Fingal Beach - October 2014

I've been away for a while up in Queensland doing a walk on Mt Barney, and now I'm in the process of writing that up in my Crazy Guy Journals. In the mean time I figured that I should really post something on my blog, so with the weather in Melbourne looking sensational I decided to revisit a walk I've done a few times before, Fingal Beach in the Mornington Peninsula National Park. So, after a quick 40 minute drive from home I was pulling up at the trail head at the Fingal Picnic Area.

The start of the walk at Fingal Picnic area.

Fingal Beach, with the yoga girl my only company.

I'd taken the time to check out the tides before leaving and had decided to complete the loop in an anti clockwise direction so as not to get caught by the rising tide on the slightly dodgy section between Fingal and Gunnamatta Beaches. After leaving the car the track heads towards Fingal Beach through a Tea Tree tunnel, occasionally the trees relent and you get a glimpse of the sky before burrowing back in the coastal scrub. Fifteen Minutes after leaving I was at my first lookout, the view from here was mostly back down towards Cape Schanck and of the endless lines of swell pounding in off Bass Strait, Gunnamatta being one of the Mornington Peninsula's premier surfing breaks.

The section that would be dodgy at high tide between Fingal and Gunnamatta Beaches.

Next stop was Fingal Beach, but first I had to descend 100's of steps down to beach level, oh what a joy, my knees just love this stuff. Getting to the beach I could see that I had it all to myself except for one girl doing some yoga in the distance, I was now pushing into a warm head wind and into the sun and, along with the soft sand, I found this section harder than than I remember from previous visits. Passing the yoga girl I plodded on towards Gunnamatta, luckily the beach provided plenty of reasons to stop and take a few photos.

Looking back towards Cape Schanck.

Scrambling over a couple of rock shelves and passing a couple of tiny little coves I was soon rounding the final headland as Gunnamatta Beach opened up in front of me. The sand of Gunnamatta stretched as far as I could see but luckily I only had a little way to go before picking staked route leading up through the dunes. Before I met my return route however I mucked around taking some photos of the surf and, with a small front coming through I also got a few shots of the dark clouds coming in of the water. With my photographic fantasy fulfilled I trudged down the beach a little longer until I spotted the pole that marked the start of my return route.

Gunnamatta Beach.

Climbing up through the dunes had the sweat running off my forehead, the temp today in Melbourne was around 27 degrees but in the dunes with no wind it felt more like 37. Eventually the track started to gain height and with it a bit of a breeze so things got a bit more comfortable, the inland track back to Fingal Beach Picnic area hasn't got a huge amount to recommend it apart from the fact that it allows you to make the walk into a circuit. I was now looking for something to take a shot of to add a bit of interest to the post, a wallaby hopping along the track was too quick for the camera, the flowers couldn't get away from me but I don't think my photographic skills do them justice.

My inland route back to the ute.

Your kidding me, right.

The track climbs gradually most of the way back to where it meets my outward route above Fingal Beach, there are occasional views through  the coastal scrub to Bass Strait and of the million dollar beach houses of Cape Schanck. From the one lookout on the return journey I got a great view down the length of Gunnamatta Beach towards the tip of the peninsula, in the other direction I could just make out a few of the sky scrapers of Melbourne across the fairways of the National Golf Club. Meeting my outward route I only had another ten minutes and I was back at the ute, chucking my boots in the back I was soon sitting back enjoying the luxury of movement without effort.

Looking over the greens of the National Golf Club, if you squint you may be able to make out the buildings of Melbourne.

Back in my tunnel of coastal scrub.

The Dirt.
I walked 8.1 kilometres and climbed 224 metres according to the GPS. The walk is written up in Glenn Tempest's Daywalks around Melbourne which is long out of print, its not a difficult walk however so you could do it with the park notes. The only word of caution for the walk would be to make shore you get the tides right, the section of coast between Fingal and Gunnamatta Beaches is no place to be at high tide. All in all a nice easy walk with some great scenery.

Last photo of Cape Schanck.

Fingal Picnic area used to be called The Pines, not sure why.