Melbourne’s Best Bush, Bay & City Walks
Melbourne Walks is the blog site of Julie Mundy, author of a number of walking guides published by Woodslane Press, including Best Walks of the Grampians (2019, with Deb Heyes), Melbourne’s Best River, Bay and Lakeside Walks (2018 with Deb Heyes), Melbourne’s Best Bush, Bay and City Walks (2011), Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine & the Brisbane Ranges (2013), Best Walks of the Great Ocean Road (2018 with Neil Fahey) and Melbourne for Dogs (2013). This blog provides insights and a taster of some of the walks which feature in the guidebooks, as well as Julie’s other favourite walks and wanderings along the way, when she finds the time to actually write them up. The books are available through Woodslane Press (or via all good retail and online bookstores):
Julie also writes for Weekend Notes and Great Walks magazine, in between having a real family to keep her grounded and a real job to fund her walks and travels. Mostly, she just likes going for a wander – wherever and whenever she can.
Hi Julie,
We ran into you and your 2 friends yesterday at the Brisbane Ranges (yes that large group of walkers from Koonung Bushwalking club).
I found your website and will have a look at your book. One question I forgot to ask you if you are interested in talking one night about your walks and experiences at one of our club nights (we meet the third Wednesday of each month in Templestowe). You might even be able to flog some of your books!!
Let me know if you might be interested in coming along and I will put you in touch with the person who organises our external speakers. You only need to talk to 30-45 minutes.
Cheers Ian Barr (Koonung Bushwalking President).
Hi Julie, Great blog! I’ve just started a blog to encourage people to get out into the bush with tips and advice on everything from how to pack, food and even things like ‘poos and wees’. Let’s just say, it’s practical! I want people to build confidence and get out into the bush safely. Maybe you’ll like my blog too? http://lotsafreshair.com/
I wish I’d had your book before I spent a few days in Melbourne a couple of years ago. It’s a lovely city and when I come back I’ll look for your book
Thanks so much Gabi – hopefully it will help you uncover some of Melbourne’s secrets when you come back, as it’s the sort of city which repays getting to know it slowly. J.
Hi Julie, I would love to be able to buy a copy of the Best Walks in Geelong and Brisbane Ranges however I cannot find anybody who stocks it. Can you please point me in the right direction much appreciated.
Thanks Samantha
Hi Samantha – can you please let me know where you are so I can tell you who is currently stocking it? I know Pt Lonsdale newsagency still has some copies, as does Book Grove in Ocean Grove. The publishers have just sent it off for its second print run, so hopefully it should be more widely available soon. Alterntively, if you’d like to email me with your details to (juliepmundy(at)gmail(dot)com) I can send you a copy once the new stock has arrived on my desk. Thanks for your interest, J
Hi Julie,
Just a quick email to let you know we are now stocking your books on our online bookstore here: http://www.booksforever.net.au/book-dvd-blog/author-julie-mundy-guide-books/
We are very glad to be offering them!
James
Booksforever
Hi Julie,
We are now offering your books at our online store http://www.booksforever.net.au/book-dvd-blog/author-julie-mundy-guide-books/
Thanks
Booksforever
That’s great news James! Thanks! I know some people are trying to get a hold of Geelong, as we are awaiting the second print run – do you have any in stock?
Hi Julie, are there any good walks around Bacchus Marsh – do you know the area?
Thanks, Ian
Hi Ian. I was born in Bacchus Marsh! There are some gorgeous walks in big Werribee Gorge (both in the Gorge and to the edge of it from the Brisbane arranged)and Lerdederg Gorge- lovely when there is water in the Lerdederg River. I also wrote up the very beautiful and hidden Long Forest Reserve walk in the Melbourne book which is right on the lap of the valley. Really worth a walk for the rare mallee scrub and kingfishers. Let me know how you get on!
Hi Julie. Really love your Melbourne Walks book (Bush/Bay/City). Have done 34 of the 44 to date!! Today I did the Dandenongs Summit Walk. Very challenging and the Glasgow track is now extremely dangerous. It has been washed out over the years and is full of loose rocks and boulders. Looks nothing like the photo in your 2011 book!!! Not sure if you have been back there since. Is there anywhere to look at recent updates for the walks!! Your directions are always really clear but we did wonder if we’d gone wrong somewhere coming down this one!!!
On to the next walk though!!
Cheers! Stella
Hi Stella! I am sorry I only came across your comment just now – and you must be complete the full 44 walks by now I am thinking!!! Thanks so much for the feedback. Yes, the 2nd edition did update the Summit Walk, and specifically excludes the Glasgow Track for the reasons you mentioned – hope you were ok!! We have split the Melbourne Walks book into two now, so in January, we just published the ‘Melbourne’s Best River, Lake and Coastal Walks, which includes almost half of the walks from the first book – all reworked and updated, plus 20+ new walks. Obviously all water-y based! We’re planning on its companion (Bush, park and city) in the new year, but are currently working on the Grampians.
Your idea about putting updates somewhere (in between editions) is a good idea, and I might have a chat with the publishers about that. Hope you have enjoyed the rest of the walks – which was your favourite? (I am a bit of a sucker for the RJ Hamer Arboretum walk, also in the Dandenongs). J
Hi Julie, I was doing the Limeburners Point Kiln walk (#4 in the Geelong/Bellarine book) and got stuck on the first part with the breakwater wall – is this the start or end of the wall? I went towards the end but it was quite high with large rocks and lots of overgrowth so I didn’t attempt to get down to the beach this way.
Could you please suggest another way? I went during low tide.
Thanks so much,
Catherine
Hi Catherine – thanks so much for contacting me. For such a little walk, it’s probably one of the trickier ones in the book. You have to clamber over the breakwater wall to the other side to reach the beach, but right at the base of the cliff (where the staircase is) – and definitely at low tide. However, I haven’t cone the walk now for a couple of years, so if it is overgrown and you don’t want to get down that way, you could have a look at the map on page 30, and access the beach ‘backwards as it were, by going down towards the beach alongside the the 4th tee of the golf course – the access there is easy and quite gentle, so you can see the limekilns then double back on yourself. Let me know how you get on.
Hi Julie, happy to say my 2nd attempt at this walk was a success with the alternative way you suggested 🙂 Just a note that the gate to the grassy path to the kilns has been locked, but I still managed to see all the kilns from the shoreline. Also the seaweed/mud on the shoreline can cause shoes to get a bit stuck!
With the Edwards Point reserve walk (#16 in the Geelong book), do you recommend going during low tide? I did half of the walk going the inland way and was 500 metres from the lookout, but had to backtrack as the path was flooded after heavy rain and I didn’t want to get stuck.
Thanks so much for your books – you give very clear directions and I love discovering areas of my state I wouldn’t have found otherwise. Yes, I’m going through your books along with other publications like Bass Coast Walks brochure (would be awesome if you did a Gippsland book in the future).
I found out one of my colleagues has your books too and is working his way through the Melbourne walks each weekend. I asked him what’s the most remote part of the state he’s been and he said Canadian Bay in Mt Eliza! 🙂
Enjoy your Grampians trip – have you walked the Pacific Crest Trail by the way? I saw the movie recently and it’s really inspiring!
Hi Catherine – terrific to hear you made it to the kilns, I Might give the City Council a call to understand why they have locked access to the kilns – I always wondered why they didn’t make more of an historic feature of them!!
Edwards Point Reserve walk is actually fine at any tide (except maybe a spring or king tide) – did you get as far as the boardwalks? The tidal rise and fall in Swan Bay is pretty small, although the track can get a little soggy. Having said that, I almost always do coastal walks at low tide, just to be safe. I haven’t been there after heavy rain either, so think you made a good call.
It’s so lovely to hear your feedback on the books – It’s wonderful to know that they hit the mark for people, and importantly that the waypoints are clear. My co-author, Deb and I have just had an incredible week up in the Grampians and will go up again this week to finish off the last 5 walks. Luckily we both love winter walking!!
I hope your colleague has found the new Melbourne Waterside walks book too – I think there are some lovely walks in there: I had lived in Melbourne for so many years and discovered all sorts of new places doing the walks, which is something I love about it, so I am glad he is discovering new horizons, beyond Mt Eliza 🙂
No to the Pacific Crest Trail, sadly – it’s a whopper! I am doing a 1000km walk in May/June next year, but likely it will be Italy or Japan – still to decide. But to date, most of my multi-day walking has only been 2 weeks a year – last year was the West Highland Way which was just beautiful. Deb and I are planning to do a guidebook for the Grampians Peak Trail when it is completed next year. We can’t wait.
Happy Walking, Catherine – look forward to hearing more of your adventures. J.
Thanks so much for your quick reply Julie – I’ll do that part of walk in reverse. I did the last parts of the walk fine. You’re right – it is one of the more challenging walks as you said but maybe because I walked to and from Geelong station (great workout).
You’ll be happy to know they’ve cut the grass nicely 🙂 But definitely a low tide/cool weather walk.
Good luck, Cath! Are you working your way through the book? I have had a number of walkers do that – a different one each week. Enjoy your walking! I am heading off in 10 days time to work on the next book, this time in the Grampians, and I can’t wait – I am a keen cool weather walker, which is just as well with the current weather! J.
Hi Julie, just wondering when the new Melbourne Bush, Park & City walks book is likely to be published ? Looking forward to it!
Hi Stephanie – thanks for your enquiry. The Melbourne’s Best River, Lake and Bayside walks came out about a year ago – do you have that, but the companion one is on hold while I am working on the guides for the Great Ocean Walk and the Grampians this year. I still have a few copies of the original Melbourne Best Walks (If you don’t have it already), which has a number of park and bush walks in it, if you’d like me to post a copy fo that one through?
Hi Julie, sorry I only just saw your reply. Yes please, I would love a copy of the original Melbourne’s best bush, bay & city walks if your offer is still open. Also do you have any copies of Best Walks of Geelong, the Bellarine and Brisbane Ranges? I would love one of those too please. Could you please email me directly with payment details etc. Keen to get my hands on these books! 🙂
Thanks Steph! Yes I have a couple left, so will email you now to arrange – hope you enjoy them!