12 Apostles: Help Please
 

Having a hard time finding information on the following:

Is Port Campbell the nearest city to the 12 Apostles?

To hike down, how hard is it? how long does it take? and where is the access point to hike down?

Hike down to what ?

The 12 Apostles are out in the ocean.

http://www.vic.gsa.org.au/Victorian_...20Apostles.jpg

Port Campbell is the nearest big town (calling a city would be stretching the definition). I think Geelong would be the closest city.

The "hike" involves parking on the north side off the highway and walking from the parking lot under the highway to the observation points. There are some very short hikes at other sites, one down to the water where the Loch (something - not Ness, Aird maybe?) wrecked but it's fairly easy stairs, and longer trails near Cape Otway. There might be a coastal trail too but I don;t think that goes down to the shore.

So in other words it's not easy/possible to get down to the beach of the 12 apostles?

Not unless you want to go the hard way (climb). I also seem to remember the surf line is all the way to the base of the cliffs so not exactly safe with the great southern ocean waves (the breakers sometimes go right over the apostles).

The 12 apostles are only 9 (?) now. Several have fallen over the last 5-10 years [there were never 12 to start with). They are spread out over a cliff coast line.
Time to do more research methinks

A map of the 12AP road can be found by asking Mr. Google where "12 apostles Australia" is and looking at the first link (here for your convenience). Port Campbell is the nearest town. It is not a city, per se, but has all basic amenities.

http://0.tqn.com/d/studenttravel/1/0...n-road-map.jpg

As for hiking down, there are two options. YVR Cockroach is correct. Parking on the inland side of the road and walking down the paths is the way 99.9999% of the people do it. This is an easy walk, very few stairs. However, the flies are horrible at times. If you want to get down to the water in this exact location, you need to be a rock climber (and withstand risk of being arrested, I think).

There are places up and down the coast where you can hike down to the sea. These do not lead to a path along the water for a sea level view of the 12 apostles. Most lead to an isolated cove/beach.

Indeed they do - I have it on video. Remember those aren't formations that somehow pushed up from under ground, that's all that's left of the coastline that the waves haven't (yet) eroded. It's a rough area.

I can't remember exactly where, but somewhere nearby is a park that includes a variety of trails, some of which go down to the level of the surf, next to a cove or inlet that gets some water rushing in. That's about as close as you'd want to get. (Come to think of it, it's probably to the west, because I started the day from Geelong and photographed the apostles from that area after I passed them.)

If you look on Google maps, look for Port Campbell National Park. Look for the 12 Apostles parking area (intersection of the Great Ocean Road and the very small Booringa road, about 11 KM East of Port Campbell).

About 5km East of the 12A parking lot, is a dirt road that leads down to the beach. This may be the closest spot to get to the surf. I'm not sure if it's advisable, safe, or even legal, but a sea kayak from this spot would be awesome.

(I'm guessing on this one...) about 2km West of the main parking lot is a turnout. There is a path here that after a short time should give nice view. The path continues East for a long time and eventually looks like it meets another that goes down the the beach. I doubt you can see the 12A from there though.

If anyone knows about the safety, legality, etc. of sea kayaking in this location, please let me know.

There is no access to the beach at the 12 Apostles - the stairs that used to be in place are now affected by erosion and are too dangerous to use.

The currents in the water are very strong and I think it would be impossible to get there by boat. The waves on the beach would make it impossible to land on the beach in any case.

As for doing it with just a paddle: not a hope!

If you want somewhere interesting to go down in the general area, try Wreck Beach. http://www.the-great-ocean-road.com/wreck-beach.html Lots of debate about how many steps it is - the signage indicates somewhere around 350 - 400 stairs but there are many added notes from people whose counts differed, and in any case much of the track in is steep without steps. It takes a bit of dedication to get there.

Audrey