Wilsons Promontory is named after Thomas Wilson, a merchant friend of Mathew Flinders, one of the early explorers of Australia’s coastline. We spent a very pleasant few days in the National Park to do some bushwalking.
The ‘Prom’ has had a series of disasters over recent years. In 2009, most of the park was burnt in a very extensive bushfire and masses of grey skeletons of trees are very obvious around the landscape. Our visit was just two years after the second disaster. In March 2011, over 370 mm (nearly 15 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours. The caused extensive flood damage, with the road being closed for some time and the park being closed to visitors fro some months. One of the main walking tracks to Sealers Cove has still not reopened.
We could see considerable evidence of rain and water damage. There were many eroded gullies, but the one that stood out was this enormous slip on the side of Mt Bishop. Obviously, mud and boulders sluiced their way down the hillside leaving this enormous scar.
We were unable to do any walking in the Southern part of the Prom as this area was closed due to a controlled burn taking place. However, we had a great time exploring the eastern coastline along Squeaky Beach, Whisky Bay and Picnic Bay. On another day, we walked out to Tongue Point. leaving from the Darby Saddle car park and finishing at Darby River where the re-opened road bridge crosses Darby River. On our last day, we had begun to walk up to Mt Oberon, but retreated back to the car after a kilometre or so when a cold front came through bringing rain that fell for the rest of the day. By then the view would have been hidden by cloud anyway.
These photos show some of the very scenic coastline along the eastern side of the Promontory.
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Great photos keep up the walking