Wintry warmth on Victoria's idyllic West Coast

THERE'S no excuse to stay indoors when inclement weather hits as this Victorian region offers a multitude of activities to keep you moving and motivated, writes Sarah Nicholson.

The Loch Ard Gorge in Port Campbell National Park. Picture: Graham Scheer/Tourism Victoria

BEST FOR WINTER WEEKENDS

When the weather turns cold there's nothing more delightful than retreating to a coastal village on the weekend and sitting by an open fire with a  hot chocolate.

Victoria's west coast - the stretch between Portland near the South Australian border and Lorne on the Great Ocean Road - is an ideal place to plan a winter getaway with snug settlements ready to welcome those keen to wander along a beach as a Southern Ocean squall drives angry breakers to the sand. Port Fairy is just one of those villages and the best way to pass the time on a gloomy day is to dress warmly and find on a warm woollen jumper before finding a sheltered position to watch the waves and weather roll in.

Have breakfast at a cafe and read the paper while locals drift in for their morning coffee, browse the art galleries that sit between clothes shops and bookstores on the main drag, visit a day spa for a massage, or pick up a copy of the town's Heritage Trail and ramble the streets to learn more about the vintage structures.

Apollo Bay, Wye River and Lorne are three more options. These Great Ocean Road regions destinations are allpeaceful havens during the cold months, when thesummer crowds stay away.

There's also a host of boutique accommodations in Victoria's quiet southwest corner that are suited to weekends away, with many of the B&Bs and holiday homes sitting on the isolated plots between coastal villages.

Aire Valley Guest House at Hordern Vale, Whitecrest Great Ocean Road Resort near Apollo Bay, Southern Heights Bed & Breakfast near Lavers Hill, and Rotten Point House on a cliff at Johanna are just some of the appealing alternatives.

BEST FOR SHIPWRECKS

I'm not suggesting you recreate the Titanic's final hours during your next Victorian vacation, but do visit a part of the state that lets travellers step back in time to the days when the jagged cliffs along Victoria's western coast sent dozens of ships to the bottom.

The crews aboard boats aiming for Melbourne in the 1800s and early 1900s dreaded the journey past what would become known as Victoria's Shipwreck Coast.

A calm approach meant most vessels made it through the dangerous stretch of sea between the SA border and Cape Otway but for the passengers and crew on more than 140 ships, the long voyage ended when bad weather drove boats too close to land.

Names like SS Barwon, New Zealander, Edinburgh Castle, Fiji and La Bella are now stops on the Historic Shipwreck Trail - a scenic drive between Portland and Apollo Bay that winds past the Bay of Islands, The Grotto, London Bridge and The Twelve Apostles, but between 1830 and 1915 they were ships that sank to form the legend.

The Loch Ard Gorge in Port Campbell National Park. Picture: Graham Scheer/Tourism Victoria

One wreck became especially famous, not because of the 52 people that perished but the two that survived. The Loch Ard went to the bottom during a storm in 1878, with only crewman Tom Pearce and passenger Eva Carmichael scrambling ashore to spend a night in a cave before the young sailor walked to a nearby homestead to raise the alarm.

The sheltered cove where the pair found dry land was named the Loch Ard Gorge, and travellers can explore the landmark with plaques beside the track at the top of the cliffs marking the route of the Shipwreck Walk and identifying locations from the infamous night.

There's another salute to the Loch Ard at the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in nearby Warrnambool and, after exploring the historical hamlet created to look like the town's 19th-century port, visitors can return after dark to watch the sound-and-light show Shipwrecked and see Tom and Eva's story come to life.

The Cape Otway Light station, the oldest surviving lighthouse on mainland Australia and the beacon that guided so many of those early sailors, is worth a stop and those keen on an authentic experience can holiday in the historic buildings dotted around the remote compound.

Mark Brack, from Mark's Walking Tours, is the son of a former Cape Otway Light station keeper and now offers guided outings around his childhood home to walk visitors through the history and heritage of the Shipwreck Coast.

Another place to stay with a link to the region's maritime history is Lighthouse Lodge - beside the Lady Bay Lighthouse on Warrnambool's Flagstaff Hill - with the cottage built in 1911 for the local harbourmaster renovated a few years back to become a comfortable self-cateringplace, with three cosy bedrooms.

BEST FOR WILDLIFE

When it comes to wildlife there's more to Victoria's southwest corner than the southern right whales that visit Warrnambool's Logans Beach between June and September every year.

The Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve - it sits inside the crater of an extinct volcano - has a network of markedwalking trails allowing visitors to do self-guided excursions to spot the kangaroos, koalas and emus that nowpopulate the protected park.

A colony of glow worms live at Melba Gully, in the dark corners of the rainforest that carpets the Great Otway National Park, and nature lovers can follow the trails at night to see the tiny critters sparkle with guardrails marking the best viewing areas.

Lady Julia Percy Island near Portland Bay and the sea around Apollo Bay are both home to colonies of Australian fur seals; the bush surrounding Cape Otway's lighthouse is one of Victoria's best places to spot koalas; while Griffiths Island is the seasonal home to shearwater seabirds that feed their young at dusk between September and April.

Canoeing on Lake Elizabeth in Great Otway National Park. Picture: Tourism Victoria

Lake Elizabeth near Apollo Bay is home to a community  of shy platypus but Otway Eco Tours offer the guided 'Paddle with the Platypus' outing (pictured above), and the tour is hosted by ecologist Bruce Jackson.

The tour promises a 95 per cent chance of spying the elusive native during a journey that also includes some gentle bush walking.

The Conservation Ecology Centre, on the edge of the Great Otway National Park, is a wildlife refuge where visitors can volunteer on programs helping the local koala and tiger quoll populations or stay in the Great Ocean Ecolodge where profits are reinvested into assisting regional fauna.

BEST FOR COASTAL WALKING

If you're one of those outdoor types that loves a stroll on the sand then western Victoria is a haven, with dozens of footprint-free beaches begging to be explored. But if you like your coastal expeditions to be a little more organised there's a network of trails winding around south-western Victoria with paths that can take anything from 20 minutes to several days to complete.

The most famous is the Great Ocean Walk, a 104km tramp from Apollo Bay to The Twelve Apostles, and while there's the choice to do a comfortable "mild side" or more challenging "wild side'' everyone treks across forests and coastal heaths as well as rocky cliffs and shell-covered beaches.

Walkers can carry their own supplies, and pitch a tent to camp during the journey, but there's another option for those who want to do like the idea of doing a multi-day hike but not sleep ing on the ground beside the trail, with bothfeet offering a hosted step-on/step-off alternative.

bothfeet walkers do short sections of the path during the day, with a guide leading the way and sharing information about the region, and return to the boutique walking lodge in the bush near Johanna Beach every afternoon for to feast on gourmet meals, soothing foot spas, and comfortable rooms.

Walk 91 and auswalk are two other companies organisations that offer packages for make it easy for hikers to do the Great Ocean Walk with by arranging accommodation and transport and guides.

BEST FOR GOURMET GOODIES

Some of the best views on the Shipwreck Coast are to the south as you motor between the seaside hamlets of Port Campbell, Peterborough and Princetown. But there's reason to turn your back on the big blue and venture inland to the bucolic villages of Timboon and Simpson where farmers and food producers are making an array of gourmet goodies from bountiful local ingredients.

The Food, Wine and Vistas Loop is an agreeable driving tour designed to take anything from a few hours to a full day, with stops to meet the locals growing olives and berries, making cheese and chocolate, and brewing whisky and wine.

Taste cheese at the Mouse Trap Cafe, pick strawberries at Berry World during the summer season, meet the couple making sweets in the barn beside their house at
G.O.R.G.E Chocolates, and sample the wines created at Newtons Ridge Estate.

Buy artisan whisky at the Timboon Railway Shed Distillery, sample innovative ice-cream flavours at Timboon Fine Ice Cream, and chat with Dianne and Julian Benson from Apostle Whey Cheese about the delightful varieties they're crafting in the factory beside the milking shed on the family dairy farm.