Churchill Island Walk - March 2021

The old Moonah Trees are a real highlight of this walk.

I've driven past Churchill Island many times over the years however it was one of those spots that I'd never really considered visiting, I'd always thought that it was really just an historical homestead with a café out there, however after getting my hands on a copy of Graig Sheathers book Best Walks East of Melbourne I discovered that there was a reasonable length walk out there as well. I'm lucky that Phillip Island is just over an hour from home (and work) so after knocking off a few hours at work in the morning I pointed the ute down the South Gippsland Highway and motored down to check out Churchill Island. 

Churchill Island was a surprisingly busy spot this afternoon.

There is a café and visitor centre - along with the heritage farm - here.

I dropped down to the coast through a picnic area and some paddocks. 

Arriving onto the small island the first thing that struck me was that this spot was incredibly popular, even in the middle of a pandemic the car park for the old homestead and café was overflowing. As I'd already had some lunch on the drive down I parked in an overflow section of the carpark before grabbing my camera and setting off on my circumnavigation of the island. Heading east from the café I passed through the paddock to pick up the circuit track on the shore of Westernport Bay. Once I'd met up with the circuit track I turned left and meandered off to check things out. The views from this side of the island feature the ever present Westernport Bay as well as the rolling hills of The Gurdies back on the mainland and arguably the best spot to check out the view is from the lookout at Observation Point. 

Looking across Westernport Bay towards The Gurdies from Churchill Island.

Cape Barren Goose.

The view up towards French Island from Observation Point.

Leaving the lookout I continued on, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on my back after what had been a week of pretty crappy weather (although no where near as crappy as the weather had been up north where they had been suffering through floods of biblical proportions). Now Westernport Bay is a little more low key than the nearby Port Phillip Bay so instead of sandy beaches and decent sized cliffs I was enjoying mud flats and nature over here...not a bad compromise. After rounding North Point with it's views across to French Island and up towards Hastings I started to walk through a magnificent Moonah Forest, these wind pruned and gnarly old trees really float my boat so you'll have to excuse the photo dump on the post.

It's pretty small island so the old farm is never far away.

Looking across towards The Gurdies from Churchill Island.

There was no shortage of wildlife here today.

There are a lot of Moonah Trees around the northern part of Churchill Island.

Moonah Trees.

After melting down my memory card I started down the west coast of the island, this side of the island featuring views across Westernport Bay to the nearby Phillip Island. In fact Phillip Island is so close that back in the ye olde days the original farmer on Churchill Island use to herd his cattle across from Phillip Island to Churchill Island at low tide at the spot where the bridge is now days. The southern end of the island feels very rural and the track mostly passes along a grassy verge between the paddocks and the very low coastal cliffs. Now rural land can be a little mundane sometimes however the farm was running Highland Cattle in the paddocks when I did the walk and these hairy beasts are also a bit of a favourite of mine. 

Yep - more Moonah Trees!

Churchill Island with Phillip Island in the distance.

Don't come to Churchill Island expecting beautiful sandy beaches.

This was one of the first European settlements in Victoria.

Easy walking on my circumnavigation of Churchill Island.

After crossing the entrance road I meandered my way back up to meet up with my outward route, before retracing my way back to the ute. It wasn't all quick walking as one again I had some friendly Cape Barren Geese to check out, these birds are very common here and they seem to like posing for the camera. Arriving back at the ute I threw my gear in the back and wandered over to check out the Scottish Black Faced Sheep, what with the long haired cattle as well there was definitely a bit of a Scottish theme happening here.

The old settlers use to herd their cattle across from Phillip Island at low tide before the bridge was built.

The southern section of the walk has a bit of a bucolic feel to it.

The track sticks to a grassy border between the paddocks and the coast.

These guys ooze personality I think.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 4.2 kilometres and climbed around 54 metres on this nice easy stroll. The track is all well surfaced and there are no steps or stairs along this stroll so I guess it would be suitable for wheelchairs and strollers. I didn't go into the café this afternoon however it would be an option for lunch, a picnic is also a possibility down here. If anyone comes down with children and wants to visit the heritage farm to check out the animals then I think that there is an entry fee. I used the map and notes out of Craig Sheather's book Best Walks East of Melbourne along with my GPS topos on this stroll.

Relevant Posts.

Rhyll Woodlands & Wetlands Walk, 2016.

Cape Woolamai Walk, 2018.

I passed by some mangroves at the southern end of the walk. It looks like there may be a constructed mangrove boardwalk on the Phillip Island side of the bridge that I'll have to come back and check out one day.

These Cape Barren Geese must match up for life as they always seem to be in pairs.

And to round off my whole Scottish experience I checked out the Scottish Black Faced Sheep when I got back to the ute.