Cathedral Range State Park

Northern and Southern circuit walk
Length: 19.5km, circuit
Duration: 2 days (~5 hrs of walking each day)
Region: Cathedral Range State Park (nearest town Buxton)
References: "Day Walks Melbourne" (Walk 33, 34 with modification), Vicmap Outdoor Leisure map, and park notes

The Razorback:

-- 1st Day --
This walk was fantastic. We walked from Cooks Mill to Jawbone Car park. We then headed up Cerberus road and then up Canyon track along the Razorback to the Farmyard, where we stayed overnight. Climbing up Canyon track with 15-17kgs (we carried all our water for the two days) on your back is quite the challenge and made for very sore legs the next day. Climbing up canyon track required rock scrambling and we aren't 100% sure that we were on the "trail" all of the time so it might of been harder than it should have been but we had fun. The views along the Razorback are worth every sore muscle. We arrived at the Farmyard and setup camp. We were the only ones there and it was really peaceful.

The Farmyard view out to the west at sunset:

-- 2nd Day --
We headed off after breakfast at around 8:45am. We went up towards the Cathedral Peak but took the right hand track and went down to Neds Saddle. We then climbed Neds peak and had lunch there. We then headed down onto Neds Gully Walking track to Little River walking track back to the car. The second day was less breathtaking because you are essentially scaling down the mountain range back to the gully, where the main campsites are. We didn't go up to the Little Cathedral or the Cathedral Peak and decided to leave that for another trip. We hope to come back one day and goto Wells Cave and also to scale up to the Cathedral peak.

Looking south from Neds Peak at where we have come from:


Impressions: Great views and physically challenging.

Tree Fern Walk

Tree Fern walk outlined in "Day Walks Melbourne"

Length: 9.3km, circuit
Duration: 3 1/2 hours
Region: Bunyip State Park

This was a really good short walk. I would definitely do this again. The variety of the walk was fantastic from dry brushland to 'rainforest' like gulleys. The "Tree Fern Walking" Track is one of the nicest parts of the walk. However, for anyone who does this walk there are a few things you should know. Firstly, some of the tracks are hard to find because they are obviously under utilised and overgrown. Parker Link Track is one of the tracks that is hard to find especially from Steege Road. Also, the other major thing to take note of is that Triangle Road and Link Road have been signposted by state parks as back to front in contradiction to what is shown on vicmap, melways, and google maps. In other words, some maps show Triangle Road as Link Road and Link Road as Triangle Road. Let's just say that this made us feel very lost when we came across "Link Road" . We thought that somehow the we were 2kms from where we should be and previously I was quite sure of where we were. Argghh! :)

Rating: Excellent.

Andrew Hill Circuit

Andrew Hill Circuit walk outlined in "Day Walks Melbourne"

Length: 11.4km, circuit
Duration: 4 hours
Region: Kinglake National Park



It was fantastic because it was raining. Finally, some decent rain in Melbourne. It was also our first walk of the year. Because it was raining, the cloud cover was settling in on the top of Andrew Hill, which offered an encompassing atmosphere that lead to some nice pictures. The walk up to Andrew Hill is the hardest part of the walk. I cannot comment on views because quite frankly it was too foggy/cloudy to see much further than 10-15 metres ahead.



Rating: Exceptional because of the weather. Probably an average walk on a normal day.

Beeripmo

Beeripmo walk outlined in "Bushwalking in Australia"

Length: 16.6km
Duration: 2 days
Region: Western Victoria, between Ballarat and the Grampians



This is a very good walk. We had good weather both days (~25-27 degrees). The first day scaled upwards and the second day was a lot easier as you are going downwards most of the way. The views from around Cave Hill were fantastic. Its worth doing the walk just for the lookouts around the Cave Hill area. This walk could be done as a long day walk but I appreciated having the break overnight as I was quite tired after heading in an upward direction for the first half of the walk.

The Beeripmo Campsite is well maintained and very comfortable with drop toilets and low tables to prepare food on. It was good to see that there was no rubbish left behind by fellow campers. We were the only ones there that night. The water from the tanks at Beeripmo camp looked a little dodgy. However, we boiled some up and added chlorine and we live to tell the tale :).

The walk is very easy to navigate with plenty of signposting. Most of the walk utilises walking tracks rather than firetrails, which was good. The walk goes through areas of dry Australian brushland, ferny gullies and areas of tall gums. A walk that demonstrates the Australian landscape and has some good views from the lookout areas.



3.5 out of 5 stars

Sherbrooke Forest

Walk 23 from "Day Walks Melbourne"

Length: 11.5km
Time: 4 hours
Region: Dandenong Ranges, Victoria

Setting off:


I did this walk with some friends and family. This is the second time that I've completed this walk. The walk is pleasant and utilises walking tracks and firetrails. I would recommend this walk for anyone wanting to do a lazy Saturday afternoon tramp. Its easy to navigate and it has enough hills and environmental variation to keep you interested.

3 out of 5 stars

Mason Falls Circuit

Walk 26 from "Day Walks Melbourne"

Length: 13.5km
Time: 4.5 hours
Region: Kinglake National Park, Victoria

At the picnic area -


This was a good walk. It was a warm and sunny day. I went there with my brother-in-law. Its a very easy walk to do from a navigational point of view. The last uphill section (firetrail) before arriving at the picnic area is ordinary but the falls are worth seeing. At the picnic ground, we got the chance to get really close to lyrebirds and an assortment of other native birds (Very cool). I probably wouldn't do it again but its fine for a once off.

The falls from the lookout -


3 out of 5 stars

Olinda Valley

Walk 24 from "Day Walks Melbourne"

Length: 12.1km
Time: 3.5 hours

Dam Road (This is the same place as the picture on p.122) -


We decided that we would do another short walk. It was a beautiful sunny day (~20degrees) with little cloud overhead. We followed the outlined map in the book with one deviation. The deviation that we took was at the end of Rifle Range Gully Track. Instead of going up Barges Track, we went on Bartlett Track which was more of a walking track than Barges Track (we've been on Barges Track before). It was a good deviation and I highly suggest it. Bartletts Track then reenters Barges Track and you continue walking onto Georges Track. We then sat down and had lunch at Eagles Nest Picnic Ground which is a lovely grassy opening in the middle of the bushland. The circuit ends with a stroll through the arboretum which is pictured below and it is a very steep walk back up to the beginning. Overall, it was a good mix of walking tracks and firetrails and had nice scenery.

The walk back through the arboretum -


3.5 out of 5 stars

Olinda Falls

Walk 25 from "Day Walks Melbourne"

Length: 7.2km
Time: 2.5 hours

At the Falls-


Today we went to Olinda Falls, for a short walk on our day off. We followed Mechanics Track at the start; it is an overgrown path through rainforest, which follows the Olinda Creek. We took a short detour to the Olinda Falls, which were very pretty. Nearing the end of Bartlett track as you walk toward Falls road, there is a small little road/track on the left. This little track opens up to a nice little clearing worth having a peek at. Overall this walk was easy and the day was a little overcast but with the sun breaking through. This is not the best walk that we've done but it was a good walk to do when you only want to do a short walk. We stopped to look at things along the way and went off the tracks to see things that interested us, so it took a little longer than the suggested 2.5 hrs.

Along Mechanics Track -

3 out of 5 stars