Great Ocean Walk

SNAKES. TYPICALLY, I COMPLAIN that I rarely spot them, despite my frequent hikes through the Aussie bush. But what awaited us that day certainly made up for the long wait since I’d last spied one racing swiftly away from me on Rottnest Island in Western Australia.

As the cool of the morning turned to the heat of midday, we encountered not one, but two, three, four tiger snakes – among Australia’s deadliest reptiles – all peacefully sunning themselves on the track. We were walking from Milanesia Gate to Moonlight Head, on the second and most challenging day of our four-day guided hike along coastal Victoria’s Great Ocean Walk (GOW). On each occasion we waited for the creature to slowly rouse from its slumber and slither off the track.

“This time of year, they love to get out in the sun and warm up,” said our guide Mitchell Wilson, a laidback 31-year-old with red dreadlocks. “January and February are the peak temperatures, so they just want to come and take as much sun as possible before the end