At 30 kilometres long, you might want a packed lunch if planning to conquer the entire Mornington Peninsula Coastal Walk. Beginning at the spectacular rocky outcrop at Cape Schanck, the path swerves its way along gravel tracks and dense scrub (home to white-footed dunnarts and southern brown bandicoots), across clifftops and headlands, down through the dunes onto sandy beaches, hopping across rock pools and skirting sleepy seaside villages to arrive in Point Nepean National Park. For those without a whole day to burn, the Coastal Walk can be chopped into five more manageable sections: the nine-kilometre from Gunnamatta to Rye Ocean Beach, for instance, where you’ll follow a horse trail and pass Boag Rocks; or take the 11-kilometre track from No. 16 Beach to Bridgewater Bay, built in the 1890s to facilitate the rescue of shipwrecked sailors. While the walk’s beautiful in both directions, for those with an aesthetic inclination, the best views can be found heading west to Point Nepean.
