Sabine Falls - Otways NP - VIC

Walk:  Sabine Falls

Distance/Rated Duration/Type:  Hike 4km / 1 Hr / Return

Terrain/Rating:  Steady walk down through forest to viewing platform. Short distance but moderate walk back up.

Start / Finish Time:  9:50am  / 10:50am

Start / Finish Location:  Sabine Falls Picnic Area.

Trip Summary: 
Short easy slight downhill walk to view waterfall across the valley.
From the Picnic area a  steady walk crossing a couple of streams to the falls viewing platform with views of the falls across the valley. There is no way of getting to the top or bottom of these falls from the track.

How to get there:
Take Sunnyside Road just south of Barramunga. Turn right after about 5 minutes onto the dirt road and the Sabine Picnic area carpark is about 5 minutes down the by the side of the road on the right.

Trip Detail:

Sabine Falls Picnic Area carpark.

There are no toilets at the picnic area (2011), just a couple of picnic tables under trees.

Sabine Falls Picnic Area.

You are initially greeted by a "Slippery Rocks" warning sign at the start of the track as it heads off into the forest.

The majority of the track is dirt, there are rocks across 2 streams which may be tricky if there has been recent rainfall. Most steps are compacted earth although there are a few rock steps that are fine in normal weather conditions.
Heading down the track you walk through a nice mix of forest and ferns.

After 15 minutes or so you reach the W R Henry Mill site.
There are signs of mill work in the area with a trench you walk across.

Continuing along the track you cross over 2 small streams.

Another 10 minutes or so of walking along the track and down steps you reach the lookout with views of Sabine Falls in the distance.

A nice walk with unspectacular view of the waterfall in the distance.
The heart gets a good workout as you retrace your steps slightly uphill back up to the Picnic ground.

Stevenson Falls - Otways NP - VIC

Walk:  Stevenson Falls

Distance/Type:  Hike 6km / Return

Terrain/Rating:  Pretty much flat along the river. Very Easy.

Start / Finish Time:  8:10am  / 9:00am

Start / Finish Location:  Stevenson Falls Campgrounds.

Trip Summary: 
From the Campground a very easy 40min return walk following the river to the waterfall.

Trip Details:
There are 2 ways to do this walk. If you are camping, walk to the far end of the campgrounds to start the track.

For a day visitor, bypass the campground by keeping left after crossing the river and drive to the the Day visit car park.  This will save 15 minutes off the walk without missing any worthwhile views.  The walk described here is from the campground.

The track follows the creek for a few hundred metres before a short diversion up a tree fern gully which is the nicest part of this section of the walk.
After about 10 minutes you join the road to the carpark and the first obvious signs of plantation work in the area.

Bypass the bulldozer track and follow the path next to the road for a few minutes. The path diverts away from the road through a small cluster of Pine trees before rejoining at the day carpark.

A lovely entrance to the track via the bridge across the river greets you at the carpark.

Through the trees on the other side of the river the track opens up into a grassed area then thru some gum trees before tracking the river..

After about 5 minutes you reach the lookout platform at the falls.

There are plenty of ponds along the way and a rather deep pond at the base of the falls.

Either retrace the track back to the campgrounds or you can follow the dirt road which only takes an extra 5 minutes.

For those who are adventurous there is a faint track midway back along the track that skirts up to the top of the falls which allows you to walk further upstream along the river.

Campsites - Stevenson Falls - Otways NP - VIC

Campsite - Stevenson Falls - Otways NP:

How to Get there:
Located in Barramunga off the Forest-Apollo Bay Rd, signposts of the camping ground appear 300m before the turnoff.  Drive down  Upper Gelibrand Rd (dirt road) for about 5-10 mins to reach the campground.

Crossing the river you are directed by sign to the right for the campsite or left to head over another bridge to the Falls Daylight carpark which is another minute or 2 along the road.

Campsite:
Stevenson Falls is a lovely campsite. Plenty of well grassed areas to either pitch a tent or park a campervan.

On entering the campground there is an open camping area for groups on the left.
A nice elevated dual pit toilet sits in the middle of the grounds and both were in good condition.

If you head down the right track there are designated campsites amongst the pine trees.

The sites are fenced and are separated by the Pine Trees. Theres is plenty of space to put multiple tents on each site.

The Gelibrand River runs through the whole area and is accessible from a few locations. Didnt look deep enough for a dip but there are some nice ponds nearer the waterfall.

You can walk to the falls from the campsite by going to the end of the campgrounds but the scenery isn't particularly nice on that part of the walk with obvious views of logging from plantation work in the surrounding hills.

Its a pity that the logging could not be kept to behind the ridge as those views are the only downside to this free campground.

NeoAir Thermarest - Equipment Review - Bedding - Mattress

Equipment:
Thermarest Neoair inflatable mattress.

Review:
The main reason for purchasing this was to replace my leaking Denali mattress which has lasted me for 2 years. Seeing what was currently getting good reviews the Neoair caught my eye.
The Neoair is a very lightweight hiking mattress and folds up much smaller than any other mattress I've owned. 
The mattress and carry bag are sold separately.  I bought the regular size mattress for $A220 on ebay which included the carrybag.

It would be pretty hard to loose this mattress with its limegreen/yellow colour on one side.  Its so bright I thought I might need sunglasses to be able to sleep. The other side is silver which has a R factor like a roof batt of 2.5 so this keeps you from losing bodyheat into the ground.

Unravelling the mattress my initial thoughts were how long it would last as the material is very thin.
It folds up to a size similar to a half height 1.5 litre bottle and with its weight of 410g this will be great for multi day hikes.
The mattress is not self inflating and takes a few minutes to fill.  It inflates to a thickness of 5cm which keeps the body off the hard ground especially for a side sleeper like me.  I didnt really have a great sleep on  my intial test of it as I had forgot to pack a pillow so I'll have to rate it next time.