Australian Camino – Portland to Cape Nelson Lighthouse 22.4 km

Walking the Australian Camino and GSWW (Great South West Walk) Portland to Cape Nelson Lighthouse 22.4 km. This walk was part of my Cancer Council Relay for Life fundraising Challenge.

Todays hike was primarily a coastal cliff top walk with amazing ocean views (including a whale sighting).

The GSWW is The Great South West Walk one of the best walks in Australia with a mix of rugged cliffs carved by the Southern Ocean, remote beaches, past ancient, pristine lakes and through majestic, tall forests. The Australian Camino and GSWW follow the same route until the Glenelg River at Nelson.

A side trip via the Enchanted Forest Walk was an unexpected bonus. Doesn’t look much before you go in but you walk in to Bush where you expect to see fairies and elves appear. Worth a visit.

The walk starts with an easy stroll out of the town of Portland, past the port and the huge piles of woodchips.

It is not long before you are on the first cliff tops heading toward the aluminium smelter. Around the smelter and then 15km of cliff top hiking to the Cape Nelson Lighthouse.

A blue tonged lizards on the track alerted me to keep an eye out for tiger snakes, and sure enough shortly after a tiger snake was warming up in the middle of the track.

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