It’s been four and a half years since we last went to Wilsons Promontory — a national park at the southern tip of mainland Australia, about three and a half hours out of Melbourne. I’ve been going there for as long as I can remember (mum and dad took us there while I was still a baby), so it feels a bit weird trying to describe the place from scratch, as I don’t know what it’s like to see it for the first time.
It’s one of my favourite places in the world, a large national and marine park with the only accommodation being fairly basic at Tidal River, where Norman Bay is secluded, surrounded by mountains with gentle waves as the beach is protected by the islands opposite. If you’re going there, beware that since it’s fairly remote there’s not much in the way of food or groceries at the one general store. In prior years I remember there being more dining options, but this time around it was mostly hot chips and chicken nuggets, with the “healthy choices” section completely empty. So, bringing your own food is essential.
In short, “The Prom” is one of my favourite places to relax. I’m on sabbatical for the next few months, so heading back there was the ideal way to kick off a good period of rest!
There are lots of longer hikes that I’ve never been on, but the short and medium walks are pretty spectacular. Here’s a few we went on this time:
Lilly Pilly Gully Circuit
Lilly Pilly Gully is the southern-most warm temperature rainforest in Australia. The walk there is pretty gentle, but if you do the circuit, the track climbs up higher with a nice view down to Tidal River on the way back. I remember the gully being lush and dark when I was a kid, but apparently the 2009 fires vastly changed the vegetation. When you get to the gully loop, the area is quite open, but further along the boardwalk there’s still a good section with lilly pillies and their twisty branches creating a canopy with low ferns underneath. There’s a lovely atmosphere there, and on the way out we saw a gorgeous Rufous Fantail.
Tidal Overlook Circuit
Typically, every time I go to Wilsons Prom, I’ll at least do the walk from Tidal River to Squeaky Beach, the next beach over from Norman Bay. It’s a nice walk, with great views of both beaches, in between stretches amongst the tea trees.
Right now, the footbridge across Tidal River is closed, but you can still do the walk starting from the Lilly Pilly Gully carpark. It adds about a kilometre to the beginning of the walk, but it also gives you more great views of Mount Oberon, so we didn’t mind. Just be sure to use a different bathroom before going there as the one at the carpark is a long drop.
Since we’d last been there, Parks Victoria had conducted a controlled ecological burn in sections of the north side of Tidal River, to remove invasive Coast Tea-tree. It was pretty fascinating how green and vibrant the burned areas now are, and we saw a couple of adorable wallabies just beside the track.
The Tidal Overlook Circuit, along with walking down to Squeaky Beach, took us about two hours with breaks. I’m glad we had to do the circuit in the end, otherwise we’d have missed some great views!
Norman Point via Norman Beach
Ever since I started open water swimming in January, I’ve become a morning person, and we typically start our days very early. That meant that after doing the Tidal Overlook Circuit we still had all afternoon for another walk. This one took us in the opposite direction from Squeaky Beach and down to the other headland overlooking Norman Beach.
The beach itself is around a mile in length, which makes for a nice running route in the mornings. Unlike around where we live, there’s a good stretch of hard packed sand, so it makes for an ideal running surface.
In case you’re wondering why I took a photo of a toilet block, there’s a few reasons:
- Always start a walk from a toilet block, it’s important to plan these things.
- This was the start of the trail.
- Other walks (like Lilly Pilly Gully) also start near a toilet block, but they’re typically long drop toilets. Better if you can to go to a proper block like this one before heading off on a hike.
And now, back to the nice photos.
A boat tour down to South Point
A good trip to Wilsons Prom for me consists of going on a few walks, lots of time swimming in Norman Bay, and having an early night. But ever since I saw the boats going out into the bay last time we were there, I’ve wanted to go on a boat cruise and see what the Prom looks like from out on the water.
While walking back from the Norman Point walk, we passed by the old open air cinema where Wanderer Adventures operate out of and picked up a brochure. It turns out they had availability for the 11am tour on our departure day and the weather was perfect. I booked in online and the following day we were off on our first boat tour together!
The tour heads down the coast, stopping along the way to see a waterfall, a big sea eagle nest that’s apparently about two metres wide and a metre deep and is at least 60 years old. We then stopped at South Point, the southern tip of mainland Australia. From there, there’s a great view of Rodondo Island, which is only ten kilometres off the coast from Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, but is technically in Tasmanian waters. The tour guide said the summit of the island is nearly always in cloud.
There was a bit of discussion about kayakers and folks who paddle all the way to Tasmania from Wilsons Prom. After we got home, we watched a terrific YouTube series by Beau Miles on his crossing of Bass Strait. It’s a great watch, but despite the series of islands between Victoria and Tasmania, it’s still a long way to paddle. I don’t think I’ll have that on my bucket list!
From there the tour passes by Wattle Island and to a nearby seal colony that supports around 9,000 seals. We didn’t see that many, but it still looked like there were hundreds there, with the sea appearing to boil around us with all the seals. The boat tour goes for around two and a half hours, but when you’re watching seals, the time just seems to fly by.
Finally, the tour stops at the iconic Cleft Island (also known as Skull Rock) which is hollowed out on one side with a 60 metre high cave. This island is so familiar to me, having seen it on the horizon every time we visited Wilsons Prom, but seeing it up close is a different experience entirely.
Once we were back on shore, it was the most wonderful feeling looking out at the horizon now having been up close to those islands and seeing them from a different perspective.
And that was the little trip! A great way to do something deeply familiar and grounding while also having an adventure and seeing a beloved place from a fresh angle. It was also a quintessential Australian holiday when it came to wildlife, as we saw wallabies, emus, kookaburras, koalas, blue tongue lizards, and a wombat. Can’t wait to go back, especially during whale watching season.
An unexpected visitor.