Wednesday Wanderings – Phillip Island Pt 3

Kitty Miller Bay & SS Speke Ship Wreck

Not far down the coast again from Cape Woolamai (Phillip Island) you will find Kitty Miller Bay, it’s not very well sign posted, but it is worth trying to find it. Again a very picturesque and rugged beach, it is a bit of an effort just to get down to the beach, but there are rock pools with crabs and small fish and interesting things to find. The Surfers all seemed to show up here, despite the dangerous rocky outcroppings, so did the fishermen. If you walk over to the left hand side (more like stumble, part climb and crawl over rocks) you will find a very steep, small track up the side of a steep hill. Please don’t get me wrong I am not the fittest person in the world, but this was a Goat track! Once over the other side of the hill, you will see the wreck of the SS Speke is spread before you (well what’s left of it). It crashed there in 1906 (more info). I did not travel the last few treacherous meters to the bottom (neither did Moth), it looked easy enough to get down, albeit with a broken neck! However I had my 200mm lens so I was content to shoot from up high. Poor Moth carried my backpack and tripod the whole way as well, so I took some more long exposure shots from here as well.

Grossard Point

Flynn’s Beach

After our treacherous and exhausting climb to Kitty Miller Bay we headed back into Cowes for lunch and went to a delightful Italian Restaurant (I know, I Know it’s what we always seek out – Blame Moth). We then decided to head back out to see what other wonders we could find. We went to Grossard Point Historical Area, honestly not much there, a really old Grave and some markers, but not much else. The Day before and this morning out at the Cape we passed signs for Flynn’s Beach, we almost didn’t go…surely it was just another surf beach? Especially after our disappointment at Grossard Point, but I said we wont know unless we go. It was beautiful, wide sandy, glistening beaches, wild life and apart from one family playing cricket on the beach, not a soul to be seen. We walked for miles, along this pristine coast, ours were the only foot prints in the sand (apart from birds – the tide had probably washed away all others). There was the remains of a very old pier some distance along the coast, so we walked out to it for some photos, and then slowly made our way back. We even stopped so I could draw our initials in the sand, I know the waves would reclaim the beach, but romance is not completely lost!

Flynn’s Beach

Afterwards we continued along the coast, not much more to tell. Just a few more beaches, but nothing compared to what we had already seen that day.

The next day dawned wet, cold and miserable – it was our last day. There are many things to do at Phillip Island and we certainly did not see them all, even between the 6 of us! But we thought we might try for a few more on the way home. We drove past Amaze ‘n’ things and stopped briefly at The Chocolate Factory (we did not do the tour – very long ques, but we did buy some), we then stopped at Pioneer Bay (mostly swamp and marshes), we then went to Churchill Island (an historical spot and wetlands area), we had a coffee and waited for the weather to clear, but it only got worse. We gave up and went home……we will come back, maybe in the spring. It was a very pretty spot.

– Julz