Goin' Feral One Day At A Time: Sandringham to Mordialloc

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 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.