Churchill National Park

Distance: 5.05 km
Climb: 109 m
Starting Point Coordinates (Google Maps): -37.952245, 145.251961
Reference Link/Map

          Driving from Carnegie, it took us 25 minutes to reach our starting point at Churchill National Park. There is a car park area for us to leave our car.

          At the start of the journey, they were mainly flat grounds. It was very beautiful to a point we thought we were in New Zealand! As we turned left to the smaller track on Channel Track, we saw a lot of kangaroos, around 8 of them in front of us! They seemed to be used to people walking pass and remained a safe distance from us but close enough for me to get a good shot!

A lovely relaxing walk.

New Zealand?

A curious kangaroo

         After walking for about 45 minutes, we hiked up the slope to get to the highest point. It was very steep, but steep enough to make me felt like that was a good exercise. There wasn't much to see on top except for some more kangaroos - Yay! Along the way, unfortunately, we also heard construction noises - I think there's a mining field nearby. And the weather turned gloomy...

View from the highest point.

Colourful bird that isn't a lorikeet!

        Overall, we enjoyed the walk/hike throughout. We'd come back for the kangaroos and the scenic highlands!

You Yangs Regional Park

Distance: 6.72 km

Climb: 322 m

Reference Link/Map

        Getting to You Yang Regional Park takes an hour drive from the city, passing by wide fields and farms. We arrived and parked at Turntable Carpark and there were already quite a few people at around 9:00am Saturday. We decided to walk via the East Walk first because the sun is appearing from this side of the hill and the scene looks beautiful and fresh.

        We met a number of people along the way, some with children, some with their dogs, some seemed to be training for a run. It was initially a bit hard to find the East-West Walk from the car park, but the sign was easily seen as we walked further deep into the starting point of Flinders Walk.

        Compared to all the other places we visit, here have one of the most spectacular huge rocks that makes me feel small. Due to the amount of rocks, it's probably not too suitable for running but still doable for frequent hill runners. From the start of the hike, we started with escalating up the hill and down as we make the turn to the West Walk.

        Some rocks were so big that we had to climb through them using our hands. They weren't very challenging but definitely and literally 'hands-on'. It was so much fun!

        After we almost make a full round of the hill, we decided to go up the Flinders Peak Walk which was an hour return trip to do. Basically it's like little less than half of the 1000's step in Ferntree Gully but the steps were slightly taller and less frequent. At the top of Flinders Peak, it was so cold and windy. The view feels similar like the peak at the Peninsular Hot Spring in my opinion. 

        Although the Flinders Peak didn't look that tall, the walk was longer than I expected. Instead of going straight up like the 1000 steps, it was kind of spiraling big rounds, which also means less steep but a longer walk. It was rewarding to reach the top though. It has a small sight-seeing area where you can view the ends of the Earth in 360 degrees!

        Overall it's a nice hike around the East and West Walk and up the Flinders Peak for nearly 3 hours. We will come back to You Yang Regional Park for the other treks like the Branding Yard Track. 

View from East Walk

Other view from East Walk 

We reached the other end of the hill before turning into West Walk

View of The Bunjil Geoglyph from the lookout spot

Lower outlook spot of Flinders Walk Peak

At the top of Flinders Peak.

View at the top of Flinders Peak. (Melbourne city is quite far away)

Warrandyte State Park

Distance: 4.35 km
Climb: 56 m
Reference Link

        It was a cold and rainy day but as a couple, we go to the nature despite the changes of weather (of course not in horrible, dangerous conditions!). Warrandyte State Park is situated in the North-East from the city. The trail was basically alongside the Yarra River (yup, the Yarra River that goes through the city!). It was a nice walk, the ground was flat most of the time. The trail was fairly smooth and flat with not many obstacles. But the path was quite narrow and we had to walk in single files. We also had to pay attention when walking as one side of the path does not have barriers but only a few metres of shrubs which then lead to the river. So I don't think it's suitable for very young children and it's pram-unfriendly.

        It was a calming and relaxing walk, We didn't encounter any other people throughout the walk. It was beautiful to watch the flowing of river. Victor thought it would be a good place for fishing as there were some quiet spots too. We stopped at the picnic ground and decided to turn back due to time constraints. If not, we would have went further down to the Blue Tongue Bend, which would be one of the plans in the near future!

It's cold and wet but we're still going!

Beautiful raindrops settling under tree branches.

Yarra river on the left; narrow path on the right.

Eating a banana at the picnic ground. They have a BBQ pit as well.

The out-and-back trail.