Otway Fly - Treetop Advetures
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Ever wanted to walk high above the trees or zip through a rainforest? Well, here at the
Otway Fly you can experience the world's tallest treetop walk or join a Zipline Tour to zip between 'cloud stations' that are suspended up to 30 metres above the forest floor.
After already trying out
The Enchanted Adventure Gardens Tree Surfing and also the
Trees Adventure obstacle course in Belgrave, I decided it would be fun to spend a night in Apollo Bay and try out the Otway Fly Zipline Tour as a bit of a birthday treat to myself.
With the children away camping and me missing them, I took the opportunity to escape solo for this adventure, but in hindsight I think I should have waited until they were home, as I know that they would have really enjoyed the Rainforest Ranger Trail.
The Zipline Tour is best booked ahead of time, as when I arrived there were plenty of disappointed people wanting to join a tour but it was solidly booked out for the next few days. Admittedly it is the summer school holidays and their busiest time of year, so you may be lucky enough to get a last minute spot at other times of the year!
The walk from the car park to the main building entrance is about 300m along a well-maintained gravel path. On entry to the building, there is a large cafe to the left and an extensive gift shop that fills the centre of the building with the booking/reception area towards the back.
After checking in at reception I was asked to wait with a small group of other people that were booked in for the same tour (you need to arrive 15min prior to the designated starting time). We were then greeted by a tour leader who directed us into a room to put our equipment on and listen to the safety briefing.
This room smelt like a gym, so it was a pleasant relief once the briefing was complete, harnesses on, waivers signed and we were heading outdoors into the stunning rainforest.
The walk to the start of the Zipline takes about 8min, during this time we stopped briefly now and then for our guides to tell us some interesting facts about the rainforest.
To hook up to the zipline, we first needed to ascended a short spiral staircase one by one until we were all on the 'cloud station'. These stations are located high in the trees and are the platforms from which you take off and land on. Each of us zipped across one by one to the next 'cloud station' and always waited until the guide had reached the 'cloud station' before we moved to the next.
The scenery is stunning from the vantage point you get from the 'cloud stations', though to be honest, on the Zipline I spent most of the time concentrating on getting my feet up for the landing than looking down and taking it all in. I would love to go back again and have another go!
In our group of 10, the youngest participant was a 6 year old girl (who absolutely loved the experience), but anyone over 5 years old and 125cm or taller can do the Zipline tour.
All up there are nine platforms or 'cloud stations', with six zip lines and two bridges in between. Once you are attached to the zipline you stay attached for the duration. The tour, including briefing and harnessing is around 2 hours, but allow extra time to complete the treetop walk which is included in the price of the Zipline Tour.
The treetop walk is a 600m long, 25 metre high elevated walkway that provides an awesome bird's eye view over this stunning rainforest with a 45 metre tall spiral tower to give you the ultimate WOW moment!
For kids, there is an interactive Rainforest Ranger Trail where they get to discover the secrets of the rainforest.
The rainforest is simply stunning and I recommend you do the Treetop walk as a family with really young kids or if you have older kids and a bit more time, then the Zipline Tour would be a nice family adventure.
After spending a few hours zipping and walking around the grounds you might like to enjoy a meal at the Black Snail Cafe. Prices are fairly average cafe prices and the menu has a good variety of food on offer.
Tips:
I recommend you take more layers of clothing than you think you'll need as I found it to be much cooler than I expected. I wouldn't have thought I'd need a long sleeve top and a jacket in January but that's what I wore!
Use the bathrooms before you start ziplining...2 hours is a long time to hold on.
Allow for more time than you think you'll need so you have time to take all the photos you want.
Cost:
Zip Line Tour is $120 adults ($114 online), $85 children 5-15 years ($80.75 online), $375 family 2A & 2C
Treetop Walk is $25 adults, $15 4-15 years, $70 family 2A & 2C and $21.50 for seniors. Entry is cheaper if booked online.
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209316 - 2023-06-16 06:18:40