Walking Through Eden

There’s good reason that the Otter Trail from Storms River to Nature’s Valley is one of SA’s best-loved trails. It’s a magnificent meander along unspoilt coastline. 

- Ron Swilling

‘Five-day coastal hiking trail from Storm’s River to Nature’s Valley. To be walked at a snail’s pace (ok, tortoise then) with late starts and many, many swimming stops.’

How could that not get the attention of any nature-lover and water-sprite? When I saw it on the club’s calendar, I knew I was in hook, line and sinker. What about work? Well, there’s a time and place for everything – and Eden doesn’t present itself every day of the year. Now, does it?

There was another reason as well. Having walked this iconic trail several times over the years, I understood that because of the relatively short daily distances and the placement of the overnight huts, this was the one trail where you could do exactly that. It generously lends itself to tea-stops, delightful swims in magical pools, snoozes in the sun, exploration up rivers and the release of all of Life’s anxieties. It is not often that you find like-minded hikers who don’t want to race ahead to the next hut. This is a trail about enjoying the journey – a good practice to implement in daily life.

The low-down

BUT, and this is a big but, the Otter is no walk in the park. The trail leads through the coastal forest that hugs the coast in a lover’s embrace and along paths that follow the superb coastline, with a constant series of uphill and downhill slogs that will tax the fittest hiker. For the unfit, it can be torturous. The trick to the ultimate enjoyment of the trail is to be fit and carry as light as possible. Looking for a better answer? There’s no way around it. Sorry.