Werribee Gorge State Park, Victoria, August 2012

Date of walk: 12/08/2012

Grade: medium – with hard sections along the river, where one needs to be supple and have good balance.

Walk type: Circuit
Length: 10 km (advertised as 4.5 hrs, but more like 3.5 hrs while taking your time)

Main attraction: 200 m deep gorge, exposed sub-glacial topography, cliff-walled revealing past geological history of the central and western Victoria.

Region/Town: Melbourne, Bacchus Marsh

Park: Werribee Gorge State Park

Link: http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/werribee-gorge-state-park

(Look for the two pdf files under ‘Related Publication’ on the above web page. One is the usual map and park info sheet, and the other is a more thorough ‘management plan’ for the park, with a list of flora and fauna present or likely to be encountered and a more in-depth geological history of the place. It is a nice ‘extra info’ before heading out there. Both were obtained from the above link)

Direction: From Melbourne take the Western freeway towards Ballarat. Take the Pentland Hills road exit. At the stop, turn right to pass under the freeway followed by a sharp left onto Pentland Hills Road. Follow the road and having passed under the freeway (again), you will see Myer Rd on your left (10m after the freeway). Follow the Myer road down to the Park. You can start the circuit from either the Meikles Point picnic area, at the bottom (a much nicer place for a picnic than the Quarry area), or at the Quarry picnic area a bit higher up the road.

The Walk: I started the walk at the Quarry. From there you go up straight toward the Eastern and Western viewpoints where you get a view of the ‘Island’ (photo) a remnant of volcanic flow (hard basalt top), and also a view of the low lying plains towards the northeast. On a clear day you can apparently even see Melbourne (a tiny speck I would assume). It is Stringybark-Box dominant forest with Red Stringybark, Red Box and Yellow Gum. This part of the park is nice and sort of flat, with a fairly clear path. Further up you get to walk along the top of the gorge, following the Werribee River, with beautiful views of the opposite hills and flowering Acacias.

                                                                   View of the the Island from the Western Point.

From there the path descends sharply towards the river which you first follow from a distance, before descending further onto its ‘flooding’ sections or bank (photo). This section requires some good balance and can be slippery in wet weather (note: some section of the circuit will be impassable following heavy rains). I certainly had to find my balance a couple of times (I have to admit that I was quite distracted by the beautiful faulting lines apparent on the cliffs). Along this section you will be able to see the rare Fragrant Saltbush among many other (see “management “ PDF file for a complete list of flora).

 

The Werribe River Gorge, view from top of gorge near the Blackwood Pool

Continuing along you arrive to the Needles Beach (photo) and the Pyramid Rock (where you can spot a ‘lion's face’ in the cliff’s shape). At this point, and if the water is fairly high, you need to walk along the cliff, helping yourself along with a cable attached to the cliff (photo). Although not ‘challenging’ this short section may not be for everyone.

Needles Beach 

The 'cable' section, on the bottom left of the photo a person is walking along the cliff with the help of a cable.

Having passed this section, you continue your walk in the gorge, still surrounded by its beautiful and impressive cliffs, but the path turns into a much easier walkway as it follows an old viaduct built in the early 1900 to bring water to Bacchus Marsh (for agriculture purpose). The gorge slowly widens up (photo) before opening up at the picnic area (as said above, this picnic area is the nicer one). From there you need to climb back up to the Quarry picnic area to close the circuit and return to your car.

The gorge widens up near the old weir (where I am standing) 

This is the best, most ‘challenging’ and surprising walk I have done so far in the Melbourne region. It is close to Melbourne, yet while you walk along the gorge you forget that you are surrounded by agricultural land. The path requires a bit of dexterity at time, and the ‘harder’ sections along the river banks are a welcome change or ‘addition’ to the walk. But I would not recommend this walk with kids or person with ‘unsteady’ foot (sorry, English is not my first language).

Note: there are two other, shorter, walks within the park that may be just as interesting but I have not walked them. See the map attached. Go out and play !

Point Cooke and Cheetham Wetlands, Werribee, Victoria

Date of walk: 05/08/2012

Grade: easy (but partly on sand/beach)

Walk type: Circuit and return possible

Region/Town: Melbourne, Werribee

Park: Point Cooke Coastal Park and Cheetham Wetlands

Links: 

A printable map of the parks (the one I used) obtained from Park Victoria:

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/315560/Pt-Cook-Cheetham-Visitor-Guide.pdf

Background information on the parks from Park Victoria

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/point-cook-coastal-park

Direction: Entrance to Cheetham Wetlands is through Point Cook Homestead Road, past Werribee. Entrance to Point Cook Coastal Park is through Point Cook Road or through Point Cook Homestead Road, past Werribee. From Melbourne, take the Princess Freeway and exit at Point Cook exit. Follow tourist sign directing you to Point Cook Coastal Park or Point Cook Homestead. 

The Walk: you can do this as a large loop, starting in any of the two park (Wetlands or Coastal Park) and joining the two through a walk along the beach, or you can wonder around within each park.

Cheetham Wetlands: The main attractions here are the wetlands and their inhabitants. These can be observed from a viewing tower which provides a view of the entire wetland area (but you do need binoculars if you want to see any bird properly). The tower is accessible by wheelchair from the Cheetham Wetland car park, around 1.2 km away (see map and link provided). 

There also appears to be a new and finished link with the Point Cook Coastal Park Bay Trail along the wetlands which was still marked a ‘later stage’ in the map obtained from Park Victoria website. Although there are some tracks within the wetlands, these are strictly reserved to Park Victoria officers/rangers. As said above, this walk is great for those who love watching birds but does not have much of scenery.  

Path from the carpark to the tower is wheelchair friendly.

Once at the tower you can follow a grassy path towards the beach (not accessible by wheelchair, which are only able to do 'carpark-tower-carpark') which will allow you to join/go back to the Point Cook Homestead, where you will find activities for children, and a little cafe, old stables, etc. From there you can either close the small loop by returning to the car park, less than 200 meters away (in which case 1 hr is ample to close the entire loop) or continue along the beach to Point Cook Coastal Park and create a larger loop (that would require 2 to 3 hours depending on how fast you walk).

Point Cook Coastal Park: Following the beach from Point Cook Homestead you will arrive at Point Cook Coastal Park main area approximately 1.8 km away. In between the two, well there is a nice beach, many birds, and a sense of being in the wild while being so close to Melbourne, but there are no trails apart from the beach. 

Once in the main area of the Coastal Park you can walk around the different, but short, trails in search of the many birds to be seen, play with your kids and have a picnic or BBQ at the multiple playground/BBQ areas available. Although I make it sound like there is not much, there is still plenty to do and see, especially if you have kids running around. But if you have young kids, simply drive to the Point Cook Coastal park main area, the 1.8 km in the sand may be too much for their young legs.

Overall I would say this is a nice place for a lazy Sunday afternoon walk and outing, but not if you are looking for a good walk and scenery. I guess this is a good thing since the place is above all a bird reserve. And if that is what you are after, than this is a great place to do so. Go out and play!