Well, here’s a bit of excitement (for me, anyway!) – a sneak peek at the cover for Melbourne for Dogs has just arrived from the publishers. How can you resist the gorgeous golden retriever on the cover – she was at Cheltenham Park one overcast day in the winter, melting hearts all over – and yes, that’s a very mental looking Indie having fun in the water down at St Kilda West beach – we headed there yesterday to escape the heat and spent lots of time wading through the waters at low tide. Great way for dogs and their humans to cool off. The other bit of exciting news about Melbourne for Dogs is that the book is going to be launched at the Melbourne Dog Lovers Show on 2nd-4th May next year at the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton, where there will be a big wall display of the more than 750 off-lead parks and 52 off-lead beaches in Melbourne (taken from the book), and little old me and the books! Looking forward to meeting some of you there!
Posts Tagged ‘walks’
Melbourne for Dogs – some news!
Posted in dog parks, Dogs, Melbourne, Uncategorized, Walks with dogs, tagged beaches, dogs, Melbourne, Melbourne for Dogs, parks, walking, walks on 11/28/2013| 3 Comments »
Two Bays Walk across the Mornington Peninsula: 28km from Arthurs Seat to Cape Schanck
Posted in Australia, Birdwatching, Bushwalking, Coastal Walks, Places to Visit, Travel, Walks, wildflowers, Wildlife, tagged Arthurs Seat, Bushranger Bay, kangaroos, lighthouses, Mornington Peninsula, Point Schanck, Travel, Two Bays Track, Two Bays Walks, walking, walks, Wildlife on 10/17/2013| 16 Comments »
View from Arthurs Seat ridge, south-west to Sorrento and Port Phillip Bay (c) JP Mundy 2013
Time for a day out. Too much work and not enough walking, makes for a dull life, so Deb and I skived off yesterday and bit off a biggie – The Two Bays Walk: 28km from Dromana, on the Port Phillip Bay side of the Mornington Peninsula, up and over Arthurs Seat (for non-locals, that’s a big hill, not a chair, in case you were wondering!) then down through glorious bushland to Cape Schanck lighthouse overlooking the Bass Strait. It’s only an hour’s drive from Melbourne, but feels like a million miles away. We started from the carpark at the Bunurong Track, at the corner of Latrobe Terrace and Bayview Road. Purists might want to start from the Dromana Visitor Information Centre, which adds another 2km of suburban road walking to the start of the track, but that didn’t appeal to us, as we were here for the bush, and we thought 28km was enough for anyone in a day! The walk is very well signposted with the ‘Two Bays’ fairywren emblem and arrows along the way, the only potential point of confusion being the high numbers of kangaroo superhighways (no seriously, there are a LOT of kangaroos) which criss cross the second half of the track as you descend towards the coast.
Eastern Greys on the ‘Kangaroo Super Highways’ near Bushrangers Bay (C) JP Mundy 2013
The first part of the walk is a steady but not too harsh climb up a well made path with spectacular views across Port Phillip Bay, which winds up, around and along the ridge-line of Arthur’s Seat. You can make detours to pretty Seawinds Gardens (you could start the walk from here if you didn’t want to walk up Arthur’s Seat) and the summit along the way, but are soon descending down from the bushland, past a lovely dam for a quick 30 minute walk through some quiet suburban streets, before heading past vineyards and bucolic farmlands to enter into the first of a series of joined reserves and national parks for the remainder of the walk.
Beyond Arthur’s Seat, the walking is fairly easy – mostly flat or gently undulating and following through lush ironbark, blackwood and banksia forests. The Greens Bush section contains some of the biggest healthiest stands of grass trees I have ever seen, and their towering flowering spikes (up to 4m+) are just glorious, though occasional ones are perplexingly wonky!
Apart from the magnificent bushland, in full flower at this time of year, we came across an echidna and fairy wrens, plenty of parrots and a good collection of fierce bull ants on the sandy parts of the track. Some of the string of reserves have been reclaimed from old grazing property, so we even came across drifts of blue forget-me-nots and canna lilies along one of the fern tree-lined gullies, though hopefully the fantastic local ‘Friends of’ groups are seeking to clear the introduced species over time – for now it feels like walking through English woodlands in places.
There were a number of delicate native orchids popping up but also some flowers neither of us could recognise. Do any readers know what this spectacular plant is? it looked a little bit like a ‘chicken and hen’ plant, but was a 1.5m high and 3m high shrub just drenched in 1cm wide flowers. Gorgeous!
Oh… and there’s also kudos for anyone who can tell me what type of caterpillars make up this seething mass: they were each about 15cm long and crossing the track en masse beneath our clomping feet!
The final leg of the walk brings you out above magnificent, isolated Bushrangers Bay, which is apparently where two convicts from Tassie landed in the 1800’s after commandeering a schooner, using it as a base for their maraundering. From there, you hug the coastal scrub above the seacliffs, the waves of Bass Strait pounding below you, before coming out at Cape Schanck light station. We’d pre-ordered a taxi (Peninsula Taxis in Frankston) to collect us – as it’s a darn long walk back if you haven’t arranged a car shuttle. A warning that Optus phones don’t have any coverage for the last half of the walk, though Telstra 3G seemed fine throughout.
A welcome sight at journey’s end: Cape Schanck Light Station (c) JP Mundy 2013
If you have a few more days and you’re just getting warmed up, you could prebook to stay overnight in the lighthousekeeper’s cottages at Cape Schanck, then set off west along The Coast Walk in the morning, through Point Nepean National Park for a further 30km to Portsea. From there, it’s a walk out to Point Nepean and a further 30km back along Port Phillip Bay via the more pedestrian Bay Trail to Dromana by which time you’ve completed the 100km triangle which makes up the Mornington Peninsula walk! If you don’t have the time (or energy!) to do the full Two Bays walk at once, it can be broken into lots of short and easy walks. The walk into Bushrangers Bay (6km return), accessed from the car park on Boneo Road (Rosebud-Flinders Road), or the walk into Greens Bush (accessed via Greens Road) would be a perfect short day out – the tracks are easy and interesting for kids too. None of the Two Bays walking is suitable for dogs though (even on-lead), as it passes through a number of national parks and protected areas, where dogs are not allowed, and for good reason when you see the beautiful and delicate flora and fauna along the way. There are also no water stops, shops or toilets along the way, so you’ll need to be self-sufficient. In terms of time you need to allow, you’ll know your own pace – if you’re a fit marcher, you’ll get through in 6 hours. An average walker used to reasonable distance might take 8 hours. The delightful Deb and I are dawdlers (or rather, I am, and Deb is just incredibly long-suffering and patient!), so with lots of stops to gawk at the scenery, flowers and fauna along the way, a good half hour for lunch (and for me to huff and puff up the stairs!), we took 10! Whichever way you do it, just do it. It’s a perfect walk.
View at the end of the day – back at Arthur’s Seat – Sunset across Port Phillip Bay (c) JP Mundy 2013
Hanging Out in Hanoi
Posted in Places to Visit, Travel, Viet Nam, Walks, tagged cities, Hanoi, motorbikes, Travel, Viet Nam, Vietnam, walking, walks on 09/30/2013| 1 Comment »
Crazy gorgeous streetscape and a conga-line of scooters, Hanoi’s old city, near Hoan Kiem Lake
It’s 10 years since I have been to Hanoi – which is a travesty, as it’s one of my favourite cities in the world – and though it has changed so rapidly since my first visit here in 1993, it still retains its essence – that eclectic and alluring mix of Vietnamese-French colonial-Russian-market-communism welcome that is entirely unique. In the 1990’s the city was incredibly peaceful – there were only bicycles on the street and the odd old Russian sedan which ferried select government officials around in a rather menacing fashion behind curtained windows. In fact, I recall a very slow trip down Highway 1 (which travels the length of the country) in one of those low-riding sedans in the mid-1990’s, as our car had to stop on a number of occcasions and wait for the locals to clear their game of cards they had set up in the middle of the tarmac!!! Back in Hanoi, with the opening up of the economy, bicycles were soon displaced by the ubiquitous motor scooter, and weaving across intersections became a work of art and of faith! Closing your eyes also took some of the stress out of the situation I remember!
And yes, there is a bike under there! Hanoi September 2013
Here I am today and the traffic is still mental and further complicated now by private cars, but the motorbikes still rule, and ferry between one person and a whole family at any given time. Bicycles are still in the mix, laden impossibly high with produce being ferried to and from markets. The wonderful architecture of old Hanoi still survives amidst the craze for modern buildings – with impossibly narrow confections of gravity-defying buildings jammed against each other, topped with tile roofs and a mess (no other word for it) of internet and electrical cables in an occupational health and safety officer’s nightmare. Add to this a very friendly and welcoming people, fabulous food, a lively art community, interesting shopping, easy walking around the city’s lakes … no wonder it’s at the top of my list!
Taking in the view of the Tortoise Tower, Hoan Kiem Lake, central Hanoi
Heat and humidity at Amber Fort in Jaipur
Posted in History, India, Places to Visit, Travel, Walks, tagged amber fort, amer fort, elephants, india, rajasthan, Travel, walking, walks, world heritage on 09/24/2013| Leave a Comment »
Amber (Amer) Fort, Amer Town, near Jaipur, india
Last week I was lucky enough to spend an afternoon wandering around the incredible 400 year old Amber Fort (also called Amer Fort), on the hills outside Jaipur, in India’s desert state of Rajasthan. Talk about atmospheric! Set into the side of a mountain, overlooking a decorative lake with paterre garden island and surrounded by Great-Wall-of-China spines of defensive walls, the fort is a maze of rooms, twisting stairs, courtyards and vantage points over four storeys, and is built of red sandstone and huge slabs of marble.
Cool marble sitting galleries, used by women at Amber Fort, Jaipur (and yes, that’s solid marble!)
It wasn’t hard to imagine what it would have been like at the height of Raja Ram Singh I’s powers, as there was an outrageously over-the-top Bollywood film being recorded the day I was there, with huge men in cardboard armour and swirling, dancing, martial arts performers doing their thing, while the local audience ooh’ed and aah’ed. Pretty surreal and pretty memorable.
Central garden courtyard and audience pavillion, seen from the ramparts of Amber Fort
On the walk up into the fort, I also passed a somewhat underwhelming, though no doubt, trusty, local police car, ready to leap into action if needed – I guess it was parked at the top of the ramparts slope so it could get a run-up to catch the invading hoardes….
Local squad car, ready for action, at Amber Fort, Jaipur
The surrounding heritage town of Amer, is also worth a wander – it’s small windy streets are jam packed with artisans producing everything from Hindu carvings and miniature painting to gleaming copper pans, and there is a surfeit of temples – apparently the Maharajah’s mother took a keen interest in building temples throughout the township. If you arrive early in the morning, before the heat of the day, you will also see the parade of hundreds (literally) of elephants, their faces painted in bright powders, as they carry the tourists up into the fort. Unmissable.
View across the lake from one of the corner ramparts at Amber Fort
A springtime wander beside the Werribee River in Bacchus Marsh
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bacchus marsh, rivers, Travel, walking, walks, walks with children, Werribee River on 09/03/2013| Leave a Comment »
Well, I found out today from my publishers that the release date for Melbourne for Dogs is now expected to be March 2014, instead of Christmas – bummer! So to console myself, I headed up to Bacchus Marsh to see my folks and went for a gorgeous spring stroll along the riverside track which runs from Peppertree Park (off Grant Street, beside the swimming pool – good off-street parking), upstream beside picturesque Werribee River for about 2km, narrowing right at the end until you can cross to the other side at the old ford and return on the opposite bank, through parks and picnic grounds. It’s a gentle and well maintain path and very popular with local dog walkers (on lead) and cyclists. There are great views up the valley and escarpment which mark the entrance to the geological wonder that becomes Werribee Gorge. This is an easy and pretty walk for those with kids, with opportunities to splash in the water and plenty of shade under the River Red Gums. It’s also suitable for bikes and scooters. Combined with a visit to Bacchus Marsh’s famous orchards or pick-you-own berry farms, this makes for an easy and interesting day out, just 45 minutes from Melbourne on the Western Highway.
As a kid, we lived on a farm outside of Bacchus Marsh, which bordered Werribee River, and I remember impressive floods every couple of years, but many years ago, the base of the river was graded and cleared to allow for better flow during flood times, so it’s rare that a flood breaks the banks these days, though it did just a couple of years ago, when the path had to be rebuilt. I love walking in the spring – the sun is warm but not hot on your back, the wildflowers are out – wattle is a riot of colour and scent just now, and the skies are a lovely blue. Suddenly, you can breathe again after the grey and chill of winter. Glorious.
Walking from Como to Bellagio, in the Italian Lakes, via the ‘Dorsale’
Posted in italy, Places to Visit, Travel, Walks, wildflowers, tagged bellagio, como, dorsale, hiking, Italy, Lake como, Travel, trekking, walking, walks on 07/05/2013| 5 Comments »
Finally! Melbourne for Dogs is finished and off with my fabulous editor at Woodslane who will work her magic. Did you know it takes up to 5 months for a guidebook to go through the editorial/design/cartography/printing process once it leaves the author’s hands and before it hits the shelves? It’s somewhat akin to having a baby, though at least you get to sleep through the nights. Anyway, to celebrate, I have hauled off to Italy for some summer sunshine and a week of walking around Lake Como. The weather is perfect for walking just now: in the 20’s and cloudless skies. I only have a short time in between other commitments, so I have headed off on the 34km, 2 day ‘Dorsale’ walk, which goes along the spine of the mountains edging Lake Como, from Como in the south of the lake through to the tiny town of Bellagio, which is poised in the centre tip of the upside down Y of the lake.
It’s a great solo walk: with a reasonable map and guide notes from the local alpine club, and the extensive (if somewhat confusing at times) array of signs, you basically keep the lake on your left and head north. The walk starts with a welcome leg up the first 900m of ascent, courtesy of a vertiginous funicular railway from Como up to the tiny alpine town of Brunate. From there there’s another 700 metres of ascent for the day, but it’s not all in one go, and the huge views give you plenty off excuse to stop and gape when you need to catch your breath. The walk takes you past mountain refuggios, tiny roadside chapels, grand old Italian villas, through beech forests and eventually up above the treeline into glorious mountain pastures, absolutely heaving with wildflowers, bumblebees, grasshoppers and butterflies. I expected Julie Andrews to appear, twirling around and singing ‘the Hills are alive…..’!
Cows puttering past the refuggio on their way to dinner!
I passed only 8 other walkers the whole day which is remarkable when the lakeside towns are just heaving with people at this time of year. However, when I descended into the 1100m Pian del Tivano valley at the end of the first day to stay at the Alpetto del Torno mountain Refugio (for the best gnocchi I have eaten eaten in my whole life, thanks to Ugo the super chef/host), the valley was also heaving – not with people, but with dairy cows with bells around their neck, making music as they ambled around the pastures. Perhaps I’m not in a sound of music ad after all, but one for luxury milk chocolate! It is very close to the border with Switlzerland after all! More tomorrow in Day 2.
Emerald to Cockatoo Autumn Leaf Walk
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Australia, bushwalking, Dandenongs, dogs, steam trains, Travel, walking, walks on 05/23/2013| Leave a Comment »
I just love, love, LOVE walking in Australia on cool, crisp autumn days. What’s not to like – you don’t get hot, you don’t have to carry gallons of water and you don’t have to worry about stepping on the slithery ones. Today Deb, co-author Indie-the-Dog and I headed for the Dandenongs – only 40 minutes from Melbourne’s city centre but a million miles away in terms of peace and beauty. We did the 14km return trail walk from the beautiful hill town of Emerald to Cockatoo and back, taking in the spectacular autumn leaf beauty of Nobilis Gardens and Emerald Lake Park and the towering eucalyptus and colourful funghii of Wrights Forest. For a shorter walk you could always take the bus back from Cockatoo (though not with a dog), but we were glad of the return walk, as the weather only got better as we went along, and the late afternoon rays through the Japanese maples were breathtaking. A fantastic bush walk with a dog, as there is an off-leash park at either end, though dogs must be on lead for the rest of it. If you do the walk without a dog on weekends and school holidays, you can take a load off and catch the Puffing Billy steam train back from Cockatoo at 3pm.
The Grampians’ Grand Canyon & MacKenzie Falls
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Australia, bushwalking, Grampians, grand canyon, mackenzie falls, National Parks, Travel, walks, Wildlife, wonderland on 05/04/2013| 2 Comments »
It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to post my latest walks, as I’ve been doing a lot of travel for my day job this year: Mozambique, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Timor Leste – but not a spare moment for walking in each of these incredible destinations. Grrr! This week though, I did manage to get up to the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park, in Victoria’s west, where I hadn’t been for 10 years. Stupid me for taking so long to get back here – I had forgotten about the extraordinary rock formations and abundant wildlife, and frankly terrific walking, especially in the crisp, clear autumn weather. And all this just an easy 3.5 hour drive from Melbourne.
The Wonderland area, just outside of the main centre of Halls Gap, has got to represent some of the most interesting walking in Victoria – the walk through ‘The Grand Canyon’, while nowhere near on the scale of its famous American counterpart, is nonetheless spectacular. There is a short 1km loop route absolutely perfect for kids, who will just love it, leaping over rocks and scrambling beneath under hangs. You could spend days just exploring this area, and there are good walks brochures for sale in the town which outline a dozen or so walks of various lengths and difficulty.
MacKenzie Falls, The Grampians (C) JP Mundy
Another beautiful area, further along the Mt Victory Road, past the lookout of The Balconies, is MacKenzies Falls. Take your knees along for the walk, which takes in 250+ steps on the way down the gorge to the base of these spectacular year-round falls, which must be 30m high and then some. I love how there is an entirely independent weather system at the base of waterfalls, with wind gushing from its base even on the stillest days. Parks Victoria are still working to restore major track damage along the gorge left from the 2012 floods, so beyond the waterfall is still closed as helicopters fly in the materials to restore the tracks.
The other bonus of the area is the wildlife – in Halls Gap itself there are kangaroos literally bouncing down the main street, and you have to drive slowly everywhere you go to avoid all the pretty black wallabies. Over breakfast in the morning, I was also visited by a rowdy flock of cockatoos checking me out. Could have stayed for weeks.
Curious Cockatoo at Halls Gap (c) JP Mundy 2013
Quirky Transport Alternatives on Port Philip Bay
Posted in Art, Bellarine Peninsula, History, Otway Ranges, Uncategorized, Wales, Wildlife, tagged Altona, beaches, bicycles, cycle paths, dog beaches, dogs, Foreshore Trail, Melbourne, Port Phillip Bay, Travel, walking with dogs, walks, Williamstown on 04/01/2013| Leave a Comment »
New Port Philip Cycle Trail
While out walking in Melbourne’s western bayside suburbs today, I spotted these enterprising lads, who obviously decided to take the short cut from Altona across to St Kilda. Hope they packed their snorkels! I opted for the longer route, and took in a fine 8km stretch of the Williamstown to Altona Foreshore Trail, a shared cycle/walk path which winds along the coastline from Williamstown Beach across to the fabulous off-leash PA Burns coastal reserve in Seaholme. While the Foreshore Trail itself is on-leash for dogs, (it runs parallel to the Jawbone Conservation area), the parks at either end of the walk are both off-leash, so plenty of exercise for everyone – particularly those whose dogs like a good run (or in the case of these kids, swim) beside the bike.
Williamstown Wetlands, via the Foreshore Trail
Melbourne’s Fabulous Dog Beaches
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Altona, beaches, Brighton, dog walking, dogs, Melbourne, off leash dog beaches, st kilda, walks on 04/01/2013| 9 Comments »
As our extended summer in Melbourne draws to a close, I am just finishing the chapter of Off Leash Dog Beaches for the Melbourne for Dogs book. What a trial that has been for my co-author and I. We both just hate having to walk barefoot along the sandy beaches of Port Philip Bay on sunny days, with views all the way to the Peninsula and daily sunsets to set the heart singing. Indie particularly hates having to roll in the sand and dig holes and jump over the (mini) waves to play with all the other very happy dogs. What a drag. Our favourite, thanks to its proximity to home, is St Kilda West Beach, with it’s huge piles of dog-friendly new sand being pushed out to help build the extension to St Kilda marina. Brighton dog beach is the place to go on Sundays when every man/woman and his dog (literally) is out there to enjoy the views and the company. But today we’re heading over to the Altona dog beach, in Melbourne’s west, aiming for low tide when there are endless stretches of flat sand revealed for dogs and their owners to stretch their legs on. In fact, the shallow, calm waters of Port Phillip – the bane of tourists looking for a decent wave – make for fantastic waters for dogs, and the many off-leash beaches available around the Bay feature extensive sand flats and shallow waters at low tide perfect for bounding through and wallowing in. Life’s good if you’re lucky enough to be a dog in Melbourne!
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