Bushwalk Australia

In early November I solo-walked a remote section of the Wilderness Coast in Croajingolong NP between Bemm River and Wingan Inlet for the Hooded Plover biennial count organised by BirdLife Australia. The count happens every other year across southeast Australia and is effectively a census of all our beach-nesting bird species. Little recent information on the state of the inland trail sections or water availability was to be found, although the local Parks VIC office indicated most river entrances were open. After some significant marine wind warnings and associated high winds and tides in the days prior to the walk the forecast for the survey window was looking pretty good.

Parked the car at Bemm River and headed along the gravel track for some easy walking towards Ocean Access No. 1. Once on the beach it was an hour or 2 to the Sydenham Inlet entrance across a steep beach profile with low-key sandy cliffs and incredibly loose sand deposits and an onshore wind-backed sea that kept rushing in, even on the slowly falling tide. In all this made for a fairly tedious affair with a moderately heavy pack on the back of what was already a long enough day, having driven in from Melbourne earlier. Some solace was to be found in the beautiful end-of-day light, the roar of the surf, White-bellied Sea-Eagles overhead and a sighting of a lone Pied Oystercatcher. Three hours after setting off I got to my camp site of choice: a sheltered spot in a dune blowhole, adorned with expansive views across Sydenham Inlet.

Readied myself at first light to pack up and cross the inlet when – during a rare bit of reception – another marine wind warning was announced for the region. After some serious consideration – particularly taking into account that the warning was to coincide with me walking along a narrow stretch of coast line between Sydenham Inlet and Point Hicks with little to no options to get off the beach due to dense coastal scrub and the need to cross another inlet as well as navigate several large rocky outcrops at Clinton Rocks – I reluctantly decided to turn around and change the plan entirely.

Instead of wandering along the coast towards Point Hicks as intended, and with every other 2WD access road into the NP temporarily closed, I found myself instead driving all the way to Wingan Inlet as an alternative access point to the coast. Wingan Inlet is a lovely place to camp (and was largely spared the brunt of the intense 2020 fires), but the new plan would involve once again aiming for Point Hicks (now 25km to the west of me) and to then return to the car the same way. Once I had set up camp I crossed Wingan Inlet by packraft and found a pair of Pied Oystercatchers near the river mouth.

Up and away early the next morning, slightly muggy under an overcast sky, with the first 5km along undulating dune ridges interspersed with dense coastal scrub and the imposing Rame Head dune in the background. Signs of the 2020 fires were everywhere, particularly striking in terms of the largely dead overstorey, although the vegetation otherwise seemed to be recovering at record pace. A few small creeks running well. Good to hear several singing Pilotbirds – a species not known for its extensive dispersal capacity - likely indicating the presence of fire refuges at the time.

Popped onto a boulder-strewn beach after an hour and almost immediately had a Pied Oystercatcher exhibiting leading behaviour – a good start! Easy walking along the beach towards Petrel Point resulted in pairs of Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers as well as a mixed foraging flock of Pied Oystercatcher (4), Sooty Oystercatcher (1) and Hooded Plover (2). The fun stopped there for an hour as the temperature steadily increased due to warm offshore winds while I circumnavigated Petrel Point across rock slabs, boggy sections, boulders and swarms of tiny ‘in-your-face’ flies. Shortly after passing the remnants of a catamaran that wrecked on the point in 1984 in bad weather, local conditions changed dramatically: the sun appeared, the wind swung 180 degrees and immediately started blowing in violent, onshore fashion. From calm, blue waters to whitecaps and an ‘elevated’ beach profile (sand blown up to head height) in the span of minutes. Managed to find a somewhat shady dune cliff to have a much-needed lunchbreak, the quality of which improved as wind and sand settled down to more appropriate levels.

Once refueled, I set off along the beach again which stretches for another 10km towards the intended campsite for the day at Mueller River. Plenty of target species present with Hooded Plover (9, in three groups, no evidence of breeding), Red-capped Plover (3, foraging with a pair of Hoodies), Sooty Oystercatcher (2 pairs) and Pied Oystercatcher (3), as well as a smattering of Masked Lapwing and Silver Gull and a plethora of Dingo tracks. Halfway along I unexpectedly bumped into two migratory shorebirds keeping each other company on the beach: a Pacific Golden Plover and a Grey-tailed Tattler (a scarce species in East Gippsland), which allowed extended views at close range.

After some three hours I reached the Mueller River entrance, fully expecting the need for a swim but huge, recent sand deposits had blocked off the mouth and allowed for a very easy traverse. A small mixed flock of Caspian Tern, Greater Crested Tern and Silver Gull were present here, as well as a pair of Pied Oystercatchers who were very vigilant and almost certainly had a nest nearby. One of these birds carried flag Yellow 36, originally banded at Barry Beach, Corner Inlet in April 2008 (age 1) and therefore 16 years of age by now!

Had the Mueller River campsite all to myself (currently closed for public other than hikers), resulting in a solid night’s sleep only briefly interrupted by howling Dingos before sunrise. Unlike Wingan, the Mueller River area got hit badly by the 2020 bushfires – it will take a long time for that to recover. Headed out towards Point Hicks and was rewarded with another Pied Oystercatcher and a few Caspian Terns. The morning’s highlight was no doubt the encounter with an adolescent Dingo pup near Thurra River – we completely surprised each other at no more than 20 paces! After a brief moment of indecision it disappeared behind a dune and when I slowly followed it, it turned out it had a sibling as well. Both clambered up onto a steep dune, had a good look at me and after some comical attempts to climb further up the slope ultimately wandered off, presumably to join their parental unit.

What with all the morning’s excitement concluded it was time to turn around and walk the same 25km back to Wingan Inlet. Nearing the end I popped onto the top of Rame Head for some stunning coastal vistas – it really is one big dune! Bumped into a father and daughter duo who were walking from Mallacoota to Cape Conran – hopefully something I get to do with my girls one day.

No coastal walk at this time of year is of course complete without a snake. A huge Red-bellied Black Snake dutifully showed up in the last 1km of the whole walk after I jinxed myself shortly prior (‘odd, no snakes on this whole walk’), refusing to budge from the narrow, dense scrub-lined trail. It took a few minutes before I could convince it to move on. Got back to Wingan late afternoon, counting myself lucky I get to hang out in places like Croajingolong. My luck continued into the evening when some campers hailing from the same general area where I live invited me over to share dinner and red wine!

Water availability was quite good with small creeks running at several spots between Rame Head and Petrel Point, many small soaks on Petrel Point and a very sizeable dune lake / soak near where Gale Hill Track joins the beach. Water from Mueller River seems drinkable judging by a brief taste I had – it must have been closed from the sea for a while. Thurra River and Wingan Inlet were open, while Bemm River and Tamboon Inlet have closed again in the weeks since my walk.

In all an excellent walk / survey, even if it did not quite go to plan. Glad to have walked at least part of it before the likely ‘glampification’ of part of the trail. Might have to go back soon to do the lot…

Nice one Joris. Your walks aren't just for personal 'gain' or ends. I liked the running bird and animal census.
I've thought about walking from Bemm River to Mallacoota or the other way around, but I think you'd have to allow a day or so to get to the public transport, which if I recall doesn't actually go to Bemm River, but stays on the Highway where you'd have to walk to/from Bemm River to connect. But I might have that back to front.

That is correct irt public transport - all the stops are along the highway, though there is an official shuttle service that connects Mallacoota to the Genoa bus stop. As far as I know, short of hitch-hiking, there is no connection into Bemm River at all. An alternative is to park the car at one end of the walk (e.g. Bemm River) and organise in advance for a shuttle at the other end. The operator of the Mallacoota cruises also provides that type of service for the national park (shuttle, water drops etc).

Brilliant report Joris. But no Petrels at Petrel Point! Maybe you'd need some petrol and a boat.

You mentioned the lower or mid story growth being relatively speedy. So would you say that walking in that area is now not too depressing. I haven't been game to go back there since the horrendous fire.

I reckon it is very worthwhile - it is nearly 5 years on now and the damage is not quite so stark any longer. Local conditions also must have made a big difference - whereas Thurra / Mueller got hit badly, the Point Hicks area itself and a large swathe to the northwest was hardly touched. Most of the NP got some level of fire, to the waterline in many places, but the intensity must have varied a fair bit.

Thanks Joris. No doubt my thoughts are largely based on photographs and fire extent maps I saw from the Mallacoota end of the park. Most of my walks began in that area, as I travelled several times on the V-Line train/bus/taxi service.