Sheoak Creek

Upstream of the effusive drop of Sheoak Falls (15 metres/50 feet), 6 kilometres/4 miles beyond the township of Lorne (and a short hike from an alcove set off from The Great Ocean Road) is discovered a small Gorge spliced into maniac rocks of sandstone and basalt complimented by a host of other laudable geology. Sheoak Creek, which rises in the hills of the Great Otway Range National Park meanders unobtrusively for a handful of kilometres emptying into Bass Strait. Mostly, the Creek is an enthusiastic though hardly menacing gush with exceptions after downpours when it aspires to imitations of a torrent. There is a fine walking track that courses along the creekbank, at times climbing steeply away and at other times stepping across fords reaching into the forest. The track not only skirts the Falls but the notable Swallow Cave, where seasonal Swallows on their long migration from northern hemisphere climes nest in rock crannies and nooks over late spring into summer. By extension this track brings you into the forest to an intersection offering choices to visit The Canyon, Hendersons Falls and Phantom Falls, of which I have described in previous essays.

As is my wont, I became curious as to what was around the right bend in the photo, even though the track turned away from the Creek at this point. Needless to say, I sneaked along the rock clines at near turtle pace on my wobbly pins and for my trouble landed unceremoniously into the shallow waters just around the crook, my priority not so much limb but camera, though happily both endured with pride the only casualty. Needless to say, the soaking was quite chilly but hilarious in a way, though my peanut butter sandwiches acquired a more mineral taste than I sought. Not deterred, I plodded along for a few more hundred metres, mostly in the Creek itself until, not to my surprise, the Creek met the track once more. Being mindful, that even on a mild early spring day a nippy half dunking could turn into much more than a chill I had brought with me a change of clothing stuffed in my backpack (plus dry footwear - a habit long adopted when walking). Never imagining anyone else would be on the track I did a clobber change under the dappled late afternoon sunlight. I 'resisted' any temptations, minor as they be, to spend anymore time than was necessary 'au natural' - a frightening prospect even to me!