1/29/06
Otway Fly Treetop Walk

We woke up the next moring soaked and tired, so be broke camp and headed to Apollo Bay, the next main town on the Great Ocean Road. We checked into a self contained unit at Pisces Caravan  Resort to  dry out. It was Sunday, the end of the Australian School Holiday (remember, it’s Summer here), so we had to wait for a cabin to be ready. Looking at the map, we found the Otway Fly, a tree top walkway that we wanted to see and would kill the time while we waited for a room.

The Otway Fly Treetop Walk is a structure built in a rainforest that was once logged for its timber. The forest service is regrowing the trees, and restablishing the ecology of the area. Building this structure in the middle of the forest allows visitors to see the trees from a level not normally seen from a hiker’s eye view.

We were at least 300 feet up in the trees and even higher from the observation tower.
 

The rain changed the light and the color of the trees making all the colors muted, and saturated. These fig trees don’t loose their leaves, but sheds its bark in strips.

Of course when we finished the walk, the rain stopped! It was probably better it rained while we hiked because without the rain, the flies returned. Look at how many landed on my jacket in a matter of seconds!

On our return trip to Apollo Bay I decided I wanted to try a different route home. There was a logging trail that cut through a section of State rain forest that is reserved for four wheel drive in winter that seemed like an adventurous drive in our wagon. This gravel road must freeze in winter, but was fine on this foggy Summer day.

photo D. Byer
The reward of taking this road was the beautiful scenery. The fog settled into the valleys so the towering ficus trees were partially obscured. It was like travelling through a quiet dream world with towering ferns covering the forest floor.

photo D. Byer
My wife got out to take some of these pictures and when she returned, she told me about the erie stillness of the forest that was interrupted by the calls of exotic birds. It was a moment that made you feel a long long way away from home.

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