Cardinia Aqueduct Walk - January 2021

The Cardinia Aqueduct Trail made for a fairly pleasant stroll.

This walk was actually my first walk in 2021. After a quick evacuation from the Covid ridden Australian Capital Territory on New Years Eve, Sam and I were meant to have a Covid test and isolate for a day while we waited for results. Unfortunately the day turned into a week as the testing system was overwhelmed by travellers returning suddenly from Covid free areas of NSW (the ACT and QLD) while at the same time the system was trying to handle a local Victorian outbreak. Kind of makes you wonder how the powers in charge didn't anticipate this problem... especially as they were freely offering advice that they could lockdown the whole of NSW at any time? Anyway, the end result of this was that I had to head straight from Iso back to work... so there was no walking in early January. Such is life in this Covid blighted world at the moment.

I'd never done this Cardinia Aqueduct Walk before however it looked like it would be a pretty easy out and back stroll that would allow me to stretch my legs for two or three hours... of course being a Feral walk things didn't exactly pan out as I'd envisaged. After parking in the surprisingly busy car park off Thewlis Road I grabbed my pack and set off... in the opposite direction to my intended direction. Yes, to start the walk I headed off along some single track that climbed through the bush above the aqueduct heading east. This section of single track was nice bit of the walk and it allowed me to pick up the shared use Cardinia Aqueduct Trail at it's eastern end. With open rural land ahead of me the single track dropped down and I started my journey west along the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

My walk started off on some single track heading east above the aqueduct.

Reaching the rural land I joined the Cardinia Aqueduct and started the long walk west.

I'm about to head off along the old aqueduct.

As I've eluded to, the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail is a shared use track and I found myself sharing the track this morning with dog walkers, horse riders, joggers, bike riders... and a few old fossils like myself who were just out for a walk. I'd had to work for awhile this morning so by the time I'd set off on this stroll it was already late in the morning and with the predicted temperature in the low 30˚ in Melbourne I was pretty happy to walking under a shady canopy of trees. As you'd expect an on an aqueduct track the going was pretty well level so the walking was very easy as I meandered my way along taking a few photos of the nice forest and the occasional, distant views to the south.

I was a little surprised how nice the bush was out here.

I was sharing the trail with all sorts of other users today.

Nice walking on the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

With the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail approaching Officer Road I arrived at an un-signed and un-mapped track junction, my ongoing route veered left however the single track branching right looked more appealing. Checking out my maps and notes there was no mention of this track however it looked well travelled so I decided to head up and check things out. I was guessing that this track must cut across the top of a gully and intersect with Officer Road a little further up the hill than the aqueduct track did, my thinking was that I'd just drop down Officer Road and pick up my original route again... hmm. Initially this track contoured above a gully for awhile however when it started to climb fairly solidly I started to have my doubts about its destination, still I wasn't really going to get too bushed so I pushed on. Eventually I emerged from the bush on a dirt road called Bathe Road, I was now a long way from where I wanted to be however at least I was back on mapped roads. Anyway, I now started a long road bash to get me back down to re-join the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail, firstly left along Bathe Road, then left along Leppit Road and then finally left down Officer Road. Mostly this road bash was OK as I was walking through semi rural land or native scrub and there was a good shoulder, however my walk down Officer Road was a little dodgier with little to no shoulder to walk along, thankfully there wasn't a lot of traffic and my dead cat like reflexes kept my safe enough.

Approaching Officer Road I left the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail and freelanced a bit.

My detour climbed a fair bit passing through more nice country.

Still climbing... I was a long way away from the aqueduct trail now.

This guy was a little shy.

Emerging from the bush onto Bathe Road I had a fair road bash ahead of me as I made my way back down to the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

Leppit Road

Officer Road... this section of my road walk could potentially get a little dodgy.

Eventually I arrived back down at the aqueduct again after what I guess was at least a 5 kilometre detour. Back on the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail the walking was again pretty cruisey again. On this section of the track the vegetation was a little more open so the views south were a bit of a feature now although shade was at a premium. Now while the walking was pretty easy again there is one section west of Officer Road where the track descends and then climbs out of a deep gully via a series of switchbacks that raised the heart rate a little. The Cardinia Aqueduct Trail terminates with little fan fare a few hundred metres short of Dickie Road, the prominent Private Land - No Trespassing signs making it clear that any further progress was off the agenda. There is a nice, well shaded grassy area at the end of the track that made for a pleasant      spot to rest on what was now a fairly hot afternoon.

Back down on the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail and heading west again.

Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

There is plenty of shady grass to enjoy a break at western end on the trail.

The end of the line.

The Cardinia Aqueduct tunnels through a hill here.

Cardinia Aqueduct.

Suitably refreshed after a bit of a rest in the shade it was time to head off back to the ute. Being mostly a return walk my walk back to the ute didn't hold a lot of surprises this afternoon. With the day heating up the majority of the punters that I'd shared the track with on my outward journey had headed home for the day, so I enjoyed a pretty well deserted walking track on my return journey. I was now relying on the different light cast by the afternoon sun as well as the change of direction to add a bit of interest on my return stroll and that's pretty well how it all ended up, a pleasant enough walk back without any great surprises. Whereas when I'd set off this morning the car park off Thewlis Road had been more or less full I arrived back hot and sweaty this afternoon to find only one other vehicle... and they were sitting in the car with the air conditioning on! 

There are some nice views south off the aqueduct.

Heading back now I was relying on the change of direction to add a bit of interest this afternoon.

I'd got a great day for this stroll.

Climbing out of a deep gully - this is virtually the only climbing along the aqueduct.

Looking south towards Melbournes encroaching south eastern suburbs.

Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked 15.7 kilometres and climbed 182 metres on what I'd call a medium grade stroll. The walk out and back staying to the aqueduct is around 11 kilometres I guess and really that's what I'd recommend, while the walk as I did it was nice enough and added a bit of distance and climbing to the day, the walk down Officer Road could potentially be a little dodgy as there is little room to get off the road and away from the traffic. I was a little surprised how nice the bush is along this walk today, there were sections along this stroll where Melbourne's South Eastern suburbs felt a long way away. I found this walk in Julie Mundy & Debra Hayes book Melbourne's Best River, Bay & Lakeside Walks and the Cardinia Aqueduct portion of the walk follows those notes and map. My extension is just made up on the run and I relied on my GPS topos.

Relevant Posts.

Wilson Botanic Park Walk, 2020.

Cardinia Reservoir Park Walk, 2019.

Rural land below the Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

Cardinia Aqueduct Trail.

Cardinia Aqueduct Trail approaching Thewlis Road and the end of my stroll.

The car park was pretty well empty when I got back - the mid 30˚ might of had something to do with that.