Last week, I visited Anakie Gorge with my parents and nephew. We used to love coming here as kids. The exposed rocks, and flora, always made for an interesting adventure. Most of the area surrounding Geelong is flat, or is farmland, so it was always fun to explore somewhere different.
Fast forward about 20 years. I had mostly forgotten what the area was like. It was a really beautiful day we decided to go beyond the picnic area and do the 3km walk.
The bit of the sign detailing the many edumacational facets of the walk. Actually, it is a great walk for kids in that respect. It’s a different type of environment to most of Geelong so provides many opportunities for talking about the difference in geology and nature.
Another sign showing information. We found that the walks in the area were well signposted. The areas you had to drive to? Less so. Make sure you bring a map!
The picnic ground looks like this. The start of the walk has huge imposing walls on one of the sides. This is a place where you could easily stay for hours doing photography. The walk is a mixture of such walls and trees covering both sides of the track. It is amazing how quickly and easily the environment changes.
We didn’t see any koalas or other wildlife. There was an average amount of fungi and birds. The area is meant to be great for various types of animals and this is a walk I’d love to do again in different seasons.
This photo shows the cliffs you get on the sides. This was mostly during the first half of the walk, before you get to the turn off for the Ted Errey Nature Circuit.
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There were stepping stones like this in many places where there were river crossings. Really, you could easily spend a couple of hours on this walk just exploring and investigating everything.
One of the reasons it is pretty awesome is because of the educational value. I know most kids aren’t into learning stuff when they are adventuring. However, my nephew was pretty intrigued by the tunnels and pipes and was interested to know why they were there.
I loved walls like this. I could have spent considerably longer photographing it. However, I may have been racing a 7 year old.
This photo shows a rough map of the Ted Errey Nature Circuit. This is a walk I’m now really keen to do. I’m thinking it maybe worth trying to do with Sethy and just bypass the part of the walk we’ve already done.
The trees really do grow out of some awesome places!
A close up look at one of the walls.
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I haven’t bushwalked in ages and this was a brilliant re-introduction. My legs definitely felt it the next day but I was rarely puffed out. It was one where you could push yourself really hard for a little bit and then stop to see your surroundings.
I’ve done a fair bit of adventuring in the region lately and this is definitely a highlight.
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