Length: 7.5km

Time taken: 2hour 10minutes (including stops for photos)

Grade: Easy

Climb: 55m

This walk passed through various types of scenery – historic houses in quiet tree lined streets, botanic gardens, bustling shopping strip and pier, secluded beach,  and a swimming beach.

Length: 3.94 km

Time taken: 1 hour (including breaks for pictures)

Grade: Easy

Climb: 38 metres

I was waiting for a nice day to do this walk and I got it! I was surprised by how ‘bushy’ this walk was compared to other parts of the beach track closer to the city. Some parts of the track were quite hidden in the bushes, while other parts were exposed near the road, and other parts were right along the beach. The track climbs up and down from the beach, to the top of small cliffs, to the road, providing many different types of views.

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Steps down to the track along Sandringham beach.

Sandringham Beach

Rock seats are built into the cliffs along the side of the beach.

Rocks in the sand at Sandringham Beach

The beach here is patrolled by lifeguards.

A view of the walking track, bike track, and road all beside each other.

A view of the beach from behind the bushes

The view of Sandringham yacht club from up on the cliffs.

A nice view of the beach from the cliffs. Dogs were playing in the sand islands below.

Looking down to Hampton Beach

Wild Berries!

A picnic shelter at Hampton Beach. This shelter will apparently be totally rebuilt in the next few weeks and include windows out to the beach. .

A marshy area between the beach and Beach Rd.

The walking track near the sand

A pier

An old rail tunnel between Brighton Beach and the railway station.

Length: 3.7 km

Time taken: 50 mins (including breaks for pictures)

Grade: Easy

Climb: n/a

Cherry Lake is a relatively short and basic walk around a lake, with a view of Altona’s industrial structures in the background. Half the walk is parkland, and the other half is a conservation area with a bird hide and some wetlands. The walk was flat but thanks to the change in scenery between the conservation and recreation areas there was enough variety to keep it interesting.

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Fisherman sitting on a short pier over the lake

A map of the lake

Altona's industrial area in the distance.

Cute ducks in the lake

The official separation between the conservation and recreation area.

The conservation area

A nice tree along the path

The bird hide

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The path through the conservation area

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Length: 6.35 km

Time taken: 1 hours, 50 mins (including breaks for pictures)

Grade: Easy

Climb: 20 metres (as measured by RunKeeper)

This walk followed the Patterson River from the beach to the Frankston Freeway and back. The whole walk was quite open and exposed which resulted in me getting a touch of sunburn on my arms and neck. I’m glad I had company for this walk because it would have been long and boring without it.

From the path we saw boats and jet-skis on the river, and the back of houses on the land. The beach at the end was lovely as the sun was fully out.

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The Frankston train line and Nepean Hwy bridges crossing the river near the entrance.

The path along the river was quite wide and exposed for the length of it.

People sitting on a small patch of beach along the river.

A bridge crossing one of the river inlets.

The view from the bridge.

A different angle from the bridge

Rocks across the river near the freeway bridge.

A lizard trying to find his way to the other side of the fence near the beach.

A statue beside the beach.

Length: 5.1 km

Time taken: 1 hours, 20 mins (including breaks for pictures)

Grade: Easy

Climb: 36 metres (as measured by RunKeeper)

On a day with such fantastic weather, this walk offered a great contrast of beach and bush walking. The walk followed Mordialloc creek, starting near a cricket ground with a game in full swing, before heading towards the beach past all the moored boats, then back inland along a more bushy path.

The hardest part of this walk was working out how to cross Nepean Hwy. (There is an underpass as I found out too late!) The scenery, especially along the beach, was quite pretty. At the beach I walked the length of the pier, where an older woman nearly hit me with a fish she was reeling in, and up the beach path to the lifesaving club.

Overall the walk did feel quite urban as there was almost always buildings visible, but the beach section made up for it.

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One of the little lookout platforms over the creek.

The path along the creek.

The boat ramp and adjacent carpark were super busy due to the great weather.

The track passes by this train parking area near Mordialloc station.

The view towards the beach.

I'm not sure if this area was a boat graveyard or maintenance area, but there were plenty of land based boats lying around. This is along the Nepean Hwy.

A great mural along the path to the beach. The man on the street post looks 3D in front of the background.

Mordialloc Beach

People fishing on the rocks at the entrance to the creek.

Looking from the end of Mordialloc pier back to the beach. This pier was extremely popular with fishermen.

A view of the pier and creek entrance.

Mordialloc Beach (again)

A more bushy section of the walk, heading back inland.

Length: 4.3 km

Time taken: 1 hours, 30 mins (including breaks for pictures)

Grade: Easy

Climb: 39 metres (as measured by RunKeeper)

Of all the walks i’ve been on, this had the most variation in track type. The track and scenery changed from foresty, to sandy coastal, to grassy, all within a couple of kilometres. I was really quite amazed at how coastal this track looked in sections considering it is no where near the beach!

The walk is only meant to be 4km, but due to part of track in the book being permanently closed we had to walk a little further to get around. The extra part was then a bit flooded but luckily there was a section not too deep we could walk over.

This was really a surprisingly nice and scenic walk considering the location and size of the reserve.

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I can't get enough pictures of dead trees against the blue sky 🙂

A grassy section section of the track

There were Ant Hills all over the place. I was scared to stay still too long for fear of one of the many angry bullants climbing my shoe.

The dam

Another section of the trail... starting to get sandy

The track looked and felt very coastal for a while

'Telstra track' - because it is along the side of Telstra owned property... This was where the track in the book that no longer exists started.

The track was flooded and a couple of ducks called it home

A nice burnt out tree trunk

A very grassy part of the track

Many trees had fallen over

Length: 5.2 km

Time taken: 1 hour, 15 mins

Grade: Easy

Climb: 31 metres (as measured by RunKeeper)

This made a great mid-week walk near home. I actually used to cycle this route quite often so am familiar with it, but walking gave me the opportunity to enjoy the scenery more, especially down the canal. The weather was quite warm so there were people lying on the beach, although I have no idea why considering how dirty the sand is.

This walk starts in Elsternwick Park, which is mainly used for sports by the looks of it. It then moves on to Elwood beach for a little while, before heading back towards the park via the Elwood Canal. I took the opportunity to veer slightly off the park to the top of Elwood Hill (if that’s what it’s called) for the great view of the city.

The canal is surrounded by houses for the most part, yet is surprisingly bushy and secluded considering the suburb it is in. I was surprised to see a couple of black swans right up the canal near the beach. I suspect they swam all the way up from Elsternwick Park.

I will most likely walk this route again in summer when I need a walk after work.

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Elsternwick Park

Elsternwick Park - Not entirely sure what this is, but it looked like a big drain cover

Elwood Beach

View from Elwood Hill (I think that's what it's called.)

Looking towards the city from Elwood Hill

Near the beginning of the canal

A black swan in the canal

Further down the canal

Along the canal path

The canal narrows as it gets closer to the park

A road that crosses the canal.