Lake Monibeong campsite in the grey light of dawn. Bonus grazing roo.
The track around the southern edge of the lake was edged with mosses and grasses
The lichens and mosses on the trees around the lake were amazing
I think this is a Dagger hakea
The amazing variety of vegetation around the lake
Walking after a night of heavy rain has its charms
There were so many different fungi on this track
The path curving away from the north west of the lake
Is this Chenopodium candoleanum? (Seaberry saltbush)
The track heading away from the lake and into the back of the dunes
Closer to the dunes, the vegetation changed again
… and again
The open swampy grasslands seemed to be home for a few mobs of kangaroos.
Up over the dunes to the beach. Then one hour straight beach walk back to camp.
The road out through the plantation
How we got there: we drove up from Melbourne the day before, via Tower Hill, and camped overnight. It’s about five hours driving direct from Melbourne. You can read about our adventures on the way, here.
Activity summary: around three hours of fairly easy walking, taking in a coastal lake, duneside vegetation and along a beach.
What we did (the details):
We left around 7:40, heading to the lake along the track from the camp site. it had rained all night the night before, so everything was wet, it was beautiful. The vegetation along the lakeside was amazing. The trees all draped with lichen, large leavy grasses growing across the paths, every verge lined with moss, fungi everywhere. The track was clear, and well marked, but encroached upon in lots of spots, and we had to crawl over quite a few fallen trees.
As we moved away from the lake, along the ridgelines and towards the open marshes, the vegetation changed again and again from coastal scrubby forest to marshy tussoks and back again.
We spooked a pair of brush bronzewings a couple of times, a whirring of russet brown wings and they were gone. The open tussocky areas were home to a few mobs of kangaroos that weren’t too happy about us getting to close. Then we were out onto the beach.
The walk along the beach was okay. I don’t really enjoy beach walking much, but it was worth it for the hooded plover families in the tideline, and the oystercatchers. There were two separate small groups of people along the beach ‘collecting’ shellfish from the waves. The signs on the beach entry reminded visitors that the limit is on small bucket of shells per person… but both of these groups had collected commercial quantities, and both looked very shifty. Hmm.
Happily, we beat the rising tide back to our turn in point back over the dunes and to the campsite.
We packed up the tent and headed back out along the dirt road rollercoaster through the plantations, more emus and kangaroos fleeing into the trees as we carefully drove past.
Birds we saw: crimson rosellas, superb fairy wrens, brush bronzewings, australian shelducks, pied oystercatchers, pacific gull, hooded plovers.
Useful information:
- This walk is part of the Great South West Walk, described here: http://www.greatsouthwestwalk.com
- It’s also within the Discovery Bay Coastal Park, official Parks page is here: http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/discovery-bay-coastal-park
Michelle Walks 
Hi Michelle, looks like an interesting place for a walk. What is it near – as in what’s the nearest well-known town? 🙂 Leah
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Hi Leah! Lake Monibeong is between Portland and Nelson (which is right next to the SA border). The place was stunning, so well worth the trip 🙂
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