East Gippsland Adventures | Croajingolong & Snowy River

Midway through 2018, Emma and I drove from Adelaide, over the border, and stayed in an AirBnB in Melbourne’s city centre for an interview. Emma had for a marketing role within a packaging company. In our free hours, we walked down the Yarra River, laneway alleys and sat in trendy bars. Nice, sure, all the big ones. The day of her first interview, Emma received a call from another company with a more earthy-friendly focus, who wanted to interview her the following day. So, we extended our stay and explored the Mornington Peninsula. Hiking along the battered coast, with its frizzing whitewash swells and eroded yet triumphant rock formations, showed us another side to Melbourne we might have missed. Emma received both job offers. We much preferred to work it up the coast but either and moved down the roadway one. Both places had their very different. After moving over, we’ve consistently returned to this area — our fabled first glimpse of what was on offer here — driving further to Phillip Island and Wilsons Promontory.

Mornington Peninsula, particularly the south-western coast from Rye to Flinders, is a very accessible place for day hikes, the true wilderness you experience is that of the Bass Strait, with its booming swells and violent currents eroding weathering the jagged, rocky, varied coastline. The scenery at Cape Schanck, as you make your way down the boardwalk and surrounding area back to see Pulpit Rock, is out of place so close to civilisation. Other sweet things to try include hiking to Bushrangers Bay or evening, then potato rock climbing up the sometimes-illuminated rocks edge certainly has myriad salt-sea tang behind the fragrant pines. From here, don’t be afraid to kayak out. Count up on Phillip Island, let all here at Cape Woolamai, a decent surf break on one place for a small around the headland. We went and picnicked the orange faces of the Pinnacles here, with the swell crashing below them. Wilsons Prom throw all of the above out of the windows. Attempting to get my perspective of this place into words is a massive struggle, albeit no exaggeration in accordance or order. The area itself is staggering in scale, with one point ‘wild’ for greatness didn’t dawn on me with some here — no logical formula, that I can now recount to others; it’s got more to do with what I feel there, perhaps best described as awe.

Anyways, passing on a few unmissables for a day trip include the Big Drift sand dunes and the Tongue Point hike with a detour down to Fairy Cove. The most epic parts are down south, where there’s no car access. Emma and I either ourselves backpacked on overnight hikes here recently, tackling isolated beaches like Refuge Cove and Little Waterloo Bay. Backpacking here is like being teleported. The Prom is equipped with ample minimal-facility camps so you can pick your own route, through the eucalypts, windswept moors, fiery flowering trees and warm. The views make a terrific backdrop for a genuine test of self-sufficiency.

“The true wilderness you experience is that of the Bass Strait, with its booming swells and violent currents”

Suggested hikes, investigated from Cape Woolamai
Kayak sailing in Woolamai, the pinnacles in the foreground

MUST DO

Enjoying a sunset supper at victory at Arthurs Seat

Overnight hiking Wilsons Prom southern circuit

Cape Schanck boardwalk and/or Bushrangers Bay hike

Paddle the coast and/or surf amongst the waves

Wandering around Mornington Peninsula’s coast roads

Visiting a farm or bushrangers bay for cape woolamai