Top 10 Things to do at Wilsons Promontory

More than 400,000 visitors each year can’t be wrong: Wilson’s Promontory National Park, on Victoria’s south-east coast, is something very special. Victoria’s oldest national park, encompassing 50,000 hectares of land the southernmost tip of mainland Australia, has pristine beaches, carefully preserved forests and a range of accommodation options.

If you’re lucky enough to secure yourself a stay at ‘the Prom’ (school holidays are balloted a year in advance…), Hannah Foster has you covered with the top ten things to do at this much-loved piece of hiking and holidaying heaven.

1. Walk to historic Sealers Cove

This 19-kilometre (return) walk takes you through mountains, temperate rainforest and ultimately to one of the Prom’s most beautiful, sheltered and secluded beaches. It’s a huge improvement on what Sealer’s Cove was used for a hundred years ago, when it was the site of significant sealing and whaling activity and later, timber logging. Note: Access to Sealers Cove is only possible via a 25 kilometre hike from Telegraph Saddle.

Hiking trail in Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria, Australia.

2. Overnight lighthouse stay

Wilsons Promontory Lightstation is super remote, accessible only by sea or a day-long hike from Tidal River or Telegraph Saddle car park. Hikers can stay overnight in one of three of the lighthouse’s cottages. For romantics, the Banks Cottage has a queen bed, private bathroom and uninterrupted views out over Bass Strait.

3. Glamping luxury at Tidal River

The Prom’s latest accommodation option, these safari-style large permanent tents are situated in a quiet part of Tidal River and are the ultimate in glamping, with timber floors, a queen bed and a communal kitchen for Wilderness Retreat guests.

4. See black swans and the world’s southern-most mangroves

The northern part of the Prom doesn’t get nearly as many visitors, but Miller’s Landing, near the park entrance, is an easy walk with the chance to see flora and fauna you wouldn’t normally associate with the Prom, including large flocks of black swans.

5. Refuge Cove

An abundance of wildlife calls Refuge Cove its home, with waters in the region that supports dolphins, sharks, seals and migrating whales as well as a rich diversity of bird life, including albatross, shearwater, fairy prions, little penguins and white-bellied sea eagles. We are lucky that departures are daily and you will also enjoy a lunch on board of Wildlife Coast Cruises .

Refuge Cove from above, Wilson Promontory National Park

6. Eat hot chips on Norman Bay beach

Why? Because it’s hot chips. On the beach. And because Norman Bay is a wide, white, postcard-ready beach with decent surf at one end and a kid-friendly tidal river at the other.

7. Wildlife spotting, Loo Errn Boardwalk track

Spotting native animals out in the wild never gets tiring. Around the Loo Errn you’ll most likely see wombats, but also look out for various types of wallabies, echidnas, native swap rats, several types of tiny marsupials and native birds. Pro tip: No matter how cute, never interfere with the wildlife or try to feed them your food, it’s dangerous for you and for them.

8. Watch the sun set from the top of Mt Oberon

The hike up this mountain is worth it for the view at any time of day, but seeing the sun set over the ocean, casting pink to golden light across Tidal River below, is something very special.
Pro tip: Once the sun goes down it gets very dark very quickly, so take a good torch with you for the walk back down the mountain.

Wilsons promontory national park view from Mount Oberon

9. Attend a ranger talk at the Visitor Centre

Parks Victoria offers a great schedule of academic speakers and kids activities that you can attend while at the Prom. With a long and complex history and amazing biodiversity, there’s a lot to learn. Plus, it’s a good alternative to your tent on a rainy day!

10. Take a cruise around the Prom’s coastline

Much of the water around the Prom is a marine national park, with seabird colonies, fur seals, leatherback turtles and visiting whales. Full day cruises around the Prom’s coastline are a way to see this unique destination from a different perspective.

Planning a big trip? Check out our handy destination guide full of tips on where to eat, stay and play in Gippsland…

Slow down and find your rhythm on a Murray River journey through time and place.

Trust is a funny thing. It seems not that long ago that my mother was insisting on pouring the milk into my cereal bowl, because she didn’t trust me not to slosh it over the table, and yet here I am on the Murray River at Mildura in far north-west Victoria, being handed the keys to a very new and very expensive luxury houseboat.

After a crash course in how not to crash, I’m at the wheel of the good ship Elevate – pride of the All Seasons fleet – guiding her upstream past red-ochre cliffs as pelicans glide above the rippled river and kookaburras call from reedy banks. There’s a brief moment of breath-holding while I negotiate a hairpin turn around a jagged reef of skeletal, submerged gum trees, before a cheer rings out and calm descends as the timeless river unfurls in front of us.

The Murray River winding through Yarrawonga. (Image: Rob Blackburn)

Setting sail from Mildura

Murray River birds — Home to a large number of bird species, including pelicans. (Image: The Precint Studios)

A journey along the Murray River is never less than magical, and launching from Mildura makes perfect sense. Up here the river is wide and largely empty, giving novice skippers like myself the confidence to nudge the 60-tonne houseboat up to the riverbank where we tie up for the night, without fear of shattering the glass elevator (the boat is fully wheelchair accessible) or spilling our Champagne.

My friends and I spend three days on the water, swimming and fishing, sitting around campfires onshore at night, and basking in air so warm you’d swear you were in the tropics. The simplicity of river life reveals an interesting dichotomy: we feel disconnected from the world but at the same time connected to Country, privileged to be part of something so ancient and special.

Stop one: Echuca

19th-century paddlesteamers — A historic 19th-century paddlesteamer cruises along the Murray River. (Image: Visit Victoria)

The six-hour drive from Melbourne to Mildura (or four hours and 20 minutes from Adelaide) is more than worth it, but you don’t have to travel that far to find fun on the river. Once Australia’s largest inland port, Echuca is the closest point on the Murray to Melbourne (two hours 45 minutes), and you’ll still find a plethora of paddlesteamers tethered to the historic timber wharf, a throwback to the thriving river trade days of the 19th century. The PS Adelaide, built in 1866 and the oldest wooden-hulled paddlesteamer operating in the world, departs daily for one-hour cruises, while a brand-new paddlesteamer, the PS Australian Star , is launching luxury seven-night voyages in December through APT Touring.

The town is also a hot food and wine destination. St Anne’s Winery at the historic Port of Echuca precinct has an incredibly photogenic cellar door, set inside an old carriage builders’ workshop on the wharf and filled with huge, 3000-litre port barrels. The Mill, meanwhile, is a cosy winter spot to sample regional produce as an open fire warms the red-brick walls of this former flour mill.

Stop two: Barmah National Park

Just half-an-hour upstream, Barmah National Park is flourishing, its river red gum landscape (the largest in the world) rebounding magnificently after the recent removal of more than 700 feral horses. The internationally significant Ramsar-listed wetland sits in the heart of Yorta Yorta Country, with Traditional Owners managing the environment in close partnership with Parks Victoria. Walkways weave through the forest, crossing creeks lined with rare or threatened plants, passing remnants of Yorta Yorta oven mounds and numerous scar trees, where the bark was removed to build canoes, containers or shields.

The Dharnya Centre (open weekdays until 3pm) is the cultural hub for the Yorta Yorta. Visitors can learn about the ecological significance of the Barmah Lakes on a 90-minute river cruise, led by a First Nations guide, or take a one-hour, guided cultural walking tour along the Yamyabuc Trail.

Stop three: Cobram

Continue east to Cobram to find the southern hemisphere’s largest inland beach. Swarming with sun-seekers in summer, the white sand of Thompson’s Beach is shaded by majestic river red gums and dotted with hundreds of beach umbrellas, as beachgoers launch all manner of water craft and set up stumps for beach cricket. But the beach is at its most captivating at sunset, when the crowds thin out, the glassy river mirrors the purple sky, and the canopies of the gum trees glow fiery orange.

The region is also home to some fine resorts and indulgent retreats. Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort has two riverside championship golf courses, luxury apartments and self-contained villas. While not strictly on the Murray, the historic wine town of Rutherglen is rife with boutique (and unique) accommodation, including an exquisitely renovated red-brick tower in a French provincial-style castle at Mount Ophir Estate. Fans of fortified wines can unravel the mystery of Rutherglen’s ‘Muscat Mile’, meeting the vignerons and master-blenders whose artistry has put the town on the global map for this rich and complex wine style.

Stop four: Albury-Wodonga

First Nations YindyamarraSculpture Walk — First Nations Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk is part of the Wagirra Trail. (Image: Carmen Zammit)

Follow the river far enough upstream and you’ll arrive at the twin border cities of Albury-Wodonga. The Hume Highway thunders through, but serenity can be found along the five-kilometre Yindyamarra Sculpture Walk – part of the Wagirra Trail that meanders through river wetlands just west of Albury in Wiradjuri country. Fifteen sculptures by local First Nations artists line the trail, conveying stories of reconciliation, enduring connection to culture, local Milawa lore and traditional practices. It feels a long way from Mildura, and it is, but the pelicans and kookaburras remind us that it’s the same river, the great conduit that connects our country.

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

New Mildura motel Kar-rama. (Image: Iain Bond Photo)

Kar-Rama is a brand-new boutique, retro-styled motel in Mildura, with a butterfly-shaped pool and a tropical, Palm Springs vibe. Echuca Holiday Homes has a range of high-end accommodation options, both on the riverfront and in town.

Playing there

BruceMunro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura — Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights in Mildura. (Image: Imogen Eveson)

Artist Bruce Munro’s Trail of Lights installation, comprising more than 12,000 illuminated ‘fireflies’, is currently lighting up Mildura’s Lock Island in the middle of the Murray. Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA) is a hub for contemporary art, with a rotating roster of exhibitions, and is a major outlet for young and First Nations artists.

Eating there

Mildura’s diverse demographic means it’s a fantastic place to eat. Andy’s Kitchen is a local favourite, serving up delicious pan-Asian dishes and creative cocktails in a Balinese-style garden setting. Call in to Spoons Riverside in Swan Hill to enjoy locally sourced, seasonal produce in a tranquil setting overlooking the river.

10 most memorable things to do at Wilsons Promontory