I have been to Anakie Gorge, Brisbane Ranges State Park, near Geelong in Victoria, Australia a number of times. The family knows about the walk; I have been able to do the first bit, as far as the old weir wall. Then I have to go back. Not anymore!
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I had just taken the boys to the paintball place a few kilometres from Anakie Gorge for Samuel’s birthday, and I had about three hours before I had to pick them up again. So this walk was alone. I had to be a bit more careful than usual. January 2017.
The path at Anakie Gorge crosses the normally dry creek bed four times, using large stepping stones as the crossing. The Overlander can’t really go over the stepping stones, so there needs to be another way.
This first one was easy – there is a path to the right of the stepping stones and the Overlander made light work of getting through. January 2017.
This lot of stepping stones was much more of a challenge! There was no obvious path so I ended up getting out and finding a way through the rocks and walking the Overlander across. But on the way back I found I didn’t really need to get out and rode across.
Doing this sort of thing makes you realise that the capabilities of the Overlander by Terrain Hopper are just awesome!
But there’s also a challenge for Parks Victoria here. Come on guys, this is not giving the less abled in the community fair access! By all means use the stepping stones for those able to use them, but a simple path alongside them opens the Gorge up to many more people. January 2017.
The guys that built this tunnel were tough guys! With very basic equipment they hewed a tunnel and installed a pipe through the hill to give Geelong a water supply 150 years ago.
The mouth of the tunnel was dark and shadowed and didn’t photograph well. The other end of the tunnel is in the next pic. January 2017.
Just looking at the beginning of the tunnel shows you how difficult the job was. Very constricted space, hard granite rock…it wasn’t an easy life! January 2017.
Very straightforward. Just follow the path that some walkers had made to the right of the stepping stones. January 2017.
Impossible to cross the stepping stones here, and again, no obvious path.
I went to the left of the stones and walked the Overlander down into the creek bed. I drove it through the rest of the way and came out near the tree on the opposite side. On the way back I just drove through. This machine is awesome! January 2017.
The weir was part of the same water supply system as the tunnel. There are stepping stones here too, but the people seem to have ignored them and formed their own path.
This was as far as I have ever walked this path in the past. Everything from here was new ground. I just delight in the freedom the Overlander gives me! January 2017.
This pic gives you a pretty good idea of the path through the Gorge. Some parts were rougher, more broken up, and steeper. Some parts were neat and smooth. January 2017.
This is as far as I went. The Ted Errey Nature Circuit goes for about 8 kms and I needed to pick the boys up so there was not enough time. Besides, it is quite steep and challenging in parts and I didn’t want to tackle it on my own. Not yet, anyway!
I chatted briefly with a couple of young ladies going through to the Stoney Creek Picnic Area. I decided to head back because of time constraints. When I met them again back at the Anakie Gorge Picnic Area they said that the last kilometre and a half was actually pretty easy.
I went up to the explanatory plaque for the Ted Errey walk. It was quite a steep climb, but the Overlander was not troubled doing it. This thing is amazing! January 2017.
Just kicking back having my lunch back at the picnic area and a full size adult koala strides across the carpark. I scrambled to get the camera to get this shot. I got some video, too, but you’ll have wait for that! January 2017.
All pics are Copyright © Willem Schultink
The Overlander is available to experience now. Ring — 0433 122 798 — to make an appointment.