Secrets of the Prom

Vereker Outlook Wilsons Promontory

After the success of our last trip Step and I ventured out again to see what else we could discover.

As our first venture was so interesting and almost whimsical, the bar was set pretty high. I started looking for somewhere interesting and not overrun by lots of tourists. Now I know that technically we are tourists, but we like to think that we go to really explore and enjoy the areas we visit.

Just to clarify here is the definition of each

noun: tourist; a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure.

noun: explorer; a person who explores a new or unfamiliar area (well unfamiliar to us).

I kept searching the web for walks but kept coming up with the same results. I knew of the usual Mt Oberon and Mt Bishop that are at Wilsons Prom, but these are frequently visited sites and particularly now people have renewed enthusiasm for outdoor activities since Covid has forced pubs and restaurants to close their doors to the public. Thinking these two popular spots would be too busy, I wondered what else the area had to offer. Obviously there are lots of options for long or overnight hike but we were looking for something that would only take a few hours. I decided to channel Saroo Brierly (the main character in the movie “Lion”, the one about the guy who used Google Maps to find his family) and started zooming in the on the Google map of the Prom and found Vereker Outlook.

Now I had a name to look up I found photos that looked just the type of trail we were looking for. I shared the photos with Steph and we decided this was the one! Poor Agnes Falls got the flick as up until now that had been the next destination on the list.

So, Sunday morning with Steph in charge of transport and me in charge of catering we headed off bright and early and made it to the Five Mile Rd car park but by about 9:15. On arrival we were very pleased to see that there were no other cars.

The Five Mile Road is a closed off vehicle access road but it was only a short walk to the track entrance. The are two options but we chose the longer one because it seemed it would be more interesting.

The walk starts out easily and while you know you are going uphill you barely notice. The path is sandy beneath our feet and the is surrounded an open forest of large gnarly looking banksia trees that are laden with spent flower cones. It hard to work if many of these trees are actually living. There are quite a few trees near the start of the track that look like they’ve been damaged by fire. There were fires in the area in 2019 so maybe this was one section that was affected.

There is quite a stark contrast of the blackened tree branches with the freshness of the grass trees growing beneath them. Unfortunately, even some of the grass trees are suffering from a kind of rot and we saw far more damage further along the track.

Not far into our walk, the undergrowth seemed thicken and we found our first big boulder sitting just off the track. It like a big egg that had been dropped on the forest floor. From the pictures we had seen we started to get excited of what we might find ahead.

It was around this area that I found my first face. I have this weird imagination where I see shapes that resemble faces, humans or animal forms.

I’m sure Steph thinks I’m nuts but I’ve actually got her believing me.

This stump was my first find. Yes, I know it’s a bit abstract (well maybe a lot). It’s funny when I showed this picture to a friend, she could see a person either side if the face. One looks like he’s dancing and the other almost likes like and old-fashioned Santa patting the charred face.

You may have to humour me and use your imagination 😉

Does this help???

Ok, before I completely lose you, we moved on and came to a track junction.

This is where shorter option meets the track. The alternate way to Vereker Outlook is along the access road which is a reasonably straight with a steady incline that stretches out reminding you that you are heading up a hill. On the track we took, we didn’t even realise the we were on higher ground until we caught glimpse of a view where we actually looking over the tree canopy toward the far-off hills. Now that’s my kind on hill.

Not far past the junction we started to see some of the features that attracted us to this walk. We had come across the start of the rocky outcrop that forms part of the ridge. Our first sighting was of a small cluster of rocks peeking out from the trees liking they were trying to hide from us.

We think we found one of Cousin It’s relatives guarding this one. Now we knew we were getting close to something special. A short distance further along the track we came across more and more and more rocks and boulders.

Like I said earlier, we had seen photos of an amazing rock formation that was reminiscent of the wave rocks of Western Australia. We thought we had found it when we came across this one (little did we know). You should have seen Steph, she was like a kid at Christmas. There were these fantastic huge granite boulders nested into the ground as if they had been picked up and scattered like a child knocking over a block tower. To add to this point of the walk, we look back down the hill to realise the view was becoming more spectacular.

After exploring and taking numerous photos, we found a spot to have a snack. We found the perfect vantage point on top of one of the very large boulder the allowed us to soak up the beautiful view of the bays and surrounding area below us.

No, this is not the one it was a little narrow, but look at the view. I’m not sure that Steph is not feeling 100% steady, maybe I shouldn’t have been saying stupid stuff to make her laugh.

This was our snack view. I really wish my camera would do panoramic shots as this photo doesn’t really do the view justice.

With this view, a pretty tasty NYC cookie (something new I’ve found to bake) and the sun shining down on us, the craziness of what’s happening in the world around us at the moment could not be further away.

Now it was around here that we kind of lost our way. It was like we were Miranda and her class mates of the classic 1975 Picnic at Hanging Rock movie where they was drawn into the rock formation by some mysterious force. Well that’s probably being a little over dramatic, but the rocks are pretty intriguing.

Anyway, we continued on up the hill coming across even more impressive rocks before we realised we had strayed much further than we intended. Sorry Parks Victoria, but your parks are just way too interstingn and enticing.

We made our back to the path and found ourselves walking through a path carpeted by the fallen foliage from the scrubby sheoaks that lean over the path. I'm not sure if they were dormant or dying off like the grass trees but it created a bit of an eerie feeling as we walked though. Such a stark difference was have experienced previously along the path.

This little grove was short lived as we were soon back to huge boulders leaning out over the path. Then we came around a bend to be rewarded with a beautiful wave like rock coming up from the ground. The colours and pattern were stunning and the size was equally impressive.

After numerous photos, Steph was finally ready to let go of this scene and we continued our climb to reach the outlook.

As we continued our climb, glimpses of the views became more prominent. At one point I looked up to see a huge rock balancing on top of another. When I say balancing I mean that literally because it was looking at something from a Road Runner cartoon. How it got there and even more incredible is how has it not fallen down to the valley below.

From this point the track gets narrower and a little more challenging. The tree roots form perfect steps to make our way up the path. We reached a point that seemed like it should be the outlook (and maybe it was) but from this vantage point we looked a little further along the ridge to see a family standing out on a rock looking out at the stunning view of the landscape that stretched out to the Bass Coast and a view of Bass Strait. After taking just and few more photos and being a little silly…I think by this stage we were hungry or perhaps a little dehydrated because we got the giggles over the silliest of things.

So close to the top we forged a little further and found the spot that the actual look out. It was so worth the effort because the view was amazing. This was the perfect spot to stop for lunch so we each found what seemed like a reasonable comfy spot on the rock. Today we went Japanese (last walk was Moroccan). While we can’t travel overseas but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy foods from the places will one day get to visit. I have been experimenting with Japanese style bento box so that was the order for the day.

Lunch done getting back up was more of a challenge that it should have been. Did you know that granite rocks are very hard to sit on for any length of time? All of a sudden I felt all of my 55+ years, mind you I think Steph was feeling like my 55+ years as well.

The journey back down the hill was equally interesting finding views that we has missed on the way up. Although having said that our motto for the day was “remember to look back at where you've come from“ as you are often a bit gobsmacked by the views that stretch back behind you.

We decided to return via the access track and thought for about 30 seconds we would head done to look at Miller’s Landing. We started off but as soon as we looked at each other we both knew we’d had enough. Walking back down to the car along the track maybe me very happy to have taken the bush track….so much more interesting.

Well that’s another great over and we’ve had a ball. Despite our age difference I feel I’ve found a kindred spirit with regard to going out on these little adventures.

Once again, I can’t wait for the next one 😊

Photo Credit to Steph Badger @Badgers_Adventures for generously sharing her photos of me