Adelaide welcomes Witton Bluff Base Trail, a brand-new accessible track that follows the coast between two popular beaches.
A new 1.1-kilometre coastal walk has just opened along Adelaide’s shoreline, hugging the base of Witton Bluff. Witton Bluff Base Trail is a three-metre-wide track that is fully accessible, with level surfaces, fencing and solar lighting. The trail connects Christies Beach to Port Noarlunga, just one part of the state’s plan for a 70-kilometre shared-use coastal path that will stretch from North Haven to Sellicks Beach.
Witton Bluff Base Trail is a 1.1km accessible walk that takes in sweeping sea views. (Image: City of Onkaparinga)
The $9.3 million project also included major coastal protection works, with more than 20,000 tonnes of rock installed to strengthen the seawall. These measures are designed to safeguard the cliffs against climate change, erosion and sea-level rise for decades to come.
The coastal trail connects two popular beaches in Adelaide. (Image: City of Onkaparinga)
“This [path] has been a desire for decades," said Chris Picton, Minister for Health and Wellbeing of South Australia. “The path is a shared-use trail that locals and visitors alike will be able to enjoy our coastline on."
The more accessible trails for use, the better. We can’t wait to check this one out firsthand.
Elizabeth Whitehead is a writer obsessed with all things culture; doesn't matter if it's pop culture or cultures of the world. She graduated with a degree in History from the University of Sydney (after dropping out from Maths). Her bylines span AFAR, Lonely Planet, ELLE, Harper's BAZAAR and Refinery 29. Her work for Australian Traveller was shortlisted for single article of the year at the Mumbrella Publishing Awards 2024. She is very lucky in thrifting, very unlucky in UNO.
A town charmingly paused in time has become a hot mountain biking destination.
There’s a forest reserve full of eucalyptus and pines surrounding town – when you combine all the greenery with a main street of grand old buildings still standing from the Victorian Gold Rush, Creswick looks more period movie set than a 21st-century town.
Grand buildings from the Victorian gold rush. (Image: Visit Victoria)
This entire region of Victoria – the Central Goldfields – is as pretty-as-a-picture, but there’s something extra-special about Creswick. I used to live 30 minutes north; I’d drive in some evenings to cruise its main street at dusk, and pretend I was travelling back in time.
It was sleepy back then, but that’s changed. Where I used to walk through its forest, now I’m hurtling down the state’s best new mountain bike trails. There’s a 60-kilometre network of mountain bike trails – dubbed Djuwang Baring – which make Creswick the state’s hottest new mountain biking destination.
Meet Victoria’s new mountain biking capital
This historic town has become a mountain biking hotspot.
Victoria has a habit of turning quiet country towns into mountain biking hotspots. I was there in the mid-2000s when the tiny Otways village of Forrest embarked on an ambitious plan to save itself (after the death of its timber cutting industry) courtesy of some of the world’s best mountain bike trails. A screaming success it proved to be, and soon mountain bike trails began popping up all over Victoria.
I’m no expert, so I like that a lot of Creswick’s trails are as scenic as they are challenging. I prefer intermediate trails, such as Down Martuk, with its flowing berms and a view round every corner. Everyone from outright beginners to experts can be happy here. There’s trails that take me down technical rock sections with plenty of bumps. But there’s enough on offer to appeal to day-trippers, as much as hard-core mountain-bikers.
I love that the trails empty onto that grand old main street. There’s bars still standing from the Gold Rush of the 1850s I can refuel at. Like the award-winning Farmers Arms, not to be confused with the pub sharing its name in Daylesford. It’s stood since 1857. And The American Creswick built two years later, or Odessa Wine Bar, part of Leaver’s Hotel in an 1856-built former gold exchange bank.
The Woodlands is set on a large bushland property. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)
Creswick is also full of great cafes and restaurants, many of them set in the same old buildings that have stood for 170 years. So whether you’re here for the rush of the trails or the calm of town life, Creswick provides.
A traveller’s checklist
Staying there
Inside the Woodlands, a chic 1970s log cabin. (Image: Vanessa Smith Photography)
RACV Goldfields Resort is a contemporary stay with a restaurant, swimming pool and golf course. The Woodlands in nearby Lal Lal comprises a chic log cabin set on a 16-hectare property abundant in native wildlife.
Eating there
Le Peche Gourmand makes for the perfect pitstop for carb and sugar-loading.
Miss Northcotts Garden is a charming garden store with tea room. (Image: Visit Victoria)
Creswick State Forest has a variety of hiking trails, including a section of the 210-kilometre-long Goldfields Track. Miss Northcotts Garden is a quaint garden store with tea room.
