Meet at:

1. Southern Cross Rail Station Concourse at 9:00am - cnr Collins and Spencer Street for the 109 tram.

Description:   We start at Port Melbourne and proceed along the path to Montague Street then linking up with Docklands and Harbour City.   We’ll then join up with the Citylink trail (beside Moonee Ponds Creek) before joining the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail to Essendon.   Mostly hard surfaces and there’s very little shade.   There are some undulations and small hills, but mostly flat.   Soft soled shoes are recommended, and poles aren’t necessary.    Toilets are at Southern Cross and at various places along the way. 

This walk starts at Trentham Recreation Reserve playground in 26 Market Street (across the road from Trentham CFA fire station). From here we pass through some residential streets before joining the Wombat Trail. The trail takes us around what was the old Trentham racecourse before circling back to the Jim Dunn and Countess tracks and returning back to the start. The walk is mainly on a dirt track shaded by the trees of Wombat State Forest. There are only a few minor hills and, along the way, we will see the odd wallaby or two.  Boots and poles are recommended.  

This will comprise two walks.  The first will be at Ironbark Basin near Point Addis on the way to Anglesea.  This walk is approximately 4km and includes some spectacular views of the cliffs  There will about 1km walking beside the road on this walk.  The second walk is behind Anglesea on the Bunjil Mirr nature walk and Alcoa Boundary Track and Peregrine Track.  This walk takes us through a range of vegetation and views across to tthe old Alcoa mine site now being rehabilitated.  It is approximately 7km long.  Overall the tracks are undulating with one steepish climb but there is a viewing point half way for a worhtwhile rest. Poles could be useful.

 We start the walk at Brimbank Park :About 40,000 years ago: first signs of possible human habitation along the Maribyrnong River. The Keilor Cranium and femur of an aboriginal person, found in 1940 in a sand bank, has been carbon dated at about 12,000 years. The area is home to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. In the late 1830s, Europeans first settled the area and used the fertile river valley as stock runs. They often drove stock around the brim of the bank, thus the park's name, Brimbank. The river flats on the east bank were used for market gardening until 1983.  We walk to the Homestead owned and operated as a farm by the Dodd family from 1860 to 1974. The Homestead was the residence of the Dodd Family whose farming activities included dairy farming, market gardening, beef cattle farming and orchards. In 1976, Brimbank Park opened to the public as part of the Maribyrnong Valley Park, combined with the adjacent Horseshoe Bend Children's farm and Greenvale Reservoir Park. The Maribyrnong River has hollowed out a valley some 55 metres below the Keilor Plain, with a steep bank on the northern side and gentle terraces on the southern side.  We then walk down and cross the ford to Horseshoe Bend .Until 1854 the 26 ha property which is now Horseshoe Bend Farm served as the Keilor Village Reserve. This meant it was used for grazing and by any travellers who were passing through the area.

From 1854 until the early 1900s the land was subdivided. In the early 1900s William O'Neil Jnr purchased the property and operated it as a dairy farm. After O'Neils death in the 1930s the farm was subdivided into smaller lots. These lots passed through the hands of various owners who used them as orchards and market  gardens The farm features an original weatherboard 1930s cottage complete with cottage gardens and outbuildings. It was closed 2012.

We will then walk down to the Old Calder  freeway and walk uphill following the road around and down to the River and follow this track around  the river back to the start.

The purpose of this walk is to check previous notes of a Federation walk to Paradise Mill. It starts and finishes near the Garden of St Erth at Blackwood.  An historic mining and swamill area, it offers a variety of scenery.  It is approx 18 km but there may be some changes if tracks are no longer accessible. The original notes mention some scrubbashing.

This walk starts at the main carpark in Yarra street Warrandyte  and is a short drive from our side of town!!. From the carpark the walk follows the Yarra River for  a few kilometres before branching off for a short loop where we will stop for morning tea. We then circle back to Yarra street where we enter the Warrandyte State Park and wind through the hilly and varied landscape, (rocky in parts),  that contains remnant woody bushland with Box Eucalypts, Wattles and Manna Gum vegetation. Along the way we pass through Pigtail, Fiddler Gully and Deadend tracks and see evidence of the gold rush years through abandoned tunnels and the fourth hill where a large water trust dam and fire tower used to exist.  After linking up with Wildcat and Betton tracks we finish up on Whipstick Gully track and descend back to the Yarra River and the carpark. Across the road from the car park there are several cafes where you can enjoy some refreshments!!.   

Boots and poles are recommended.

Note: To locate the carpark look in Yarra Street for a roundabout with a bridge on your left. Pass through the roundabout and the car park is on your immediate left. 

A 9km walk (3.5hr) starting at the corner of the car park opposite the Jack Cann Reserve are ancient pine trees marking the start of the Lerderderg Heritage River Walk. The walk follows the upper race NW through messmate and stringy bark clad hillsides, weaving in and out of fern lined gullies, there are great scenic views of the gully floor and Lerderderg River descend into the former site of the historic Crown Dam. Water here was conveyed by race for use at the Imperial Mine.

After a break, the picturesque lower race is followed SE back to the Garden of St.Erth via ferny glades, blackwoods and tall timbers.

Note: Parts of the walk are on narrow paths former water races with steep sides.

A hopefully straightforward walk for a new leader to learn the ropes. Starting from Mason's Falls Picnic Area (carpark and toilet) we walk up onto the ridge and along it to Mt Sugarloaf (good views towards the city), then descend to Running Creek. There is a noticeable vegetation change from the drier ridge then into the moist valley. The walk continues, ascending beside Running Creek, climbing to Mason Falls observation platform, then returning to the start point. There is a significant altitude change on the walk (total climb 580m) but this is split up, about half near the start and the rest near the finish. The walking tracks are of a good standard throughout.

To get to Masons Falls Picnic Area (from Whittlea/Kinglake Rd in Kinglake West), turn onto National Park Road just past the Pheasant Creek General Store. Follow it for 4km, then right onto Masons Falls Rd. The picnic area is 1.7 km along that road

We will start the walk at Beasleys tea house  at 09:30. We will then walk along the Mullum Mullum Creek to the Templestowe Hill climb and walk to Target road  down to the Yarra River, we will see the 1st permenant homestead Pontiville to be built In 1840 Major Charles Newmanhad been offered a land grant for his services to the Crown. 10 years later he built Monkton on a hill  across the river it was demolished in June 1968, then walk to the confluence of Mullum Mullum and Yarra River( To the Wurundjeri People the river remains the Birrarung)the current name was mistranslated from a Wurundjeri term in the Boonwurrung language  Yarro-yarro ever flowing walk past Pettys Orchard then to Leinster Farm Wetlands for lunch  and return back to Beasley Tea house via the Mullum Mullum Creek Trail

Walk location: St Leonards, Bellarine Peninsula

Grade: Easy - Easy/Medium, 13 km

WALK DESCRIPTION AND IMPORTANT BYOs

The walk is within Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve at St Leonards on the Bellarine Peninsula. The reserve is part of a worldwide network of protected wetlands known as the Ramsar sites. The walk eventually traces the centre of the sand spit through a range of coastal habitats. The open woodland is dominated by tall coastal tea-tree mixed with wirilda (Acacia sp).The dominant understory is saltbush. The reserve is replete with a wide variety of birds: birds of prey, pelicans, ibises, stints, chats, terns, pied oyster-catchers. The adjacent Swan Bay contains extensive areas of intertidal mudflats that are important for waterbirds and migratory waders. The walk plan is to reach the southernmost point of Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve and enjoy a sweeping view across two bays: Port Phillip Bay and Swan Bay. If the weather is fine, Arthurs Seat, Sorrento, Portsea and Queenscliff will be in view.

This easy to easy-medium walk is mainly on flat and fairly compacted sandy terrain. The overall altitude gain and loss is 100 m over the 13 km route.

Within Edwards Point Wildlife Reserve the ground may, at times, be underwater by a few inches, or waterlogged due to recent tidal seepage. The walk includes a two kilometre route along coastal sand beach and through intermittent sections of knee or thigh high saltbush and grasses. Overall, there is little overhead tree cover, and the weather is likely to change due to intermittent squalls passing over the bays.

Important BYOs

It is advisable to carry a rain jacket, sunhat, sunglasses, sunblock cream, lip balm, insect repellent (mainly for mosquitoes) and plenty of drinking water. It is recommended to wear knee-high gaiters and water-resistant footwear. Bring a change of shoes and socks to wear for the return transport trip.