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.

Gellibrand Hill, Woodlands Historic Park - March 2021

I was hoping for some nice sunrise views from Gellibrand Hill this morning - that didn't quite pan out!

Woodlands Historic Reserve is in Melbourne's northern suburbs, in fact the parks high point looks down over Tullamarine Airport in one direction and had views across the the high rise building in Melbourne's CBD in another direction. I've walked here a handful of times over the decades and while it is always pleasant enough it's generally not somewhere I'd head for a stand alone visit. With a walk out at Blackwood planned for today I thought that I might drop into Woodlands Historic Park first thing this morning on the way out to Blackwood to try and get some sunrise photos from Gellibrand Hill. It was pretty obvious when I pulled up at the deserted carpark off Providence Road that I wasn't going to be getting any sunset shots this morning though.

There is plenty of room in the slightly dodgy carpark off Providence Road.

Still, I'm not one to be easily deterred though so after grabbing my pack and re-setting the GPS I wandered into the park to see what I could see. Instead of heading in along the closed 4wd track I entered the park via the Weeroona Aboriginal Cemetery, from what I can ascertain this cemetery isn't a traditional burial ground for our traditional owners and is a more recent creation. Whatever the case the cemetery is a peaceful and beautiful place with the well maintained grave sites scattered around the dry bushland. Back in Woodlands Historical Park after my short diversion I soon arrived at the high electric fence that segregates a large section the park off for the conservation of the local Bandicoot population, this fence always seems to give me trouble when walking out here as I always seem to find myself stuck on the wrong side of it. 

Instead of following the gravel access road into the park I meandered my way through the Weeroona Aboriginal Cemetery.

Weeroona Cemetery.

Passing through the electric fence I entered the Bandicoot conservation area of the park.

I had no trouble getting through this morning though and I was soon following a series of old 4wd tracks as I headed west, then south, and finally settled on an easterly direction. Normally a visit to Woodlands Historic Park means that the background noise from the planes landing and taking off from Tullamarine Airport is constant. This morning though, with our overseas borders still closed and even travel domestically fairly risky incase our state borders snap shut, the airport was a pretty quiet place indeed. I now made my way though the grey morning heading east, passing through one fence line at an un-locked gate I soon arrived at the eastern border of the high electric fence - to find no gate and no way over the fence.

Once inside the fence the going was pretty easy as I followed 4wd tracks through the open woodland.

I got a little excited when I saw a sliver of blue sky.

Signposting can be a little hit or miss sometimes. Gellibrand Hill is signposted in two directions here - I went up the track to the left.

Early in the morning at Woodlands Historic Park.

This fence was easy enough to pass through.

More easy walking as I headed east this morning.

It was a bit more problematical getting through this fence.

I wasn't too worried about the lack of a gate here (the mud map I was using was over twenty years old!), I was hardly going to get lost and the open woodland made for easy walking. So once I'd arrived at the fence line I decided to follow the fence line up hill across the lower slopes of Gellibrand Hill thinking that I'd find a gate at some stage, and indeed after climbing to the north eastern corner of the Bandicoot Reserve I did find an un locked gate and slipped out of the conservation area. From the gate I was very close to the summit of Gellibrand Hill and less than ten minutes later I was standing at the trig. At 204 metres Gellibrand Hill isn't exactly a towering mountain however despite it's modest height it offers surprisingly good vistas. From the summit area there are views across towards Lerderderg and Wombat State Parks in the distance, Mt Macedon is visible in another direction and the buildings in Melbourne's CBD are also easily viewed... oh, and for all the plane spotters out there the view down to Tullamarine International Airport is also pretty good as well.

I climbed beside the fence line. The track Mr Thomas refers to in his notes is on the other side of the fence.

I found a gate up at the north eastern end of the Bandicoot enclosure. 

There is a navigation installation and a trig on top of Gellibrand Hill.

Looking west from Gellibrand Hill I was quite happy to see some patches of sun light.

Tullamarine International Airport was very quiet on this visit.

Melbourne's CBD skyline in the distance.

Gellibrand Hill is also the site of the old Dundonald Homestead. The old homestead was built in the 1850's and the last owner died in 1959 which was the end of farming here. The old homestead was destroyed in a fire after property developers took over the area (now that's a fucking surprise!) and all that's left now is the copse of introduced trees that mark the site. There are the ruins of the homesteads old stables still partially standing though a little away from the homestead site, although I'd be careful poking around these stone ruins to closely as it looks like perfect Tiger Snake territory if you ask me.

Gellibrand Hill.

These old trees mark the spot where the Dundonald Homestead was situated.

The old homestead is long gone however the ruins of the stables remain.

Gellibrand Hill, Woodlands Historic Park.

There are a lot of gnarly old Red Gums up here - which is always a good thing in my eyes.

It wasn't Tiger Snakes that I was seeing this morning, no it was the big mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos that were keeping me entertained. It's always interesting watching the power dynamic with the roos as inevitably as I was shuffling down the track the young roos along with the females would inevitably hop off into the scrub first to keep a wary eye on me. The big males on the other hand would stand up on their hind legs and hold their ground a lot longer, only slowly retreating into the bush when it became obvious that I wasn't going away. I was now dropping back down towards the ute following another management 4wd track and the going was all pretty strait forward and easy. With the Weeroona Aboriginal Cemetery appearing on my right I stepped over the low fence and once again wandered through the beautiful grounds as I made my way to the ute.

The Eastern Grey Kangaroos were keeping a close eye on me this morning.

After leaving Gellibrand Hill I dropped down the management track towards the ute.

I meandered through the Weeroona Cemetery as I headed back to the ute.

The Dirt.

According to my GPS I walked around 5.7 kilometres and climbed about 85 metres on this mornings easy stroll. If wildlife (particularly kangaroos) or history is your thing then this is a walk to consider. Apart from around 700 metres where I followed the electric fence north the walk is all on reasonably good tracks, although the signage can be a little hit or miss. If people visit the beautiful Weeroona Cemetery then obviously be respectful. I used one of Tyrone Thomas' mud maps and notes for this walk from his old book 40 Bushland & Park Walks in Metropolitan Melbourne and they were reasonably accurate, although the access track now has a locked gate just off Providence Road. I'm guessing Parks Vic or someone else on the internet may have a free map that is downloadable?  Google maps would probably get most people through OK too I'm thinking.

Relevant Posts.

Gellibrand Hill Walk, Woodlands Historic Park, 2014.

Organ Pipes Walk, Organ Pipes National Park, 2018.

There are un marked grave sites scattered amongst the granite boulders on the hill here.

Weeroona Aboriginal Cemetery.

Weeroona Cemetery.

Arriving back at the deserted carpark - time to head off on another little adventure.