Clean: The remote Upper Sabine Falls,
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I was reminded of those old postcards when in early autumn we spent a weekend exploring the forested hills inland from Apollo Bay. A hundred years ago, the Otways presented two views to the world babbling brooks and fern glades versus the slain giants of the forest. The images of a century ago resonate today. The clearfelling of native forest in the Otways has generated considerable heat with environmentalists and there is an ongoing wrangle about how the area should be developed for tourism.
Nature-based tourism in the Otway hills at present combines scenic cool forest drives and short walks. Keep an eye out for logging trucks and follow the excellent maps provided by the local visitor information centres. Marked picnic areas are the starting points for short hikes where all-weather paths meander through stands of lofty trees and fern gullies to rippling streams and rushing waterfalls. In an easy day of driving (avert your eyes occasionally from the open sores of forest ripped apart by clearfelling) and short energetic walks we took in Stevensons, Beauchamp, Hopetoun and Triplet Falls.
Hikers with a yen for something more intrepid than a nature trail have for years dreamed of a long distance walk through the Otways. But the Otway Ranges Walking Track Association has done more than just dream. This group of volunteers has surveyed an inland route and put in the hard yakka building walking paths. The 70-kilometre Trans Otway Walk will eventually link about 17 waterfalls between Apollo Bay and Lorne.
We hiked part of the proposed walk with a group led by Frank Parsons, an association member. Our bushwalk took us to Sabine Falls, the highest waterfall in western Victoria. The signposted track starts at the picnic ground on Sunnyside Road, two kilometres from the Apollo Bay-Colac Road. A kilometre into the forest we passed the remains of a timber mill. Parsons pointed out immense stumps of mountain ash and messmate logged a century ago.
In those days timber cutters did not raze the entire forest. They preserved the ecosystem by selectively logging and leaving the rest of the trees to grow straight and tall. He showed us giant 80-year-old blackwoods and a slender 20-metrehigh tree fern. Parsons led the way to a sturdily-built platform giving grandstand views across the gully to the falls. We overlooked a sweep of forest trees.
The Upper Sabine is one of five linked falls that make up the 130-metre drop. To get close, you need to walk along a less well-trodden track. A tall canopy of leaves filtered the harshest rays of the sun and the forest floor was cool underfoot, where delicate feathery ferns sprouted from fallen logs. Leeches marched up bare legs and robins and honeyeaters chirruped in the air above. The last few metres were a steep slither among tree roots to the rock platform below the falls. After a bone dry summer the Sabine did not roar but showered in velvety steps into the inky rock pool below. We listened to the sound of the falls and ate lunch.
What an enchanted forest this is. Aren't we privileged to be here? How could anyone think of clearfelling this pristine spot so that Australia can keep the world supplied with toilet paper and tissues?
On the walk back I listened to Parsons talking about how the logging industry is unsustainable and how the long term future of the Otways lies in eco-tourism. I thought about how spending time in the hidden valleys of the Otways gives city slickers like us a chance to nourish our souls.
There is nourishment for body and soul at the Forrest Country Guesthouse, where we stayed for the weekend. This welcoming B&B is run by Swiss-born Thea Brown and her Australian husband, Adrian. In a previous life, the guesthouse was the Colac Bowling Club. Two years ago the clubrooms were transported down the road to Forrest and renovated into seven themed, ensuite guest rooms. We chose the Farmer's Room, its walls lined with wartime copies of The Age and a bench upholstered with horse show prize ribbons. Other options included Sawmiller's Shack decked out with logging memorabilia, the romantic Indian Bungalow or the maritime flavored Nautical Cabin. Each room has a view to the bountiful garden.
We shared the guesthouse with two noisy families and three German couples who'd been dispatched into the hills from the jammed-in-like sardines coast. The rustic restaurant offers flavorsome, home-cooked meals; for breakfast Thea served her own Bircher muesli, free-range scrambled eggs and fresh bread.
Later that morning we drove to Apollo Bay. In the shops, postcards on rotating stands trumpeted the timeless beauty of the Otways; several could have been my 1901 junk-shop find washed by the colors of the forest.
There were no postcards extolling the delights of shattered, treeless mountainsides.
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Falling for it: Beauchamp Falls are among many to be linked by new tracks. |
Clear: remains of a clearfelling operation |
Clean: The remote Upper Sabine Falls, |
Pictures: ANDREW LECKY
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