Barwon Bluff Walk - December 2020

Bass Strait crashing into the rock shelf below Barwon Bluff.

Figuring that I haven't squeezed in beach walk since our second lockdown had ended I decided to head down to Barwon Heads this morning and walk the long beach from Barwon Heads to Point Lonsdale and back. Before setting off on that 20+ kilometre stroll though I wanted to wait for the tide to drop a little this morning. Having never walked around Barwon Bluff before I thought that a stroll around there this morning might kill an hour or two while at the same time I'd get to check out some new scenery... sounded like a plan!

I started this little walk in the small park beside the Barwon River bridge in Barwon Heads.

Parking the ute in a car park right beside the famous Barwon Heads Bridge I pulled on my boots and set off towards the ocean. Barwon Heads is moderately famous in Australia as it was once the set for one of our popular television productions - a show called Sea Change. Straight into my walk I passed the Pier Restaurant which was a character called Diver Dan's place in Sea Change (now, I've never actually watched an episode of Sea Change so go easy on me if I mix this up!). Skirting around the restaurant on a boardwalk I then set off along the breakwater towards Barwon Bluff, the views from here of the river entrance being particularly good.

There's a nice promenade to walk beside the Barwon River.

I skirted around Diver Dan's digs on a board walk...

... and then walked the length of the promenade. 

With Barwon Bluff blocking any further progress at water level I climbed the crux of the walk - an extensive series of stairs and boardwalks that got me fairly painlessly onto the top of the bluff. Once on Barwon Bluff it was a very short walk around the cliff tops, a walk made a bit longer as I convinced myself that I'd be able to get a stunning photo from each of the many lookouts. With views out across the rolling swell of Bass Strait and up and down the coast for many kilometres the lookouts were definitely worth the effort to get to (actually I think you can drive up onto Barwon Bluff so there doesn't need to be a lot of effort involved at all!).

With Barwon Bluff blocking progress at water level it was time to start climbing...

... the views along the coast towards Point Lonsdale got more extensive as I climbed.

Barwon Bluff

Looking west along the coast towards Torquay.

Bass Strait

After getting a glimpse through the coastal scrub back down towards Barwon Heads (probably the best view of Barwon Heads on the walk) I arrived at the monument for the Earl of Charlemont. This shipwrecked here back in 1853 and thankfully all the people on board were able to get to land safely. As most of my Victorian friends would know (but probably not my interstate or overseas friends) this section of wild coastline west of Melbourne has a lot of old wrecks scattered around, in fact the marketing people actually call it the Shipwreck Coast. Continuing on a few metres I dropped down an access track towards a small beach below The Bluff, although with the water from high tide pretty well covering the beach I just enjoyed the view from the top of the staircase this morning. 

The view back along the Barwon River from Barwon Bluff.

Bass Strait can be a wild stretch of water...

... as the many reminders of the old ship wrecks along this section of coastline can attest too. This is the monument for the Earl of Charlemont which ran aground at the base of the bluff back in 1853.

There are access steps to a small beach near the base of Barwon Bluff - although there is bugger all beach at high tide.

It was time to head back into town now though so after crossing the sealed Bluff Road I picked up an old closed road that dropped straight down into the caravan park and started heading back towards the ute. Since spending quite a few sweaty weeks camped in caravan parks on the Gold Coast in my teenage years I've largely avoided staying at these establishments (he says as he types up this post while sitting in one up in Broken Hill!) as the thought of staying cheek by jowl with a bunch of strangers has warn a little thin. Having said that I was quite surprised how nice it looked here, the sites were well spaced out and the prime position of the caravan park would be hard to beat. What really got me thinking as I shuffled through were the spacious and modern looking cabins that looked down over the Barwon River and along the beach down towards Point Lonsdale, hmm I might have to re-asses my thinking! Passing through the caravan park my short morning stroll was pretty well over now, after getting a photo of Cathy's Place (another Sea Change site) I strolled through the coastal park back to the ute... it was time for breakfast while I waited for the tide to drop a bit more.

The coastal scrub was looking good this morning under the beautiful blue sky.

Barwon Heads Caravan Park...

... I think I might have to reassess my thoughts on caravan parks...

... with views like this.

Cathy's Place (another Sea Change site - I believe).

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 2.4 kilometres and climbed about 65 metres on this very easy stroll.  The climb up the staircase onto Barwon Buff is really the only bit of the stroll that should raise most peoples heart rate on the walk, although even that could be avoided by driving up Bluff Road... although it wouldn't really be a walk then but more of a sight seeing trip. I used the notes and map out of Julie Mundy's book Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine and the Brisbane Ranges along with my GPS topos this morning, although Google Maps would get people through safely. Barwon Heads is a very popular tourist town and it can get very busy, we were still under some of our Corona restrictions when I did this walk and even arriving before 7:30am the place was fairly busy - when I left later that afternoon the traffic was bumper to bumper all the way through town.

Relevant Posts.

Barwon Heads & Point Lonsdale Walk, 2020.

Point Impossible Walk, Breamlea Flora & Fauna Reserve, 2019.

There is parking at the start of the walk although it fills up quickly in warmer weather.

Enjoying brekky while I waited for the tide to drop before heading off on my next adventure.