Tankerton Pier to Fairhaven Camp via coast, French Island National Park - April 2022

Chilcott Rocks

French Island works as a bit of an environmental ark for some of our native flora and fauna close to Melbourne. Apart from the animals the island is also home to just over 100 residents who live more or less off the grid even though they are only around 60 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD. Things on the island a fairly low key, all the roads are dirt, there is only one shop, there is very limited accommodation options, and the only way on or off the island is on a passenger ferry or a vehicle barge (unless you are really cashed up and then I guess you could fly over). What there is on the island though is a reasonably big national park which even has a free walk in campsite, and that is what I was planning to base this easy two day walk around. So anyway, on the second last day of daylight savings for this summer I jumped onto the 5:15pm ferry out of Stony Point and less than half an hour later I was walking off the Tankerton pier on French Island... game on.

The ferry runs fairly frequently on most days.

It was a rough old voyage this afternoon.

Leaving the Tankerton Pier I turned left and kept walking.

This evenings stroll was gong to be a fairly short one - a little over 5.5 kilometres north along the coast, up to the Fairhaven Campsite. With the tide out I was planning on walking the coastline most of the way up to camp however on leaving the pier at Tankerton I had to cross Tankerton Creek first, and with the creek breaking into Western Port Bay through some mangroves I decide the road bridge would be the best option. Anyway after crossing the creek on bridge on the Coast Road I picked up a walking track a few minutes later and set off towards camp. This walking track goes all the way up to Fairhaven Camp I think and traverses a narrow section of bush between the Coast Road and the coast mostly, although it does swing onto the inland side of the Coast Road occasionally I think. Yes, I think but I'm not certain, as I was heading for the waterline as soon as I had a chance and after a short stretch beside the Coast Road I found a track that would lead me through the mud flats and out to the beach. 

After a short section along the road...

... I crossed over...

... Tankerton Creek...

... and almost immediately picked up this walking track beside the Coast Road.

The walking track was pleasant enough.

There is a low lookout on the walking track that allowed me to assess my progress from the pier. 

Arriving on the beach I set off north towards my next objective, Chilcott Rocks. The beach here isn't the typical tourist brochure South Pacific piece of paradise though - no, this beach is lined with salt flats on one side and mud flats on the other. The other thing with this beach is that it's important to walk it at or around low tide as the sand just above the high tide line is where the Oyster Catchers bury their eggs. Now while all that doesn't sound overly enjoyable it's better than it sounds, particularly if like me you get a day with enough wind around to keep the mosquitoes and sandflies at bay. Walking north along the beach also had the advantage this evening of giving me a front row seat as the sun slowly setting over the Mornington Peninsula.

Arriving at Chateau Minogue (definitely a Feral Fact - Kylie did own property on French Island however this isn't it) I left the Coast Road and dropped down to the beach. 

The beach along here is backed by extensive salt flats.

There are extensive mud flats along here at low tide.

I made sure to stay below the high tide line as Oyster Catches nest above the waterline. 

Yep, this walking caper can be pretty good sometimes. 

The sun was starting to get pretty low over the Mornington Peninsula.

Chilcott Rocks are a small outcrop of red granite rocks with some colourful yellow lichen coating them and with the now very low western sun lighting them up they made for a nice photo. Apart from the photos Chilcott Rocks also marked the start of the last beach section of this evenings stroll (yes, it was a short walk!). Slowly but steadily the remains of an old jetty started to inch closer as I continued my way north along the coast, the skeleton remains of the old jetty marking the spot where I'd head inland a couple of metres to Fairhaven Campsite. While the sand was fairly soft along here it was really the setting sun that was slowing me down as I must of stopped to take twenty photos, it's a little unusual in see the sun setting over the mainland so I was making the most of it.

Early evening at Chilcott Rocks.

There were the occasional Mangrove Trees out on the mud flats to add a bit of interest. 

Early evening was turning out to be a good time to walk this section. 

With the sun having just dipped below the western horizon I eventually arrived at the ruins of the old jetty and headed up to the almost deserted campsite (the entrance is actually a few metres before the jetty). The Fairhaven Campsite is huge and I was sharing it with only two other tents so after walking to its furtherest extremity I found a spot in the tea trees away from my nearest neighbour and settled in for the night. The good news being that I'd timed my arrival well enough that I was able to get the tent up and camp sorted before I lost the light altogether, well that and the fact that I had water views from my tent.

The mud flats were alive with Soldier Crabs.

The walking was easy although the photography was slowing me down!

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked 5.7 kilometres and climbed about 20 metres on this easy walk. As I've eluded to already there is a choice of routes on this walk, there's the coastline, the Coast Road, and a walking track all heading from Tankerton up to the Fairhaven Camp. Fairhaven Campsite needs to be booked online with Parks Vic however it is free. The walk in camp has ample room for tents, a water tank and toilet, a shelter and picnic tables. The ferry runs fairly frequently and also connects with the Stony Point line train so public transport is a realistic option. I used my Alltrails App along with my GPS topos for this stroll, the House of Chapman and the Daly's have also written up variations of the this walk although both books are out of print now I think.

Relevant Posts.

Wolleys Beach Walk, 2014.

The old jetty is pretty well visible all the way from Chilcott Rocks. It marks the spot to head inland to the Fairhaven Camp.

The track on the left hands up to the campsite.

My room with a view at Fairhaven Campsite.