OTWAY
RANGES WALKING TRACK ASSOCIATION INC.
Otway
Ranges Walking Track Ass. No. A 0034409H
SUMMER
NEWSLETTER 2015
Report from the
President’s Perspective:-
Another
year has well and truly started and I would like to take this opportunity to
wish everyone a ‘Happy Australia Day’!! I think these days, time flies whether
you’re having fun or not. However, we
prefer to have fun! And for most of us,
bushwalking is one way of having FUN!!
It just takes an effort to arrange this great pastime around our busy
lives.
As
I see it, there are two major reasons for ORWTA’s existence. The first is to
continue to lobby the Government and persevere with various avenues that will
result in the Trans Otway Waterfalls Walk coming to fruition. However, for many reasons, there has been no
progress on this of late.
The
second reason is to foster the fun, social and healthy aspects of bushwalking
in the Otways. The Otways is an amazingly diverse place with the cool temperate
rainforest, tall eucalypt forests, the multitude of waterfalls, the coastal
heathlands and the rugged but pristine coastline. Whether you are new to walking in this
region, a regular visitor or, like myself, who has lived here all of one’s
life, it is a very rewarding area to explore. The social walks conducted
monthly are still proving popular and necessary to continue to be able to keep
our proposed route clear.
Over many years, ORWTA members have enjoyed so many
walks both along the proposed Trans Otway Waterfall Walk and other locations in
the Otways. Very few of our walks in that time have needed to be cancelled or
rescheduled. However, we have had
trouble of late. Bushwalkers, whether regular walkers or not, are certainly
keen to get out in the bush. I fully appreciate that, especially if it’s been a
while since you’ve had a walk, or a favourite walk is on or you just want a
break from your normal routine. However, sometimes things happen beyond our
control with weather, trip leader unavailability and communication. As a club,
we must be proactive and show that we are a responsible organisation and make
tough decisions when needed. Presently,
some of our routes do need a tidy-up with clearing away fallen limbs. Some of
us are able get into the bush regularly to help with carrying out this task. In
saying that, we are a volunteer organisation and most of us still work so we
can only do as much as we can do with the volunteers we have available as this
needs to fit around with the rest of our lives.
Wild Dog Track is one track that we normally like
to do every year. We were not able to do it when scheduled last February due to
a Total Fire Ban Day. In December, again
this walk was rescheduled to be done, but a predicted widespread rain event led
to an executive decision to call the walk off. So it will be a case of ‘take 3’
as it is down for May’s walk.
ORWTA are very thankful for all our trip leaders;
most are our members and some are members of other clubs that assist from time
to time. Through their knowledge (maybe of a particular area), passion and
expertize, we are able to offer many diverse walks.
Having
lost several key committee members over the last year which have been due to
illness, work commitments, retirement and having left the area, our club is
certainly going through a rebuilding stage. ORWTA membership continues to be
steady which is extremely encouraging. Although, we do have a good member base,
one of our problems is that our members come from a very wide area. So ORWTA would appreciate any help that can
be given; maybe on the day of the walk, leading a walk, help with a recce or
clearing tracks, or your expertise may be communicating / liaising with various
Government agencies. Any
help will be gratefully appreciated.
Let’s hope our
Club has a successful 2015.
~
Alan Dow (President) ~
Liaison
between ORWTA and Geelong Bushwalking Club:-
So
now is a good time to mention the efforts of Bernard
Jordon who has been involved in ORWTA for a very long time. Like a few in our
club, Bernard is a member of both ORWTA and the Geelong Bushwalking Clubs. He
had a very important role of being the liaison between the two Clubs, making
sure the correct walk info & trip report was submitted to GBC’s monthly
magazine, being the Geelong contact to organise
car-pooling, assisted
in the reconnaissance of tracks and has lead so many of our walks. He is stepping down from his role with ORWTA to watch the ‘grass grow’
and will no doubt be spending more time at Sandy Point.
On behalf of the Committee and members of ORWTA, I
would like to take this opportunity to thank Bernard for all his involvement
over the many years with ORWTA. His willingness to lead walks has certainly been invaluable in our club. A job well done and much appreciated !!! Hopefully, you will join us on
our walks from time to time.
Good
and Bad news regarding tracks in Lorne area:-
We
heard, from a couple of sources, that several tracks in the long-established
network of paths in the Lorne area were to be closed permanently. However, in December when this matter was
raised, the Parks Vic Ranger for Lorne was adamant that no such closures were
forthcoming. Let’s hope for all lovers of walking that these tracks stay open
permanently.
NOTE- It was very sad
to hear of young child recently who was critically injured after being hit by a
fallen branch on one of the Lorne tracks near Erskine Falls. He was on an
outing with his family when the tragedy happened. We all love walking in the
Australian Bush, but these incidents, although very rare, do make us aware that
it can be dangerous at times.
Marriners
Falls:-
And
while we are on the subject of closures, Marriners Falls has been closed for
many years now. It has been assessed as being ‘unsafe’. There is been a
concentrated push in 2014 to re-open these Falls before they are ‘closed’
permanently. The track to the falls is certainly no more dangerous than many of
the tracks through the Otway forests.
There
is now a group known as "Friends of Marriners Falls". The ORWTA
committee members wholeheartedly support this group, and we encourage all
members to add to and support their Facebook page. This can be found by going
to the Apollo Bay Chamber of Commerce & Tourism website, at;
"www.abcct.com.au/friends" and clicking on the 'leave a comment'
option just below the page title. Also,
if anyone has any photos or history of past visits to these Falls please feel
free to share them with this group.
Marriners Falls is such
an important asset to Apollo Bay. It has
a rich history dating back to early settlers visiting the Falls in the late
1800s. Unlike Lorne, which has many waterfalls and forest tracks of which to
walk, Apollo Bay has only got the short track to Marriners Lookout, the start
of the Great Ocean Walk and Marriners Falls. Marriners Falls have been a lovely
cool place to visit with the family particularly on those hot days in the Summer
holidays.
New signage:-
There
is new walk / cycle signage around Apollo Bay to help visitors get to places in
the town. On several of these signs,
there is a photo that our Secretary took on the proposed ‘Highview Walk’ that
we did last August which acknowledges our organisation. Great Les !
250
Victorian Waterfalls:-
The authors of ‘250
Victorian Waterfalls’ have decided on doing another book, but this time on
Otway waterfalls. So if anyone has any
information regarding location, name or history of any known or ‘hidden’
waterfalls in the Otways then Ray and Ian would be happy to correspond with
you. You can reach Ian via email at i.wacey@jcbcea.com.au
We still have several copies of 250 Victorian Waterfalls,
so if anyone would like a copy sent to them, contact Alan
on 0400 404 046.
Social walks
program:-
We have just
released our 2015 Calendar of Walks. I
hope there is something in this for everyone and that you have free time
available to do some of them. Our social
walks are normally held on the first Sunday of the each month. However, sometimes we hold it on the 2nd
Sunday of the month to avoid such events as Father’s Day or Easter. We do ask
for a gold coin donation from participants on the day of our walks.
·
Sunday 1st February, 2015
- Day: Wild Dog Falls
- Evening: Dinner & ORWTA meeting at Forrest
(Venue to be arranged)
Trip Leader: Alan Dow 0400 404 046
·
Sunday 1st March, 2015
- Day: Glasgow Falls
- Evening: (Dinner & Meeting to be arranged)
Trip Leader: Kim Attard: 0422 880 817
·
Sunday 12th April, 2015
- Day: Sabine Falls Grand Circuit
- Evening: Dinner & ORWTA meeting at Forrest
(Venue to be
arranged)
Trip Leader: John Piesse: 9852 8924
To register or enquire more information regarding
any of the walks; please contact the Trip Leader or the President Alan Dow –
0400 404 046.
Meetings of
ORWTA:-
Monthly
Meetings of ORWTA Inc. usually take place after the scheduled Social Walk. The
venues for the Meetings are generally in the region of that month’s walk.
Typically held at Apollo Bay, Forrest or Lorne, however, we
have held them at Wye River, Deans Marsh and Beech Forest in the past. They
involve a relaxed meeting often over dinner or a drink.
Our website is –
·
Introduction to the Otways
·
ORWTA:- History, About this organization & the Club’s objectives
·
Sales
·
Member resources:-
-
ORWTA AGM Minutes (Current & Archived)
-
ORWTA Monthly Meeting Minutes (Current &
Archived)
We acknowledge the assistance given to us from
the Bendigo Bank in sponsoring the yearly costs of our Website.
Membership 2014 / 2015.
New
and return members are always welcome. We are asking all members to inform
their family and friends as to what our organization does and so they may
become ORWTA members or at least enjoy a walk with us.
Recent
new members that have joined are Stephen Kerr and Andy Hewat. I hope you enjoy meeting the many
other walkers and gain some great experiences while walking in the Otways.
The upcoming Social walk is to beautiful Wild Dog
Falls on February 1st 2015
