Cape Woolamai, 29th March 2014

Saturday found me thinking about getting out and doing a walk, as usual there was a lot of procrastinating involved, so by the time we actually got to the start of the walk it was already around 4:30 pm. It wasn't a real issue though as I'd done the walk quite a few times before and I knew there was some short cuts if the light became an issue. Sam accompanied me on this walk with the promise of fish and chips at the beach being the lure.

Woolamai surf beach.

Parking at the surf club we made our way along the beach towards the cape, it was a beautiful day and there were plenty of surfers taking full advantage of it. Passing a set of steps that would be our exit route, the dunes gave way to cliffs with the late afternoon sun light helping my photos. After rock hoping along towards the Pinnacles for awhile we eventually retraced our way back to the steps.

Looking towards the Pinnacles.

Mutton bird

Climbing up onto the headland which is a fauna reserve, we wound our way along the good track which generally stayed near the edge of the cliffs. Cape Woolamai is home to a huge number of mutton birds and I'd just finished telling Sam about the snakes that go with them when  there was a squeal and Sam came running back down the track, yep, she'd found a snake.

That'd be a Redbelly Black snake I'm guessing.

Looking back towards the Surf Club.

Along with mutton birds and snakes, there was also plenty of wallabies and echidnas, which gave me plenty of chances for some wildlife shots. The track eventually climbs to the top of Woolamai Hill, at 112 metres its hardly huge but it does give a good view of this part of Phillip Island as well as the coast on the main land stretching down past Kilcunda..

Next stop, Tasmania.

It was now becoming obvious that we would have to cut the walk short as the light was fading fast, it must be said that our slow progress was mainly due to me mucking about with the camera. The light on the east side of the cape was all but gone so there wasn't really any point in us heading down to the beach, instead we followed a track down the centre of the cape to meet our outward route just before the steps.

Wobblies.

A quick photo of an Echidna.

Before it buries its head in the sand.

The Phillip Island bridge from Woolamai Hill.

Instead of walking the surf beach back we followed a management track in the dunes above the beach, my advice here is don't, instead of an easy walk back watching the last of the surfers, we slogged along a very soft sandy track that seemed to take the longest route possible to get back to the surf club. We eventually arrived back at the car as the last of the light faded away.

Looking to the east towards Kilcunda.


Taking off our boots we made our way down to Cowes where we had the choice of about six fish and chip shops, a great way to finish our walk.

Surfers making use of the last of the light.

Following the sandy track through the dunes, don't!

Woolamai Surf Club finally comes into view.

The Dirt
I used the notes from the Tyrone Thomas and Andrew Close book 40-Great-Walks-in-Australia and the map from the book. Its walk number 10 in the book, although we cut it short due to darkness. My GPS said that we'd walked 9.1 kilometres and climbed a total of 148 metres. The track is well marked and easy, there's plenty of views and wildlife, all in all a good walk.

The author at the finish.