Camping in Wilson's Prom

Wilson’s promontory, commonly known as the Wilson’s Prom is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland. Fortified with spectacular views and unspoiled wilderness, it attracts nature lovers throughout the year.

It’s no more than a 3 hours drive from the Melbourne CBD unless you stop at every nice scenery you pass which is very compelling. The change begins as soon as you enter Gippsland and you see either sea or endless jungle either side of the road.

First glimpse of the sea

View from the road

Scenic route

Our initial intention was to walk the trails embrace the nature and camp for the night and get back by morning next day.  But as soon as we entered the place, I knew that we are not going to make it in one day. There are so much to do and so much to see.

As we had booked in advance we just had to grab the sticker for the vehicle from the Tidal River office. The staff was very nice and enlightened us with some great know-hows and ‘to-do’s. Our first task was to find a nice spot to pitch the tent. There were enough spaces on the riverside but I so badly wanted to be on the sea side. So we headed to the other side. As we drove around in circles it looked all the nice spots were already taken, but boy! that was our luck day! We found the perfect spot and parked and started to pitch the tent. Just as we unloaded the stuff a pair of lovely parrots came down out of nowhere. They weren't scared of us and I am guessing they were looking for food.

love their colors!

And soon after some sea gulls paid a visit and hanged out till we left.

We secured the tent and freshened up and set off for a relaxing walk. Maps are available in the office and at the gate and there are boards and notices everywhere. So one can never get lost. We covered almost every track near the Tidal River including picnic bay, squeaky beach, Lilly Pilly gully (what a funny name) and few lookouts with breath taking views.

Tidal river

Spectacular view of the beaches 

More beaches

Can spend hours sitting here

We were so taken by the beauty of the place and we decided to take a step further and walk the 10km to see the Sealers cove (another beach) on the other side of the peninsula. But that needs at least half a day so we decided to do that next day and stay an extra night. With that in mind and all exited we headed back to the camp. Guess who we met on our way. A Wombat!.

It was nearly 4 in the evening when we finally returned to the camp. We have to cook something before it gets dark as it is autumn. So we took a warm but quick showers in the nearby facility which is very nicely kept. We fixed a quick dinner ate it under the nice tree shade near our tent.

our temporary home in the wilderness

It was dark before we could even finish up storing the food away. We were warned about the Wombats by the staff and few friends who had been here before. If you keep food in your tent, these cute but very strong fur balls are gonna come for it in the night and try to grab them. So if you want to sleep peacefully store the food in your car. But later in the night I realized, there are other stuff to worry than just Wombats.

It started to become very windy and by mid night, the wind was at top speed and was swirling around. We can hear the wind and the sea, it almost felt like in the middle of a hurricane.  The tent was dancing and making wired sounds against the wind. I was awake most of the night and fell asleep by morning. Wasn't I glad the night was over and I was wondering why I wanted to pitch in sea side of all the places.

It felt tired due to previous day’s walking and lack of sleep but we were so excited about the hike to Sealers cove. So we got up, fixed ourselves a quick breakfast and packed a bag of few canned food, rain coats and water and headed to catch the free shuttle bus which leaves every half an hour. The bus took us to the Telegraph Saddle, where the walk begins. It is the starting point to both Sealers cove and the Mt Oberon. We started around 9.30 in the morning and as soon as we entered the track, it started to rain. The thin rain coats could barely save us.

Thick forest

The walk was nice as the surrounding changed with every turn. It was nice to be in the jungle when it rains. The path was edgy at some points and it got muddy with rain and slowed our journey a bit. We stopped at two places to have a quick snack.

Edgy path

Towards the end the track if formed in to a nice wooden path build on a swampy land with palms which gave the place a pre-historic look on those Jurassic movies.

The wooden bridge takes you directly to the destination of the long walk. And as we got out of the jungle to the clearing, we were stunned by the magnificent view. There was the Cove. So other-worldly, so massive, unspoiled and breath taking. This was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen.

Hidden beauty

There were only a handful of people, so at one point it looked as we got the whole place for ourselves. We walked to the far most corner laid a mat and took a long nice rest under the cleared sky just after the rain. We just couldn't make up our minds to leave the place.

Not a single sole

After spending more than an hour we decided to leave as we had to get back before dark. Walking that slippery narrow track in the dark is the last thing I wanted. So we took one last look at this hidden beauty and started heading back determined to come back again.

It was beginning to get dark when we reached the camp, so we had to hurry up. We managed to heat up some food midst wind which made it hard to get the burner lit.

The wind wasn't that bad so we slept nice and sound till morning.

There is one more thing that we so wanted to do and that was to go see the light house which is very famous. We thought we could drive there. But we later learnt that it’s only accessible via foot. And that is going to be far more exiting. So we decided to come again for the light house another time. We took few maps and details of the light house track, grabbed a coffee and headed home feeling brand new.