Return to Tidal River Via South East Walking Track – Waterloo Bay Walking Track – Oberon Bay Walking Track
Dawn was slightly cloudier, though just as magical, on our second and last morning at the lightstation. There was more activity in the cottage this morning compared to yesterday as all overnight guests were checking out today. We were aiming to be out on the track by 9am(ish) but I think we were beaten out the door by a couple of hours by some of last nights guests! Not that it’s a race; we were there to enjoy the experience after all.
The view from the second door to our room that opens directly onto the veranda
Sunrise behind the cloud colours the eastern horizon
The lighthouse still shines its warning beacon
I can just see the swamp wallaby thinking, ‘What, you again?’
Pink clouds behind the silhouette of the lighthouse
Eastern bay and north coast line in the early morning
The neck that leads to the point. We’re surrounded by mountains and ocean here
Catching the sun about to peak over the clouds
A gorgeous day has dawned, perfect weather for a hike
Looking up at the Lighthouse Keepers Cottage
The lighthouse bathed in the clear morning light
Sun rising for another beautiful day at Wilsons Promontory National Park Lightstation
In our tired state of arrival on Tuesday, two days before, we had considered taking the shortest route back out (i.e. back along Telegraph Track). Fortunately, the weather had cooled as predicted and after a day of rest we were re-evaluating our options for getting back to Tidal River. We decided to stick with the original plan of heading up the east side to Waterloo Bay, turning inland from there to Telegraph Track, and following that up and over Telegraph Saddle – an anticipated 24.1km.
We had taken advantage of the spare food draw to leave behind the rice & tuna (hopefully it finds its way into a hungry stomach or two!), which meant we were only carrying lunch and snacks for today (if you’re interested, see what food we took here). Thankfully our packs were now a kilo or three (in Stephen’s case) lighter. When I shouldered my pack and tightened the waist strap, it actually felt right!! Thank heavens for that, because I really wasn’t looking forward to another 20km+ walk with an uncomfortable pack.
Colin, Renata and me
Walking down the steep path to the lighthouse I was once again thankful that I don’t usually have issues with my knees. With a pack on there’s a bit more strain everywhere.
1/6 Setting of for our return walk back to Tidal River
2/6 Still steep, but it looks like it’s going to be a great day
3/6 A bit of history about communicating with the outside world from the lightstation
4/6 One of the better preserved telegraph poles
5/6 Welcome to the Lightstation – there are a number of these information plaques around
6/6 Wow! They DID know how to do proper arrows once! What happened?
As we climbed the path up to the main (South East Walking) track we passed the first of three groups we’d see that morning. These young people were trooping down the path, once again looking like they’d been transported from a suburban park. One or two said ‘Hi’ as they passed, but it was the group leader at the end, a middle-aged bloke (possibly someone in the group’s dad?) whose comment surprised me.
“Gee, you took your packs?”
Well, we certainly weren’t going to leave them behind!
He was gone as soon as he’d said it, but it got me wondering – how many people realise that there’s accommodation at the lightstation?
If you’re only visiting the lighthouse as an optional side trip, why bother taking your pack with you?
The South East Walking Track has much to recommend it. So much more pleasant walking than the Telegraph Track yesterday. Lovely path, trees, rocks, views…
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Walking north towards Waterloo Bay there is a long steep-ish ridge to climb, but it is shaded and fortunately for us the group coming downhill didn’t bowl us over.
Occasionally you’ll find yourself up to your waist in brakenfern. And sometimes up to your chest. I hadn’t taken any precautions against leeches or ticks, but thankfully I didn’t pick any up. Whether it was because we weren’t the first walkers through this morning, or because the weather lately had been so dry that leeches were a bit scarce, or because there usually aren’t many along there, I’m not sure – just grateful, whatever the reason.
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By now we had been passed by three groups heading south and an older couple hiking and camping independently – must have been a busy night at Little Waterloo Bay camping area last night!
From the highest point of the track it’s pretty much downhill all the way to Waterloo Bay.
1/15 Onwards towards Waterloo Bay
2/15 Our first glimpse of Waterloo Bay – just as stunning as other people’s photos promised
3/15 Plenty more interesting granite boulders to walk past on the way down
4/15 The vegetation has changed slightly again, but the path is still clear and good
5/15 Mt Wilson overshadows the Waterloo Bay Walking Track connecting the bay with Telegraph Track
6/15 Don’t forget to watch where you put your feet as well as the view
7/15 More mossy boulders – we’re not out of the woods yet
8/15 Two people walking on the beach below – could this be Neal & Elle?
9/15 Waterloo Bay
10/15 Eucalypts spread across the valley
11/15 There are plenty of grass tress around here too in the sandy soil
12/15 The path gets sandy as you get closer to the beach
13/15 At last! Waterloo Bay!
14/15 We’ve caught up with Neal & Elle. The campsite at Little Waterloo Bay is another 2.3km further on
15/15 The other side of the side is much more weathered, but says it’s 8.5km to the lighthouse from here
We spotted two figures walking along the beach below and thought it could be Neal and Elle, who we knew were walking this way and had started out before us this morning, but we caught up with them before the bottom of the hill. Must have been another pair of hikers enjoying this magnificent part of the world.
Waterloo Bay is quite beautiful.
Looking north to Little Waterloo Bay – South East Walking Track continues along the coast up to Sealers Cove
Looking back (south) the way we’ve come (yes, that’s me)
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This time it was nice to have company while looking for the track leading off the beach. Stephen may have been pretty confident that it was 1km along, but after our Oberon Bay experience, I wasn’t taking anything for granted.
Waterloo Bay Walking Track entrance to the beach, about 1.2km north of track onto beach from lighthouse.
Once again it’s not obvious from a great distance, but unless there’s been a really high tide or stormy weather, it could be likely that there’s a lot of footprints around to lead you in the right direction. The clear giveaway here that this is the path you’re looking for is the large gap in the dunes and the mesh that’s been laid down to prevent erosion – more on that shortly.
Waterloo Bay Walking Track found, it was time for lunch. I was starting to get tired of salami, but our guest wasn’t getting fed, even if it did the ‘poor me, I’ve only got one leg’ trick.
What a spot to enjoy some lunch!
‘Hey there! Got some food?’
Maybe if I don’t beg they’ll throw some my way
Ok, getting bored. Maybe they’ll give me food if I do the ‘I’ve only got one leg trick’
Although Neal had very kindly offered to give us a lift from Telegraph Saddle (where they had parked their car) to Tidal River, we decided to push on ahead of them. Shouldering our packs we waved goodbye and set off.
I was expecting this track to be fairly similar to the one on the opposite side that joins Oberon Bay and Telegraph Track, except just over a kilometre longer. Maybe once it was, but currently it’s quite different because you’re not following a vehicle track (thank goodness for that!), there’s more change in elevation, and the vegetation is also much more varied. There are some stretches of sand (especially at the Telegraph Track end), but boardwalks and quite a bit of grid have been put in too. A lot of work has been done to limit erosion along here.
You start out in the swamp, but don’t worry – the boardwalk, though not as long as through Sealers Swamp, is (currently) in perfect condition. The grating also reappears periodically to protect parts of the track that have been more affected by erosion.
1/18 Heading inland once more, not entirely sure what to expect along this track
2/18 The sign says 11km to Oberon Carpark. I guess that’s the designation for most people heading this way? It’s 5.7km to Telegraph Track
3/18 From mesh to planks. Either are easier than walking on sand and used for limiting erosion
4/18 One last look
5/18 Off the dune, down into the swamp
6/18 Thank goodness there’s boardwalk!
7/18 Glad I’m not wading through that!
8/18 Back to a dry, compacted sand path
9/18 Hey, more grid!
10/18 – That didn’t last long
11/18 Before you know it – more grid. This stuff’s a lot better than chicken wire on wood or steel grating
12/18 A sandy path now
13/18 Mt Wilson is never really out of sight as you walk up the valley
14/18 Wombat poo. I can’t believe this is the first photo I took of it on this trip – it was everywhere
15/18 More swamp = more raised planking
16/18 It gets warm here without a breeze. Thankfully it wasn’t too hot today
17/18 Grid steps! What will they think of next?
18/18 Last bit of swamp
It’s not too long before the gentle rise gets steeper as you climb up the south side of the valley and pass below the Mussolini Rocks.
1/9 Climbing up the south side of the valley
2/9 Looking back to Waterloo Bay
3/9 I wonder if this is the same crow that I saw at the top of the hill earlier?
4/9 Last look at Waterloo Bay
5/9 The track passes below the ‘Mussolini Rocks’ in the background
6/9 The Mussolini Rocks only look close because they’re so big
7/8 Realise that around the rocks are fully grown eucalyptus trees and you’ll appreciate the size of these boulders
8/9 Mussolini Rocks – smooth on one side, cracked on the other
9/9 Mt Wilson dominates the northern side of the valley
From there you can see the back of Mt Oberon and across to Oberon Bay.
1/8 A bit of downhill walking was quite welcome at this point
2/8 A small pocket of lush vegetation ahead
3/8 An unexpectedly sandy rise out of the pocket of luck vegetation heralds a change of track surface for the final stretch
4/8 The path is now very sandy and exposed as we walk the last section to Telegraph Track
5/8 The path rises above the surrounding vegetation. I’m glad we’re not walking this on a hot, sunny day
6/8 Mt Wilson (far right) and the Wilson Range stretching to the north west
7/8 I’m guessing it was fire that this area is still recovering from?
8/8 End of the line – we’re back at Telegraph Junction
Despite having walked along Telegraph Track just two days ago, we couldn’t spot exactly where it was from the Waterloo Walking Track until we were right back at Telegraph Junction.
There seem to be signs every which way you look at the junction. It’s not easy to explain, so I’ve made a mud map.
Here are un-cropped photos of the signs (A to D) at Telegraph Junction:
Sign ‘A’ next to Oberon Bay Walking Track (OBWT), showing OBWT
Sign ‘A’ next to Oberon Bay Walking Track, showing view south along Telegraph Track
Sign ‘B’ opposite Oberon Bay Walking Track
Sign ‘B’ opposite Oberon Bay Walking Track, showing view north along Telegraph Track
Sign ‘C’ opposite (Little) Waterloo Bay Walking Track, showing view north along Telegraph Track
Signs ‘C’ opposite (Little) Waterloo Bay Walking Track (WBWT), and sign ‘D’ next to WBWT showing view approaching Telegraph Track from WBWT
Sign ‘D’ next to (Little) Waterloo Bay Walking Track showing a small view south of Telegraph Track
I’ve also summarised the information on the signs because at the time not all of them seemed to agree, and sometimes it’s not until I’ve got pen and paper in hand that I can get things straight in my own mind. It would seem that someone else could have used a bit of pen and paper at some point too…? Check out the Roaring Meg numbers.
Now that we were at, very literally, a cross roads once more, our next choice came down to the long, known way or the shorter, unknown, but probably harder way. In other words, back via Oberon Bay, or up and over Telegraph Saddle (via Oberon Carpark)? If we went up and over, the plan was for one person to stay with the packs at the top while the other person walked the final 3.5km back to Tidal River to get the car and come back to collect the other person and packs.
Despite today not being as hot as the first day, we were once again getting low-ish on water. Another steep hill climb really didn’t sound very appealing at all. We chose the known path via the beach – 11km vs 9.6km according to our SV Map or 10km according to Parks Victoria. (Whatever!)
The first section back to Oberon Beach is fairly unremarkable so we just tried to walk the sandy track as briskly as we could.
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Eventually we made it to the beach. It was a very welcome sight. The compact, wet sand makes for easy walking for a kilometre to the northern end of the beach.
1/12 Finally! Back to Oberon Beach!
2/12 Despite all the footprints around, we didn’t see anyone else on the beach
3/12 There were heaps of critters making patterns in the sand all the way along the beach
A lonely windswept beach under a cloudy sky – glorious except we were low on water and tired
5/12 I wish I knew the name of this pyramid shaped mountain
6/12 The parks is well known for it’s orange-stained rocks, just like those in Tassie
7/12 Not sure if this is an Australian Raven or Little Raven since I didn’t catch any of them calling
8/12 Corvid tracks on the beach I think. Note the hind claw leaving a drag mark
9/12 A flock of mostly Pacific Gulls near Growler Creek
10/12 Walking up to the start of the next section of path having crossed Growler Creek
11/12 Near the path on/off the beach near Growler Creek
The start of the path around the headland back to Little Oberon Bay from Growler Creek
Having had a bit of a rest walking along the flat, it was time to climb again. On the plus side, the track around this headland isn’t particularly demanding, and there’s great views and a breeze to be enjoyed.
1/13 Walking up the path around the headland from Growler Creek, Oberon Beach
2/13 Looking back at Oberon Beach and Growler Creek
3/13 Looking out across Oberon Bay to Great Glennie Island & the Glennie Island group
4/13 Approaching Little Oberon Bay from the south
5/13 The track is very well made, but you do still need to look where you’re putting your feet
6/13 A steeper section. It doesn’t last long
7/13 The track skirts a deep scar left by a land slide – photo taken August 2013, but hasn’t changed much
8/13 Approaching Little Oberon Bay Beach (from the south)
9/13 The beautiful and reasonably accessible Little Oberon Bay
10/13 Not far until Tidal River now
11/13 The path to Little Oberon Beach from the south
12/13 Crossing Little Oberon Beach
13/13 The tide is out at Little Oberon Bay
Climbing up the fine white sand dune to regain the path was tiring. There is a reason why surf lifesavers generally look so fit – sand and sea are not the easiest surfaces to propel yourself through!
The track around the headland past Norman Point climbs just as much as the previous headland, but this time it felt steeper. It was probably that I was just longing to reach the end and re-fill my water bottles. We were both quite tired and more than ready for a long icy drink by now.
1/12 Watch your step when you’re tired, even small rocks can trip you up
2/12 Little Oberon Bay looking fabulous
3/12 Steps are easy enough, except when you’re tired
4/12 Step or slope, there’s a bit more up to go yet
5/12 Looking back across the bay to where we’d walked the last couple of days
6/12 Back in the open
7/12 There are some shady parts here around the headland
8/12 Almost at the point
9/12 Norman Bay – getting close to Tidal River now
10/12 There are some amazing boulders to admire along this section, not just the ones the path crosses over
11/12 Norman Bay looking very calm in the afternoon
12/12 Low tide on Norman Beach
Leaving beach views behind, the track heads inland then runs more or less parallel to the beach, back to Tidal River.
The path behind Norman Beach is shaded in the afternoon
There are large stands of tea trees around Tidal River
Twisted but compelling, I enjoy being under the tea trees
It had been a long walk, but we were finally back!
Last turn back to the Tidal River Visitor Centre
We’d made it! Unfortunately I don’t have a finish line photo. So here’s a wrap up instead.
Elevation Profile from Wilsons Promontory Lightstation to Tidal River Visitor Centre
Total walking time for ~25km was 7hr 15min but of that actual moving time was only 6hr 20min, according to my Garmin data.
As it was now about 5pm (or there abouts) it was well after closing time for both the Visitor Centre and the General Store. Checking in to report that we’d made it back safely would have to wait until tomorrow, but more importantly in the immediate present we’d have to wait until driving out of the park before getting Stephen the quick sugar hit (a soft drink) he was craving as much as I had been desperate for my effervescent powder at the end of the first day’s walk.
Plain water was going to have to do for now. Since Tidal River is primarily a camping site, finding tap water was not a problem. Knowing if it was safe to drink was a little trickier. There weren’t signs saying not to drink from taps around the place, but to be on the safe side I re-filled our bottles from one of the permanent dishwashing stations (one of the brick buildings around the camp site).
The drive out was easy as it wasn’t late enough for nocturnal/diurnal animals to start feeding by the side of the road and become a traffic hazard – although you should always drive cautiously through the park. It’s about a 30min drive from Tidal River to the park’s entrance in daylight, a bit longer at dusk and night time because you need to slow down to avoid hitting animals.
We had taken (but left in the car while we were out on our hike) pasta to cook for tonight’s dinner back at the studio cottage at Black Cockatoo, but thought we might find something better at Yanakie General Store. Indeed we did! Thursday night was fish’n’chip night! It was fresh and it was good. There were enough chips for probably 4 people, but they were excellent chips, and came with an equally generous tub of tartare sauce. Perfect after a hard day’s hike, and enjoyed as we watched the cows returned to the field after their evening’s milking.
An idyllic pastoral scene from Black Cockatoo’s Studio Cottage
Devondale cows grazing in the field in front of the cottage
An almost full moon rising over Corner Inlet
Hike complete, the question is… would we do it again? Yes. Definitely.
Would we do it differently? If we had camping gear it would be nice to take the time to do a bigger loop as I think most hikers do, instead of rushing in and rushing out as we did. But next time, regardless of camping equipment status, we’re planning to go in winter (which will also be off-peak – assuming a stay at the cottages can be booked then) and park up at the saddle carpark to shorten the walking time and distance by half a dozen kilometres! Shorter daylight hours in which to complete the walk, more clothes to pack, but perhaps less chance of encountering snakes on Telegraph Track.
I still want to visit South Point.
But mostly I want to go back and watch the sunrise again in that most serene and beautiful of places.
Appreciating sunrise at Wilsons Promontory Lightstation
Last August we left Wilsons Promontory Nation Park (aka “The Prom”) with a sense of frustration that we couldn’t explore very much of the park in one-day-return walks. This had to be amended.
There are two multi-day circuits you can walk in the park – northern and southern – that have campsites spaced at reasonable distances along the way. I’ve read that the southern circuit is the more popular, easier and better defined of the two. The southern circuit also includes optional side walks to mainland Australia’s most south-eastern point and most southerly point; both of which we hoped to bag on this trip.
With the added lure of being able to stay at the lightstation at the south-eastern corner, a mere 20km (roughly) from Tidal River, plans were made to return. It would mean at least two days of long walks to get there and back, but if that’s what it was going to take, then so be it. As mentioned in my previous post we aren’t equipped for camping which is why this would be an all-or-nothing dash between Tidal River and the Lightstation (and back again). If we were also camping we’d probably do it as a 4 or 5 night walk, and travel only half the distance each day that we did.
Our Destination – Wilsons Promontory Lightstation
In preparing for the walk we found there to be a lack of detailed information about both the walk and the accommodation at the lightstation from Parks Victoria – or maybe the information provided is of usual standard and we were just nervous first-timers. I’m not sure.
In any case, we already had an SV Map from our previous visit (see August 2013 Part 1 & Part 2) which, while not quite pocket size, actually gives you the type of information that is of greatest benefit when preparing for walks; trivial details like contour lines, distances between points, landmarks etc – the kind of details you don’t get on Parks Victoria’s maps. Perusing photos shared on Google Maps will convince you that taking your camera along is a good idea (if you weren’t already planning to do so), but likewise doesn’t greatly assist in giving you much of an idea of what to expect along the way.
For the accommodation side of things, the greatest insight (and a large part of the inspiration) was provided by Greg of Hiking Fiasco fame who visited the lighthouse back in 2009. (Note: his photos are from Cottage 5 which currently sleeps about 10 people.) It was this post of Greg’s that lead me to embark on creating our own menu of hiking food – see previous post.
Therefore, our goals for this expedition were twofold:
1. to make it to the lighthouse & return again safely
2. to take enough photos to support a detailed blog post to help anyone else planning to walk to the lighthouse for the first time get a better idea of what to expect
Day 1: Tidal River to Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse (South East Lightstation) via Oberon Bay Walking Track then Telegraph Track
Our route to Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse
Having driven down from Melbourne the day before, Black Cockatoo’s studio cottage (just oust side the park in Yanakie) was ‘base camp’, allowing us to enjoy a good night’s sleep before rising early and excited, ready for our first big day of walking.
You can’t pass up the opportunity to take a few photos of the sunrise when it presents itself like this, though.
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We’d weighed our packs before leaving home. Despite last minute culling of one or two more items that morning, with the addition of our water bottles mine would have weighed 16.5kg or so and Stephen’s was about 18kg. Ooof!
It was a quiet drive down to Tidal River; not too many people on the road, and no wildlife either. There’s no point being too early, as the Visitor Centre doesn’t open until 8:30am. We arrived at about 8:45am, presented ourselves with booking confirmation at the main desk and were given a sticker to display inside the car’s windscreen. Despite the Parks Victoria website suggesting that we’d need to collect a permit (each?):
…nothing was given or mentioned. We were asked to check in again on our way out – and then we were free to go! I asked if there were any track issues we should be aware of, but apparently there are none at present.
By the time we put our boots on, packed up the car and made a last comfort stop it was 9:15am. Well and truly time to head off.
Look – people! (There were very few last August)
Caught unawares, looking happy, about to set off
Note: The shortest path to the lighthouse is to drive to the top of Telegraph Saddle (Oberon) Carpark, leave your car there (only Parks Victoria vehicles are allowed further), and follow Telegraph Track the whole way down. The shortest possible route (per our SV Map) indicated that to be 17.9km. We did not chose this option because:
(1) Stephen had read comments suggesting that it is less safe to leave your car up at the saddle carpark (and we like the Mini just as it is) so parking it right outside the Visitor Centre & police station (though we’ve never seen signs of police actually there – possibly it’s a peak season thing) seemed like the safest choice; and
(2) We’d read that the Telegraph Saddle Track is a bit boring, so walking the whole length in one go was not too appealing. The original plan was to return on Day 3 from the lighthouse via the South East Walking Track, taking the Waterloo Bay Walking Track back to Telegraph Junction, return to Tidal River over the Telegraph Saddle and see what we’d missed out on (but with lighter packs by then).
By choosing to leave the car at Tidal River, we then had the options of two routes to get to Telegraph Junction:
– either by taking the undulating and varied Oberon Bay Walking Track around the west coast to Oberon Bay
– or heading inland and walking up and over Telegraph Saddle to follow Telegraph track the whole way.
The Oberon Bay Walking track option is 1.4km longer, but on the other hand you avoid a climb of approx 200m (with full and heavy packs) at the outset. We chose Oberon Bay Walking Track.
Note that there is a shuttle bus service up to Telegraph Saddle but it doesn’t operate during the week, only during peak periods when the Telegraph Saddle (Oberon) carpark is otherwise closed to private cars (see more about the shuttle bus service here).
Thus, this was the elevation profile for our walk to the lightstation:
Elevation profile to Wilsons Prmontory Lighthouse
Oberon Bay Walking Track (very glamorously) starts behind the toilet block between the Visitor Centre and the General Store at Tidal River. This path is well formed and well travelled, and provides lovely beach views as it climbs up to Norman Point and around to Little Oberon Bay.
(I have added in a couple of track photos from August – just convince you that it’s not all calm conditions and sunshine there!)
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There’s a short stretch of beach to cross at Little Oberon Bay. (What a beautiful place this is!)
Little Oberon Bay
White sand at Little Oberon Bay
On the beach at Little Oberon Bay
Just after you cross the line of rocks bisecting the beach, look for a mass of footprints that leads up to the shelf above the beach. There’s a yellow sign indicating where the track continues on.
And that’s not the trickiest one in the park by a long shot. Here’s a closer photo so you know what you’re looking for, not just roughly where.
This is a very well beaten path, still being within pretty easy walking distance of Tidal River, but if the weather has wiped out the dozens of footprints usually there to follow, look for the line of rocks indicating the path.
The track around the next headland is very similar to the one around Norman Point. It was along here that I was intrigued to see, and count myself lucky to have got the chance to photograph, a white-lipped snake.
White-lipped snake on path to Oberon Bay
Close up of the head of the white-lipped snake
My copy of “Australian Reptiles and Amphibians” (Leonard Cronin, 2001) advises that the White-lipped Snake (Drysdalia coronoides) is venomous but not dangerous. Although they may grow to 50cm long, this one was only about 20cm, I’d say. And if you’re wondering what they eat…
…skinks, skink eggs, frogs and even small mammals are all potential prey.
By now Oberon Beach was in sight. We’d checked ahead and knew the tide would be pretty low when we got to Growler Creek, meaning getting wet feet was highly unlikely. Keep in mind too, that there hasn’t been any rain (or meaningful rain) for the last couple of months.
Oberon Bay
Descending to Growler Creek
The start of the path around the headland back to Little Oberon Bay from Growler Creek
Starting off along Oberon Beach
Stephen crossing Growler Creek
We hadn’t walked along Oberon Beach before, so weren’t exactly sure where the turn off was. I thought it was at the end of the beach, but was hoping for another bright yellow sign to show the way. So we kept walking, taking photos and looking for a bright yellow sign…
Growler Creek from Oberon Beach
Great Glennie Island from Oberon Beach
Immature (2nd yr) Pacific Gull
It’s easy walking along the flat wet sand of Oberon Beach
Crested Tern (non-breeding)
Looking back across Oberon Bay to Norman Point
Too busy walking to the end of the beach & photographing birds, I missed this sign
I was slightly wrong. We overshot by a couple of hundred metres. The track to/from the beach is on the northern side of Fraser Creek, and indicated by the usual wooden green Vic Parks sign but it’s not accompanied by a yellow high-visibilty-type sign that we were looking for. Which is why I’ve adulterated this next photo, in the hope that it may help someone else avoid our mistake. Frasers Creek is only about 1km along from Growler Creek, and you should look for the signed path through the low dune just north of Frasers Creek, which itself is pretty obvious.
The sign marking the path to Oberon campsite & Telegraph Track
The path through the dune behind Oberon Bay
After about 30m there is a nice new composting toilet at the turn off to the camping ground. The track to Telegraph Track continues for 3.5km eastward on a pretty sandy, mildly undulating, vehicle track.
Nice loo! Path to Telegraph Track to the left, path to campsite to the right
It was getting noticeably warm by this point. There wasn’t a lot of breeze today, and walking through the valley floor I was wondering how stifling it could get through here in the height of summer (usually mid January to the end of February)…
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We finally made it to Telegraph Junction. It felt like a long 11km from Tidal River. Mind you, I couldn’t get my back pack to settle comfortably, and the day really seemed to be hotter than the predicted 23oC, which wasn’t helping.
Looking back along Oberon Bay Walking Track (the way we’d come)
The sign on the opposite side of Telegraph Track where Oberon Bay Walking Track starts/ends
There is probably about 30m (max) between where the Oberon Bay Walking Track meets the Telegraph Track from the west and where the Waterloo Bay Track meets up from the east. This area is known as Telegraph Junction.
Telegraph Junction – About 30m ahead where the clump of trees shades the road is the turnoff to Lt Waterloo Bay
Waterloo Bay Walking Track & Telegraph Track junction
Telegraph Track is (currently) a very well made and maintained maintenance road running from Telegraph Saddle (Oberon Carpark) to about 3km from the lightstation. The park rangers at the lighthouse drive this road to start/finish their weekly shift. It makes for sure footing, but it’s also pretty hot and exposed.
The long slog up over the southern hills begins – Telegraph Track
An old telegraph pole on the side of Telegraph Track
Soon every metre of shade counts as the road reflects the heat back up at us – Telegraph Track
Just 1.8km along from Telegraph Junction, but already feeling like a fair way higher up the hill, Halfway Hut was a great location for a brief lunch stop just off the side of the road (there is also a camping area nearby).
Turnoff to Halfway Hut from Telegraph Track, heading south towards Roaring Meg/Lightstation
Halfway Hut
Inside Halfway Hut
Toilet near Halfway Hut – Telegraph Track
Turn off to Halfway Hut from Telegraph Track, heading north towards Tidal River
The further we walked, the more I was convinced that it was hotter than 23oC – Stephen later found out from one of the park rangers that it got up to 30oC. But knowing that at the time wouldn’t have helped. You have to be mindful of how much you’re drinking and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
But damn it was a long, hard slog up that road on the slopes of Telegraph Hill and past Martins Hill!
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After many false summits we were finally at the top of the track by Martins Hill. The vegetation’s quite cleared up there as it’s also a helicopter landing area (according to our map). I didn’t feel the relief though. All I could think about was drinking long glasses of lemon effervescent drink (currently in powder form in my pack) once we finally made it to the lightstation – still a long way off – and meanwhile my pack wasn’t getting any lighter.
Walking track option to Roaring Meg campsite from Telegraph Track at top of Martin’s Hill
Here at the top of the hill is the start/end of an alternative walking track route that is 200m longer than the management track. We decided to stick with the vehicle track thinking it’d be a better grade and possible quicker. (Much earlier in the walk, when we were heading up to Norman Point, Stephen had an small accident that resulted in a skinned knee. This influenced a couple of track choice decisions.)
I’d like to say I took the opportunity to enjoy walking downhill for a while, but I confess the main thought on my mind was, ‘If we come back up this road [i.e. taking the shortest way back, which seemed more than likely at this point] it’s going to be another looong slog.”
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The tall trees and ferns in the gullies here are lovely, and in any other circumstance I’d probably have been delighted to be walking there, but under the circumstances I didn’t appreciate it as fully as it possibly deserved. The shady parts were wonderful, but surely all this downhill walking meant that soon we would see some sign that we were getting close to the end of the promontory? Unfortunately, there is no glimpse or even hint of your goal (or even the ocean) until you’re practically upon it, and that’s not for half a dozen kilometres yet. There’s nothing but the neighboring hills.
Probably less than 100m before you get to Roaring Meg Creek at the bottom of the hill is an intersection that I shall refer to as ‘Roaring Meg Junction’. Here is the turnoff to Roaring Meg campsite and also the track to South Point, the inventively named most southerly point on the Australian mainland – a destination I had originally hoped to bag the following day, but one that was looking increasingly unlikely (this trip). It’s also at this junction that the bushwalking track that we could have taken back up at the top near Martins Hill joins back to the management track. Another bushwalking track option starts – this time it’s 1.1km shorter (2.3km vs 3.4km) to head off the road. The bushwalking track re-joins the management track 3.8km before the lightstation (per our SV Map).
Roaring Meg junction – Telegraph Track
Sign at Roaring Meg junction – Telegraph Track
It was at Roaring Meg Junction that we first met Neal (possibly Neil) and Elle (possibly El). They were also heading to the lighthouse but had chosen the shorter option of starting from Telegraph Saddle and had taken the bushwalker track from Martin’s Hill to this point.
We decided to continue on along the management track, and they chose the bush track. I was not over the moon with this decision, thinking that any track in the shade had to be 100x better than one with bugger-all shade and more hot, gravel surface reflecting the heat back up at me (keeping in mind it was 30oC, with out much in the way of a breeze for the most part), but it was the even surface that Stephen wanted (due to his knee).
It was slow going up along there.
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One surprise on the way up that long rise was something every bushwalker should be mindful of, especially on warm days – a snake!
It was startled by Stephen who was a few metres ahead of me. A dark Tiger Snake (see also), a good metre or so in length, neck flattened, gave me a warning look and quickly moved off the road. “Holy Shit!!” was my startled exclamation.
Tiger snake disappearing into the scrub
A kilometre or so further along was anotherTiger Snake (Notechis scutatus). Stephen, still walking in front, was the one to startle it, but this time saw it out of the corner of his eye and got a bit of a fright himself! I don’t think the snake saw me at first. It was lying across the road and watching Stephen.
My photo of the snake, looking at Stephen who’d just walked past
Then it noticed me approaching!
I wasn’t sure how to pass. Not in front! Behind?
More effective than Gandalf in barring the way
It took a few seconds (and given my dehydrated state, that’s not surprising) but I realised it wasn’t moving off like the first one did because it felt threatened – trapped between two giant (potential) predators it didn’t know what to do. The flattened neck was a bit of a give away. Once Stephen and I both backed off a few metres (it didn’t take much) the snake relaxed and within 15sec you’d have never known there was a snake there at all.
In the Visitor Centre back at Tidal River there is a sign warning that there are various species of snake in the park. I took this photo on our first trip to the park last August (of course, being winter we were much less likely to see a snake then).
Parks Victoria notice – Snakes in the Park
Thank goodness both the Tiger Snakes we passed were only interested in disappearing into the bush. I had a couple of compression bandages once, but they got old and mouldy and haven’t been replaced. Our first aid kit has one standard length cotton stretch (crepe) bandage. We may have to do something about that. I had recently heard that the recommended treatment for snakebite had changed… I’ve now looked it up – here’s a link to St John Ambulance’s advice – which is pretty much as I remember it.
Looking back at where the walking track joins back up with Telegraph Track
Neal and Elle told us later that although the bushwalking track is shorter, because it’s so steep (and small stones on the path make steep slopes sometimes feel like you’re walking on marbles) it’s not really the easier option.
At last you start heading downhill again and finally come to a couple of signs. The usual green-painted Parks Victoria sign with the hopeless blobby arrows on the right-hand side of the road indicates that the small dirt path on the left side of the road is the southern end of the South East Walking Track. A sign just ahead (on the left-hand side of the road) saying “No Through Road” convinced me that although the track off to the side looked like a goat track, it could actually be legitimate. I’m pretty sure the Parks Victoria sign didn’t say anything about the lightstation, but I failed to take a photo to check! Someone had helpfully scratched into the dirt of the road “Girls this way” with an arrow pointing to the small side track… With that ambiguous statement to ponder, we set off along what I really hoped would turn out to be the right path. Thankfully it was.
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Finally you get to see your destination! It’s a fair way down from Telegraph Track.
Our destination – Wilsons Promontory Lightstation
Getting closer! – Wilsons Promontory Lightstation
The bay to the west of the lightstation on a very calm afternoon, Rodondo Island (Tas) in the distance
From this angle, the hill in between and the final climb don’t look too bad…
At one of the turns, most of the way down, is the turn off from the South East Walking Track to the lighthouse.
Turn off to the lighthouse – less than 1km to go, but it’s pretty steep going
If the small hill between you and the South East Point was man-made, then I would say it was a cruel joke. It’s steep, although (thankfully) reasonably short. There are also unmarked graves near the large ‘skull rocks’ near the top – they once had wooden markers, but they were destroyed in one of the bushfires that burnt out the promontory – the massive bushfire of 1951 I think we were told.
That hill looks fun
It’s every bit as steep as it looks and more
Approaching ‘Skull Rocks’
Close-up of the weathered granite rocks
Just over the hill with the skull rocks is the helipad where supplies are flown in a few times a year. We saw Neal and Elle ahead of us, already walking up the last steep path to the lightstation.
Helipad servicing the lightstation
You can just see Elle wearing a red backpack climbing the hill ahead
Unlike many visitors (it seems), we had been forewarned about this bit, thanks to Hiking Fiasco. Knowing it was coming certainly helped mentally prepare for it, but it was even steeper than I’d given his story credit.
Here we were. Time to face the Big Climb To The Top
One…last…effort.
I confess I was thinking of Frodo & Sam on Mt Doom
And then there was Renata, one of the Park Rangers welcoming me to the top, and Stephen with a freshly filled bottle of cold water (I had a mouthful but I was still hanging out for that effervescent drink).
We were shown around the old Lighthouse Keepers Cottage and met Colin, the other Park Ranger stationed here this week. We had room No 1 (perhaps because we were the first to book?) which is possibly the best, as it has it’s own door to the veranda and you can look directly out to the lighthouse (but the light doesn’t shine in of a nighttime). Finally we could drop our bags, take off the boots, find my bag of powdered saline drink and gulp down as much of the replenishing lemon-flavoured drink as I needed to feel somewhat recovered again. (Tip: you know you’ve had enough when it starts to taste less appealing.)
Once we’d rested for a few minutes, it was time for a wonderful hot shower, clean clothes, then to explore! (With a bottle of water in hand; re-hydrating properly can take a while.)
Our room had it’s own door to the veranda which was pretty special
The eastern side of the veranda
Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse aka South East Point Lighthouse & Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) weather station, Rodondo Is (TAS) in the background
The main entrance of the Lighthouse Keepers Cottage (left) and the Parks Victoria Keepers cottage (right)
Looking down the main path to the lighthouse
‘Tis the season for Bare Naked Ladies to pop up… I think they’re heritage protected while they stay in the gardens (which they haven’t)
Looking north along the east coast toward Waterloo Bay
There used to be a flying fox to haul supplies up the hill from the dock at east landing
Behind the cottages on the west side of the path
Day visitors don’t get much, but on the whole they don’t come for long and I don’t think they come for comfort
The Lighthouse Keepers Cottage
Truly, it wasn’t long before the pure bliss of being here totally washed away all the negative sentiments thought along the Telegraph Track. And then some.
Forty Foot Rock and Mancoeur Islands (I think) – just some of the more obvious reasons for the lighthouse
The bay to the west of the lightstation
Looking out to Rodondo Island, which falls under Tasmania’s jurisdiction
Standing atop my favourite rock, behind Cottage 5
You can see all the way to South Point from here I think, just don’t go past this point
A ship heading to Melbourne
Great moody clouds over the ocean
It’s so peaceful and relaxing here… but I’m not sure how often it’s this calm.
I quickly decided I could happily live here. It’s not just because the walk back out seemed like a lot of effort (especially right now, having just walked 25km to get here), but because it was just perfect. Nice breeze, tall cliffs, lighthouse, ocean, offshore islands, tall, forested mountains, hardly anyone around – what more could you possibly ask?
How about seeing a wombat and her baby walking around the cottages? Well, we did.
A wombat and her young
Stephen’s very cleverly put together this collage of them.
Apparently there are about 12 that live around the cottages, and given the amount of wombat poo around, that’s not hard to believe! They do very well at keeping the grass down. They’re quite a bit darker than the ones that live around Tidal River.
Wombat at Tidal River – much lighter coloured than those seen at the lightstation
It turned out that it was only the four of us staying at the cottage that night – Stephen and I, and Neal and Elle. It was a nice and companionable evening. (I hope we didn’t bang on at them too much about our opinions on how visitor options for the park could be seriously improved.)
It rained that evening and into the night (which was great to hear) so we didn’t go spotlighting or take any starry photos. I just hope the rain was wide spread in the region as it’s desperately wanted.
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