Blanket Bay - Great Otway National Park

12 - 13 March 2015

We continued along the Great Ocean Road with a view to camping in one of the many National Park campsites along the way. Because of the online booking system introduced by Parks Victoria in 2014, it is necessary to book your campsite (the actual number site - not just the park) online, which is quite difficult when you haven't actually seen the campground so we decided to drive in and have a look around then go ahead and book once we had found something we liked the look of, and which suited our needs.

One of the many stops on the G.O.R.

The first site we visited was Johanna Beach, a lovely spot where we enjoyed a picnic lunch. We drove on to the campsite which is behind the sand dunes. The campsites were very small and side by side so there would be little privacy of there were lots of people there so we crossed that one off the list and moved on. 

We were headed to Aire River because some reviews suggested this to be a lovely spot, but without detailed maps, and no signs from the main road, we missed that one. We continued on and realised we had also missed the turn to Cape Otway. As there was no mobile phone reception we pressed on to Apollo Bay and the Visitor Information Centre. We were assured that Blanket Bay is one of the most popular spots so took the risk and booked site number 12 based on the information available on the Parks Victoria website.

It was great to see this Echidna hunting around for ants in the campground.

We headed back along the Great Ocean Road, and took the Cape Otway turn-off. As we drove along this road we noticed fellow travellers stopped on the side of road. looking up, with cameras in hand. There is a large koala population and they can be seen easily in trees on the road side. Of course, we stopped for some photos too.

Koala. Actually taken on the way out.

As we headed in to Blanket Bay we noticed signs saying "camp ground full". We weren't sure whether this was current, or left over from the recent long weekend, but we were glad we had already booked. Our spot was level, and not far from the toilets - pit toilets, but well maintained. We were able to position the car in such as way as to allow us to use the awning too.

There were lots of birds around so Mick was happy. We walked on the beach and around the campsite and agreed it is a beautiful spot - shared with resident Echidna and wallabies (and possibly koalas although we didn't spot any at the campground.

Olive Whistler

The elusive Rufous Bristlebird.

This is a wonderful birding spot with, no doubt, many more birds than I was able to see in our short stay. Great views of an Olive Whistler were a pleasant surprise as we walked around the campground. Later we caught fleeting glimpses of the very shy Rufous Bristlebird. Eastern Yellow Robins and Crimson Rosellas were never far away and Yellow-faced and White-eared Honeyeaters were plentiful. The Bristlebird was the highlight for me though as it in not an easy bird to see or photograph, not that the photograph is great. Mick.

After a relaxing night we packed up for the next leg of the journey - the one we weren't really looking forward to - into Melbourne.