There are excellent views over Apollo Bay and surrounds from up here. On a clear day you can see from Cape Patton in the east to Cape Otway in the south west. Apollo Bay was established in the early 1800s as a sealing and whaling station. It was named in 1845 when Captain Louttit called the town after his ship, the Apollo, which sheltered here during a storm. The first white settlers arrived in 1850 in search of timber, followed soon after by farmers and fishermen. In the late 1800s the town experienced name changes to Middleton and Krambruk but in 1898 was renamed Apollo Bay.

This area is an excellent koala habitat as is the forest to the north of the lighthouse. The koalas are an introduced species to this area and they have become prolific. So much so that they have destroyed much of the forest. The easiest way to spot koalas is to look for their droppings on the ground. The droppings are about 1cm long, tubular shaped, quite hard when dry, and contain coarse fragments of leaves. A koala is a marsupial that carries its hairless young in a pouch. The pouch is on mum’s belly and opens at the bottom so the baby doesn’t get hurt being dragged up trees. It has a muscle that can be tightened to hold the baby in. After leaving the pouch, the baby travels on mums back for another 6 mths. Koalas prefer to eat eucalyptus leaves from the Manna gum (which occur in this area), Red gum, Grey gum, Tallow wood, Swamp gum and Tasmanian Blue gum. The leaves have a high water content so koalas rarely drink water.

Blanket Bay earned it name from the primary role it played as a campsite for those using the Cape Otway, Apollo Bay to Birregurra to Geelong track in the 1840’s. A blanket was for resting – the bay gave fresh water and was, for over three decades, used as the landing place for the supplies (and staff) of the Cape Otway Lighthouse. Remains of the 1880’s jetty built for the easier handling of lighthouse supplies can still be seen at low tide.

It’s definitely worth having a look here. This is the resting place of intrepid explorers and shipwreck casualties. The Shipwreck Coast has claimed 163 ships! Try to imagine how tough life must have been in the early days of settlement in this isolated place and you’ll understand why there are so many children buried here.

Along this section of track there are fine examples of kangaroo apples. These tall shrubs have thin leaves that are shiny above and a paler colour beneath. They have large pink flowers with a yellow centre during spring and summer. Their name comes from the large yellow/orange fruits favoured by many native birds and animals.

You’ll see a lot more excellent grass trees (Xanthorroea australis) along this section. During flowering time they have thousands of tiny white flowers densely packed around each tall stem. These flower stems can grow to about 3 metres.

If you do get down onto the beach, here is some information about the wrecks. Wrecks are haunting reminders of the treacherous nature of the sea and of the many people who have drowned at sea. The first remains are of the French barque Marie Gabrielle, wrecked here in 1869. The area looked so desolate to the surviving crew that they split up in search of rescue. Three days later the captain and four crew members made it to the Cape Otway lighthouse, while the second mate and two crew stumbled into a settlement at Aire River about the same time. The barque Fiji (second remains) was also swept ashore here in 1891. Twelve men drowned despite rescue efforts of a crew from Port Campbell, and their new-fangled rocket-launched rescue rope which was fired across the ship.

Why is there a house down here? It’s a bit of an anomaly really, having a private house so close to the beach and National Park! The story we’ve been told is that the present owner’s grandparents bought a stretch of land from Johanna Beach to Moonlight Head back in the 1920s. The parks service has been trying to buy it back ever since but to no avail. Then they discovered some years back that the house was actually built in the park and not on private land. The owners were told to demolish it immediately, but after much negotiation they were allowed to keep the house as long they allowed public access through their land to the beach! The grandparents are buried in the Moonlight Head cemetery.

This area, rich and diverse in plant and animal life, has been a gathering, ceremonial and feasting place for thousands of years. Many sites and spiritual links remain today. Archaeological sites in the park show evidence that the local Gadabanud (King Parrot) people gathered shellfish and hunted game in the resource-rich area. There are many shell middens along this walk. The Gadabanud people ask that you respect and recognise these cultural sites and features as part of Australia’s history.

On the other side of the road, there’s a boardwalk on crossing some wetlands. There are interpretive signs to help you identify the many birds that inhabit these wetlands. If you are tired and want to get picked up earlier, you could follow the boardwalk up into the Princetown settlement. There’s a phone here as well as a pub. It takes about 10 mins to walk there. Note that if you take this option you’ll miss out on seeing the 12 Apostles.

Beside the lookout at Gibson Steps are a set of 86 steps built in the 1800s by Hugh Gibson of Glenample Homestead, to access the beach below. The two offshore stacks, called Gog and McGog, are some of the 12 Apostles. Stacks like this are formed when waves lash a headland, eroding it from both sides until an arch forms. Erosion continues until the arch collapses, leaving stacks behind.

The cliffs around here began to form 10-20 million years ago under the sea from a build up of skeletons of countless millions of tiny marine animals. When the sea levels retreated, the soft limestone was exposed to the wild seas and winds of the Southern Ocean.