• home
  • about me
  • latest
  • brooke beyond

  • destinations
    • WORLD MAP
    • Africa
      • Botswana
      • Morocco
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • Asia
      • Cambodia
      • China
      • Indonesia
      • Laos
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Aus + NZ
      • Adelaide & South Australia
      • Brisbane & Queensland
      • Hobart & Tasmania
      • Melbourne & Victoria
      • Perth & Western Australia
      • Sydney & New South Wales
      • New Zealand
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Czech Republic
      • France
      • Germany
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Slovenia
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • UK
    • Latin America
      • Mexico
        • all Mexico
        • Baja Peninsula
      • Argentina
      • Bolivia
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Colombia
      • Ecuador
      • Panama
      • Peru
    • USA
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Hawaii
      • Idaho
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Oregon
      • Utah
      • Washington
      • Wyoming
  • hiking guides

brooke beyond

Great Ocean Walk hike solo female
Aus + NZ / Australia / Victoria

Great Ocean Walk (day 4): Johanna Beach to Devil’s Kitchen via Ryan’s Den

July 7, 2020

The most challenging day on the trail both in terms of terrain and kilometres, my 4th day along the Great Ocean Walk sees me navigating up and over countless steep headlands and sea cliffs between Johanna Beach, Ryan’s Den, and eventually on to Devil’s Kitchen. Limited daylight hours contribute to the 27km challenge, but in the end, it’s a great day spent completing the penultimate stages of the hike.

Trail stats: Johanna Beach to Devil’s Kitchen via Ryan’s Den

Distance: 26.6km

Trail hours: 8h10m

Highlights: Eastern Grey Kangaroos hopping through the rolling hills near Johanna Beach; sun at secluded Milanesia Beach; wild coastal views from Moonlight Head & The Gables Lookout, on one of the highest sea cliffs in Australia

Campsite: Devil’s Kitchen GOW Hiker Camp

Read more: APOLLO BAY TO TWELVE APOSTLES: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO SOLO HIKING THE GREAT OCEAN WALK

Great Ocean Walk hike solo female
Great Ocean Walk hike kangaroo Johanna Beach

Despite an excellent and snug sleep at Johanna Beach, I wake up with the burning knowledge that I’m trying to cram a “medium/hard” 27 kilometres (and what Parks Victoria believes to be 10.5hrs of walking) into an 8hr window of daylight. After also walking 23km and 24km on each of the previous days.

There’s no doubt that day 4 is going to be a challenge, but I’m eager to rise to it. Unfortunately that means setting off at the ungodly hour of 9am (I’m really not a morning person)— the only good news is that I’m joined on the first few hours of my walk by countless Eastern Grey Kangaroos hopping through golden hills and turning to appraise me with reluctant curiosity as I come round corners, looking like deer in the headlights of my camera lens or perhaps like children who’ve been caught doing something a bit cheeky.

Living in the middle of the city, I don’t see kangaroo as often as I used to down the coast— and even after 8 years in Australia, it’s a novelty that will never quite wear off. I waste a bit of precious time trying to get a good shot, but it feels necessary.

Great Ocean Walk hike kangaroo Johanna Beach
Great Ocean Walk hike solo female
Great Ocean Walk hike solo female
Great Ocean Walk hike solo female

Rolling hills near Johanna Beach

The next section of the walk is a bit less pleasant, leading up and down a rollercoaster of paved or gravel roads. There’s not a lot to look at and the terrain is unforgiving to an already aggravated knee, so it’s with great pleasure that I arrive, about an hour later, at the secluded Milanesia Beach.

The pleasure is short lived. In no time, yellow arrows are leading me right back up a steep headland and onto the cliffs again.

It’s not the ascents I dislike, although I’m certainly puffed enough— it’s the knowledge that I’m going to have to descend again, navigating down slick, precariously positioned stone steps or wooden planks with about as much traction as an inclined ice rink.

Great Ocean Walk hike Milanesia Beach
Great Ocean Walk hike solo female
Great Ocean Walk hike Milanesia Beach

There are slips, there are near-catastrophic trips, and there are more than a few heart palpitations each time I have to come down one of these steep hills, constantly reminded that I haven’t actually seen another human all morning and now would probably not be a good moment to injure myself (as I’m wont to do at only the most inconvenient of times).

By some miracle, I make it to the half-way point at Ryan’s Den in 4hrs, all but dragging myself along the final kms of steep forest trail as frustration mounts (HOW am I not there yet) and energy wanes. I later recognise this as advanced stages of major hanger.

Great Ocean Walk hike Ryan's Den
Great Ocean Walk hike solo female Ryan's Den
Great Ocean Walk hike Ryan's Den

Collapsing to the ground in a relieved pile, I allow myself just 15min to rest before I need to get back up and keep moving. It’s the first time I’ve stopped for a rest or taken my pack off since I departed Johanna Beach— in fact, it’s the first time I’ve even stopped walking (for more than about 3 seconds to snap a photo).

The thought of setting up camp in the dark is enough to keep me lurching forward, even through sore muscles and throbbing feet, but it’s definitely left me a little haggard.

Finally at the halfway mark, though, I’ve now got a good gauge of my speed on these harder sections of trail and I am confident in my ability to make it to camp before dark. That confidence goes a long way in making the second half of the day infinitely more enjoyable, nearly all the stress and uncertainty draining away.

Great Ocean Walk hike Moonlight Head

Moonlight Head

The next 4 hours to Devil’s Kitchen fly by in comparison, my body finally falling into a more comfortable (and less manic) rhythm as I cross over Cape Volney, Moonlight Head, and the towering Gables Lookout, all the while enjoying dramatic views back towards the Cape Otway coast.

The final stages of the walk wind through farmland, where I’m delighted to find a little echidna digging under a fence, and an endless stretch of forest, before finally delivering me, somewhat worse for wear (especially after a dramatic fall on a polished bridge), to Devil’s Kitchen just in time to set up my tent in the final minutes of daylight. I end up pitched in a pit of leeches (I’ve got the suck-wounds to prove it), but all I really care about is that I MADE IT.

Great Ocean Walk hike Moonlight Head
Great Ocean Walk hike echidna

Read more about the Great Ocean Walk

GREAT OCEAN WALK (DAY 1): APOLLO BAY TO ELLIOT RIDGE

GREAT OCEAN WALK (DAY 2): ELLIOT RIDGE TO CAPE OTWAY VIA BLANKET BAY

GREAT OCEAN WALK (DAY 3): CAPE OTWAY TO JOHANNA BEACH VIA AIRE RIVER

GREAT OCEAN WALK (DAY 5): DEVIL’S KITCHEN TO TWELVE APOSTLES

TAGS:great ocean walkmelbourne hikes
0 Comments
Share
brooke brisbine

I've spent the last decade exploring the world— everything from solo trekking in the Andes to overlanding in Zambia, all while completing a PhD in Biomechanics, teaching at a university & securing permanent residency in Australia. In 2020, I finally fulfilled my dream of becoming a full-time nomad! Whether it’s vanlife in Mexico, scuba diving in the Galápagos, ticking off incredible US National Parks, or climbing in the Dolomites, I hope this blog will inspire your future adventures & help you find wonder in every corner of the globe. xx bb

Leave a Comment Cancel Comment

You May Also Like

December 15, 2015

Greetings from New Zealand’s Lake Tekapo

January 13, 2017

A guide to experiencing Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

September 21, 2018

Driving the Legendary Pacific Coast (day 6): Port Macquarie & Forster

hi, I’m brooke!

I've spent the last decade exploring the world— everything from solo trekking in the Andes to overlanding in Zambia, all while completing a PhD in Biomechanics. In 2020, I finally fulfilled my dream of becoming a full-time nomad! Whether it’s vanlife in Mexico, scuba diving in the Galápagos, ticking off incredible US National Parks, or climbing in the Dolomites, I hope this blog will inspire your future adventures & help you find wonder in every corner of the globe. xx bb

read my story
currently exploring

currently exploring

northern italy

img

travel resources

flights ✈️ Skyscanner

hotels 🏨 booking.com

adventure gear 🥾 REI

travel essentials 📸 Amazon

travel guides

hiking guides

vanlife resources

moving to australia

trip itineraries

recent posts

  • Mulege Baja California Sur vanlife road trip Mexico

    Baja vanlife road trip itinerary for 1-3 months (+ driving directions & camping in 2022)

    July 17, 2022
  • UPDATE: 1 million views & blog under construction

    May 17, 2022
  • Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Michoacan Mexico

    Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary: how to see millions of migrating butterflies in Mexico

    February 26, 2022
  • Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Michoacan Mexico

    Vanlife diaries #50: Santiago de Querétaro & Sierra Chincua Monarch Butterfly Bioreserve, Michoacán 

    February 23, 2022
  • Guanajuato Mexico vanlife

    Vanlife diaries #49: Tlaquepaque & Guadalajara, Jalisco to Guanajuato & San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

    February 16, 2022

On Instagram

Follow @brookearoundtown

travel beyond the ordinary

Explore my travel guides, custom itineraries & blog posts with an interactive world map ✨

all destinations

@brookebeyond_
  • home
  • about me
  • latest
  • destinations
  • hiking guides
  • moving to Australia
  • vanlife resources
  • contact

COPYRIGHT © 2022 BROOKE BEYOND. TRAVEL BEYOND THE ORDINARY. Site Powered by Pix & Hue.