TL:DR If you find yourself without enough time to read this post, at the bottom of the page you can find a clip I’ve put together to shed some audiovisual light on how the day went! 🙂
When I was living in Melbourne, the last hiking trip I embarked upon was a two-day stint at Wilsons Promontory National Park, which is a hotspot destination for hikers, locals, and travellers, alike. It’s located Southeast of Melbourne (about a 3.5-4-hour drive from Melbs) and is, apparently, situated on the Southernmost tip of mainland Australia (thanks, Google). The weather, hiking, and people I met that weekend could not have been more wonderful. It was just stupid.
During my trip, I spent the second day on a track that was a bit longer than those I usually complete. The plan I had settled on was trekking the first section of the Sealers Cove track, with the intention of wrapping up the day with a pre-sunset visit to Picnic Bay.
True to form, I got going a bit later than I’d hoped (sleep is king), so I was pretty keen to jump right onto the trail as soon as I reached the carpark. The section of the Sealers Cove trail that I completed was roughly a 6-hour return hike, where the turn-around point was Sealers Cove, itself. From the get-go, the trail was sandy/dirt-laden and pretty easy-going. This seemed a bit odd to me, since I was trekking through a wooded area….but the terrain was sandy….weird. While it’s a more lengthy trail, the terrain isn’t too brutal; it’s well-defined, not too intense on upwards inclines, and even offers intermittent plaques that you can read to learn about your surroundings. On the day that I completed the track, it was extremely sunny and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky (again, stupidly beautiful). That being said, there were plenty of stretches with shade and the trail is well-balanced with many stints that take you deeper into the forest (where you get some reprieve from the sun). Along the trail, the terrain transitions from being sandy, to being dirt-laden, to a few spots of boardwalk, a couple stretches with large rocks, and back to sand. Generally-speaking, it’s still a relatively humane track and the greatest obstacle you’re likely to face is the time it takes to complete the hike (particularly if you’re like me and you stop a lot for GoPro shots). On the day I was there, there was an obscene amount of mud in many of the shaded sections, thanks to some heavy rain that had visited the area a few days prior to my arrival. Regardless of this fact, though, it was a really pleasant hike; I had about 6/7 hours to bop along to my Spotify playlists, read signs learning about Wilsons Prom, and wave at friendly fellow hikers from time-to-time.
As I went along, there were a series of signs placed intermittently throughout the trail. Many of those signs explained the condition of the surrounding landscape. They also detailed how a massive flood tore through the area back in 2011, during which sections of boardwalk were swept away and the landscape in many spots was severely damaged. Reading the signs enhanced this trail for me because they gave me insight into why many stretches looked the way they did. One of the things I always marvel at when I’m hiking, is the effort that’s put into creating and maintaining trails. I often imagine what it would’ve been like to create the trail I’m on; the planning that’s required and the labour of physically carving out a route for hikers. I have such a deep appreciation for the people involved in making nature accessible to hikers, so reading about the flood and contemplating the effort that went into restoring the track only amplified how grateful I was for the groups that pitched-in to make it safe to hike again.
Once I got to the culminating point of my hike (Sealers Cove), I had a snack of cheese and crackers, before taking a dip in the ocean (Google says that the body of water is technically called the ‘Bass Strait’, so I guess that’s where I was). After my swim, I laid out on my tiny microfiber towel for a bit, closed my eyes, listened to the waves, and soaked in the sunny day I’d been dealt. In an effort to avoid falling asleep, I got up and wandered around the cove a little bit. Surprisingly, there weren’t too many people there and it made for a prime opportunity to indulge in sun-soaking, ocean-frolicking, and GoPro-shooting. Eventually, I begrudgingly packed up my things and headed back to the carpark. I will admit that I paused at the fork in the trail, where one can continue on and make their way to the Sealers Cove Refuge Campsite (an additional 2 hours of hiking, one-way). Luckily, my better judgement kicked-in and I was rational enough to realize that tacking on an extra 4 hours of hiking would mean I’d be hiking the final stint of the trail as it was getting dark (wasn’t feeling that).
After making my way back to the carpark, I was riding the high from having completed a 6-to-7-hour hike (when I’m kicking it with my GoPro, my hiking time tends to be a bit longer than the trail signs suggest it should take). That elevated vibe was further propelled by my ‘level of stoked’ for the final component of my plan for the day: a pre-sunset visit to Picnic Bay.
There are several tracks people can take to access Picnic Bay. Given the fact that it was later in the day, I cheated a bit and chose to walk the 320-meter stint from the parking lot to get there. The trail from the parking lot to Picnic Bay is pretty chill and there aren’t any real hazards or sketchy spots that I saw during my brief walk. Just before one starts to descend down to the beach at Picnic Bay, they’re privy to amazing views of the bay and it makes for an awesome spot to grab some photos or shots from a higher-up vantage point. Similar to Sealers Cove, once I reached my destination I laid out my tiny microfiber towel and spent my time enjoying the views and swimming in the Bass Strait. There was also a fair amount of bird activity going on, which is evident in the clips I’ve included below.
All in all, I’d say that this particular day ranks in the Top 10 of hikes/hiking days I’ve completed. As I’ve mentioned a few times, between the weather, landscapes, and opportunity to give my legs a bit of a workout, it made for a spectacular day. While I don’t think that footage can do this place justice, hopefully the video and photos below paint a clearer picture of what I’ve described. (P.S. If the video is a bit grainy at first, just give it a sec to buffer and you should be set- enjoy!)
