Churchill National Park Walk - November 2021

I was lucky to have a beautiful morning for this stroll at Churchill National Park.

When the Melbourne Cup Tuesday public holiday rolls around in Melbourne most people pull an extra annual leave day on the Monday and make it into a super long weekend, which sounded like a good plan to me. Unfortunately work got in the way again, just like last years post Covid period the end of our lockdown seem to be a signal for everyone to hit the shops en masse and consequently we are flat out at work - not really ideal after so long stuck at home. I'm not super bummed really as I've got some good stuff in the planning stage, so saving a days annual leave might come in handy next year. So anyway that's the reason I found myself out at Churchill National Park this Tuesday doing a walk that was within easy reach of home. 

There is only really room for a couple of vehicles at the start of this one.

The northern entry to Churchill National Park.

I decided to start this stroll on the northern side of the national park at a little car park off Bergins Road. I'm thinking that if anyone wants to do this walk at busier times (I was there at 7:30am) then maybe park at the southern carpark within the park (see my map) as there is only room for a couple of vehicles at this small carpark on the north side. Slipping through the boundary gate I set off into the park heading south along Army Track and straight away it felt like a typical Churchill National Park walk as I had Wattles flowering around me and Kangaroo's bounding along in front of me. On reaching Channel Track I climbed a couple of minutes to a small dam where I picked up an un-signposted walking track that climbed fairly solidly through a virtual tunnel of scrub as I made my way up to join North Boundary Track near some massive high tension powerlines. 

A typical Churchill National Park scene along Army Track.

It wasn't just the Roos keeping an eye on me.

Channel Track.

I followed this faint track as I climbed from Channel Track to North Boundary Track. 

Approaching North Boundary Track.

By the time I joined North Boundary Track most of the climbing on this section was over and I was now able to enjoy a bit of a roller coaster type of stroll along this fire track. The weather this morning was sensational and shuffling along the northern boundary of Churchill National Park I was in a pretty good head space as I enjoyed the early morning sun lighting up forest. After a nice stroll along North Boundary Track I swung right onto Stonemasons Track and started descending down a valley to the south. Stonemasons Track dropped fairly gently, passing by and old quarry as I made my way down to join Bayview Track, once again in the vicinity of the high tension powerlines. These huge, industrial scale powerlines supply power to Melbourne from our power stations down in the Latrobe Valley and are a bit of a feature of this small park unfortunately. Looking through my glass half full lens then I suppose you could say the juxtaposition between the industrial powerlines, the cobalt blue sky and the colourful native bush was interesting.

The Eastern Grey Kangaroos seem to like the grass beside North Boundary Track.

If I was a roo I think I'd like living here too.

Early morning on North Boundary Track.

North Boundary Track.

Hmm, I stayed fairly clear of this guy.

North Boundary Track.

Churchill National Park.

There are quite a few of these small dams in the park which I assume are for fire fighting, although I guess the local wildlife appreciate them as well.

After five minutes or so Bayview Track intersected with Channel Track and I swung south beside the the decommissioned water channel. As the track runs beside a water channel the going was pretty easy and level along here and stayed that way for ten minutes until I met the Kangaroo Track. Kangaroo Track is another walking track (unless I explicitly mention it then assume that the tracks a fire tracks) and I was now climbing again. Back under the high tension line I joined the grassy Ridge Track and continued to climb, I reckon whoever thought up this route and put it on Alltrails must of been in training for a bigger trek as all I seemed to be doing was going up and down the hills! Eventually I pretty well topped out again on Ridge Track and a few meters before meeting up with my outward route along North Boundary Track I swung left and descended down another walking track, this time I was shuffling down Bellbirds Track.

Descending Stonemasons Track.

Somewhat appropriately there is an old quarry on Stonemasons Track.

Bayview Track - with the typical Churchill National Park high tension lines above.

Channel Track

Ridge Track was a nice climb.

Bellbird Track dropped me back down onto Channel Track again (for the third time - yes, it was that kind of walk!). Yet again I found myself passing beneath the high tension power lines as I made my way down to pass through the main picnic area and car park on Army Track, passing by a few early morning punters settling in for a long Melbourne Cup Day in the park. I was now pretty well finishing my walk as I followed Army Track west before swinging north and passing beneath the powerlines for last time as I shuffled the last few metres back to the ute. 

Dropping down Bellbird Track.

Bellbird Track, Churchill National Park.

Churchill National Park.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 8.2 kilometres and climbed about 197 metres on this easy walk. This walk is actually a little better than my somewhat mundane write up portrays I think, the bush, animals and great facilities more than make up for the negative of the high tension power lines I think. All of the tracks, with the exception of the walking track linking Channel Track to North Boundary Track near the start, are signposted and fairly clear. This was a walk I found on Alltrails again although I'm pretty sure Parks Vic have some free stuff online for this walk. I used my GPS topos as well as my phone app, Google Maps should get most people through.

Relevant Posts.

Churchill to Trig Point Lookout Walk, Churchill National Park, 2017.

Yep... there they are again.

There is a big picnic area on Army Track. There is also a big car park here which would make it an optional starting point.

Passing under the power lines as I headed back to the ute along Army Track.

Endeavour Fern Gully Walk - November 2021

Endeavour Gully.

This tiny Endeavour Fern Gully Walk is another short Sunday morning stroll that Sam and I did instead of our traditional Sunday morning brekky date, this was back in the days where we still had to isolate for a week or two if we sat in the same cafe as someone who had Covid. After grabbing takeaway coffee and a couple of bacon and egg rolls we headed down to Red Hill to check out this little stroll. There was no actual guarantee that we'd actually be able to walk this track today as this part of the Mornington Peninsula had suffered through it's second set of 'once in a hundred year' storms for this year a week ago and the power was still being reinstated and the trees were still being cleared. Thankfully while there was a massive amount of trees down we were still able to access the carpark for this little stroll.

There had been a fair bit of weather related carnage up at Red Hill recently.

Once we found the start of the walk the track was pretty obvious. 

There is a rough shed just inside the park that would provide a bit of shelter on rainy day.

Leaving the car park Sam and I dropped down the good track down towards Endeavour Gully, the next question I had knocking around my head was exactly how many downed trees would we have to negotiate on the walk - yes, I 'think' a bit too much sometimes! After avoiding our return track which came in from the left a few minutes after we set off Sam and I continued down the well benched track as it descended fairly gently. Now this walk is called the Endeavour Fern Gully Walk, however for the most part the track actually stays out of the gully, flirting with it occasionally but staying slightly higher up the slopes for the most part. As Sam and I made our way further south the track passed by some cleared rural land before it entered a very ferny section that was made easier by some nice sections of duckboards and then finally we crossed the gently trickling Endeavour Gully (Endeavour Creek?) and started our return walk north along the eastern slopes of the gully.

The bush was looking very lush after months of good rain.

Dropping down into Endeavour Gully.

Endeavour Gully

Endeavour Gully.

Whereas the walk downstream had mostly been through fairly wet forest our walk back up along the eastern slopes was through a lot more of an open and dryer type of forest. It was along this section that Sam and I finally had to clamber over a couple of fallen trees however considering the carnage that we'd witnessed on the drive in there was bugger all damage down here. Pondering why there weren't many trees down (I told you I think too much - Sam thinks I'm on the Spectrum and I tend to think she's right!), I came up with the theory that this side of Red Hill must of been sheltered from the full force of the winds during the storms. Our walk back up to the ute once again followed a pretty good track and we also had another couple of nice sections of boardwalk to negotiate as we climbed, although like our walk down the gully the walk back up pretty well stayed clear of the ferny gully, now down to our left. After climbing for 15 minutes or so we crossed the headwaters of Endeavour Gully and re-joined our outward route before climbing the last few metres back up to the ute.

This is a beautiful little park.

Looking down towards Endeavour Gully as we climbed up the eastern slope.

The surrounding rural country can be glimpsed through the trees in a few spots.

Endeavour Gully.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS we walked around 1.8 kilometres and climbed about 63 metres on this very easy walk. Despite my mediocre, half arsed write up this is actually a pretty good walk, the tracks are pretty clear and well marked, there are some nice boardwalk sections and when the route does get close to Endeavour Gully there are some impressive ferns. There is an issue though and that is that this place is pretty well un-signposted from the road from what I could tell, I just looked for the dirt driveway which is on the opposite side of Arthurs Seat Road from the adjacent Red Hill Tennis Club. The issue with the un-signposted entry is that most of the big flash county estates up here also have very similar un-signposted gravel driveways so it would be very easy to end up in some rich bastards front yard, yes I'm sure they'd be happy to see the Feral Jalopy rattle in their gate early on a Sunday morning! This was an AllTrails walk, although Google Maps may get people through, I used my GPS topos this morning.

Relevant Posts.

OT Dam Walk, Arthurs Seat State Park, 2021.

OT Dam to Eatons Cutting Walk, Arthurs Seat State Park, 2016.

Climbing the eastern slopes we had plenty of views down to the ferny gully.

There is another nice boardwalk section along the eastern side of the gully.

This was a nice easy walk - it actually felt like a real bushwalk!

Sam and I were about to re-join our outward route and head for home.

Sandringham to Mordialloc - January 2022

The coastal scenery on this stroll was top notch - this is around Black Rock.

I've had this walk at the back of my mind since our last lockdown as Sandringham was within my bubble occasionally. By the time our 2021 lockdown season finished I'd moved on though and was looking further afield, so this walk got put back into the must do sometime category. After returning from my trip to Queensland over Christmas I'd pretty well headed straight back to work and today was the first time that I'd really had a chance to head out on a stroll. It wasn't all sweetness and light though as my early morning sunrise photos were scuppered when I again had to put in some unexpected hours in the salt mine. By the time Sam dropped me off in Sandringham this morning at around 10am the best light had well and truly gone, however with a clear blue sky and some fairly light winds I was still thinking that I might get some nice photos.

The historic rotunda at Sandringham seemed like a reasonable spot to start this walk. 

I decided to start this walk at the old rotunda on the Sandringham foreshore, the rotunda dates back until 1926 and is a bit of a local landmark so I figured that it was as good as anywhere to set off from. I now set off walking south towards my first landmark, that of Red Bluff. For good distances of this walk there are many choices of the exact track to walk, there are the beaches and rocks themselves, quite often there is a concrete beach side promenade, there is normally a gravel path weaving through the coastal scrub near the cliff tops and finally there is the Bay Trail which is a concrete shared path that stays fairly close to Beach Road. I mostly followed the more informal cliff tops tracks today and that's what I set off first up this morning. As soon as I reached the cliff tops Red Bluff was in view to my south and the view of the coastal cliffs only got better as I meandered my way south for the next few kilometres. The view from the Red Bluff lookout features Half Moon Bay to the south and the Melbourne CBD in the distance to the north, although Red Bluff itself is best viewed before reaching the lookout I think.

If you squint you might make out Red Bluff in the distance.

The cliff top pads gave me a bit of protection from the sun today.

Red Bluff.

The buildings in the CBD are just visible from the Red Bluff lookout.

The Time of Chaos, the ancient Yarra River with Bunjil's Eggs by Glen Romanis at the Red Bluff Lookout. There is a fair bit of public art and information along this stroll - both indigenous and European. 

Leaving Red Bluff I started passing above Half Moon Bay, the rusting remains of HMVS Cerberus in the middle of the bay now drew my eye. I haven't mentioned it yet however today was a fairly warm day with a temperature in the low 30˚ predicted and I was now starting to see the beaches start to fill up a bit and I was thinking a bit of snorkelling around the old wreck would be a pretty good idea. Resisting the urge to take to the water though I continued shuffling my way down the coast, passing through Black Rock. The great views and easy walking continued as I made my way down through the fairly busy Rickets Point, although with Omicron still causing issues I gave the café a miss today. With bugger all walking recently I was stating to feel it a bit now though, so by the time I made it down to the lookout and seats above Table Rock I was well and truly ready for morning smoko.

HMVS Cerberus slowly rusting away in Half Moon Bay.

Passing by the historic (well, it was built in 1959) Black Rock Clock Tower.

Welcome shade along the cliff tops.

There were choices as far as the exact track that I used on this walk.

Rickets Point.

I was forced to use the Bay Trail occasionally - although it really wasn't the worts walking that I've ever done.

Beach Road Real Estate.

Things were starting to get busy by the time I passed through Ricketts Point. 

After a bit of a break at Table Rock I set off towards Mordialloc again, the coast now swing north easterly for awhile as I passed through Beaumaris. This was the one section of today's stroll where I was forced to use the concrete Bay Trail shared use path for awhile, although even walking the concrete path beside the busy Beach Road wasn't too bad as there were still some great views and to be honest I wasn't on the shared path for that long really. I was now passing along the tops a fairly long section of cliffs and apart from the Beaumaris Motor Yacht Squadron there isn't really much water access (actually I'm not exactly sure if regular plebs like me can access the water at the yacht club either?). The good news along here was that there are plenty of lookouts scattered along the cliff tops and the views are pretty good, the view ahead to Mentone Beach being particularly nice. 

Table Rock.

Morning smoko was a scenic affair.

The historic Beaumaris Hotel dates back to 1888 although now days it looks like its flash apartments.

Approaching Mentone Beach.

Mentone Beach almost looked tropical this afternoon.

Since leaving Table Rock I've been walking these cliffs.

 

Arriving above Mentone Beach I once again had choices when it came to where to walk and with the coastal cliffs now a fair bit lower I mixed it up a little along this section. Initially I stayed up on the cliff tops as I made my way past the Mentone Lifesaving Club however after passing the clubhouse I dropped down to water level and walked the beach side promenade for awhile. Once down at water level I was suddenly walking through throngs of beach goers in their skimpy swim wear, and while I'm all for skimpy swimwear it does make it a little trickier taking photos, so for the next section down to Mordialloc I didn't pull the camera out as often, although I'm thinking that the best scenery was probably along the cliffs on the first two thirds of the stroll anyway?

Reaching Mentone Beach I stayed high initially...

... before dropping down to water level.

The concrete promenade now ran most of the way down to Mordialloc.

While there were no stunning scenery shots now I was walking along the beach there was still enough to keep me interested along here, I just had to look a bit harder! Seagull Rock, the remains of an old pier and a windsurfing regatta at Parkdale Lifesaving Club all added some interest now. The good thing about the beach side walk was that the end of my walk at Mordialloc Pier was pretty much in view for the entire distance so I was able to easily gauge my progress. After one last beachside concrete promenade I arrived at the Mordialloc Pier and today's walk was pretty well over, after checking out the pier and the colourful boats in Mordialloc Creek I meandered over to the nearby park, found myself a shady seat and re-set the GPS. 

Seagull Rock.

Parkdale Beach.

Parkdale Beach.

Parkdale Beach Promenading.

Parkdale Beach.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 13.5 kilometres today and climbed about 67 metres on what I'd call an easy-medium grade stroll. This is a bit of a make your own adventure walk with numerous track options - everything from soft sand and rocks to a concrete path. I think the best option is to primarily use the gravel path running along the cliff tops as it's got the best views and also has the best protection from the elements. There are numerous opportunities to buy food and drink along the length of this stroll although with Melbourne currently in the midst of our 125th Covid wave I gave the cafés a miss today. With Melbourne's Metro Train network reaching both Sandringham and Mordialloc then public transport is a viable option on this stroll (I used the train to get home). As far as I know notes for this exact walk haven't been published either on-line or in print although there are short sections that have been published - really though Google Maps should get most people through OK.

Relevant Posts.

Brighton to Sandringham Walk, 2021.

Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary Walk, 2015.

Mordialloc Beach.

One last section of promenading...

... one last beach view...

... and I arrived at the Mordialloc Pier.

Mordialloc Creek was as good a place as any to finish up this walk.

The finish shot - I'm looking remarkably fresh considering that I've done bugger all walking lately and it's stinking hot.