WINTER hibernation is very boring when the Great Ocean Walk beckons - offering greater solitude, opportunities to see koala joeys emerging from the pouch, whales swimming the Southern Ocean and the warming welcome of the Aire Valley Guest House.
From May to October humpbacks and southern rights are seen almost daily from Victoria's Great Ocean Walk which stretches 104 kilometres from the resort town of Apollo Bay to the famous limestone stacks the Twelve Apostles.
It's a time when snakes have taken cover for the cooler months, the Great Aussie Salute is obsolete as flies have disappeared, and the crackling wood fires at Aire Valley Guest House are the perfect welcome home after a life-affirming day on the world-class Great Ocean Walk.
The Guest House, which also houses Victoria's greenest restaurant, is offering a winter walkers' package for the months of May, June and July which includes accommodation, a shuttle service to and from set-down points along the walk, lunch with salads hand-picked from their garden, and three course dinners made from the finest regional food.
Aire Valley Guest House owner and chef Annabel Tunley said their veggie patch was burgeoning with produce which would have a strong influence on the winter menu. Otways rack of lamb would be marinated in their home-grown garlic and rosemary and served with veggies picked minutes before serving.
With bumper crops of beetroot and pumpkin plumping up, the winter menu will feature homemade Borscht, and pumpkin soups.
Annabel's home-gown rhubarb crumble has been known to restore and reinvigorate tired walkers from their taste buds right down to their toes.
For walkers who like to photograph their experiences, winter in the Otways can be ethereal and moody or fully lit with brilliant blue skies and spectacular sweeping waves in Mediterranean blue crashing against the skyscraper sea cliffs.
For those wanting to spy native fauna in their natural habitat, kangaroos and wallabies tend to graze for longer during the daylight hours of winter, koala joeys can be seen in the safe and warm arms of their furry mums from late July, and it's a great time to catch a glimpse of the Otways carnivorous snail - the fabulously named Victaphanta compacta.
There are countless varieties of fungi in a myriad of colours and forms to be seen in the Otways - some are the stuff of fairytales - bright red caps with white dots sat on plump white stalks.
The brilliantly coloured scarlet robins can be spied in the densely wooded forests and another winter visitor is the flame robin which is more at home in the open woodlands.
Aire Valley Guest House's Winter Walkers’ Great Ocean Walk packages start at $800. This includes a 20% discount per couple. If you rounded up a group of 8 or 10 you will enjoy a further 10% discount. Breakfast, lunch, three-course dinners, transit shuttle service from the walk to the Guest House are all included in this package and there's a glass of bubbly and a plate a local cheese to enjoy each evening on arrival as you sit by the open fire recharging for your next adventure.
For details go to Great Ocean Walk Winter Walkers
For further information call Annabel or Martin Tunley, Aire Valley Guest House proprietors, on 03 5237 3277.
