Apollo Bay and What Happened There...

Our drive along the Great Ocean Road ended with a lovely, quiet stay over at the Apollo Bay YHA - a beautiful and thoughtfully designed eco-lodge, with fantastically equipped kitchen and clean, deep couches where one can just laze away in front of the fire. We arrived just after 8pm after a long drive through the woods, dark and tired, aghast to discover grocery shops have long closed. Thankfully, there was still a deli on the verge of closing and we managed to grab a serve of salad and a few sticks of spagetti in time.

The kitchen at Apollo Bay YHA is thoroughly equipped with every good thing - from herbs freshly plucked from the garden outside, to multiple fridges, stocked spice cabinets, to assortments of wine glasses and other respectable kitchen paraphanalia. Chef Mandy and kitchen-hand Grace set to work their gastronomic magic, while I took a quick snooze and nice shower to freshen up from a long day's drive. What a sight (and smell!) to behold when I next stumbled into the kitchen area - we had muscat raisins, orange pâté and focaccia, and pasta al dente with olive bits and wilted onions, tossed with spinached sausages and herbed wursts, together with sides of salad, washed down with german-styled riesling and a pinot noir. A feast! The sum was definitely more than its parts (and again, apologies for the lack of photographic evidence).

The adventure and amazement, though, did not just stop there, for the next, morning curiouser things were in store!

Quite uncharacteristically (for me, at least), I awoke early that morning, washed up and went for a slow stroll along the beach, talked to God and breathed and felt thankful to be alive that crisp spring mornng: the walk proved to be thoroughly invigorating and mind-cleansing.

Ambling back to the YHA, I settled in the lounge area for a read, while ambers in the fire-place lazily glimmered trying to stay awake. As far as I could tell, I was alone in the house, as other backpackers had already scampered off on their way, while Grace and Mandy were still happily dreaming in lalaland. The only other buzz of activity in the lodge was the Gilbert the Manager, a friendly grizzled sort of man, poring busily over his books, peering over his glasses and sorting out housekeeping matters.

At about 9am, a van drove up the gravel path and two men and a woman walk out, and approach Gilbert over the counter, spoke briefly and left, just as matter-of-factly as they had arrived. Not long after, I found Gilbert settling on a couch across from me, silent, as if he didn't really want to interrupt: I looked up from my book and wished him the morning. After the initial exchange of pleasantries about the morning and the lodge and the weather and the day, he hesitated, looked quizzically at me, and asked (head slightly tilted) if my friends and I had any plans for the day. (It was 9:15am by now, and any self-respecting backpacker with an agenda to fill would have been well on the road by then.) I then explained to him that it just so happened that we'd decided to take things slowly that day, and that we didn't have any plans except to visit a historic lighthouse at the very southern tip of Cape Otway, an hour's drive away. Gilbert seemed relieved, and thoughtful, and smiled.

"I have a strange request," started Gilbert, carefully choosing his words and watching my reaction, glasses in hand (he's certainly got my attention now). "Did you notice the people out of the van, just now?" he queried.

I nodded, and he continued: "well, they're from a tour company. In fact, they're sort of an unusual tour company, and they're filming a travel documentary today, right here along the great ocean road! Thing is, for some unexpected reasons, they urgently need to find a couple of extras for the shoot. In fact, they need exactly three people who're game to go on a little trek - you won't need to bring anything, or be particularly fit or have your own gear, they'll provide it all. What do you think? Would you and your companions like to give it a go? They'll pay, you know. Hundred bucks each, for your time from 10am to 2pm today. If you're agreeable, I'll call them right away, and let them know. They sound quite anxious. What about it?"

Extras? Travel documentary? I don't even watch the telly. Not aussie telly, in any case. But they're willing to pay. Hmmm. Not a usual way to start the day, at all!

I explained that while it sounded really interesting and enticing, I'd have to check with my friends. Also, we hadn't quite packed nor breakfasted! Gilbert assured me it should not be a big issue. A quick check with the two barely-lucid girls, a dash back to the front counter and a phone call later, we were engaged - professional extras at your service - and they would pick us up at 1030am! Little did we know what was in store for us that day...

It turned out that we were to be extras for a walking tour along the Great Ocean Walk, a 91km walking trail starting at Apollo Bay and ending at the Twelve Apostles. Along the way, the trail meanders through more desolate coastline and forest areas accessible only on foot. A specialty walking tour company - Both Feet Walking - was being featured by Victorian travel show Postcards on Channel Nine. What this company would do is to arrange walks along the Great Ocean Walk, equipped with an experience walking guide, outfit, safety equipment and food. Walking about 12-17km each day, guests would be picked up and sent to a exclusive ecolodge run by Both Feet Walking, to be fed and refreshed for the evening before starting again in the morning. A private hideout tucked away in the middle of the Otways forest, the lodge only accomodates 14 guests, and is fully equipped for luxury, with plush rooms and dining area with a live-in chef. Did I mention they have a foot spa? A week tour-walking with them includes the lodge stay and amounts to an astronomical figure in the upper four digits.

So there we started, pretending to be guests tour-walking the Great Ocean Walk. The van shipped us out to a remote coastal location where crew were setting up for the day's shoot. Here, we met Troy our intrepid guide for the trip, and Blair the documentary host. Troy's an incredibly experienced guide and you immediately feel comfortable with him - he's lived in the woods and the wild for a long time now, and seriously knows his way around. We stop at a cliffy edge where he refers to some aboriginal inscriptions and begins to explain the history and heritage of the area we were tramping through. And the shooting's not begun yet!

So, for the next few hours, we pretended to trek through more beautiful coastline and hidden forest trails, walking, panting, etc on command of the producer, and learning to ignore the camera. Not hard to do, especially since the natural scenery is astounding. Further, Troy was a thoroughly engaging character; one wonders how one so accustomed to living with nature would feel just as comfortably at home with strangers and nature ignorami.

Soon, we were brought on a short drive to the Lodge, and what a unexpected place it was. Quiet and serene, we were cued to walk up looking like we had done a 17km walk all day, then proceed to un-shoe ourselves and duly begin the foot spa. =) What hard work the life of an extra is!

More poking around the lodge, and we were soon invited to lunch (our second one for the day) for the shoot. Not even a pretend-lunch, a real, wholesome, serious lunch. It turns out, Har the resident chef from NZ had cooked up a feast, complete with cheese platter, mains and wine to pair! Boy, did we feel loved. That concluded the day's shoot, and they paid us 100bucks each! Never have I felt so undeserved to receive payment....

Setting up for the day's walk

Troy explaining what he does to Blair McDonough the host

forest ramble, taking a break between shoots

At the exclusive eco-lodge

Setting up a shoot at the lodge

A lovely spread for us by Har the chef!

After the lovely day outing as an extra on an exclusive walking tour, we continued on to visit the Historic Otways Lighthouse, grinning silly ear to ear, amazed at God's unsolicited favour, and mulling in His rest. Amen.

Free-range koala in the otways

Historic lighthouse, Cape Otways

What a day...!