Flinders Jetty to West Head - February 2016

After last weeks walk up Pine Mountain, this week my usual state of apathy set back in (well apathy and the cricket was on) and it was well after lunch time on Saturday before I headed out the door. Having only a few hours to complete the walk and get home doesn't lend itself to an epic so I decided to head down to Flinders and go for a bit of a beach side ramble. Flinders is on the Western Port Bay side of the Mornington Peninsula and was named by George Bass after his friend Matthew Flinders, being on the Mornington Peninsula it meant that it was only a short drive for me to get to the start of the walk.

Flinders Jetty and West Head.

I parked the ute at the lookout and George Bass memorial cairn above Flinders jetty and headed off down the quiet street in the direction of Point Leo, looking for a way to descend to the shore line. After last weeks baking hot walk the walking today was in more overcast conditions and the clouds to the north even looked a little threatening, but at least the low 20's temperature and sea breeze meant that I wasn't melting into a puddle of sweat. After descending down the quiet road past some very flash houses I met up with a beach access track and descended through the coastal scrub to the beach. Before leaving for this walk I'd checked out the tide chart and low tide was  on for about an hour after I would start walking so needless to say when I stepped onto the beach there was plenty of space on which to walk.

The George Bass memorial cairn marked the start of my walk.

The weather to the north looked a bit ordinary initially.

Meandering my way along the wide expanses of Flinders beach I was now at least heading in the general direction of my objective, West Head. First up though I passed underneath Flinders Jetty, this jetty is actually two jetties joined at the hip, on the north side is a concrete and steel construction and butted up to it on the south side is the old wooden job, needless to say the wooden jetty was a lot more interesting and I mucked around for awhile trying to get a photo of it. About 10 metres after passing underneath the jetty I came to an old slipway. In the early days Flinders was home to a thriving fishing industry, and after the railway to Stoney Point was completed in 1889 the fishing industry really took off, this slipway was constructed in 1949 to enable the fishermen to bring their boats up onto dry land.

Flinders Jetty.

The historic slipway.

Leaving the old slipway I meandered my way along the wide tidal flats, probably looking like a drunken sailor as I checked out anything that caught my eye. This end of Flinders beach is home to some extensive sea grass beds that are exposed at lows tide, the sea birds making the most of the small window to have a bit of a feed. In the middle of the sea grass there's the remains of another jetty, probably something to do with the Sailing Club which is hidden up in the dunes. I was now closing in on West Head and the wide beach and green coastal scrub was turning into rock shelves and cliffs.

The sea birds were enjoying the exposed sea grass.

I presume this old structure is something to do with the sailing club which is up in the dunes.

The cliffs on West Head are interesting geologically as the area around here has a bit of a volcanic history, well millions of years ago anyway. The cliffs give the opportunity to view the different layers of sediment, there's the usual soft red and yellow clays but also a bit of black volcanic rock to be seen. I was now stumbling along the rocks under the navy base at West Head, at one spot there was the remains of an old lookout bunker buried into the vegetation on a small headland.

The cliffs of West Head.

Passing the old bunker the coast is now exposed to the wild Bass Strait swell and the nature of the scenery turns from mild to wild. The cliffs of West Head were now getting a bit higher and I was walking along a big rock shelf, the rock shelf was full of small rock pools that all demanded exploration (well at least in my mind). With the tide almost completely out at this stage the rock shelf was easy walking but it wouldn't be a good place to be in a heavy swell or on an incoming tide. Reaching the end of the shelf I arrived at the spot that my notes suggested that you wouldn't get any further around the coast, with the tide low however I was able to scramble around a few rock ledges and get a bit further around, in fact one day when I have more time I'd like to go back and see exactly how for I could get around, I suspect you could get a fair way if you don't mind a bit of scrambling and some wet feet.

The old bunker below the navy base.

Low tide on the rock shelf.

Today though it was time to start heading back to the ute, the change of direction giving the coast a slightly different perspective as I once again meandered my way back to the ute. Reaching the Flinders Jetty on my return walk I headed up the cliff back to the carpark instead of continuing on along the beach, this was part of the Flinders Cable Station Walk. In 1869 this was the spot where the Submarine Telegraph Cable came ashore connecting with Low Head 320 kilometres away in Tasmania. This piece of infrastructure effectively connected Tasmania with the main land of Australia and also, through Darwin the rest of the world. Initially the current was that weak after crossing Bass Strait that the messages were recorded on the shore, before being run halfway up the cliffs to a spot called Happy Valley were they were decoded. With the morse code decoded at Happy Vally the message would then be run up to another cable station on top of the cliffs and sent to their final destination in Australia or around the world. By 1891 a booster allowed Happy Valley to be bypassed. Climbing up the extensive staircase past the site of Happy Valley I couldn't help but wonder how many cables a day would arrive, it would certainly keep you fit running up and down here. Anyway, after one last photo of the yachts bobbing on the sheltered waters of Western Port Bay I arrived back at the ute after a very pleasant 2 hour ramble.

Meandering my way across the extensive beds of sea grass, don't try this with your boots on!

The Dirt.

I walked 5.7 kilometre on this easy ramble and climbed 85 metres. This walk needs to be done near low tide as the rock shelves around West Head would be dodgy at middle to high tides. If you like a bit of beach combing or are interested in history this may be a walk to consider, young children would probably enjoy this walk with all the rock pools to explore. Flinders has plenty of spots to eat and drink before or after the walk or you could have a picnic at the George Bass Lookout or the beach. I read the notes from Ken Martin's book Walks of the Mornington Peninsula before doing the walk, most of my route is covered by walk number 21 in his book.

Heading back to the jetty, the beach is very sheltered and calm here.

The steps leading up from the site of Happy Valley.

One last look at the yachts bobbing on Western Port Bay, that's Phillip Island in the distance.