Big Rock Walk, You Yangs Regional Park - January 2019

The rain did have it's benefits.

Well we are finally back in the country after our Asian sojourn, so after a week sweating in the heat at work I figured it was time to get out and stretch my legs. I had some gear to drop off to be repaired at Remote Repairs on the other side of Melbourne so I decided to keep going in that direction and head for the You Yangs. Now when I say sweating it out at work I mean it, since setting foot back in Australia 5 days ago it seems as if the country is self combusting, everyday numerous heat records around the country are being re-written with temperatures pushing 50˚ in a lot of spots. So with that in mind it was somewhat ironic that when I pulled up at the visitor centre at the You Yangs Regional Park I had to sit in the ute for half an hour to wait for a storm to pass through.

After sweating it out all week at work I arrived at the start of the walk to welcomed by a storm.

Eventually the rain and lightning moved on, I emerged from the ute, shouldered my pack, reset the GPS and set off on the short Big Rock Walk. In hindsight I think the storm a was a bit of a bonus really as it had given what can be a bit of a drab landscape a nice sheen. Actually here’s a Feral Fact for you, the You Yangs are actually the driest spot in Victoria south of the Great Dividing Range due to the mountains being in a rain shadow caused by the Otway Ranges. Anyway with a bit of water glistening on the trees it was quite a pleasant walk as the track meandered it’s way north.

This is a well signposted walk on good tracks.

Conditions were somewhat variable today.

There are a lot of tree plantations in the You Yangs Regional Park.

There is a lot of indigenous history in the You Yangs and like a lot of parks in Victoria there’s also a lot of more recent indigenous activity as well in the form of humpies. I would think the You Yangs Regional Park has almost achieved 'peak humpy' as at times it was hard to take a photo into the scrub without a humpy appearing in my view finder. After passing an empty dam my white quartzite track crossed a quiet dirt road and continued on to a three way track junction with Big Rock towering above through the open forest.

There's also a lot of humpies scattered around the bush, this is your two bedroom variety.

Turning left here I started the circuit part of today's stroll.

Turning left at the track junction my track climbed a little more solidly as I tracked around the western and northern slopes of Big Rock, climbing up to the Big Rock Picnic Area and Car Park. Once at the picnic area it was just a short side trip up onto the Big Rock. With the granite rock still pretty wet from the recent rain I had to be a little careful as I climbed up and around the extensive summit. The views from this little hill are out of all proportion to the height really. With extensive flat plains stretching to the south all the way to Port Phillip Bay it was pretty easy to pick out Corio in one direction and Avalon Airport in another, the buildings in the Melbourne CBD would of probably been in view if it wasn’t for the storms passing through.

Climbing around the Northwest slopes of Big Rock the track gets a little steeper.

Climbing to the Big Rock Picnic Ground, Big Rock was never far away.

I had to be a little careful up here as the wet rock was surprisingly slippery.

Big Rock

Apart from the views, the top of Big Rock also has a few indigenous rock holes scattered around. These rock holes are natural faults in the granite that have been enlarged by the local indigenous people to collect water in what must of been a very dry and tough environment to etch a living out of. With all the rain around, the rock holes had a little water in them today but with no indigenous people out here now to maintain them the rock holes looked a little on the festy side to me.

It looks a little overcast, but it was stinking hot, especially when the sun made an appearance.

The rock holes had a little water in them after the rain but it looked a little festy to me....it would keep you alive no doubt.

Big Rock

Big Rock Picnic Ground....the sky had a bit of an epic look about now. That's Flinders Peak in the background I think.

With black clouds gathering again I figured that now would be a good time to get off this granite rock. After carefully descending off the rock back down to the picnic ground I stopped for a couple of minutes to check out some public art in the form of a sculpture by Benjamin Gilbert called Remnant Canoe. This modern looking piece made out of stainless steel was made to honour M to M’s ephemeral Canoe, a canoe that was carried 80 kilometres from the You Yangs to Barwon Heads and set alight at the end of the songline in May 2014. I didn’t linger too long here this afternoon though as not only were black clouds approaching along with some rumbling thunder but also I was slowly cooking myself under a hot sun, the player comfort level was going off the scale.

The Remnant Canoe.

Once again, dropping down from the picnic area Big Rock was never far away.

Dropping down from the picnic area I continued my loop around Big Rock before meeting up with my outward track back at the three way track junction beneath Big Rock. With the rest of my stroll a retrace I didn’t muck around heading back to the ute, stopping only occasionally to take a photo of the scenery which was now bathed in sunlight, believe it or not. By the time I got back to the ute I was fairly well soaked in sweat and it was with some relief that I jumped in and cranked up the air conditioning, yep I’m hardcore! Anyway that’s the short and sweet story of my first stroll on Australian territory for 2019, maybe it wasn’t an epic but I enjoyed it.

Back on my outward route I stopped occasionally to get a photo in the sunshine. The dam was bone dry.

Crossing the dirt road the plantation trees are obvious.

The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 3.1 kilometres and climbed 73 metres on this easy stroll. Julie Mundy has written this walk up in her book Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine and the Brisbane Ranges. Parks Vic also have free notes and a map online. If you like open Eucalyptus Forests and big rocks then this walk is worth considering, especially if you’re not far from the You Yangs Regional Park. Be a little careful on Big Rock if the granite is wet as it would be easy to slip off the sides as the angle of the rock increases. This walk is probably better done in the cooler months as the sparse forest doesn’t offer a lot of shade (say’s he, who walked it in the middle off January!).

Relevant Posts.

You Yangs, You Yangs Regional Park, 2016.

The Pyramids Loop, Girraween National Park, 2017.

Uluru Base Walk, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, 2015.

It was stinking hot by the time I got back to the ute, I was happy with a bit of shade cast by these two old Red Gums.

Time to jump in the ute and crank up the air conditioning.