Next to Arapiles and the Grampians, Wilsons Prom is also on my very favourite list of places to go. Although I have been there numerous times, it has always been on a day walk schedule, so the two day overnight walk was something I have had on my radar to do for quite a while. As I have mentioned before, being a climber tends to mean that every free weekend with passable weather sees me out on the rock. But I thought it was about time to lock it in. There was no going back – just had to hope that the weather would hold out for us. Cameron had done the walk before and kept encouraging me by saying “Welcome to a world of pain”. Such a kidder! When we bought our permits at the Rangers office, this comment drew a strange look from the girl who was organizing it. Laughing along but secretly making a note to send in backup helicopters.
While the air was crisp, the sun was shining and I walked both days in t-shirts only. What I especially liked about this walk (besides the fact that it was a coastal walk) was the constantly changing environment. I must have a short interest span as I can get a bit bored when walking through unchanging scenery. But this didn’t disappoint. The wild and wooly bits of the Prom, to the rainforest greenery to scrubby tea tree.
As far as overnight walks go, I think this would be a good one for those unacustomed to the longer walk and camp option. Possibly, continuing as far as Sealers Cove campground and then doing the return journey – this portion of the walk definitely falls into the easy category in energy output and using the well travelled track.
We chose to travel onto Refuge Cove – arriving at dusk to set up camp and rest weary feet.
Next day had some great sections of walking on the beach to access the next section of track. I never tire of walking along the coast – the sounds, smells and the myriad of interesting things on and in the sand that interest my magpie eyes. After a quick lunch at Waterloo Bay, we headed off in order to finish the last couple of legs to the walk. We were not continuing on the Southern Circuit walk but following the trail that leads to the Telegraph Track, and back up to where we began at Mt Oberon Carpark. While the first part of the day tackled the moderate to hard walking, this trail is predominantly on flat ground travelling over boardwalk in many sections. Telegraph Track is unfortunately, not a highlight of the walk. It travels the management vehicle track and for me, didn’t offer much in the way of interest. Being the end of the day and a little weary(not to mention shin splints and aching feet) the mostly uphill trudge of approx 6 kms felt just like that – a trudge. It would be much nicer if it travelled upon a dedicated track
Dusk was again, almost upon us and by the time we reached the carpark, the moon was out.
I would thoroughly recommend this walk despite my criticism of the last section. The complete Southern Circuit Walk can be found in the Weekend Walks Around Melbourne guidebook, page 146.
Only a month ago my friends and I walked Tarilta Creek Gorge as we wanted to create a GPS of the route and take some new images. The walk is to be included in our forthcoming Goldfields Walks, which is due out in spring. You can read about our walk on my blog here. The short video (above) makes an interesting and disturbing comparison to the images shown at at Tarilta Gorge: burned off, washed away.
