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Hastings Jetty.
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I’ve looked at this short walk down at Hastings quite a few times over the years but apathy has held me back a little. When it comes to great Australian walking destinations Hastings doesn’t generally feature in the top ten, truthfully it probably wouldn’t break into the top one thousand either. Hastings is an industrial town on the shores of Hastings Bight in Westernport Bay which is on the eastern side of the Mornington Peninsula. The good folk down at Hastings have put a fair effort into sprucing up this place and there are now some good spots to walk or ride as well as a nice café or two. While it’s true that you don’t have to look too far to see evidence of the heavy industry that is synonymous with the area, you can still enjoy a nice outing in relative peace.
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I strolled out onto the jetty to check things out before setting off this afternoon. A lot of Westernport Bays shoreline is mangrove lined which is one of the concerns about AGL's plans for the bay.
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The low hill in the distance is French Island.
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Hastings Foreshore Reserve.
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After checking out the colourful yachts at the Hastings Jetty I set off on my easy walk towards Jack Babington Park. This walk is really an urban parkland stroll so navigation wasn’t ever going to cause me too many issues, what was going to cause me issues today though was the weather, basically it looked like it was about to piss down at any minute. Still, tracking my way north beside the Mangoves lining Westernport Bay all was pretty good, the crushed granite path featuring a few puddles but I was largely avoiding any rain.
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This walk is a small section of the Western Port Bay Trail.
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There is plenty of parking at the start of the stroll.
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I was generally walking on crushed granite and boardwalks today.
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You don't have to look too far to see the heavy industry around here, that's BHP in the distance.
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Hmmm
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After following the shoreline for twenty minutes or so I arrived at the start of the boardwalk section that would take me through the mangroves and across Kings Creek. This fairly short boardwalk section is easily the best part of the walk in my humble opinion, so it goes without saying that as soon as I started to walk it the rain arrived. Thankfully after jogging the boardwalk I arrived at Jack Babbington Park and even more thankfully it had a covered BBQ shelter so I was able to sit out the worst of the shower as it scudded through. Jack Babbington Park is named after Jack Babbington, yeah, who would of thought! From my extensive research (a 2 minute google search) it appears as though Mr Babbington was a local shire president so I suppose that reason he's had this little park named after him.
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I arrived at the good boardwalk section just as it started to rain.
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A fairly damp and melancholy Feral walker.
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After checking out the large and historic Westernport Canary compressor that is on display in park (in my youth I used to go to Westerport Canary with my old man to pick up loads of fruit in the truck. The Mornington Peninsula had a thriving fruit industry before it was gentrified and all the vineyards took over from the orchards) I shouldered my pack again and headed off back towards the ute. With the rain now almost gone I took my time walking back along the, now very slick boardwalk. I always find mangroves interesting places to walk through, well so long as I’m on a boardwalk and not slogging through the mud in the mangroves! The sight of the Esso and BHP heavy industrial sites in the background add an extra twist to this mangrove walk.
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The old Westernport Canary Compressor at Jack Babbington Park.
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Jack Babbington Park
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The mangrove lined Kings Creek.
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The boardwalk was pretty slick this afternoon.
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After retracing the boardwalk section I resumed the circuit part of my stroll, turning right and following walking tracks back through the Hastings Foreshore Reserve. Basically I headed towards the nearby Marine Parade and then stayed fairly close to it as I headed back towards the jetty. Once again the suburban park made for very easy, if not a little uninspiring walking and after dodging a few more puddles it wasn’t long before I arrived back at the ute.
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The boardwalk allows access to some interesting spots.
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Back on the crushed granite I headed back through Hastings Foreshore Reserve, staying fairly close to Marine Parade.
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Hastings Foreshore Reserve.
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The Dirt.
According to my GPS I walked 3.6 kilometres and climbed 35 metres on this easy stroll. I’m going to start a new label on some of my walks (and hopefully I’ll go back a re-label my old posts retrospectively). From now on you might see the occasional walk with the ‘Wheelchair’ label on it which obviously means that I think it would be suitable for people in wheelchairs, although keep in mind this is obviously the walk as seen through my eyes and I’m no expert on the needs of my brothers and sisters on wheels. This easy walk would also be a good one with children as the open fields of the Hastings Foreshore Reserve make a great spot forth kids to run around and Jack Babbington Park also has some playground equipment. I used a combination of Ken Martins notes out of his book
Walks of the Mornington Peninsula and the Melways map, either option will get you through safely. While I wouldn’t travel far to do this walk it’s worth checking out if you are in the area and want to stretch your legs, or let the kids run off some steam.
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