Arthurs Seat Walk, Arthurs Seat State Park - September 2019

Looking down towards the Port Phillip Bay Heads from Seawinds Gardens.

When I arrived home from my Kungsleden Walk in Sweden I arrived home with a severe case of man flu, while the running nose and itchy throat were annoying enough it was my ears that were the real issue. Flying from one side of the world to the other with a congested head was never going to end well, and so it was. It took me a few days and a course of antibiotics to eventually get my ears right. This little stroll was my first walk since stepping off the Kungsleden in Abisko a little over a week earlier and it turned out to be just what I needed. A beautiful sunny Melbourne spring day not only gave me a decent dose of vitamin d but also did wonders for my Feral mojo that had been a little bit down since I’d arrived home feeling crook.

I started my stroll underneath the Arthurs Seat Eagle Chairlift.

With the start of this walk only 30 minutes or so from my front door it wasn’t an alpine start today, I meandered my way down to the starting point up on Arthurs Seat, arriving around 11am. Short and sweet will be the go on this post I think, as not only was the walk close to home but it was also a fairly short stroll. After re-setting the GPS (a bit over 16,000 kilometres from Abisko as it turns out) and getting the start photo I was off. The first spot I was heading for was the Matthew Flinders Cairn, which basically involved following a wide and well signposted track for a couple of hundred metres, crossing Arthurs Seat Road along the way. Matthew Flinders Cairn offers a great view down towards the southern end of the bay and the cairn itself marks the spot that Matthew Flinders climbed to on his voyage of exploration back in 1802.

Yep, it's a fair haul from here to Abisko in northern Sweden!

Leaving Arthurs Seat I dropped down to check out the Matthew Flinders Cairn...

...crossing Arthurs Seat Road along the way.

Arthurs Seat Cairn.

I'd got a pearler of a spring day for this short stroll, Port Phillip Bay was looking about as good as it gets I think.

Leaving the cairn I headed south towards Seawinds Gardens, the good track more or less contouring the steep slopes of Arthurs Seat 50 metres or so above the Two Bays Track. I guess it was because I’d been away from home for awhile but I was loving the light today (and the warmth) and even the normal run of the mill eucalyptus trees had me stopping to check them out. Arriving at Seawinds Gardens though the eucalyptus trees were replaced with introduced flora. Seawinds Gardens were originally a private garden that dates back to the 1940’s, in 1975 the gardens were gifted to the Victorian people and incorporated into Arthurs Seat State Park. Nowadays the gardens make a great place for a picnic or a short walk and the lookouts provide grandstand views down over Port Phillip Bay and it was the lookouts that I headed to first today.

The link track to Seawinds largely parallels the Two Bays Track whach is 50 metres or so further down the hill.

Having been away from Australia for awhile everything looked great to my eyes today.

Approaching Seawinds Gardens.

Looking north the buildings in Melbourne's CBD where easily enough visible across Port Phillip Bay.

With the visibility fairly good on this spring day the two lookouts at Seawinds Gardens allowed me views up the the buildings in Melbourne’s CBD in one direction, Mt Macedon and the You Yangs in another, and the Port Phillip Bay Heads to the south, well sometimes I needed to squint a little….but they were out there somewhere! Leaving the lookouts I continued shuffling on, dropping down to check out the William Ricketts sculptures that are homed in the gardens. After checking out William Ricketts aboriginal themed sculptures I headed to the check out the nearby indigenous gardens as I meandered my way back in the direction of the ute. Our native bush always seems a lot scruffier and more out of control when compared to the introduced flora, a bit like the whole country really I suppose….maybe those drugs that I’d been taking were stronger than I thought! Leaving the indigenous garden I followed another well signposted track back towards Arthurs Seat and the ute, arriving back around less than 10 minutes later.

Mt Macedon was visible as a blue smudge on the horizon. 

The Bellarine Peninsula and the You Yangs were also easily identified.

Seawinds Gardens.

Seawinds Gardens has a collection of William Ricketts sculptures.

The Dirt.
I walked 2.6 kilometres (I told you it was short) and climbed about 214 metres (seems very optimistic!) according to my GPS today. This is a nice easy walk that would be suitable for most people, with the tracks being well defined, signposted and graded. Seawinds Gardens would make great spot for a picnic and Arthurs Seat has a couple of options if people want to purchase some food and drink. I used the notes and map out of the Woodslane book Best of the Mornington Peninsula today, however it is hard to go too far wrong on this stroll and most maps will get you through.

Relevant Posts.
Cape Schanck to Dromana, Two Bays Track, 2014.
Arthurs Seat Walk, Arthurs Seat State Park, 2014.
OT Dam to Eatons Cutting, Arthurs Seat State Park, 2016.

There is normally a bit of wildlife around Seawinds, quite often a mob of roos but today I settled for ducks.

Even the ubiquitous eucalyptus was enthralling me today.

There is generally plenty of parking at Arthurs Seat but if it's full then parking at Seawinds is an option.